Keyboardist Merl Saunders, who worked with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis, and collaborated over a long period with Jerry Garcia, has died at the age of 74 in San Francisco. He was being treated for the complications caused by a stroke he suffered back in 2002.
Saunders was born in San Mateo in California, and came to notice with the aforementioned collaborations with Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, as well as through his own bands. During his prolific recording career, he released more than twenty albums, and appeared on dozens more, and also had a very active live schedule, playing with his own bands, and with fellow artists like Garcia, Tom Fogerty, Bonnie Raitt, BB King and Sheila E.
A message posted on his official website by his family reads: "We loved him very much and we know that you, his fans, did too. Sad as we are to lose him, we're very aware of being comforted by the affection coming from all those touched by that smile and that wonderful music".
He is survived by his partner, two sons and a daughter.