MERL SAUNDERS

He also studied composition at Mainz University and there he continued his piano playing. On the weekends he would play all over Germany and at the other Air Force Bases. He returned home in February of 1955 because both my parents' birthdays are in that month and I was born in November of that year. I did not meet my dad until I was 2 ½ years old because he went back to Germany (back then there was no texting and my dad was not a letter writer). It was hard on my mom. She was 18 years old and pregnant and had no place to live as her mom put her out. That’s why I was born in an orphanage in San Francisco run by the Catholic nuns. My dad returned to San Francisco after stopping in New York to again play with Lionel Hampton. He wanted to stay in New York but my grandma convinced him to come back and raise his family. My dad returned and started working at the Post Office with his cousin Eddie Moore, who had been his drummer since he was old enough to hold sticks.

They played gigs on the weekends but hated working at the post office. In fact, they quit together. My dad started taking organ lessons at Sherman Clay. He loved the sound of an organ and wanted to form a trio just like Jimmy Smith and all of the other organ grinders of that era. My dad and Eddie started out playing trio gigs all over the Bay Area. During this time in the late 50’s and early 60’s, segregation still played a big part in where musicians could play. Whenever black musicians came to town they would play the same clubs and stay at the same hotels. Because of this, people like Jimmy Smith, Herbie Hancock and Richard Groove Holmes were regulars in my home. In fact, my godfather was Wynton Kelly. I remember the Both An, the Play Pen and the Upper Room. I remember how my dad and Jimmy Smith convinced me to carry their organs up the stairs to the Upper Room for them, even though I hated it, by telling me that it would build character. My dad’s regular gig was at Jacks of Sutter. On the weekends they had a 6am jam session and all the black musicians in town would come by and play.

The musicians that came to play were a who’s who of the Chitlin’ Circuit, musicians like Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and George Benson. In 1962 my dad started playing with the Billy Williams Revue and we moved to Las Vegas, which was segregated at the time. We stayed in The Carver House which was an all-black hotel. I remember thinking it was a big thing to walk in the front door of a casino. The Billy Williams Revue was filled with many talented people. A few of the musicians stayed in my life for a long time. After they finished touring, my returned to the Bay area and resumed his gig at Jacks of Sutter. These gigs became very popular (my dad always had something going on to bring him to the forefront of the music scene in The Bay Area). During this time my dad also released singles and an album on Fantasy records. I remember when he started doing the music for the play Big Time Buck White and he started to work with a lot of different people. Oscar Brown Jr. was his influence and had the bigger picture in mind.

After Big Time Buck White sold out night after night, my dad went to New York where he became musical director for an off broadway play starring Muhammad Ali. This led to my dad working with Harry Belafonte and others before he returned to San Francisco. When he returned, he recorded more at Fantasy Records and started working with Ed Bogus. While playing sessions for Ed he met Nick Gravenites who introduced my dad to the rock guys. First my dad was introduced to Paul Butterfield and John Kahn, then to Danny Cox. Soon after, John Kahn introduced him to Jerry Garcia at the Matrix Ballroom. When my dad met Jerry his world changed.

While still being signed to Fantasy (where I had seen Creedence Clearwater Revival take form) I saw my dad move away from jazz and into the world of rock. I saw him successfully make the sound of his B-3 fit into rock songs. Once Jerry and he started playing together, my whole world changed and so did my dad’s life. With the sold out shows and Jerry always wanting to know more music, my dad offered him a chance to play something other than Grateful Dead type music. Jerry sought out my dad’s knowledge for playing more challenging music. I first got to play with my dad and Jerry when I was 18. During this time my dad also started a group called Aunt Monk that I played bass in. I could learn more music and do more besides sitting in on a few songs, which John Kahn let me do in the Merl and Jerry Band. I thought it was cool when Jerry would show up unannounced and sit in with Aunt Monk when we played at these little clubs in the city. At these clubs we explored different types of music - Stanley Clarke songs, Weather Report songs and other stuff that was out of the box. When John Kahn left to play with other groups, I got to sub for him which gave me so much exposure to incredible musicians. We are going to stop here and continue in detail, as this is how my book starts.

To be continued..