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Tony Saunders
United States, California, Mill Valley
Smooth Jazz

About Tony Saunders

The son of legendary Bay Area keyboardist Merl Saunders, Tony Saunders counted Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Smith as his godparents, took his first musical lessons on piano from Herbie Hancock, received his first bass from John Fogerty’s brother Tom, and was given an organ by Sly Stone at age 10. He earned the first of his two Emmys at age 14 for collaborating with his dad on the PBS documentary “Soul Is” and by 17 was playing with Merl and Jerry Garcia on their collaborative projects. All these decades later, Saunders is still jazzed, inspired and excited to learn from and collaborate with the great musicians that cross his path.
Saunders graduated from
the prestigious
Conservatory of Music in
San Francisco as a piano
major, but has focused on
the bass throughout his
career, drawing on the
influences and
encouragement of greats
like James Jamerson
Stanley Clarke, Chuck
Rainey and Jack Casady.
After launching his career
with Merl and Jerry
Garcia, Saunders
embarked on a diverse
career that has found him playing and recording with a virtual who’s who of popular music and jazz – including Dave Liebman, Dr. John, Ringo Starr, Bo Diddley, Andre Crouch, Mavis Staples, John Lee Hooker, George Howard, Esther Phillips and The Hawkins Family. In the smooth jazz realm, he has played with Jessy J, Nils, Paul Brown, Jeff Lorber, Jeff Ryan, Randy Crawford and Harvey Mason. Over the years, he has scored films, corporate videos, TV shows and commercials and produced many artists out of his own studio, BJW Studio. He’s also written the music and has been musical director for stage musicals, including Rock Justice, which was co-written by Jefferson Starship’s Marty Balin.

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Past Events

Fri

Jan 06

7:30 PM

All Ages
Angelica's

United States, California, Redwood City, 863 Main Street, 94063

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Thu

Mar 02

8:00 PM

All Ages
Yoshi's

United States, California, Oakland, 510 Embarcadero West, 94607

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Sat

May 20

8:30 PM

All Ages
Angelica's

United States, California, Redwood City, Address: 863 Main St, Redwood City, CA , 94063

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Fri

Jun 02

8:00 PM

All Ages
Doc's Lab

United States, California, San Francisco, 124 Columbus Avenue

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Wed

Jan 03

8:00 PM

All Ages
Yoshi's

United States, California, Oakland, 510 Embarcadero West, 94607

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Tue

Oct 26

8:00 PM

All Ages
Yoshi's

United States, California, OAKLAND, 510 Embarcadero West, 94607

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