By Danny R. Johnson – Jazz and Pop Music Critic
David Sanborn, the six-time Grammy-winning alto saxophonist who played at Woodstock, composed music for the Lethal Weapon movies, played in the SNL and Late Night with David Letterman bands, and worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder to David Bowie, died Sunday afternoon, May 12, after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications. He was 78.
He died after long being treated for prostate cancer, according to a statement on his social media channels. He had received the diagnosis in 2018 but had maintained his regular schedule of concerts until recently, with more planned for next year.
Drawing from jazz, pop, and R&B, Sanborn was highly prolific, releasing twenty-five albums over a six-decade career. “Hideaway” (1980), his fifth studio album, featured two instrumentals written with the singer Michael McDonald as well as “The Seduction,” written by Giorgio Moroder, which was the love theme from “American Gigolo,” the ice-cool Paul Schrader film starring Richard Gere.
Sanborn’s illustrious career spanned several decades, leaving an indelible mark on the world of music:
· Early Struggles and Remarkable Recovery: As a young man, Sanborn faced adversity when he contracted polio. However, his determination led him to the saxophone, which aided his recovery and ignited his passion for music. He honed his skills at Northwestern University and the University of Iowa.
· Collaborations and Woodstock: In the 1960s, Sanborn played a pivotal role in The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, even gracing the legendary Woodstock music festival. His saxophone prowess attracted artists like Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, and James Taylor.
· Crossover Hits and Grammy Triumphs: Sanborn’s accessible, soothing sound resulted in a series of crossover hits during the ’70s and ’80s. Despite being associated with the “smooth jazz” genre (a label he distanced himself from), he achieved international acclaim. His albums consistently charted on the Billboard Top 200, and he proudly held six Grammy Awards.
· TV Appearances and Film Scores: Sanborn’s musical journey extended to television, where he was part of the “Saturday Night Live” house band and regularly appeared on “Late Night with David Letterman.” His notable albums include “Hideaway,” “Voyeur,” and “A Change of Heart.” Additionally, he composed scores for films such as the “Lethal Weapon” sequels and “Psycho III.”
· Legendary Collaborators: Sanborn’s path intersected with iconic figures like James Brown, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones, Chaka Khan, and Ween.
“Many releases by studio musicians suffer from weak compositions and overproduction, including some albums by Sanborn himself,” Tim Griggs wrote in a review of that album on the Allmusic website. In contrast, he continued, “Hideaway” had a “stripped-down, funky” quality that showed off his “enthusiastic and distinctive saxophone sound.” Sanborn’s albums “Hearsay” (1994), “Pearls” (1995), and “Time Again” (2003) all reached No. 2 on the Billboard jazz chart.
While the records he made under his name were often pigeonholed as smooth jazz, Sanborn chafed at the description. So did many of his fellow saxophonists, who found his tone and approach anything but mellow. “The ‘Sanborn’ sound is more of an extreme sound tone-wise,” the saxophonist and educator Steve Neff wrote on his blog in 2012. “It is very raw, bright, edgy, and tough sounding. It’s right in your face.” “What Michael Brecker did for the tenor sound, Sanborn did for the alto sound. It is not a middle-of-the-road type of sound,” Mr. Neff added. Mr. Brecker and his trumpeter brother, Randy, often collaborated with Sanborn. Sanborn had little use for labels. “I’m not so interested in what is or isn’t jazz,” he said in a 2017 interview with DownBeat, the jazz magazine. “The guardians of the gate can be quite combative, but what are they protecting? Jazz has always absorbed and transformed what’s around it.”
“Real musicians,” he added, “don’t have time to think about limited categories.”
While growing up in suburban St. Louis, Sanborn was influenced by the sound of blues in Chicago, and by 14, he was playing with Albert King and Little Milton. “I guess if push comes to shove, I would describe myself as coming out of the blues-R&B side of the spectrum,” he said in a 2008 interview with NPR. “But I mean, if you play the saxophone, you certainly can’t escape the influence of jazz.”
Among the jazz musicians with whom Sanborn recorded were the guitarists George Benson, Mike Stern, and John Scofield, the bassist Ron Carter, and the arrangers and bandleaders Gil Evans and Bob James.
