Merl Saunders (sometimes spelled Merle Saunders), (February 14, 1934 – October 24, 2008) was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ.

Born in San Mateo, California, Saunders gained notice in the 1970s when he began collaborating with Jerry Garcia, with the Grateful Dead and with Garcia`s bands The Legion of Mary and Reconstruction.

He led his own bands, as Merl Saunders and Friends, playing live dates with Garcia, as well as Mike Bloomfield, David Grisman, Tom Fogerty, Vassar Clements, Kenneth Nash, John Kahn and Sheila E.

In 1990 he released the world music and New Age classic album Blues From the Rainforest, a collaboration with Jerry Garcia and Muruga Booker. This led to the release of a video which chronicled Saunders` journey to the Amazon, and the subsequent album Fiesta Amazonica.

He has worked with musicians Paul Pena, Bonnie Raitt, Phish, Miles Davis, and B. B. King. Merl also recorded with The Dinosaurs, a "supergroup" of first-generation Bay Area rock musicians.

He had his own record label, Summertone Records, and had also recorded on Fantasy Records, Galaxy Records and Relix Records as well as the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia labels. He worked with the Grateful Dead on the theme music for the 1985 TV show The New Twilight Zone, and with Mickey Hart on the score for the show. His son, Merl Saunders, Jr., nicknamed "Hen Fap" by his father, is a senior executive director of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

In 2002, Merl suffered from a stroke that paralyzed one side of his body and curtailed his musical career. Merl Saunders died in San Francisco, California on the morning of October 24, 2008, after fighting infections as a result of complications related to the stroke which he suffered in 2002.