David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He played music in many different styles, and his solo recordings often mixed jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He started playing the saxophone at age 11 and released his first solo album, Taking Off, in 1975. He worked as a session musician, meaning he played on recordings for other artists, including Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Sting, the Eagles, Rickie Lee Jones, James Brown, George Benson, Carly Simon, Elton John, Bryan Ferry, Ween, and The Rolling Stones. Sanborn released more than 20 albums and won six Grammy awards.

In 2012, a critic named Scott Yanow called Sanborn "the most influential saxophonist on pop, R&B, and crossover players of the past 20 years." He became known for a style of music called smooth jazz, though he did not like the term and said he did not consider himself a jazz musician.

Early life

Sanborn was born in 1945 in Tampa, Florida, where his father was stationed in the US Air Force. David grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri, a western suburb of St. Louis. He developed polio at the age of three. He accepted his condition calmly and endured a difficult childhood. He spent a year in an iron lung, and polio caused breathing difficulties and left his left arm shorter than his right.

While in bed, Sanborn was inspired by the powerful energy of rock 'n' roll music he heard on the radio, especially saxophone solos in songs like Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" and Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti." He enjoyed the sound of the saxophone and, at age eleven, switched from piano lessons to saxophone when doctors suggested playing a wind instrument to improve his breathing and strengthen his chest muscles. By age fourteen, he was skilled enough to play saxophone with local blues musicians. Alto saxophonist Hank Crawford, who was part of Ray Charles's band at the time, greatly influenced Sanborn.

Sanborn attended college at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, which is directly north of Chicago, and studied music. He later transferred to the University of Iowa, where he played and studied with saxophonist J. R. Monterose.

Career

Sanborn performed with blues musicians Albert King and Little Milton when he was 14 years old. In 1967, he traveled by Greyhound bus to San Francisco to join the "Summer of Love." While visiting recording studios, he was invited to join a session with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. His performance impressed the band, and he became a member for five years. He played on four Butterfield albums as part of the horn section and as a soloist from 1967 to 1971. On August 18, 1969, he performed with the band at the Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel, New York.

In 1972, Sanborn played on the track "Tuesday Heartbreak" from Stevie Wonder's album Talking Book. In 1975, he worked with David Bowie on Young Americans and with James Taylor on "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" from the album Gorilla. Sanborn is featured on Linda Ronstadt's 1978 album Living in the USA, where he played solos on "Ooh Baby Baby" and "Alison."

In the mid-1970s, Sanborn joined the Brecker Brothers band, which helped him develop his musical style. During his time with the Brecker Brothers, he released his first solo album, Taking Off, which became a jazz/funk classic. In 1985, Sanborn and Al Jarreau performed two sold-out concerts at Chastain Park in Atlanta. Though Sanborn was known for smooth jazz, he studied free jazz as a young musician with saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Julius Hemphill. In 1993, he returned to free jazz by appearing on Tim Berne's Diminutive Mysteries, an album dedicated to Hemphill. Sanborn's album Another Hand included musicians from the avant-garde music scene.

Sanborn continued to tour despite finding life on the road challenging. In 2017, he began a tour that included stops in Istanbul and Nairobi, Kenya, even though he had planned to perform fewer than 150 shows per year.

Sanborn was a respected session musician from the late 1960s onward, playing with many famous artists, including James Brown, Phil Woods, Bryan Ferry, Michael Stanley, Eric Clapton, Cat Stevens, Roger Daltrey, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Jaco Pastorius, the Brecker Brothers, Michael Franks, Kenny Loggins, Casiopea, Players Association, David Bowie, Todd Rundgren, Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Tommy Bolin, Bob James, James Taylor, Al Jarreau, Pure Prairie League, Kenny G, Loudon Wainwright III, George Benson, Joe Beck, Donny Hathaway, Elton John, Gil Evans, Carly Simon, Guru, Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, Kenny Garrett, Roger Waters, Steely Dan, Ween, the Eagles, Grateful Dead, Nena, Hikaru Utada, The Rolling Stones, Ian Hunter, and Toto.

Many of Sanborn's solo recordings were made with Marcus Miller, a bassist and producer he met in the Saturday Night Live band in the late 1970s. Sanborn performed with Clapton on film soundtracks such as Lethal Weapon and its sequels, and Scrooged. In 1991, he released Another Hand, which the All Music Guide to Jazz described as a return to his roots in jazz. The album, produced by Hal Willner, included musicians like Terry Adams, Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, and Marc Ribot.

