Merl Saunders - Blues From The Rainforest: A Musical Suite (2001)

Take a visual and audio trip through the rainforest with Merl Saunders and special friend Jerry Garcia on this exclusive DVD presentation. This album is probably not the best representation of Merl Saunders, whose instrument of choice was the Hammond B-3 organ, but it’s a terrific album worth revisiting, and an album whose creator is worth remembering.

In 1990, Merl Saunders reintroduced himself to legions of Deadheads with the release of a stunningly beautiful new age album titled Blues from the Rainforest. Though Saunders' career now spans more than thirty years, this album remains his true masterpiece. It helped, of course, that Saunders once again collaborated with Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia on four of the album's six tracks, and together, they tapped into the deep-rooted spiritual connection among mankind, music, and nature.

Sad to say, Blues from the Rainforest has been out of print and difficult to find for quite some time, though it remains available through Saunders' own web site. Nevertheless, it deserves wider distribution. From the haunted beauty of the title track, to the radiant strains of Sunrise over Haleakala to the playful Dance of the Fireflies — the album remains as emotionally moving today as it was upon its initial release.

Fortunately, Whirlwind Media has had the wisdom to re-release Blues from the Rainforest — albeit in DVD format. The package includes the entire album on a special audio track, and this is the real reason to pick up the DVD. The rest of the material is enjoyable, but non-essential.

Of this, there is a 25-minute television program taken from a promotional appearance by Saunders on San Francisco After Dark. It's the usual interview interspersed with concert footage that gives a general overview into the making of the album. Faring better, is the 24-minute documentary titled Rediscovering the Amazon, which highlights Saunders' visit to South America a few years following the release of his album. This is actually quite an interesting tale that highlights the biodiversity of the area, the cultures of the Amazon's people, and some of the problems the rainforest is facing.

Rounding out the DVD is the video for the title track as well as an hour-long excerpt from Saunders' September 24, 1990 performance at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The former is far too short, obviously created for the sole purpose of marketing the album to commerical video music programs. Nevertheless, it's tastefully done and enjoyable to watch. On the latter, the sound quality and video picture are reasonable enough, though clearly they were made prior to the popularity of digital technology. Nevertheless, the performance is a pretty accurate depiction of a Merl Saunders concert.

Backing Saunders is an early rendition of his Rainforest Band, which included guitarist Steve Kimock, who later went on to perform with Zero, Phil Lesh & Friends, and The Other Ones. Kimock's fluid, Garcia-like leads fit in perfectly with Saunders on selections like the funky blues of High Heel Sneakers and the prog-rock jazz of Merl's Tune.

Not surprisingly, however, the highlights were the two newer tracks from the Blues from the Rainforest album. On Dance of the Fireflies, Muruga embarked on a quiet percussive groove, which magically intermingled with Saunders' lightly flickering keyboards and the soothing textures of Steve Kindler's violin. Similarly, Afro Pearl Blue's gentle meditative mantra drifted amidst a hazy swirl of synthesizer and vocals. ~ Review by John Metzger





Video Program

· San Francisco After Dark

· Rediscovering the Amazon

· Concert Footage:
Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band
Live at the Great American Music Hall
San Francisco, California, September 24, 1990

01. Introduction
02. Expressway to Your Heart
03. High Heel Sneakers
04. Boogie on Reggae Woman
05. Afro Pearl Blue
06. Finder's Keepers
07. Dance of the Fireflies
08. Save Mother Earth
09. Merl's Tune

Audio Program

01. Blues From The Rainforest
02. Sunrise Over Haleakala
03. Blue Hill Ocean Dance
04. Afro Pearl Blue
05. Dance Of The Fireflies
06. Sri Lanka

Produced by Merl Saunders and Marina Zachau

Musicians

• Jerry Garcia - vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, flute, horns, midi guitar, midi horn
• Merl Saunders - vocals, strings, flute, horns, piano, synthesizer, midi horn, marimba, kalimba
• Shakti Baker, Karen Baker, Shakti - vocals
• Bill Thompson - midi, bass drum, cymbals, shaker, programming, drum programming
• Eddie Moore - balafon, drums, congas, kalimba, percussion, sound effects
• Muruga - drums, congas, cymbals, shaker, tabla, percussion, bells, sound effects
• Melvin Seals - sound effects






Many thanks to the original uploader: YWM2