User talk:Johnleesanders

John Lee Sanders (Born October 16, 1951) is an American Musician, singer, pianist, saxophonist, and composer.
He performs in various genres of Blues, Gospel, Country, Jazz and Classical. He has performed with Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Willie Nelson Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Page, Starship, a 30 year musical association with composer and ASCAP chairman, Paul Williams. John performed since 1987 until 2003 as music director with Long John Baldry

John Lee Sanders was born in Evansville, Indiana, and spent his first two years in Crossville Illinois, where his entrepreneur grandfather, William F Sanders, founded the Crossville Telephone Company in 1918. His Father, William Sanders, was named chief of operations of State Farm Insurance in 1953, in Mississippi and Louisiana. in the late 1950s, During a one of his father's business trips to New Orleans, John and family heard "Sweet Emma Barret" on piano and vocal, at Preservation Hall which began his study and love for New Orleans piano blues and Jazz. His mother Gladys came from a family of Illinois Central Railroad workers, and musicians in Memphis Tennessee, including his Grandmother, Jessie, played piano in the early silent movies of Memphis. His cousin, Arthur Sutton, was a top jazz trombonist on the Memphis scene, performing with WC Handy, Berl Olswanger Orchestra, Bill Black, Bassist from Elvis Presley, and was the house trombonist in the dance orchestra at the Peabody Hotel.

John Lee began classical piano lessons in Jackson Mississippi, aged 6, sang in the Methodist church choir, and was heavily influenced by the African American blues and gospel, of the Mississippi Delta, where many of his mothers ancestors were born in Clarksdale Mississpi. Clarksdale is well known for it's origins of Blues music.

John’s older brother Chip Sanders, joined an early rock and roll band, “The Keynotes”, and learned the boogie woogie piano styles of Ray Charles, and Jerry Lee Lewis, who later became an State Farm insurance policy holder of John's brother Chip. Chip was force to cancel Jerry Lee's insurance policy, after crashing his car into the gates of Graceland On a summer trip to visit family in Memphis, John Lee met Elvis and the visited the Presley family home, in August 1956, after Elvis had purchased his first home, on Audubon Drive, close to the home of John’s Aunt Eleanor Hannah.

Since the 1920s, John's grandmother, Jessie lived in a Memphis neighborhood, that by the mid 1960s, due to "white Flight" had become predominately African American. Increase racial tensions, after the assassinations of Martin Luther King, John's grandmother left her longtime home in Memphis, to Humboldt Tennessee. John visited the neighborhood on a recent trip to Memphis, and upon walking in a small few block radius, visited the boarded up, abandoned birthplace of Aretha Franklin, and Royal Studios, where iconic soul music recordings had been made with Al Green. The Sanders family moved to Birmingham Alabama, in 1960, where John studied classical voice, piano, sang in the church choir. John’s Brother Chip Sanders, joined the Ramblers, one of the top Rock and Roll bands on the fraternity party, dance circuit. John performed with the Ramblers, as a 13 year old soul, rock singer, at one of the local dances, and was heard by top Birmingham DJ, concert Promoter, Dave Roddy, AKA "Dave Ruddle" advertised young John Lee, as "Little John, Birmingham's answer to Little Stevie Wonder"on his popular weekend dance. He became a featured singer, opening for acts such as Bobby Goldsburo, The Candymen, Billy Joe Royal and others, at weekend shows at the Birmingham National Guard Armory. During this time, Dave Roddy discovered Otis Redding, while MC'ing a school dance. Dave was one of the first promoters to bring black R&B acts to white shows, during this time of racial tensions in Birmingham.

During a downtown Christmas shopping in Birmingham, during a department store boycott, John Lee met Dr. Martin Luther King, in 1963. John did his first recording session in 1964, at Boutwell studio in Birmingham, on a novelty song written by his brother Chip. John’s brother Steve Sanders, (WGN Chicago), taught John to play bass and guitar, during the mid 1960s. Steve Sanders went on to a successful career in Radio and Television, winning 6 Emmy Awards for broadcast Journalism.

