Early life

Sanborn was born in Tampa, Florida, and grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri. He suffered from polio for eight years in his youth, and began playing the saxophone on a physician's advice to strengthen his weakened chest muscles and improve his breathing. Alto saxophonist Hank Crawford, at the time a member of Ray Charles's band, was an early and lasting influence on Sanborn.

Sanborn initially attended college at Northwestern University, studying music. However, he 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 at the age of 14. He continued playing blues when he joined Paul Butterfield's band in 1967.

Although Sanborn is most associated with smooth jazz, he explored the edges of free jazz in his youth, studying with saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Julius Hemphill. In 1993, he revisited this genre when he appeared on Tim Berne's Diminutive Mysteries, dedicated to Hemphill. Sanborn's album Another Hand also featured leading avant garde musicians.

Recordings

He has been a highly regarded session player since the late 1960s, playing with an array of well-known artists, such as James Brown, Bryan Ferry, Michael Stanley, Eric Clapton, Bobby Charles, 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, 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, The Grateful Dead, the German singer Nena, Japanese pop star Utada Hikaru. and Toto.

Sanborn has won numerous awards including Grammy Awards for Voyeur (1981), Double Vision (1986) and the instrumental album Close Up (1988). His solo recordings have often featured the bassist/multi-instrumentalist and producer Marcus Miller. He has also done some film scoring for films such as Lethal Weapon and Scrooged. In 1991 Sanborn recorded Another Hand, which the All Music Guide to Jazz described as a "return by Sanborn to his real, true love: unadorned (or only partly adorned) jazz" that "balanced the scales" against his smooth jazz material. The album, produced by Hal Willner, featured musicians from outside the smooth jazz scene, such as Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, and Marc Ribot. His more recent albums include Closer.

In 1994 Sanborn appeared in A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend. This was a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall produced by Roger Daltrey of English rock band The Who in celebration of his fiftieth birthday. In 1994 a CD and a VHS video were issued, and in 1998 a DVD was released.

In 1995 he performed in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True a musical performance of the popular story at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT), and issued on CD and video in 1996.

Broadcasting activities

Sanborn has performed on both radio and television broadcasts; he has also acted as a host. Since the late 1980s he has been a regular guest member of Paul Shaffer's band on Late Night with David Letterman. He also appeared few times on the Late Show with David Letterman in the 90s. From 1988-89, he co-hosted Night Music, a late-night music show on NBC television with Jools Holland. Following producer Hal Willner's eclectic approach, the show positioned Sanborn with many famed musicians, such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Lou Reed, Jean-Luc Ponty, Santana, Todd Rundgren, Youssou N'dour, Pere Ubu, Loudon Wainwright III, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Leonard Cohen, Was, and Curtis Mayfield. During the 1980s and 1990s, Sanborn hosted a syndicated radio program, The Jazz Show with David Sanborn. Sanborn has recorded many shows' theme songs as well as several other songs for The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder.

More recent activities

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

In 2006, he was featured in Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band's album The Phat Pack on the track "Play That Funky Music", a remake of the Wild Cherry hit in a big band style. Sanborn often performs at Japan's Blue Note venues in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo. He plays on the song "Your Party" on Ween's 2007 release La Cucaracha. On April 8, 2007, Sanborn sat in with the Allman Brothers Band during their annual run at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

In 2010, Sanborn toured primarily with a trio featuring jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco and Steve Gadd where they played the combination of blues and jazz from his album Only Everything. In 2011, Sanborn toured with keyboardist George Duke and bassist Marcus Miller as the group DMS.

Discography

Albums

As leader

• Taking Off (1975)
• Beck & Sanborn, with Joe Beck (1975)
• David Sanborn (1976)
• Promise Me the Moon (1977)
• Heart to Heart (1978)
• Hideaway (1979); #2 jazz hit; #33 R&B hit
• Voyeur (1980); #1 jazz hit
• As We Speak (1981); #1 jazz hit
• Backstreet (1982); #1 jazz hit
• Straight to the Heart (1984); #1 jazz hit
• Love and Happiness (1986)
• Double Vision, with Bob James (1986)
• A Change of Heart (1987)
• Close-Up (1988)
• Another Hand (1991)
• Upfront (1992)
• Hearsay (1994)
• The Best of David Sanborn (1994)
• Pearls (March 28, 1995)
• Love Songs (1995)
• Songs from the Night Before (1996)
• Inside (March 23, 1999)
• The Essentials (2002)
• Time Again (June 3, 2003)
• Closer (January 11, 2005)
• Original Album Classics (5-CD box set of 5 albums reissued in replica LP covers)
• Dreaming Girl (January 11, 2008)
• Here and Gone (June 4, 2008)
• Only Everything (January 28, 2010)
• Then Again: The Anthology (July 2012)
• Quartette Humaine, with Bob James (May 2013)
• Time and The River (April 7, 2015)

