Eric Marienthal | |
|---|---|
 Marienthal in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | December 19, 1957 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Saxophone |
| Labels | GRP, PolyGram, Peak |
| Website | ericmarienthal |
Eric Marienthal (born December 19, 1957 [1] ) is a Grammy Award-nominated [2] Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres.
Eric Marienthal was born on December 19, 1957, in Sacramento, California, to Robert Marienthal, an insurance salesman, but moved to San Mateo when he was two years old. [3] He has credited his enthusiasm for music on being taught music while in school, and picked up the saxophone in the fourth grade after he thought it looked "pretty cool". Marienthal has also mentioned his father was a fan of music, particularly 1940s and 1950s such as Boots Randolph, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. [4] He initially wanted to pick up the trumpet but a teacher discouraged him because of his braces. As Marienthal progressed, his father bought him a $400 Selmer saxophone and enrolled him in Corona Del Mar High School. [3] Throughout his education, Marienthal also learned to play guitar (in grade school), flute, clarinet (both high school) and piano (college). [4]
After graduating from high school in Southern California in 1976, he studied at the Berklee College of Music, [5] where he studied with the saxophone professor, Joe Viola. [4] By the time he left Berklee, Eric had achieved the highest proficiency rating given by the school. [6]
Marienthal started his professional career in 1980 with famed New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt. [7] After returning to Los Angeles, Eric became a member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band. [7] Marienthal has stated that he was a Chick Corea fan even before he started performing with him. [3] He recorded six albums with that band and two of them won Grammy Awards.
Marienthal has also written instructional books, including Comprehensive Jazz Studies & Exercises, The Ultimate Jazz Play Along, and The Music of Eric Marienthal and instructional videos, including Play Sax From Day One, Modern Sax and Tricks of the Trade, all published by Warner Brothers Publications, which is now Alfred Publishing/Belwin Jazz. Every summer since 1999, he has put on an annual fundraising concert for High Hopes Head Injury Program, a non-profit organization in Orange County, California, that works with people who have suffered traumatic head injuries. [8] [9]
Marienthal occupies the lead alto chair of Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, [10] playing alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, and piccolo. [3]
In 2012, Marienthal released the album It's Love, produced by guitarist Chuck Loeb, who also appears on the tracks. The studio band includes keyboardist Russell Ferrante, drummer Gary Novak, and bassist Tim Lefebvre. [11]
With David Benoit
With Brian Bromberg
With Matt Catingub
With Chick Corea
With Brian Culbertson
With Gordon Goodwin
With Roger Neumann
With Dave Weckl
With The Rippingtons
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2004, and was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2007.
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B♭ (while the alto is pitched in the key of E♭), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F♯ key have a range from A♭2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists".
Ernest James Watts is a Grammy-winning American jazz and R&B saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album The Grand Wazoo he played the "Mystery Horn", a straight-necked C melody saxophone. Watts also played the notable sax riff on "The One You Love" from Glenn Frey's album No Fun Aloud.
GRP® Records is a jazz record label founded by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen in 1978. Distributed by Verve Records, GRP® was originally known for its digital recordings that focuses on its jazz genre.
Swingin' for the Fences is the debut album by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, an 18-piece big band led by Gordon Goodwin.
Russ Freeman is a smooth jazz guitarist who is the founder and leader of The Rippingtons.
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, or simply The Big Phat Band, is an 18-piece jazz orchestra led by Gordon Goodwin that combines the big band swing of the 1930s and 1940s with contemporary music such as funk and jazz fusion. Since its origin, the Big Phat Band has received several Grammy Awards and many Grammy nominations.
Light Years is an album by the Chick Corea Elektric Band. It features Chick Corea with guitarist Frank Gambale, saxophonist Eric Marienthal, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Dave Weckl. The album received the 1988 Grammy Award for the Best R&B Instrumental Performance.
The Phat Pack is the third studio album by the jazz ensemble Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. Goodwin received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement for the song "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes".
Jeff Kashiwa is an American saxophonist with the smooth jazz band the Rippingtons and one of three with the Sax Pack, as well as having recorded several albums under his own name.
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The GRP All-Star Big Band was a contemporary big band assembled in the late 1980s by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen, the founders of GRP Records. The band played new arrangements of popular jazz pieces from the 1950s and 1960s.
Brave New World is the ninth album by American jazz group The Rippingtons, released in 1996 for the GRP label. The album reached No. 4 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart. It was the group's final release on the GRP label.
Act Your Age is the fourth album by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. It received a Grammy Award nomination in 2008 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Gordon Goodwin received nominations for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Instrumental Arrangement ("Yesterdays").
Dave Grusin Presents GRP All-Star Big Band Live! is a jazz album by the GRP All-Star Big Band.
Inside Out is an album by the Chick Corea Elektric Band, released in 1990 through the record label GRP. The album peaked at number six on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
Beneath the Mask is an album by Chick Corea Elektric Band, released in 1991 through the record label GRP. The album peaked at number two on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
Life in the Bubble is an album by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2015. Goodwin won an additional Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his version of the song "On Green Dolphin Street".
All Blues is an album by the GRP All-Star Big Band that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance in 1996.
GRP All-Star Big Band is a jazz album by the big band of the same name. The album was nominated for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Recording at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards.
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