Merl Saunders
b. 14 February 1934, San Mateo, California, USA. Merl Saunders was best known for his keyboard playing in a '70s band with Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist of the Grateful Dead. Saunders began playing keyboards professionally at the age of 13 in San Francisco, concentrating on the organ after hearing jazz organist Jimmy Smith in 1957. Saunders worked in jazz outfits with vibes player Lionel Hampton and vocalist Billy Williams in the early '60s and put together his own trio at the end of that decade. He recorded his first album with that trio and the Ray Charles Orchestra for Galaxy Records in 1968. That same year he served as musical director for a Broadway musical in New York City, BIG TIME BUCK WHITE, with jazz vocalist Oscar Brown Jnr. Following that he stayed on Broadway as musical director for a show starring boxer Muhammad Ali, providing drummer Billy Cobham with one of his first professional gigs. After recording with Harry Belafonte Saunders returned to San Francisco and associated with the local rock and blues musicians such as Mike Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites. Introduced to Garcia in 1971, Saunders sat in with the Dead leader at small club dates and added keyboard parts to the Dead's 1971 live album. Following a brief spell with the Paul Butterfield blues band in New York, Saunders returned to San Francisco and formed a steadier liaison with Garcia. A band including second guitarist Tom Fogerty, formerly of Creedence Clearwater Revival, drummer Bill Vitt from Sons Of Champlin and bassist John Kahn ( New Riders Of The Purple Sage) performed regular club dates whenever Garcia was free. They recorded two studio albums and one live for Fantasy Records in 1972-73, with former Elvis Presley drummer Ron Tutt replacing Vitt and Fogerty leaving the band during the latter stages of its career. Saunders and Garcia parted company in the mid-70s and the keyboardist continued to record and perform live with various bands of his own into the '80s and '90s. He also wrote music for the revitalized TWILIGHT ZONEtelevision programme, bringing in Garcia and other Dead members. In 1984 he joined the Dinosaurs, a group consisting of former members of '60s San Francisco bands. Saunders’ BLUES FROM THE RAINFOREST,reunited him with Garcia in 1990.