Artist: David Sanborn

David William Sanborn was an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. 

Sanborn performed with blues musicians Albert King and Little Milton at the age of 14. He continued playing blues when he joined Paul Butterfield blues band in 1967. Sanborn recorded on four Butterfield albums as a horn section member and soloist from 1967 to 1971. In the early morning of Monday, August 18, 1969, Sanborn appeared as a member of the band at the Woodstock Music Festival at Bethel, NY. 

In 1972 Sanborn played on the track "Tuesday Heartbreak" on the Stevie Wonder album Talking Book. His work in 1975 with David Bowie on Young Americans and on the James Taylor recording of "How Sweet it Is (To Be Loved by You)" on the album Gorilla further brought to prominence his alto saxophone voice in popular music. 

In the mid-70s Sanborn became active in the popular jazz fusion scene by joining the Brecker Brothers  band where he became influenced by Michael Brecker, and it was with the brothers that he recorded his first solo album, Taking Off, nowadays regarded as something of a jazz/funk classic. 

Although Sanborn is most associated with smooth jazz, he studied free jazz in his youth 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 featured avant-garde musicians. 

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, Loudon Wainwright III, 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, Nena, Hikaru Utada, The Rolling Stones,  Ian Hunter, and Toto. 

Many of his solo recordings were collaborations with the bassist/multi-instrumentalist/ composer and producer Marcus Miller, whom he met in the  Saturday Night Live band in the late 1970s.  

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. In 2013, Sanborn toured with keyboardist  Brian Culbertson on "The Dream Tour" celebrating the 25th anniversary of the song "The Dream".