July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024

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Alto-saxophonist David Sanborn passed away on May 12, 2024 at the age of 78.

He was born on July 30, 1945 in Tampa, Florida, growing up in Kirkwood, Missouri.

Sanborn contracted polio as a child and took up the saxophone on a doctor’s advice to improve his breathing.

He played with Albert King and Little Milton when he was just 14 and attended Northwestern University and the University of Iowa, studying with saxophonist J.R. Monterose at the latter although he considered his main inspiration to be Hank Crawford.

Sanborn worked with Paul Butterfield during 1967-71 including appearing at Woodstock, and developed his own immediately recognizable sound.

A busy session musician by the early 1970s (including playing with the Rolling Stones and recording with Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, James Brown, Eric Clapton, David Bowie and countless others in the rock and pop worlds), he was a member of the Brecker Brothers and also worked with Gil Evans, soloing on “King Porter Stomp” with Evans; a very rare example of Sanborn playing the music of Jelly Roll Morton.

Starting with 1975’s Taking Off, Sanborn recorded a long series of r&bish albums that caught on big, becoming (along with Michael Brecker) the biggest influence on several generations of saxophonists.

While some classified him as a pioneer in so-called “smooth jazz” (a category and idiom that he disliked), Sanborn (who modestly said that he was not a jazz player although many of his recordings offer evidence to the contrary) occasionally ventured into more adventurous music including an avant-garde project with John Zorn, collaborations with Bobby Hutcherson and Joey DeFrancesco, and leading a straight ahead jazz group in his later years.

One of David Sanborn’s most important contributions was hosting the television series Night Music (1988-90) which gave him the opportunity to mix together artists from different fields and feature such jazz greats as Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis and Sun Ra on national television.

Considered one of the nicest performers in the music business, David Sanborn will be greatly missed.

From the 1998 Newport Jazz Festival, the altoist is featured on the soulful “Chicago Song,” displaying his always distinctive sound.

-Scott Yanow

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