Kevin Saunderson

Kevin Maurice Saunderson is an American electronic dance music DJ and record producer best known as one of the Belleville Three, alongside Juan Atkins and Derrick May. The trio is often credited as being among the pioneers and originators of techno, and their work is closely associated with the emergence of Detroit techno as an early and defining style within the genre.

Saunderson was born in New York and moved at the age of nine to Belleville, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. He attended Belleville High School, where he became friends with Atkins and May, a relationship that later formed the basis of their shared role in developing the sound and approach that came to be identified as techno. Saunderson’s career has been tied to DJing and record production within electronic dance music, and he is widely recognized under his own name as well as a range of credited variations.

In addition to his work as Kevin Saunderson, he has been associated with the “Master Reese” nickname and related aliases, reflecting the multiple ways his credits appear across releases. His production and DJ activity is commonly linked to techno and related styles, including Detroit techno, minimal techno, and acid house.