And his influence was hardly confined to recording. From 1988 to 1990, he hosted the television show “Night Music” (originally called “Sunday Night”), which presented an eclectic mix of music; its lineups featured jazz luminaries like Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and Pharoah Sanders as well as the likes of James Taylor, Leonard Cohen, and Sonic Youth.
In the 1980s, he hosted a syndicated radio program, “The Jazz Show with David Sanborn.” He had recently begun producing the podcast “As We Speak,” which offered conversations with artists, including Pat Metheny and Mr. Rollins.
A one-time “Saturday Night Live” band member, Sanborn recorded or toured with a constellation of stars: Paul Simon, James Brown, Elton John, Steely Dan, Eric Clapton, and the Rolling Stones. “Anyone with a record collection more than a foot wide probably owns a piece of David Sanborn’s unmistakable sound but doesn’t know it,” The Phoenix New Times, an Arizona newspaper, observed in 1991 in an article about him.
Sanborn was heard on landmark albums like the Eagles’ debut, Stevie Wonder’s “Talking Book” in 1972, and Bruce Springsteen’s 1975 smash “Born to Run.”
On Mr. Bowie’s album “Young Americans” (1975), he had a memorable star turn on which his sunny yet sultry solo opens the unforgettable title track. “There was no lead guitar, so I played the lead guitar role,” he told DownBeat. “I was all over that record.”
He also joined Mr. Bowie’s tour for the album, part of a crack supporting outfit that included Doug Rauch on bass and Greg Errico on drums. “On the ‘Young Americans’ tour,” he recalled, “Bowie would sometimes let the band play for 20 minutes before he came on.”
David William Sanborn was born on July 30, 1945, in Tampa, Fla., where his father was stationed in the Air Force. He grew up in Kirkwood, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis.
His life took a fateful turn at age 3 when he contracted polio, which ravaged his left arm, right leg, and lungs.
He was in an iron lung for a year, and he accepted saxophone at 11 on the advice of a doctor, who thought learning a woodwind instrument would help him build respiratory strength.
The disease had lasting effects, some of them particularly challenging for a horn player. As an adult, Sanborn still suffered limited lung capacity, and his left arm was smaller than his right, with compromised dexterity on that hand. “I don’t think of myself as a victim,” he was quoted as saying in 2005 by the Salt Lake City television station KSL. “This is my reality.”
After studying music at Northwestern University and with the saxophonist J.R. Monterose at the University of Iowa, he headed to California and joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He was 24 when the band played before hundreds of thousands at the Woodstock festival in August 1969.
Sanborn went on to tour with Stevie Wonder in 1972 and released his first solo album, “Taking Off,” in 1975. He earned his first Grammy for best R&B instrumental performance for “All I Need Is You,” a track on his 1981 album, “Voyeur.”
His 2008 album, “Here & Gone,” with guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Derek Trucks, and Joss Stone, was a tribute to Ray Charles and his arranger and saxophonist Hank Crawford, who significantly influenced Sanborn’s playing.
“That music was everything to me,” he told NPR. “It kind of combined jazz, gospel, and rhythm and blues. It was not any of those things, but all of them mixed. And that, to me, is the essence of American music.”
He is survived by his wife, Alice Soyer Sanborn, a pianist, vocalist, and composer; his son, Jonathan; two granddaughters; and his sisters, Sallie, and Barb Sanborn.
Sanborn continued to tour into his seventies. With all the changes in the music business, he found touring was a better way to make a living than recording.
“You make a fraction of what you used to make,” he said in a 2017 interview with The Tampa Bay Times. “There’s not a lot of options.”
He found life on the road increasingly taxing, but performing live remained a passion. Despite plans to cut back to about 150 gigs a year from two hundred, he nevertheless embarked on a tour in 2017 that reached Istanbul and Nairobi.
“I still want to play,” he said, “and if you want to play for an audience, you’ve got to go where the audience is.”
Tributes from fellow musicians and fans continue to pour in, celebrating his legacy and the countless magical moments he shared on stage. David Sanborn’s impact on the music world will resonate through his timeless recordings.
