Merl Saunders & His Funky Friends
Unknown Venue
3 or 4 April 99

Is it funk? Is it jam? Is it jazz? Is it rock?  Like the best of all music - it will leave you thinking "I've heard that before". I suppose if you blended Stevie Wonder, The Grateful Dead, The Meters, and Tower of Power, you'd get an idea of Merl's music - upbeat, lively and always with a bit of improvisation and different arrangements thrown in for fun.

With his Hammond B3 and a rotating cast of Funky Friends, Merl have been entertaining a long time. He learned to play the piano at the age of 10 but an early apprenticeship with Jimmy Smith cemented a career in music. From then on, he collaborated with an eclectic Who's Who of American music - Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Jerry Garcia and Paul Butterfield to mention a few.  Starting in the 70's, he fronted his own band and has been jamming ever since. He's released over 20 albums.


1. Boogie On Reggae Woman
2. Fire On The Mountain
3. Baby, It's Too Late ??
4. Summertime - instrumental
5. Make It Better > Instrumental Jam
6.  Band Intros > Thank You Falettin' Me Be Mice Elf>  Dynamite

not sure about the spelling of these names
Merl Saunders - k
Dean Stone - d
Sammy Mann - b
David Guelgo - congo
Jake Lanney - g
Brody West - alto s
Brian Beard - trumpet


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