Marc Russo

Marc Russo began his career playing saxophone in the San Francisco area. In 1979 he joined famed drummer and record producer Narada Michael Walden’s group. His association with Walden has led to numerous recordings with many of the world’s top stars, including Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston, and most recently Steve Winwood In 1982 he hooked up with the legendary Tower of Power. During his stay with “Tower” he also toured and recorded extensively with Huey Lewis and the News.   During the ’80s Marc was a part of the contemporary jazz group The Yellowjackets. They recorded five albums in seven years, winning two Grammy awards (1986 Best R&B Instrumental performance and 1988 Best Jazz fusion performance).   As a well known session musician, Marc has also recorded with an array of artists from Richard Marx and Dan Fogelberg to Michael Bolton and Lionel Richie.   He has also recorded on many film and commercial projects as a musician and composer (St. Elmo’s Fire, Star Trek IV, Another 48 Hours, Oakland A’s, Coke, Clorox, Gallo, Geo, Honda, etc.).   For the past eleven years, Marc has been a featured performer in the Kenny Loggins band, and can be heard on many of his recordings, including Leap of Faith and Outside From the Redwoods.   After 15 years of lending his formidable saxophone support to others, Marc recently recorded, composed, and produced his first solo CD for JVC Records, entitled The Window. It is a treasury of ten diverse musical visions and is a virtual diary of experiences and moods. Marc is currently writing and doing pre-production for a new CD.   Marc was involved in a major event this past year called “Songs & Visions”. It was an internationally televised event staged at Wembley Stadium in London. It featured the greatest hits of the last 40 years and was performed by some of the greatest singers alive today (Rod Stewart, Steve Winwood, Eikichi Yazawa, Chaka Khan, Seal, and kd lang, to name a few). It was broadcast live in over 20 countries and will soon be released as a concert video.   And now Marc has started on a new musical journey, adding his talents to the Doobie Brothers concert performances – check it out!   ------------------------------------------------------------------   by Scott Yanow   Altoist Marc Russo was a key member of the Yellowjackets during 1982-1990. Although an R&B-oriented player, Russo's solos pushed the popular group in a stronger jazz direction than it had been earlier with guitarist Robben Ford. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Russo worked locally in clubs and as a studio musician, showing impressive control of his horn. He was with Tower of Power during most of 1981-1085 (overlapping with his Yellowjackets years). After leaving the Jackets, Russo led a set for JVC.