A Tribute to David Sanborn

Sanborn with David Bowie in 1975

Here was an artist who had been a feature of my life since I first heard him on record in the early 1970s. On his passing this week, I felt a tinge of regret that I might have taken him for granted of late. Time for a reappraisal of his career.

On Sunday nights as mid-teenagers a bunch of us would gather at a girlfriend's house in Pinner. We'd sit in her bedroom and listen to records. Actually only two records, but they were both excellent - Steely Dan's Katy Lied and David Bowie's Young Americans. 

The title track of the Bowie album had that instantly familiar intro sax line and solo by David Sanborn that everyone recognises, whether they know his name or not.  

Sanborn at Woodstock

Sanborn's first major exposure (to a mere 400,000 people) had come, aged 24, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He appeared at the 1969 Woodstock festival with the Butterfield band, though not in the movie. 

Then in 1972, he got his first big exposure on record, featuring on Stevie Wonder's classic album Talking Book, on the gorgeous track Tuesday Heartbreak. 

It was a sound that became Sanborn's calling card, a signature style that would make him a first-call session player from then on. 

When Bowie decided to record in the US in 1975, it was an inspired move to have Sanborn provide the saxophone riff that would usher in his new sound. 

Young Americans was a bold change of style for Bowie, one that some found difficult to take. From Glam rocker to Soul crooner? Come off it mate! But our little gang loved the new album. Sanborn's sax was integral to the whole vibe, especially on tracks like Win and Fascination.

His solo career took off in the late 1970s and early 80s, with albums such as Hideaway, Voyeur and Change Of Heart. His collaboration with Bob James, Double Vision won them both a Grammy. In all, Sanborn won six.

He kept the best company in his choice of backing musicians and collaborators, not the least of whom was bassist Marcus Miller, who was just 19 when they first worked together. Tracks like Chicago Song and Run For Cover demonstrate how important Miller was to Sanborn's sound in that classic 1980s period. 

Sanborn capitalised on his popularity as one of New York's finest, leading the house band on Saturday Night Live and featuring on David Letterman's late-night chat shows. There are some legendary performances from those days on Youtube. 

Here's the cream of New York's session players, including Marcus, guitarist Hiram Bullock and drummer Omar Hakim playing the Weather Report track Teen Town. 

He also co-hosted Night Music, a late-night music show on television with Jools Holland, and curated a syndicated radio program, The Jazz Show with David Sanborn.

I first saw him live in London in the 1980s, as the support act for Al Jarreau. Sanborn's band included drummer Steve Gadd, so my mate Graham and I - both mad keen drummers - went along two nights running to check him out. 

Here's one of my favourite clips of Sanborn, Mike Mainieri, Robben Ford et al at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1981.

Here's Run For Cover with George Duke and Marcus Miller

And from Night music, here's the band backing Miles Davis on Tutu, introduced by Dave Sanborn.  

Of his more recent recordings, I picked up the album Time Again on a business trip in Singapore in about 2005. And I'm still playing it. Again, just the best musicians; Steve Gadd, Mike Mainieri, Randy Brecker, Christian McBride, playing a mix of old and new. Here's a live version of the first track on Time Again, Comin' Home Baby. 

Also on this blog:

Miles Davis and the track name mix-up on Kind Of Blue

 A tribute to jazz giant Chick Corea

Pat Metheny, Live in 2020 and Way Back

Jazz, Blues, Folk - Musical adventures in New York