Tony Saunders (bassist)

Tony Saunders (born November 10, 1955) is an American bass and synthesizer player, best known for playing jazz, gospel, R&B, and pop music. He is also a composer, arranger, record producer, and founder of the Studio 1281 recording studio.^[1][2]

Saunders was born on November 10, 1955, in San Francisco, California,^[3] where his father, keyboardist Merl Saunders, introduced him to music. Saunders began singing at age five and was playing the piano by eight.^[4] He received one of his first piano lessons from Herbie Hancock and was taught by Sly Stone, who gave him an organ when he was ten.^[5] When Saunders was 14, he began playing the bass.^[6]

Growing up, Saunders was exposed to musicians such as Eddie Moore, Jimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine, Sonny Rollins, Dewey Redman, George Duke, Al Jarreau, Bola Sete and John Handy.

Saunders graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music^[7] and was awarded a fellowship for piano. He was gifted his first bass guitar by Tom Fogerty, the rhythm guitarist in American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Notably, Saunders earned the first of his two Emmys at 14 by collaborating with his father, Merl, on the PBS documentary Soul Is. By age 17, he played with Merl and Jerry Garcia on their collaborations.^[8] Saunders earned his second Emmy for an episode of Digital Journey titled "China: The Digital Economy".^[9]

Saunders began playing with his father, Merl, and Jerry Garcia, becoming a featured musician in Merl Saunders & Aunt Monk, when he was 17 years old. Later, Saunders played in the original Rainforest Band and recorded all of his father's projects. Bassists Chuck Rainey, Jack Casady, and John Kahn were interested in Saunders's musical ability. Kahn introduced Saunders to the music of James Jamerson, and Saunders modeled his playing around all of his teachers. His other influences include Stanley Clarke, Alphonso Johnson, Rufus Reid, Ralphe Armstrong, and Marcus Miller. Anthony Davis and Lee Miles encouraged Saunders to play bass guitar full-time.

Saunders has scored movies, corporate videos, TV shows, and commercials, and produced numerous CDs, primarily at his studio, Studio 1281.^[10] He composed the music for the stage play Zetta, which was performed in San Francisco by the American Conservatory Theater and also assumed the role of musical director for the show. He was the musical director of Rock Justice, written by Bob Heyman and Marty Balin of Jefferson Starship.^[7]

Artists collaborating with him on projects have included Nils, Jeff Lorber, Paul Brown, Gail Johnson, Jeff Ryan, Marion Meadows, Mavis Staples, John Lee Hooker, and Austin "Auggie" Brown, the nephew of Michael Jackson (Auggie's project was later sold to Midas Records). Saunders was hired as a staff producer for San Francisco Records, having previously worked for the label's president Ron Umile when he was at Associated Booking in New York. Umile hired Saunders to work with Martha Reeves, Randy Crawford, and others. Saunders' first solo album, Bigger than Outside, was released in October 2011. It remained on the charts for 70 weeks.

His second CD, Appaloosa, was released on January 22, 2014. It features Grammy winners Howard Hewett, Bill Champlin, and Tony Lindsay on vocals, along with seven instrumentals and six vocal songs. Tom Politzer (from Tower of Power) and Rock Hendricks (from Paul Hardcastle's Jazzmasters series) also performed saxophone on the CD. Long-time friends of Saunders, Fred Ross and Sakai, who were background singers with the rock band Train, also sing on the duet "The Question Is".

The third CD for San Francisco Records, titled Uptown Jazz, featured Gabriel Mark Hasselbach, Rock Hendricks, Sakai, Paul Hardcastle Jr., and Gerald Albright. Saunders' single "Rock Steady" was a cover of The Whispers's 1980s hit and was produced in Atlanta by Magic Mendez. Harmony Blackwell, The Whispers' programmer/background vocalist, and Mendez sang the vocals with Mendez laying all the music tracks. Nils and Saunders played the lead lines to the song written by Babyface.^[11]

His next album, Sexy Somethin', was released on February 21, 2020, on San Francisco Records. It features Jeff Lorber, Marion Meadows, Paul Brown, Nils, Gail Johnson, Jeff Ryan, Ray Chew, and Paul Jackson Jr.

Saunders studied under choir director Leon Patillo. He met the Hawkins family when he was 14 and credits them with not only inspiring him to play bass, but also with giving him spiritual guidance. He played with Walter Hawkins, Edwin Hawkins and the Love Center Choir in the 1980s, and released He Lifted Me Up, his first gospel project, in 2005. Other gospel artists Saunders has played with include Andrae Crouch, the Clark Sisters, Reverend James Moore, Daryl Coley, James Cleveland, the Williams Brothers, The Mighty Clouds Of Joy, and Shirley Caesar. He completed a gospel project that featured Derrick Hughes, Alfreda Lyons-Campbell, and Saunders' long-time friend, gospel bassist/drummer Joel Smith (Walter and Ed's nephew).

In 2021, Saunders signed to the label Baja/TSR Records and produced a new CD called All About Love.

Saunders won a Telly Award in 2022 for the video "Black Lives Matter", which he co-authored with Nona Brown. Saunders has also received two Emmy Awards. He won the New York Film Festival's Grand and Silver Awards for educational compositions.^[7]

• 2002: Whispering Waters – Tony Saunders/Paradize – arranger, producer, bass (electric, upright, six-string, five-string)
• 2005: He Lifted Me Up – Tony Saunders & the Anointed Voices^[12] – producer, composer, bass
• 2011: Romancing The Bass – Tony Saunders solo; CD
• 2014: Appaloosa – Tony Saunders solo; CD
• 2016: Uptown Jazz – Tony Saunders solo; CD
• 2019: Peace to the Planet – Rainforest Band – composer, bass^[13]
• 2020: Sexy Somethin – Tony Saunders solo; CD
• 2021: All About Love – Tony Saunders solo; CD
• 2023: Good Medicine – Rainforest Band – composer, bass^[14]
• 2024: The Romance Continues – Tony Saunders solo; CD

• 2005: Peace to the Planet – Rain Forest Band – composer, bass^[15][16]
• 2005: He Lifted Me Up – Tony Saunders & the Anointed Voices^[17]
• 2021: Sweet Breeze – The Noteworthy Band – producer, composer, bass

• Rock Justice by Marty Balin (1979) – EMI (music director) (DVD released 2007)
• Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) – actor (in "The Four-Mations"), musical performer, songwriter^[18]
• CBS Schoolbreak Special: God, the Universe & Hot Fudge Sundaes – actor (role of Balliff) (1986)
• Farmer & Chase – soundtrack (1995)^[19]
• Faith & Fear: The Children of Krishna – composer and musician (TV, 2001)
• Beginning Bass – Tony Saunders (Book and DVD, 2005)
• Writer's Day – Composer and foley artist (2005)
• Learning Bass Guitar – Tony Saunders and Rudy Sarzo (Book and DVD, 2007)

• Learning Bass Guitar – Tony Saunders and Rudy Sarzo (2007)
• Beginning Bass – Tony Saunders (2005)
• Funk Drumming – Jim Payne (played on enclosed CD), Mel Bay Publications (April 1993) ISBN 0-87166-511-5, ISBN 978-0-87166-511-9

• Official website
• Tony Saunders MySpace Page