Since 1985 Ric Sanders has been the violinist with the British institution Fairport Convention, touring the world and contributing many instrumental compositions and arrangements that have become fixtures in their repertoire.
Although considering himself primarily a jazz musician, Ric is equally adept in rock, folk and world music. Early in his professional career he toured with the renowned classical/rock percussionist Stomu Yamash'ta, and then went on to play with the celebrated jazz pianists Johnny Patrick and Michael Garrick. In the late 1970's he was in both The Albion Band (appearing on the classic album Rise Up Like the Sun) and the legendary jazz-rock group Soft Machine. In addition to Fairport, he has worked with a remarkably diverse roster of artists including Rick Wakeman, Dave Cousins (The Strawbs), Jethro Tull, Robert Plant, Roy Harper, Gary Brooker (Procol Harum), Pentangle, Gordon Giltrap, Andrew Cronshaw, June Tabor, Martin Simpson, Charlie Landsborough, All About Eve, The Mission and John Etheridge (guitarist with Soft Machine and Stephane Grapelli) with whom he co-led the group 2nd Vision, whose critically acclaimed record has recently been re-released on Blueprint Records (Voiceprint Group).