About Me
David Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American saxophonist, most commonly associated with smooth jazz. He was born in Tampa, Florida and grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri.Sanborn suffered from polio in his youth, and began playing the saxophone on a physician's advice to strengthen his weakened chest muscles and improve his breathing. He has been a highly regarded session player since the late 1960s.One of his first professional gigs was as a member of Paul Butterfield's band. One of Sanborn's earliest guest recordings was on David Bowie's Young Americans. Around this time his output as a session player became prolific and over the next ten years he played with a dazzling array of artists, such as Stevie Wonder, Marcus Miller, Paul Simon, Jaco Pastorius, the Brecker Brothers, Bob James, James Taylor, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Donny Hathaway, Elton John, Gil Evans, Carly Simon, Billy Joel, Roger Waters and Steely Dan.Alongside his career as a session musician, Sanborn has become one of the biggest selling and highly regarded instrumentalists of the last forty years, winning numerous awards including Grammys for "Voyeur (1980)" and "Straight to the Heart".In conjunction with his recording career, Sanborn has had a successful career as a broadcaster, both in radio and television.In the late 1980s he was a regular guest member of Paul Shaffer's band on Late Night with David Letterman. From 1988-89, he co-hosted a late-night TV music show on NBC with Jools Holland. The show, "Night Music", following producer Hal Willner's eclectic approach, drew Sanborn together with many famed musicians, such as Miles Davis, Lou Reed, Santana, Youssou N'dour, Curtis Mayfield, and many others.Throughout his career, Sanborn has skirted the edges of free jazz: In his youth he studied with Roscoe Mitchell and Julius Hemphill, and performed on Tim Berne's Diminutive Mysteries, dedicated to Hemphill. His 1991 album Another Hand, produced by Hal Willner, features Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, and various other players not usually associated with smooth jazz.In television, Sanborn is well-known for his sax solo in the theme song for the NBC hit drama L.A. Law. He has also dabbled in writing for film, contributing to such scores as Lethal Weapon and Scrooged.In 2004, David Sanborn was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.In 2006, David was featured in Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band's most recent album "The Phat Pack" (released on June 13) on the track Play That Funky Music, a remake of the classic funk chart in a big band style.
