MARION MEADOWS
Saxophone
The first name and the long hair are misleading: Marion Meadows is a man – with a penchant for stylish outfits. He prefers black, the man, whose ethnic mix is Native American, African American and Caucasian. With his exotic appearance and his black dreadlocks, he is surely a favourite with the Jazz-loving ladies. The saxophonist (soprano-, tenor- and baritone sax) was born in West Virginia, but he grew up in Connecticut. He began playing clarinet and studying classical music at eight years old. Very soon, he discovered his passion for different types of music, but also his penchant for jazz musicians like Stanley Turrentine, Duke Ellington or Coleman Hawkins. But actually, he dreamed of being either a veterinarian or zoologist – playing the sax was just a hobby. Until, while he was touring through Europe, he saw the way audiences reacted to him and his student cohorts in Holland, Italy and Austria. “It was a tremendous rush, and lit the fire.” … and burned the enthusiasm for veterinary medicine down to the ground.
After studying jazz with Anthony Truglia, Meadows attended Berklee College of Music, where he majored in arranging and composition. He later went to the SUNY Purchase School for the Arts, where he studied under Ron Herder and perfected his craft studying with Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman and Eddie Daniels. As a musician he sets an example for countless smoothsaxophonists, who all try to follow suit with the casually cool, but still powerfully emotional Meadows sound. By now he has worked together with a number of well-known artists like Brook Brenton, Eartha Kitt, Phyllis Hyman, Jean Carne, The Temptations, Michael Bolton or Angela Bofill.
The ‘90s marked the beginning of his solo career when he signed with RCA on the strength of his unreleased first album “For Lovers Only” (1991). He became a staple of the smooth jazz format with his subsequent recordings. “Whisper” (2013) is the name of his current release.
Listen to Marion Meadows on YouTube.de: