Jazz musician Lou Marini Jr.
J.D. Pooley | Sentinel-Tribune
Still recognized for playing his saxophone while walking down Aretha Franklin’s diner counter in the Blues Brothers movie, “Blue Lou” Marini Jr. will be blowing into town to play some music and do a little teaching.
Marini is most known for playing his saxophone in the Blues Brothers movies and on “Saturday Night Live.” He has also been part of the James Taylor touring band for 20 years. He has worked with Blood, Sweat and Tears, Eric Clapton, Doc Severinson, the Band, Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars, Frank Zappa and the Woody Herman Orchestra.
Marini is also a producer, composer, arranger and session musician that enjoys the interplay of an ensemble.
He credits serendipity and the good luck of a flip of a coin for many of the opportunities.
The list of artists he has recorded with is also long: The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, B.B. King, Lou Reed, Dr. John, Donald Fagan, Jimmy Buffet and Steely Dan.
Marini’s connection with Bowling Green State University is also long and goes back to his father, Lou Marini Sr. who became a professor emeritus. His father wrote more than 180 pieces for the university marching band, most of which are still used today.
When Blue Lou plays at the university on Friday it will be with his dad’s saxophone.
Marini has stories about touring Europe and cruising into random cities in Italy to play shows, without being booked, are almost like scenes from the movies.
“When we do our opening medley, at the end of it, my stomach hurts,” Marini said. “We’re playing so hard. It’s in the spirit in the original R&B Reviews. It’s really full out. It’s hard to prepare for it, because you’re not used to playing that intensely.”
He’s an advocate of old school acoustic instruments, which is reflected in all the bands he plays in. He said that it’s most obviously reflected in his work with the Blues Brothers.
“It’s acoustic. It’s not one of those with synthesizers and soundtracks, autocorrect and what people have come to expect now. It’s just three horns, three great singers and a rhythm section and full out high energy playing. It still is like that. It’s never lost that,” Marini said. “It’s a big contrast to James Taylor.”
He is also a proponent of multiple genres of music when he goes into classes. He has a master class at BGSU this afternoon, after working with the band at Bowling Green High School in the morning.
“One of the things I tell high school students is, you can see progress if you practice, and that translates to the rest of your life,” Marini said of the discipline that one develops, with as little as a half hour a day of practice.
“Because the amount of people who make a living playing music is very small, but the amount of people who play music during their lives and enjoy it throughout their lives, there’s tons of people who do that,” Marini said.
He is an advocate for lifelong playing of music, recommending joining a choir, church group or small local band.
“So that love of music is something that enriches your whole life.
Marini plays with BGSU Wind Symphony and Jazz Lab Band I at 8 p.m. on Friday at the BGSU Moore Musical Arts Center. It is free and open to the public.
Watch around town for opportunities to hear a saxophone, with jazz or blues, because Marini is likely to be there.
“I think there’s a jam or two that I’m invited to,” Marini said.
His reputation and connections opened a lot of doors in the beginning of his careers.
“It was being in the right place. I was sort of lucky,” Marini said. “I had decided to move to New York. I didn’t have much money. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I’d been playing with Doc Severinson in Texas a lot. He would book these gigs and because I was the hot young tenor player he would hire me. He heard that I had just moved to New York and he had just fired his lead alto player on his traveling band.”
Severinson hired Marini. Then he soon landed the job with Blood, Sweat and Tears and then SNL.
Alan Rubin used to tell him, just before playing the opening solo theme for SNL, “Where is the hippest place to be on Earth right now?” That was when the whole country was doing “Wild and crazy guy,” or whatever they came up with.”
That small bit with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi doing a song that eventually became the Blues Brothers.
“I don’t think they had any plans beyond doing this bit for the show,” Marini said.
