Marlon Derrick Saunders is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. A "Professor of Voice" at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, he is perhaps best known for his work on the video games ''

Sonic Adventure is a 1998 platform game for Sega's Dreamcast and the first main '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' game to feature 3D gameplay. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Big the Cat, and E-102 Gamma in their ...

'' (1998) and ''

Sonic Adventure 2 is a platform video game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega. It was the final ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game for the Dreamcast after Sega left the home console market. It features two Conflict between good and evil, good-vs-evil stor ...

'' (2001).

Career

A professor of voice at

, Saunders has two solo recordings on his independent label, ''Black Honey Records'': the improvisational ''A Groove So Deep: The Live Sessions'' and 2003's ''Enter My Mind''. Marlon continues to write, sing and produce with acid-jazz band, Jazzhole. He co-produced and co-wrote ''Love 360'', the debut jazzy soul project from April Hill released in fall of 2007. His own new soul recording, ''Birth of Revelation'', was released later that year. He is part of the Afrobeat-Soul band, Iqram & The Immigrant Groove. From 2015-2017, Marlon toured with Stevie Wonder on The Songs In The Key of Life Tour as choir director. He has served as vocal contractor for Sam Smith, Bastille, Logic, Mondo Cozmo and Andrea Bocelli. Marlon has worked with various artists, including Cynthia Erivo, Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Javier Colon, Billy Joel, Sting, Bobby McFerrin, Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, Shawn Colvin, Nine Inch Nails, Jane Siberry, Shania Twain, Martha Wash, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. His song "The Beginning of Never" has appeared on the ''Soul Lounge''

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

, which featured artists such as Antionque, Nuwamba,

Eric Roberson Eric Roberson (born September 27, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, former rapper and music producer. He is sometimes referred to simply as Erro, the name which he later used as part of his label Blue Erro Soul. His first single, "Represen ...

Conya Doss Conya Doss (born June 13, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, and has been a major figure in independent music for over two decades. Conya is known as an innovator and is widely known for her eclectic work and li ...

, and others. He has contributed to the video game scene as well, particularly games made by

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

. He is best known for doing vocals on both versions of Knuckles' theme, "Unknown From M.E." in ''

'' and ''

''. Marlon also performs on the soundtrack to the ''

Burning Rangers is a 1998 action game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. ''Burning Rangers'' is set in a futuristic society in which fire is the remaining danger. Players control one of an elite group of firefighters, the ...

'' game, singing one of the ending songs, "We are Burning Rangers". He also performed a Christmas a cappella version of "Dreams Dreams", the theme from Nights into Dreams, with a small vocal ensemble that can be heard during the ending credits of Christmas Nights as well as on its soundtrack. Marlon made a brief appearance in the film '' Enchanted'' as a calypso singer who sings " That's How You Know" with

Amy Adams Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both her comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actresses. She has received various accolades, incl ...

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Enter My Mind'' (2003) * ''A Groove So Deep'' (2005)

Jazzhole albums

*''The Jazzhole'' (February 22, 1994, Mesa/BlueMoon Recordings) *''…And the Feeling Goes Round'' (August 29, 1995, Mesa/BlueMoon Recordings) *''The Beat Is the Bomb! (Remixes)'' (June 18, 1996, Mesa/BlueMoon Recordings) *''Blackburst'' (February 29, 2000, Beave Music) *''Circle of the Sun'' (November 1, 2002, Beave Music) *''Poet's Walk'' (July 13, 2006, Beave Music)

References

External links

Marlon Saunders Official Site
*
Jazzhole Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Marlon Living people American singer-songwriters Record producers from Maryland Year of birth missing (living people) Jazzhole members Berklee College of Music faculty Berklee College of Music alumni