Author: Skip Spratt

A Conversation with Blue Lou Marini

Blue Lou MariniCatch Blue Lou Marini if you can. This veteran of the New York saxophone scene has been consistently in demand for nearly 40 years with no signs of stopping in sight. Best-known as a member of The Blues Brothers, and original Saturday Night Live Band, multi-instrumentalist Marini has carved out a career for a who’s who of popular  music. He has performed and recorded with a range of artists including – and certainly not limited to – Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Steely Dan, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and Frank Zappa. Marini’s many television and film credits are well-documented however many may not realize Blue Lou has arranged for and played with many of the big band greats such as Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and Doc Severinsen among others.

Lou Marini was born in 1945 and later attended North Texas State where he was a member of the famed One O’Clock lab band. Following a few years and a failed marriage in Texas, he moved to Manhattan’s Upper West Side in 1971. The rest as they say is history.

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About the Author

Skip SprattSkip Spratt, originally from the Boston area, has been teaching and performing in New Jersey since 1985.

After attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, he spent three years as a Saxophonist touring throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Since settling in New Jersey, Skip has performed with Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, The Temptations, Jeffrey Osborne, Tommy Tune, Ben Vereen, Joel Gray, The 5th Dimension and others. His recording credits include sessions for Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Bobby Rydell and he can be heard on jingles for KYW Radio, WPVI Channel 6 and Bally's Park Place. In 1990 he had the honor of performing for Barbara Bush in the Senate Caucus Room in Washington.

Skip holds a (BM) with honors in Jazz Saxophone and an (MAT) in Music Education from The University of the Arts, and a Certificate from Berklee College of Music in Boston. He is the instrumental music teacher at Berlin Community School, Secretary of the NJ-IAJE and has taught saxophone at Rowan College. Skip resides in South Jersey, where he teaches Saxophone, Flute and Clarinet.

For more about Skip, read Skip's whole LONG Story.

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