Wednesday, May 15, 2024

David Sanborn has died aged 78

Don’s Tunes let’s us know someone we had been featuring quite a bit lately from his TV who with Jools Holland and others has died . . . .

"David Sanborn, the influential saxophonist whose Grammy-winning career included collaborations with Stevie Wonder and David Bowie, has died. He was 78.
The key to Sanborn’s success was his sound, which ran sweet-tart with a bracing bite, like the wedge of lime on a salt-rimmed cocktail glass. He’d adapted that tone from his childhood hero, Hank Crawford, a former music director with Ray Charles — but he made it as personal as his speaking voice, and carried it into a dazzling range of settings.
“He was one of the soulful players,” Billy Harper wrote on Instagram, “and I think he got that soulful style from playing in a blues band.” Observing that this quality was relatively rare in a white player at that time, Harper added: “He had this specific attacking style, which was surprising and refreshing, always going for that bluesy kind of sound and expression. He ‘went’ for that.”
Nate Chinen