David Sanborn
David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B.[1] He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school and was a session musician long before its release.[2] He remains popular as a session musician, playing in several albums of various artists (see Discography).
For the port management executive, see David C. Sanborn.
David Sanborn
David William Sanborn
July 30, 1945
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Jazz, jazz fusion, blues rock, R&B, pop, blues
Musician
Alto saxophone, piano
1959–present
One of the most commercially successful American saxophonists to earn prominence since the 1980s, Sanborn is described by critic Scott Yanow[3] as "the most influential saxophonist on pop, R&B, and crossover players of the past 20 years." He is often identified with radio-friendly smooth jazz, but he has expressed a disinclination for the genre and his association with it.[1]
Early life[edit]
Sanborn was born in Tampa, Florida, and grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri. He contracted polio in his youth.[4] He began playing saxophone on a physician's advice to strengthen his weakened chest muscles and improve his breathing, instead of studying piano. Alto saxophonist Hank Crawford, at the time a member of Ray Charles's band, was an early and lasting influence on Sanborn.[5]
Sanborn attended college at Northwestern University and studied music.[2] But he transferred to the University of Iowa where he played and studied with saxophonist J.R. Monterose.[2]
Equipment[edit]
Sanborn plays a Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone. In the early 1980s he was endorsed by Yamaha and played their saxophones on the albums As We Speak and Backstreet and can be seen playing a Yamaha saxophone at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1981.
According to an April 1988 interview published in the jazz magazine DownBeat, he has a preference for Selmer Mark VI alto saxophones in the 140,000-150,000 serial number range, all produced in 1967. From the late 70s Sanborn played mouthpieces created by Bobby Dukoff. He is currently playing a mouthpiece designed by Aaron Drake.
Awards and honors[edit]
He has won six Grammy Awards and has had eight gold albums and one platinum album.[14]
Sanborn won Grammy Awards for Voyeur (1981), Double Vision (1986), and the instrumental album Close Up (1988).
In 2004, Sanborn was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.[15]