Soloing at "Music Day By The Bay" Gordon Earl continues to build a remarkable catalog of original music with a wide range of musical styles from funky-jazz to pop-rock, to classical and sweet ballads. There's a new genre on the horizon, "IDM, or "Intelligent Dance Music" where he could be pegged.  Gordon Earl is a master saxophonist known for lightning speed and a big pure tone with dynamic emotion throughout his solos.  Gordon is also an accomplished clarinetist and keyboardist.  He's released three albums on iTunes:  Big Questions, in 2006; The Answers, 2007, and The Lullabies, in 2010.  More recently, he released three songs in 2021, After The Storm, Microscopic, and Once Upon a Time.  2022's singles hot off the mixing boards, Confused, I Love You, When Bombs Fall (Ukrainians Rise), I Don't Care Anymore, and Kate's Song are all available to stream on your favorite services.  Gordon Earl's song, Nico's Lullaby, was a semi-finalist in the 2011 Song-of-the-Year contest, and he received honors from the Billboard International Songwriting Competition for Corporate Tool, Fly To Paris, and Hear The Kaboom.  In 2012, he published four lovely music videos on YouTube:  Santa Barbara Sunset, Grand Canyon Sky, San Francisco Sunrise, and Swiss Alp Spring.  He completed his Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra in Bb Minor in 2018, with three movements of exhilerating and emotional music. Background Born and raised in Chicago in the 60's and 70's, moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1981, spent time in Northern and Southern California, then moved to St. Louis in 2018.  The home of the Blues. Gordon's father, Gordon Earl Schmierer Sr, was a talented pianist who studied music in college, and Gordon's mother, Martha Temple, also played piano very well.  An only child, Gordon Jr was fortunate enough to be able to tinker around at will on the family's baby grand Steinway.  Inspired by his middle school teacher, Ralph Abernathy, at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, Gordon Earl quickly rose to first chair clarinetist in the high school band.  He attended the renowned Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and became the principle first clarinetist in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.  In high school, Gordon studied privately with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Walter Wollwage, a great clarinetist in arguably one of the very best orchestras in the world.  Branching out musically, Gordon studied jazz piano with another great Chicago artist, Willie Pickens.  At 18, Gordon moved to California to attend Stanford University, but admittedly lost his direction, changing majors from psychology to creative writing and finally leaving Stanford in his fourth year.  Gordon played alto sax in many first rate Bay Area nightclubs with rock guitarist Michael Ross, and a Motown cover band, The Violet Fox, and also with a group of fellow Stanford Alpha Delta Phi students in a Grateful Dead styled band called the Utter Dogs.  Among the venues in Northern California Gordon Earl has played, are Slims, The Last Day Saloon, McNeers (formerly known as Cheers), The Great American Music Hall, the Bistro, and terrific clubs of the past, like The Stone, the Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Full Moon Saloon. In his thirties, Gordon Earl made a concerted effort to pull together all of his original compositions.  He went to work polishing up his vocal technique with Sue Govali, who sang with the Moody Blues in the 90's, and Gordon began learning everything he could about audio and midi recording, getting great advise from sound engineer Oscar Autie.  His first album, released in July 2006, is called Big Questions.  Favorite pieces on big Questions include What Your Teacher Told You, How Could It Be, All Wrong, Do Me A Favor, Hope And Pray, Came Home Late, and the ground breaking piece, The Database.  Gordon is currently remixing this album for re-release in 2013. Gordon Earl's second album, released November 2007, is The Answers.  This compilation features the highly praised songs Hear The Kaboom, Corporate Tool, and Fly to Paris.  More favorites on this album are Who Are You People, Drive With Me, Save The Universe, The Major's Son, and the namesake track, The Answers. The themes of the collections Big Questions and The Answers focus on the powerful and enigmatic cycles of love, and the desperation of the individual in a world in environmental and cultural turmoil.  They address meaning and purpose and the yearning for understanding. His third album, The Lullabies, was released December 2010 at a live performance at Henry's Jazz Restaurant in San Bruno, CA.  The Lullabies was inspired by his youngest step-grandkids, who he initially wrote a couple adorable melodies for, then quickly compiled a solid collection of dedicated songs in this genre.  Infants and adults alike find these songs beautiful and comforting.  Top songs from this album are Nico's Lullaby, which was a semi-finalist in the 2011 Song-of-the-Year contest, Karen's Lullaby, Jadon's Lullaby, Devin's Lullaby, Emily's Lullaby, Mavi's Lullaby, My Mother's Song, and My Father's Song.  If you know parents looking for soothing music to calm the whole family down, this is the collection for them. In 2012, Gordon started off the year with a road trip down the coast of California on Highway 1, and he took amazing video of a Santa Barbara Sunset.  That sparked a project making music videos to accompany original music for a new YouTube channel:  http://www.youtube.com/users/gordonearl.  He's since posted the popular Grand Canyon Sky music video, and a tasty music video called, San Francisco Sunrise, featuring all the best views of The City at dawn.  In June 2012, Gordon Earl hiked the Swiss Alps with his father who is turned 80 that year, and Gordon filmed the truly stunning music video Swiss Alp Spring.  In the spring of 2015, Gordon went on a hot air baloon ride with Napa Valley Aloft and filmed the gorgeous footage and recorded the electronica chill style music "High in My Balloon."  These are quality productions, and almost all of the filming, time lapse photography, and video editing was done on Gordon's iPhone where he then imported the scores he wrote to accompany the film.  Click on the "Video Tab" to view these music videos. Gordon Earl teamed up with the Alameda County Community Food Bank to sponsor the benefit festival "Music Day By The Bay" in August 2012 and 2013, featuring ten bands and artists at the gorgeous Marina Park in San Leandro.  Billed as the first Bay Area festival to boast actually being on San Francisco Bay.  He worked with city hall, and several brand name stores in the community, and with the above and beyond help from friends, he pulled together some of the best jazz and rock artists in Northern California to raise money for the Food Bank.  2018 marked the completion of Gordon Earl's Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra in Ab.  Three movements, with a nod to his beloved Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, it has an Allegro first movement, called "Awakening," an Adagio second movement, he named "Peace" and a Rhondo syled third movement in 6/4 time, entitled, "Floating-Triumphant."  The duration is 27 minutes to the second, like Mozart's, and that's about as far as the similarities go.  Gordon spent the better part of four years completing this work an refers to it as the best acheivement of his life to date.  It is a highly dynamic work with the full range of emotions from playful to despondent to sensual to angry, from the very simple to deeply complex, and takes the listener on a journey following a solo instrument negotiating its role in the society of the orchestra, following, leading, arguing, compromizing, conquering and finally integrating fully, emerging as a satisfying, if exhausting story.  The next step is finiding the right orchestra to debut his pride and joy.               Gordon's projects underway are focused on studio work publishing new singles and remixes of his classics.  Downstream, there's a musical brewing featuring his original scores. You can find him randomly on the great stages of the St Louis region, like the National Blues Museum, the St Louis Art Fair, or jamming at a venue near you.     Contact GordonEarl@sbcglobal.net for performance and licensing opportunities. All of the songs on his albums were composed, performed and recorded in their entirety by Gordon Earl. 'Endlessly nuanced,' 'emotionally riveting,' 'magnetic melodies,' 'unprecedented unique style' and 'deeply satisfying poetic lyricism,' are just a few of the positive reviews of his music.