Saunders was born in 1955 in San Francisco to a musical family.[1] His keyboardist father, Merl Saunders, got him started at an early age. He began singing at the age of five and played piano from age eight. Herbie Hancock and Sly Stone were among Saunders’ early teachers. Stone gave Saunders an organ at the age of ten. At age fourteen he began playing the bass. While growing up he was exposed to musicians including Eddie Moore, Jimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine, Sonny Rollins, Dewey Redmen, George Duke, Al Jarreau, Bole Sete, and John Handy.

Saunders received one of his first piano lessons from Herbie Hancock. He was awarded a fellowship at the prestigious San Francisco Conservatory of Music for piano.[2] His first Fender bass guitar was a gift from Tom Fogerty, brother of John Fogerty and rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival. He graduated from the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco. He received an Emmy at 14 years old with his father for the children's special Soul Is, a PBS documentary featuring Black poetry accompanied by Saunders on the bass. The second Emmy was for an Episode of Digital Journey titled "China The Digital Economy" Source: Wikipedia