‘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.
As the 80s wore on, David Sanborn’s crossover jazz records became increasingly formulaic and he and his primary collaborator Marcus Miller saw that it was time to mix things up a bit. Ending a long, successful run at Warner Brothers, Sanborn debuted on Elektra determined to break free of expectations, and Another Hand (1991) couldn’t be any more different than his 80s fare, decidedly more creative, organic and overall closer to straight jazz.
This might have meant shunning the considerable smooth jazz audience he’d built up over that decade but he probably didn’t care. There were a lot of different kinds of music he loved that he barely got to present on his records and with his new record label, he was ready to scratch those itches.
The recordings for Another Hand were overseen mostly by Hal Wilner, who worked with Sanborn on the jazz/eclectic music TV series Night Music that ran in the late 80s. For the following project, Sanborn got back with Miller to make another funk-jazz record but this time, they approached it in a completely divergent way. Upfront is gritty, leaning heavy into vintage RnB with blues and Caribbean/Latin flavors sprinkled throughout. This is my go-to Sanborn record, because he sounds more at home here than on anywhere else.
For the last track, David Sanborn covers avant-jazz king Ornette Coleman, the thought of which probably made a lot of those smooth jazz fans’ heads explode, but “Ramblin'” isn’t nearly as ‘out there’ as the idea suggests. The song fits perfectly in this collection, and it’s a tribute to Coleman’s ingeniously pliable composing as much as it is to Sanborn’s and Miller’s adeptness at adapting.
The harmony — I should say ‘harmolodic’ — is unaltered in Sanborn’s hands: just listen to Ornette’s original above and find there’s really no difference in how the lead lines are played. But Coleman’s songs tend to be time signature ambivalent, meaning you can slip just about any rhythm underneath and it could work.
Sanborn and Miller elected to install a real funky pulse, carried out by Miller (on bass, of course) and Steve Jordan on drums. That’s William “Spaceman” Patterson on wah-wah guitar and Ricky Peterman brings the soul on B3 organ. Playing the ‘Don Cherry’ role is trumpeter Herb Robertson, foreshadowing the next installment in this series (hint: Robertson has worked extensively with Tim Berne).
“Ramblin'” might be one of those rare David Sanborn tracks that offers something for almost everyone across the jazz spectrum. Just as long as you like to move, there’s no reason not to like this take on “Ramblin’.”
*** David Sanborn CD’s on Amazon ***
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