The road to success is often an interesting path for a jazz musician. This is certainly true in the case of Carl Saunders. For it is not every musician who can start their story by saying "my mother was the first vocalist to sing with Stan Kenton." Saunders story continues as he is fresh out of high school as a self-described "Kenton junkie" taking every opportunity to hear the Kenton orchestra. At this time, connections through Mom turned out to be a good thing, as Carl Saunders mother went to Stan Kenton and said "the kid's coming along pretty well...you ought to give him a shot to play in the band." Kenton agreed to give Saunders and audition, and, after hearing him play, Kenton gave him the option of waiting for the next trumpet spot to open, or to join the band right then playing mellophonium. Of course, Saunders jumped at the chance to get in the band right away. This was his first professional gig.

As is true with many young musicians, one gig led to another for Saunders. In addition to performing 20 years in Las Vegas for numerous artists, including playing lead trumpet with Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, and Frank Sinatra, Saunders quickly became a seasoned musician performing in the bands of Si Zentner, Harry James, Maynard Ferguson, Benny Goodman and Charlie Barnet. Looking back at his years in Las Vegas, Carl Saunders commented "that's where I l earned to play under pressure and fine-tune my reading skills."

In 1984 Carl Saunders moved to Los Angeles where he quickly became a top-call jazz and studio musician. In addition to his professional appearances as a guest artist, Saunders leads his own big band and small groups, plays lead trumpet in the Bill Holman band (that rehearses every Thursday night at the LA musicians union hall), plays jazz trumpet with the Bob Florence's big band, and performs regularly with Gerald Wilson, Phil Norman, and Dave Pell (who also happens to be his uncle). Judging by his playing, I'd say this path has served Carl Saunders pretty well.