In 1994, Sanborn performed in A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, a concert at Carnegie Hall produced by Roger Daltrey. A CD and VHS video were released in 1994, and a DVD was released in 1998. In 1995, he performed in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True, a benefit concert at Lincoln Center. The performance was broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT) and released on CD and video in 1996.

In 2006, Sanborn appeared on Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band's album The Phat Pack on the track "Play That Funky Music," a big band version of a Wild Cherry song. He often performed at Blue Note venues in Japan, including Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo. Sanborn played on the song "Your Party" from Ween's 2007 album La Cucaracha. On April 8, 2007, he performed with the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. In 2010, he toured with a trio featuring jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco and drummer Steve Gadd, performing music from his album Only Everything. In 2011, he toured with keyboardist George Duke and bassist Marcus Miller as the group DMS. In 2013, he toured with keyboardist Brian Culbertson on "The Dream Tour," celebrating the 25th anniversary of the song "The Dream."

In addition to playing the alto saxophone, Sanborn also played the baritone, soprano, and sopranino saxophones; flute; and keyboards or piano on some recordings.

Sanborn performed on radio, television, and web programs. He was a member of the Saturday Night Live band in 1980. From the late 1980s to the 1990s, he was a regular guest on Paul Shaffer's band on Late Night with David Letterman and appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman a few times in the 1990s.

From 1988 to 1989, Sanborn co-hosted Night Music, a late-night music show on television with Jools Holland. The show featured many famous musicians, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders, NRBQ, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Lou Reed, Elliott Sharp, Jean-Luc Ponty, Santana, Todd Rundgren,

Equipment

Sanborn played a Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone. In the early 1980s, he was supported by Yamaha, and he used their saxophones on the albums As We Speak and Backstreet. He can be seen playing a Yamaha saxophone at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1981.

According to an April 1988 interview in the jazz magazine DownBeat, he preferred Selmer Mark VI alto saxophones with serial numbers between 140,000 and 150,000, all made in 1967. These saxophones have a "medium bow" design, which is known for its good pitch and response.

From the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, Sanborn played a Brilhart Level-Air stainless steel mouthpiece, created by Arnold Brilhart. This mouthpiece is visible in videos of his 1969 performance at Woodstock with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and in photos from his solo albums Taking Off (1975) and Heart to Heart (1978). From the late 1970s, he used mouthpieces made by Bobby Dukoff. In 2014, he switched to a mouthpiece designed by Aaron Drake.

Personal life

Sanborn was married to his fourth wife, Alice Soyer Sanborn, who was born in France. She was a pianist, vocalist, and composer. His first three marriages ended in divorce. He had one son, Jonathan, who is a bass player, and two granddaughters.

Sanborn died from complications caused by prostate cancer in Tarrytown, New York, which is west of White Plains, on May 12, 2024. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2018.

On November 25, 2024, a David Sanborn Tribute Concert was held at Sony Hall in New York City. The concert was live-streamed by WBGO and hosted by Marcus Miller and Pat Prescott. It featured performances by Eric Marienthal, Bob James, Paul Shaffer, Will Lee, Kurt Elling, Randy Brecker, Alex Han, and Dave Koz.

Awards and honors

David Sanborn's first Grammy Award was for Best R&B Instrumental Performance for the single "All I Need is You." He received six Grammy Awards and earned eight gold albums and one platinum album. He won Grammy Awards for the albums Voyeur (1981), Double Vision (1986), and the instrumental album Close Up (1988).

In 2004, Sanborn was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

• David Sanborn in concert
• Union Square, San Francisco, 2003
• Riviera Maya Jazz Festival in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, 2008
• North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, 2015

Discography

• The Best of David Sanborn (Warner Bros., 1994)
• Love Songs (Warner Bros., 1995)
• Dreaming Girl (WEA, 2008)
• Then Again: The Anthology (Rhino, 2012) [2-CD]
• This Masquerade (Warner, 2018)
• Anything You Want (Cherry Red, 2020) [3-CD]

• Arif Mardin, All My Friends Are Here (NuNoise, 2010) – on "So Blue"
• Anders Wihk, Same Tree Different Fruit – on "Thank You For The Music" (Capitol Music Group AB, 2012)

With the Brecker Brothers
With Paul Butterfield
With Maynard Ferguson
With The Manhattan Transfer
With Pure Prairie League

• Love and Happiness (1986)
• The Super Session (1997) – David Sanborn & Friends
• The Super Session II (1998) – David Sanborn & Friends
• Legends: Live at Montreux 1997 (2005)
• The Legends of Jazz: Showcase (2006)
• Live at Montreux 1984 (2009)