Eric Marienthal | |
|---|---|
 Marienthal in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | December 19, 1957 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | 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]
The saxophone is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave inside the instrument's body. The pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes in the body to change the effective length of the tube. The holes are closed by leather pads attached to keys operated by the player. Saxophones are made in various sizes and are almost always treated as transposing instruments. Saxophone players are called saxophonists.
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".
David Stephen Koz is an American saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in California.
Eddie Daniels is an American musician and composer. Although he is best known as a jazz clarinetist, he has also played saxophone and flute as well as classical music on clarinet.
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, or simply The Big Phat Band, is an 18-piece jazz orchestra that combines the big band swing of the 1930s and 1940s with contemporary music such as funk and jazz fusion. The band is led by Gordon Goodwin, who arranges, composes, plays piano and saxophone. Since its origin, the Big Phat Band has received several Grammy Awards and many Grammy nominations.
Eye of the Beholder is a 1988 album by the Chick Corea Elektric Band. It features Chick Corea with guitarist Frank Gambale, saxophonist Eric Marienthal, drummer Dave Weckl and bassist John Patitucci.
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 mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument is that part of the instrument which is placed partly in the player's mouth. Single-reed instruments, capped double-reed instruments, and fipple flutes have mouthpieces while exposed double-reed instruments and open flutes do not. The characteristics of a mouthpiece and reed can play a significant role on the sound of the instrument.
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.
Nelson Rangell is an American smooth jazz musician and composer from Castle Rock, Colorado. Although he is known for his work with the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, his primary instrument is the piccolo, which he began playing at the age of 15. He has at times worked with Jimmy Haslip and Russ Ferrante.
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.
Tia Fuller is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator, and a member of the all-female band touring with Beyoncé. Fuller is currently a faculty member in the ensembles department at Berklee College of Music. Fuller was a Featured Jazz Musician in Pixar's full length computer-animated feature Soul. For the film Fuller plays an alto saxophone with a Vandoren mouthpiece for the character Dorothea Williams. The appearance of Dorothea Williams is influenced by Fuller, and the character's speaking lines are voiced by Angela Bassett.
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").
Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque. From 1992 to 1995 he led the Tonight Show Band.
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.
Joe Daley was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and music teacher. Daley was part of the Chicago jazz scene for 40 years. Musicians who studied with Daley include Grammy winners David Sanborn and Paul Winter, Emmy winner James DiPasquale, Richard Corpolongo, Chuck Domanico, and John Klemmer.
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.
Masato Honda, is a Japanese saxophone player, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. Born in Nakamura City, Kochi Prefecture, he graduated from Kunitachi College of Music. He is most well known for being a member of the band T-Square and appearing on Cowboy Bebop's soundtrack with The Seatbelts.
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