After John's father, William Sanders was named head of Operations, of State Farm Insurance, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, The Sanders family moved in 1968, to Monroe Louisiana, where John learned the Saxophone, joined the Neville High School Jazz and Marching band, and learned horn arranging by transcribing the horn sections of Blood Sweat & Tears, and Chicago. He won a scholarship to Northeast Louisiana University, and performed in the Jazz Ensemble, Orchestra, concert band, and Marching Band. John's mother, Gladys was a great supporter and donor of the Arts, especially American Broadway musicals, and often took John to the local productions. John performed in a local Monroe production of “Oliver”, written by Lionel Bart, who a close friend of Long John Baldry. Long John arranged for John Lee to speak by phone to Lionel, shortly before his death of brain cancer. John became the bassist and guitarist of thePhares Corder Orchestra, contractor of the Louisiana Musicians Union, and performed high profile society events in the mid south. John arranged the pit Orchestra for the Miss Louisiana Pageant, and the Memphis Maid of Cotton Pageant. Phares Corder often booked the horn and string sections of concerts, and theater productions traveling through Louisiana, which led John's first meeting of his childhood hero, Stevie Wonder, during the orchestra rehearsal of the Monroe concert in 1970.

Many years later, in Monroe, LA, The sprawling State Farm regional office of his deceased father closed in 2005, due to downsizing. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, September 2005, during a tour of Europe, John connected and brokered a deal with the Louisiana Red Cross, and State Farm friends of his family in Monroe, and helped set up the use of the State Farm building, to house the homeless victims of New Orleans, stranded in the Superdome.

In 1972, John transferred to The University of North Texas, in Denton Texas, where he played Bass and Saxophone in the North Texas Lab Band. He studied composition with Dr. Merrill Ellis, and piano from Grammy award winner, Lyle Mays. In the Summer of 1973, John studied Art, Italian language at Louisiana Tech Rome, and began his love of Italian Opera, and European Culture. On a weekend trip to the Montreaux Switzerland Jazz festival, John Lee met Dr. John and Professor Longhair, which led to a lifetime study and performance of New Orleans Jazz and Blues piano. John studied electronic music at North Texas, and discovered the sounds of one of the early Moog Synthesizers. During the enrollment at the University of North Texas, John started a band with Keyboardist Peter Schless, who taught John how to bend the notes on a minimoog synth, to sound like his Florida bandmates, such as Duane Allman, on slide guitar. John met NTSU composer in residence, Dika Newlin, in Denton, and later rented her home, with 2 other roomates, including musician and composer Tony Taboada, whose family had left Cuba during the Communist Castro Revolution. Tony introduced John to the great salsa and latin music of Cuba, including artists such as Tito Puente.

John took a hiatus from North Texas University in 1974, and joined a Funk group called The Buster Brown Band,from the Texas Panhandle, which performed in the Black clubs of Dallas,and East Texas, and a regular house gig at Mother Blues. John became friends with local Dallas music icons, Freddie King, David “Fathead Newman”, Music biographer, and music journalist and biographer, David Ritz, who John would later write music with. On a ill fated cancelled show in Austin Texas, after an equipment truck broke down, John and the band met Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, when they lacked the funds for a hotel room.

In 1975-76, John Lee performed briefly with an all black group called the "Last Band" with Soul/Funk performers, Robert "Goodie" Whitfieldand Cavin Yarbrough and Smokin' Joe Kubek In 1976, John returned to Monroe, and finished his Bachelor of Arts degree, at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. In December, of 1976, before the Christmas holiday, John met his Dallas friend Freddie King, at a soundcheck before the show in West Monroe, LA. Freddie invited John to perform with the band at the show, on saxophone. Pleased with John's performance, Freddie asked John to join him on a tour of Japan, beginning February, 1977. Freddie died a few weeks later, after a blood clot. John stayed in contact with Freddie's Organist, Deacon Jones, and later collaborated with him in California, a few years later, on many blues recordings, including John Lee Hooker's "Chill Out"

John Lee met and joined The Funk Rock Pop Rock Group, Uncle Rainbow, with Brent Bourgeoisand other jazz fusion musicians in 1977. The band signed a production recording contract with Michael Hossack of the Doobie Brothers after hearing the band in Vail Colorado, and relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. As the main songwriter, keys and sax, Uncle Rainbow signed a record deal with Riva Records, in 1979. After their album went unreleased, Uncle Rainbow signed a production contract with Jazz drummer, and San Francisco producer Narada Michael Walden.

Uncle Rainbow parted ways, and John Lee stayed in Northern California, and started a solo music career, B movie Soundtracks, recorded as a session musician, horn arranger, jingles with corporate clients including Apple Computer and Walmart. He recorded and produced Children’s music with A&M recording artist Linda Arnold.

