David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanbornis an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school. Sanborn has also worked extensively as a session musician, notably on David Bowie's Young Americans...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSaxophonist
Date of Birth30 July 1945
CityTampa, FL
CountryUnited States of America
Well, I guess my unease with that is... I'm always a little uneasy with that phrase - smooth jazz, as opposed to what?
I became a musician because I love music, and that is what has sustained me; it's not because I thought it was a great way to make a living. Music saved my life.
No, it's unfair to the musicians and the people that work for the record labels, because they're scrambling to make their numbers every month or three months, or they're out of a job.
I think a valid approach to being a musician is to take all of the experience of your life and filter it through your personality and send it back out there, and that's what art is.
My manager and I had been talking about trying to do a TV show. There was a series of shows back in the '50s, where they'd get a bunch of musicians together and they'd jam.
But hey, look, I became a musician because I love music.
And I think that in the case of these last few - the musicians I had - the reasons I used the same people I did on the two albums was I really felt that these guys were not only great players in their own right but really understood the concept of functioning as a band.
I started out, obviously, as a sideman, and I had some really good gigs as a sideman.
I was playing with James Taylor at the time. James agreed to let me open for him, if I played with him also. So I got to be the opening act and I got a lot of exposure that way.
Mostly because I don't really feel that I have a methodology.
Well, I really enjoyed the process of making the last album so much that it's like kind of not wanting the party to end in a way.
Well, I had been doing albums that were a little more pop/commercial and it was really only reflecting one side of my playing and I felt the need to express another side of myself.
I'm somebody that pretty much operates by instinct, and I kind of have to follow my instincts.
The problem often times with trying to recreate some moment is that you kind of try to do part two or a sequel.