Tony Saunders

Bass player Tony Saunders graduated from San Francisco's prestigeous Conservatory of Music as a keyboardist. Tony is the son of Merl Saunders, a legendary keyboard player and composer. As a child he was taught piano by Herbie Hancock and Sly Stone gave him an electric organ for his tenth birthday.

Tony's interest in playing the bass began when sitting in on recording sessions with great bass players like Walter Hawkins and Anthony Davis. Tony said that after seeing them play, that's all he wanted. Chuck Rainey and John Kahn gave him bass lessons. He played in his first gig with Jerry Garcia and his dad when he was 17.

Tony has since played bass with great musical talents including Eric Clapton, Jo Sample and David Crosby and Gerald Albright.

His current CD is titled "Uptown Jazz"

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