Bootleg Friday: Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia, 1972

This is inexcusably late of me, but losing Merl Saunders, organist extraordinaire, at the end of October was a loss I felt keenly. Saunders played with Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, B.B. King, Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Bonnie Raitt, Miles Davis and many more. His playing was warm, fluid and soulful – with an obvious debt to Jimmy Smith, with whom he studied.But more importantly, Saunders had a spirit that lit up a room – his playing was immensely joyful, and if you were lucky ...

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