Eric Marienthal (born December 19, 1957) is a Grammy Award-nominated Los Angeles-based contemporary

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) 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 pro ...

best known for his work in the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the ...

, and pop genres.

Early life

Eric Marienthal was born on December 19, 1957 in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

to Robert Marienthal, an insurance salesman, but moved to San Mateo when he was two years old. 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 Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit "Yakety Sax" (which became Benny Hill's signature tune). Randolph was a major part of the " Nashville sound" for most ...

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

. 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. Throughout his education, Marienthal also learned to play guitar (in grade school), flute, clarinet (both high school) and piano (college). After graduating from high school in Southern California in 1976, he studied at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, where he studied with the saxophone professor, Joe Viola. By the time he left Berklee, Eric had achieved the highest proficiency rating given by the school.

Career

Marienthal started his professional career in 1980 with famed

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

trumpeter

Al Hirt Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album ''Honey in the Horn'' (1963), and for the theme ...

. After returning to Los Angeles, Eric became a member of the

Chick Corea Elektric Band Chick Corea Elektric Band was a jazz fusion band, led by keyboardist and pianist Chick Corea and founded in 1986 in New York City. The band was nominated twice at the Grammy Awards. The sixth band album, a tribute one named ''Chick Corea Elektric ...

. Marienthal has stated that he was a Chick Corea fan even before he started performing with him. 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 Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

/Belwin Jazz. Every summer since 1999, he has put on an annual fundraising concert fo
High Hopes Head Injury Program
a non-profit organization in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, ...

that works with people who have suffered traumatic head injuries. Marienthal occupies the lead alto chair of

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band 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 arra ...

, playing alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, and piccolo. In 2012, Marienthal released the album ''It's Love'', produced by guitarist

Chuck Loeb Charles Samuel "Chuck" Loeb (December 7, 1955 – July 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist and a member of the groups Steps Ahead, Metro and Fourplay. Early years and education Loeb was born in Nyack, New York, near New York City. At a ...

, who also appears on the tracks. The studio band includes keyboardist

Russell Ferrante Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. History In 1977, guitarist Robben Ford, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer R ...

, drummer Gary Novak, and bassist

Tim Lefebvre Tim Lefebvre (born February 4, 1968) is an American bass guitarist. Both as a session musician and band member, he has worked with a wide range of musicians, including David Bowie, The Black Crowes, Elvis Costello, Sting, Empire of the Sun, The Sl ...

Equipment

* Selmer Mark VI Alto Saxophone with a "Eric Marienthal Special" mouthpiece with a size 7 (.085 inch) tip opening and ishimori woodstone ligature * Yamaha Custom Z Alto Saxophone with a Beechler Metal No. 7 mouthpiece and 'Olegature' ligature * Selmer Mark VI Tenor Saxophone with a Berg Larsen Metal 100/2 mouthpiece and Brancher ligature * Yamaha YSS 62 Soprano Saxophone with a Selmer Super Session #H mouthpiece and Harrison ligature *Muramatsu Flute * Vandoren traditional 2.5 reeds

Discography

* 1988: ''Voices of the Heart'' ( GRP) * 1989: ''Round Trip'' (GRP) * 1990: ''Crossroads'' (GRP) * 1991: ''

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

'' (GRP) * 1993: '' One Touch'' (GRP) * 1994: ''Street Dance'' (GRP) * 1997: '' Easy Street'' (PolyGram/Verve) * 1997: ''Collection'' (GRP) * 1998: '' Walk Tall'' ( Verve) * 2001: ''Turn Up the Heat'' ( Peak) * 2003: ''Sweet Talk'' (Peak) * 2005: ''Got You Covered'' (Peak) * 2007: ''Just Around the Corner'' (Peak) * 2012: ''It's Love'' (Peak/

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...

) * 2015: ''Bridges'' with

( Shanachie) * 2020: ''Double Dealin (with Randy Brecker, Shanachie Records)

References

External links

~
Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Official Website
jazzhall.com; accessed March 9, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marienthal, Eric 1957 births American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Smooth jazz saxophonists People from San Mateo, California GRP Records artists Living people Musicians from Sacramento, California Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area Berklee College of Music alumni The Rippingtons members 21st-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from California 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band members Chick Corea Elektric Band members GRP All-Star Big Band members