As sideman

With Loudon Wainwright III

• Album III (Columbia, 1972)

With Stevie Wonder

• Talking Book (Tamla, 1972)

With Mose Allison

• Your Mind Is on Vacation (Atlantic, 1976)

With George Benson

• Good King Bad (CTI, 1975)

With Bruce Springsteen

• Born to Run (Columbia, 1975)with Tommy Bolin Teaser (Epic, 1975)

With Tim Berne

• Diminutive Mysteries (JMT, 1993)

With David Bowie

• Young Americans (RCA, 1975)

With Gil Evans

• The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix (RCA, 1974)
• There Comes a Time (RCA, 1975)
• Gil Evans Live at the Royal Festival Hall London 1978 (RCA, 1979)

With Eagles

• alto saxophone on "The Sad Café" on album The Long Run (Asylum, 1979)

With Bobby Hutcherson

• Enjoy the View (Blue Note, 2014)

With Billy Joel

• alto saxophone on "Easy Money" on album An Innocent Man (1983)

With Hubert Laws

• The Chicago Theme (CTI, 1974)

With Todd Rundgren

• A Wizard, a True Star (1973)
• Initiation (1975)

With Roger Waters

• The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (CBS, 1984)

With Elton John

• alto saxophone on "Boogie Pilgrim" and "Idol" on album Blue Moves (1976)

With Idris Muhammad

• House of the Rising Sun (1972)

With Paul Butterfield Blues Band

• The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw (1967)
• In My Own Dream (1968)
• Keep on Moving (1969)
• Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin' (1971)

DVDs

• Legends: Live at Montreux 1997 (Released: 2005)
• The Legends of Jazz: Showcase (Released: 2006)

Filmography

Actor/Host

• The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1995)
  Cast member in the TV stage musical
• Scrooged (1988)
  Played a street musician
• Sunday Night (1988)
  Was the host of this music show (later known as Michelob Presents Night Music)
• Magnum P.I. (1986)
  Was guest saxophonist in the episode L.A.
• Stelle Sulla Citta (1983)

Himself

• Saturday Night Live (March 15, 1980)
• One Trick Pony (1980)
• Late Night with David Letterman / Late Show with David Letterman (occasionally, 1986—2010)
• The 1st Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1987)
• The 2nd Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1988)
• Benny Carter: Symphony in Riffs (1989)
• Michael Kamen: Concert for Saxophone (1991)
• Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who (1994)
• Forget Paris (1995)
• Burt Bacharach: One Amazing Night (1995)
• The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1996)
• Eric Clapton & Friends in Concert (1999)

Composer

• Moment to Moment (1975)
• Stelle Sulla Citta (1983)
• Finnegan Begin Again (1985)
• Psycho III (1986)
• Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
• Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
• Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Musician

• Saturday Night Live (1975)
• Murphy's Romance (1985)
• Psycho III (1986)
• Lethal Weapon (1987)
• Tequila Sunrise (1988)
• Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
• Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
• Forget Paris (1995)
• Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Gear list

• Saxophone
  Selmer Mark VI Alto Saxophone
  Manufacturer: Selmer
  Location: Paris, France
  Retail Value (approx): $6,000 (US)
• Reeds
  Vandoren V16 reeds
  Each reed lasts David roughly a week.
• Mouthpiece
  A modified Dukoff D8 Metal Alto Sax Mouthpiece
• Ligature
  A Harrison Ligature
• Bell Jar
  To keep his reeds humidified without over-soaking them, David soaks the reeds in water in a bell jar. First he soaks them for a couple of hours in the jar, and then empties out most of the water so that the reeds won't get wet, but will still stay humid. He finds this technique extremely valuable.
• Microphone
  SD systems LCM89

Personal life

Sanborn has owned two chihuahuas, Miles and Lucy. They reside in a brownstone on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]