The world of music has lost a true legend with the passing of saxophonist David Sanborn at the age of 78. Known for his smooth and soulful playing style, Sanborn was a pioneer in the world of jazz and R&B music. His career spanned over six decades, during which he collaborated with some of the biggest names in the industry and released numerous critically acclaimed albums.
Sanborn's unique sound and virtuoso skills on the saxophone earned him multiple Grammy Awards and a dedicated fan base around the world. His influence on modern jazz and popular music cannot be overstated, as he inspired countless musicians with his innovative approach to the instrument.
Sanborn passed away on Sunday afternoon after "an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications," according to the artist’s Instagram account.
David Sanborn was born on July 30, 1945, in Tampa. Fla, but was raised in Kirkwood, Mo., outside St. Louis. Stricken with childhood polio, the young Sanborn took up the saxophone ostensibly to improve his breathing and lung capacity. Instead, influenced by the jazz and R&B sounds of Ray Charles with David Fathead Newman, Jimmy McGriff with Hank Crawford, and local St. Louis blues and R&B figures, the instrument became a central part of his life. Sanborn said that his own love affair with that style of groove-oriented jazz began very early, even before he started playing the saxophone. The youngster heard Bill Doggett’s “Honky Tonk” with Clifford Scott on tenor and he was hooked. “When I heard that, I thought, ‘I can’t ever imagine being able to play that,” he explained to me in 2022. “There was so much personality in his playing. In St. Louis where I started out there were a few organ groups and there was one in particular that featured an acolyte of Jimmy Smith named Don James, who played at a club there called the Blue Note, believe it or not. It was one of those clubs that opened up at 10 o’clock at night and stayed open until six in the morning. We used to play from midnight until three or four in the morning. That was my first experience playing with an organist.”
Through every phase of his career, Sanborn maintained an insistent if inconstant connection with the jazz tradition. In 2013, he reunited with Bob James to make Quartette Humaine, a straight-ahead album that evoked the spirit of the classic Dave Brubeck Quartet. The following year, he released Enjoy the View, a surefooted soul-jazz outing featuring Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, Joey DeFrancesco on a Hammond B-3 organ and Billy Hart on drums.
At the same time, perhaps as a result of some unhappy encounters with jazz gatekeepers, Sanborn maintained a certain humility about his place in the music. "If push comes to shove," he told NPR's Scott Simon in 2008, "I would describe myself more as coming out of the blues/R&B side of the spectrum. But I mean, if you play the saxophone, you certainly can't escape the influence of jazz. So it's not that I necessarily don't, you know, want to be called a jazz musician. It's just that I — you know, I don't know if that's totally accurate."
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