‘Remembering David Sanborn’ is a series of brief essays, each highlighting a song that brings to light some facet of the genius and wonderment of the late saxophone titan, David Sanborn.
For his first four albums, David Sanborn relied almost entirely on others to supply him the songs, and luckily, he had good help mostly from the other musicians who participated on his recordings. For Hideaway (1980), Sanborn took his first serious foray into songwriting, and even co-wrote a couple of tunes with Michael McDonald, who had just struck gold co-writing “What A Fool Believes” with Kenny Loggins.
Sanborn himself would strike gold on his follow-up album, earning his first of seven Grammies for Voyeur. He undertook an even more hands-on approach for this record, writing mostly without co-writes on the first four of the seven tracks and playing some keyboards. Multi-instrumentalist/composer/bass boss Marcus Miller emerged as a major partner on this album, and he penned all the rest of the songs. The Sanborn-Miller collaboration was key to Sanborn’s success for years to come, but that’s a story for another time.
The story here is how Sanborn arrived as a complete musician, a master interpreter who developed a penchant for writing his own memorable melodies, such as the second track on Voyeur, “It’s You.”
“It’s You” was the very song that got me hooked on Sanborn; I heard it on a college radio station one night when Voyeur was new. I immediately sought out the album and have been listening to this one at least once or twice a year since then.
What immediately drew me to the song then is what draws me to it today: fronted by Sanborn’s lyrical and soul-stirring sax, it’s a strain that moves around in an enchanting, esoteric way. That’s complemented by dampened, intimate production with another inventive rhythm from Steve Gadd, tight percussion from Lenny Castro and a fingerpicked acoustic guitar from Buzzy Feiten. The female background wordless vocals from a foursome that includes Patti Austin and Valerie Simpson amps up the Quiet Storm romantic ambience. Like an Isley Brothers slow jam, it’s the very sound of amorous contentment.
Sanborn was evidently very satisfied with “It’s You,” as it was a rare time (only time?) he re-recorded an original; this would appear five years later on the Double Vision album made with Bob James. That version is okay, but lacks the intimacy of the first recording. Not much crossover jazz from the 80s holds up well today soundwise but “It’s You” in its first form is timeless.
*** David Sanborn CD’s on Amazon ***
- McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson ft. Henry Grimes + Jack DeJohnette – ‘Forces of Nature: Live At Slugs’ (1966, 2024 release) - November 21, 2024
- Lydia Salnikova, “Christmas Means a Different Thing This Year” (2024): One Track Mind - November 19, 2024
- Darius Jones – ‘Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)’ - November 15, 2024
