Merl Saunders, a gifted jazz and rock keyboardist who collaborated with a number of iconic acts over the past four decades, including the Grateful Dead and Miles Davis, has passed away at the age of 74. According to his son, Merl Saunders, Jr., the musician died on Friday in San Francisco due to complications following a stroke.
Born in San Mateo, California, Saunders attended high school in San Francisco with another music legend, Johnny Mathis. One of his very first performances was at a high school event with Mathis. But Saunders’s most famous music was made in the 1960s and ’70s, when he teamed up with Grateful Dead lead guitarist and singer, Jerry Garcia. The Saunders-Garcia Band recorded two albums in the 1970s, and the two would play together on a wide array of projects until Garcia’s untimely death in 1995. In 1990, the duo released the album Blues for the Rainforest, which achieved success on the New Age music charts. Saunders is survived by his longtime companion, his two sons, and a daughter.