Although Merl Saunders is certainly best known for his collaborations with Jerry Garcia in the early ’70s up through Legion of Mary, two decades later he was a staple of the jam scene across the United States. Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band were a constant presence in college towns and at small festivals, serving up heaping helping of funky, danceable, MIDI drenched grooves and environmental messages; his affection for the rainforest couldn’t be missed.
While the band went through some changes and eventually became something closer to Merl Saunders and Friends before he suffered a stroke, the classic band featured Michael Hinton, Michael Warren and Vince Littleton for a number of years. The bulk of this weeks Ghosts of Jambands Past edition of Stormy Mondays comes from a California gig in the summer of 1993: Blues for the Rainforest and Merl’s unique, almost instrumental Fire on the Mountain from the close of the first set, and Sugaree and Lonely Avenue from the close of the second. As always, enjoy!