John toured yearly with Long John Baldry, beginning 1987, on keyboards and saxophone. In 1995, he signed a record contract with Hypertension music, in Hamburg, with distribution throughout Europe, in his first solo release, World Blue, a mix of R&B, classical crossover, Funk, Blues.

In 1999, John Lee signed with Raw Records, and in a genre departure, John released “Mozart, Rhythm & Romance”, using Mozart melodic motifs, in various styles of Celtic, Spanish, Blues, Smooth Jazz, African, and Classical Crossover. The recording featured well known classical, jazz, and world beat musicians in Northern California, including Irene Sazer, from the Turtle Island String Quartet. The CD included classical guitarist Jeff Linsky, and long time Charles Brown bassist, Ruth Davies.

1998, on a concert with Jimmy Witherspoon at Festival Lent,in Maribor Slovenia, John met a group of Austrian musicians, who would become his backup band, in tours from 1999, until the present. John came back to Festival Lent as a solo performer, in 2014, with Zakiya Hooker, daughter of John Lee Hooker, backed by the 20 member HRT National Jazz Orchestra of Croatia. The show featured compositions and big band arrangements of Sanders, on a 5 city Croatia,Slovenia tour.

In 2004, Blues pianist Marcia Ball recorded John's song "Foreclose on the House of Love, on her CD "So Many Rivers", The song reached #9 on the Blues charts, and was nominated for the "Blues song of the Year" at the 2004 Blues awards in Memphis, where John and Family attended, one of his first trips back to Memphis, since 1969.

John’s longtime friend, Doc Kupka, founding member of Tower of Power, contracted John as lead vocalist on “Doc Goes Hollywood, arranged and co-composed by Film composer, William Ross with an “A” list film orchestra. Mixed at Capitol records, by multi Grammy winner, Al Schmitt.

John Lee relocated to Vancouver British Columbia in 2016, and remarried his second wife. He recorded "Live at Rock Beach" which also produced a Live DVD, with a live audience, in White Rock, BC. The CD featured long time friend and vocalist Kathi McDonald. During this time in British Columbia, John performed blues and jazz festivals throughout BC,Alberta and Manitoba. John was nominated for Keyboard Player of the year by the Toronto Blues Society in 2012. In 2012, John performed a double bill, with Bonnie Raitt, as her opening act at the Queen Elizabeth Theater, Vancouver, and the Jubilee Theater, Calgary Alberta. In 2011, John was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma, of the tongue. He went through radiation and chemo treatments in Kelowna, BC, and months of recovery. He also went through alternative treatments, of acupuncture, Reiki, and quantum energetic healing through various practitioners in Vancouver including Dr. Louie Yu. John's voice suffered from the treatments, and was forced to cancel tours, and performances. He taught piano and saxophone after treatments, and slowly through vocal exercises, learned from the Seth Riggs method, he regained is vocal skills.

In 2012, John was contracted to perform solo piano and vocals on the World Residensea, The world's largest private yatch, in a 2 month cruise through the Northwest passage. Due to the effects of climate change and melting of the polar ice caps, the voyage was possible. Setting sail from Nome, Alaska, U.S. on 18 Aug 2012 and reaching Nuuk, Greenland on 12 Sept 2012, the ship became the largest passenger vessel at the time to transit the Northwest Passage.[3][4] The ship, carrying 481 passengers and crew, for 26 days and 4,800 nautical miles (8,900 km) at sea, followed in the path of Captain Roald Amundsen, the first sailor to complete the journey in 1906.[5]

John's second wife Judy, filed for divorce in Feb. 2012, due to irreconcilable differences. After a long recovery, John resumed touring in Europe, in 2013 with a German Bavarian Zydeco band, "Rad Gumbo". John did a Croatian Recording with the band "Rad Gumbo meets John Lee Sanders" which won the German Music Critics award, in 2014. In 2015, during a vacation to the Alabama Gulf Coast, John was offered a full time position at the Perdido Beach Resort, in Orange Beach Alabama. He began a crowdfunding campaign,in 2014, to fund his upcoming CD release, "Tweakin'Some Twang", an Americana fusion of Country, Blues, Rockabilly, Zydeco, and Gospel. John married Maria Silvero Gomez, in October 2015, A German woman, born in Spain. John met Maria in 1995, during a European tour in 1995, and rekindled their friendship in 2012.