Home » Jazz Musicians » Marion Meadows

Marion Meadows

Born in West Virginia, saxophonist Marion Meadows grew up in Stamford, CT, where he began playing the clarinet and studying classical music at age 8. He naturally gravitated to the soprano sax in his high school years, and his passion for various types of music led him to appreciate numerous jazz musicians, including Stanley Turrentine, Sidney Bichet, Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins. Fortunately for the smooth jazz fans who have embraced his sweet and funky soprano sound over the past 15 years, Meadows took a few very important trips to Europe with his high school band during his junior and senior years. Originally planning to enter a college pre-med program (he had aspirations to pursue a career in veterinary medicine or zoology), he considered the saxophone a hobby until he saw the way audiences reacted to him and his fellow student performers in Holland, Italy and Austria.

“The first trip was with my high school band and the second was a graduation gift to me and a few other guys playing over there in a big band setting,” he says. “It was exciting seeing positive newspaper articles about my playing in Italy, receiving all sorts of accolades and feeling the excitement of interaction with the crowd. It was a tremendous rush, and it lit the fire.”

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. “I got a lot of sideman jobs in college, and I have always said I got a graduate degree playing clubs,” says Meadows, who perfected his craft studying with Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman and Eddie Daniels. “Not long after I finished school, (drummer) Norman Connors recorded my song ‘Invitation’ and then asked me to join his band. I later produced his Passion album with him. Things just fell into place.”

Meadows first hit the airwaves in 1991 with For Lovers Only, but his career really began one day in the late ‘80s at New York’s Grand Central Station. He had been a sideman with Connors for three years, with only vague notions of eventually going solo. One day, while waiting for a train, he pulled out his horn and began playing under the huge dome. His sweet sound caught the attention of fellow traveller and TV composer Jay Chattaway, who was so impressed that he hooked Meadows up with legendary keyboardist Bob James. James signed Meadows to a deal with his TappanZee label, and though Meadows’ first recording went unreleased, the experience put him on the road to his eventual success.

Read more

Tags

401
Album Review

Marion Meadows: Secrets

Read "Secrets" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


Regardless of the genre, an acoustic drum kit generally makes for a better sound than an electronic program. However, when the latter is done well, the difference can be staggering. That's one factor that makes Marion Meadows' Secrets function. Meadows began playing saxophone at age eight. His studies led him to appreciate such greats as Stanley Turrentine, Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins. He has also studied Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman and Eddie Daniels. On Secrets, Meadows is ...

Read more articles
1

Performance / Tour

Soprano Saxophonist Marion Meadows Announces 2013 Tour Dates In Support Of Acclaimed New Album "Whisper"

Soprano Saxophonist Marion Meadows Announces 2013 Tour Dates In Support Of Acclaimed New Album "Whisper"

Source: 1888 Media

Label Debut For Shanachie Features Special Guest Bob Baldwin And Includes Soulful Renditions Of Jazz Classics By Freddie Hubbard And Dave Grusin Spring/Summer Festival Slots Will Have Meadows Share Stages With Phil Perry, Richard Elliot, Keiko Matsui, Brian Simpson, Marc Antoine, Mary Mary, Jonathan Butler, Brian Culbertson And Sheila E Sax And The City Tour Dates Feature Vincent Ingala And Paul Taylor Re-Launch Of MarionMeadows.Com Provides Fans With An Immersive Multi-Media Experience Albert Einstein once said “We all dance to ...

1

Recording

Soprano Saxophonist Marion Meadows Returns On February 26 With Whisper, His First New Album In Four Years

Soprano Saxophonist Marion Meadows Returns On February 26 With Whisper, His First New Album In Four Years

Source: 1888 Media

Label Debut For Shanachie Features Special Guest Bob Baldwin And Includes Soulful Renditions Of Jazz Classics By Freddie Hubbard And Dave Grusin Lead Single Is “Black Pearl” Albert Einstein once said “We all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.” For multi-talented saxophonist and consummate creative spirit Marion Meadows, the allure of music was never too far. The charismatic, strikingly handsome, eloquent and debonair musician, who happens to moonlight as a brilliant digital designer/photographer, ...

282

Interview

The Producer's Corner with Spud Too Tight Discussed Composition & Song Structure with World Renowned Saxophonist/Composer Marion Meadows

The Producer's Corner with Spud Too Tight Discussed Composition & Song Structure with World Renowned Saxophonist/Composer Marion Meadows

Source: entertainmentPR

Minneapolis - One of the hottest and most unique celebrity driven Podcast to hear some of Billboard's chart topping award winning music producers, composers, arrangers, vocalists and engineers discuss their production techniques and preferences, influences, song structure, music instruments, genre, style and their craft, state of the art recording equipment, background and upcoming projects is: The Producer's Corner with Spud Too Tight on ITunes Podcast Edgy R&B/Smooth Jazz Music Producer/Composer Spud Too Tight is also prolific and gifted on keyboards, ...

202

Event

Saxman Marion Meadows Performs During NBAAll-Star Weekend

Saxman Marion Meadows Performs During NBAAll-Star Weekend

Source: All About Jazz

Acclaimed jazz saxman Marion Meadows announced today that he will be performing during the 2009 NBA All Star Game Weekend at the Wrigley Mansion All-Star Jazz Jam at 7:00 p.m., on Thursday, February 12th at 2401 E. Telewa Trail in Phoenix, Arizona. Hosted by the Womens Funding Network and supported by Behind the Bench (the National Basketball Wives Association), Meadows will be performing at the fabulous Wrigley Mansion. Built in 1932 by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr., Wrigley Mansion ...

113

Music Industry

Marion Meadows In His Own Words

Marion Meadows In His Own Words

Source: All About Jazz

Saxophonist, composer, and recording artist, Marion Meadows recently participated in a ground breaking interview “Marion Meadows: In His Own Words." Published in the June 2006 edition of The Ebony Cactus magazine (www.TheEbonyCactus.com) Marion details his vision on the future of Jazz and where he is going. To quote Marion, “I don't want us to lose sight of this innovative style of expression that started out with such reckless abandon and has evolved into all of the ...

Photos

Concerts

May 10 Fri
May 10 Fri
May 11 Sat
May 11 Sat
May 12 Sun
May 12 Sun

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Secrets

Heads Up International
2009

buy

In Deep

RCA
2002

buy

Black Pearl

From: Whisper
By Marion Meadows

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.