Biography

Gene Cannon began playing the saxophone at the age of nine. Introduced to music as a small child while singing in the church choir, Gene began what would become a life-long love affair...his love and passion for music.

Gene continued studying music throughout high school, earning first chair in the All County Jazz Band in Tampa, FL. His love for music hit a pivotal point when he watched Lou Marini (Blood, Sweat, & Tears and Saturday Night Live) play a clinic and concert for the All County Jazz Band. Seeing the incredible talent of Lou playing live, right in front of him, changed the course of Genes life, forever. At that moment, Gene was inspired to become a professional sax player and follow his dream. He went on to study music at the University of South Florida in Tampa and began playing local gigs and joined his first band, Solution. During his time with Solution, he was the bands manager, sax player, flautist, keyboard player, and vocalist for fifteen years.

Since those early days, Gene has gone on to open for and perform with a long list of prominent musicians. Among those, George Benson, The Average White Band, Brian Culbertson, Richard Elliot, Steve Cole, Paul Taylor, Greg Karukas, Patti Austin, Regina Bell, Special EFX, Rick Braun, Peter White, Paul Brown, Euge Groove, The Rippingtons, and Ken Navarro .

While Gene has performed with live bands since his teen years, he has also worked steadily as a studio musician at studios, such as, Studio A of Tampa Bay, Morris Sound, and Sound Asylum. As a recording artist, he has played on the internationally distributed works of Allon Sams (Bayshore, Place in Time, and Music and Laughter), Les Sabler (Bridge the Gap) and Paul Brown (The City). You have probably heard Gene on the radio and television and just not known it! Some notable commercial projects he has played on are The Melting Pot, Sweet Bay, Hops Restaurant Chain, Time Warner Road Runner, Tony Little Workout Videos, Varilux Comforting Sounds CD (13,000 copies distributed world-wide), ESPN and the Home Shopping Network.

Among his current appearances, you can find Gene with Allon Sams and Friends, and as a featured musician with Major League Baseballs Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the world famous "Off the Cuff" Band appearing weekly at "The Fox" in Tampa, Florida.