Multi-instrumentalist David Sancious is a musician’s musician. An original member of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – in fact, his family home provided the group’s rehearsal space and name – Sancious has since worked with the likes of Peter Gabriel, Eric Clapton, Santana, Jeff Beck, Seal, Jack Bruce, Francis Dunnery, Aretha Franklin and many others. Equally at home on guitar and keyboards, David Sancious actually thinks of himself as a composer who plays well. His multi-genre approach melds harmonies from jazz and classical with rhythms from rock and R&B. That eclectic approach shines through when he discussed albums that shaped his career with Ross Boissoneau:
JIMI HENDRIX – ELECTRIC LADYLAND (1968): Jimi Hendrix was a major influence: sonically, what he was playing, the songs. Electric Ladyland had great liner notes by Hendrix, photos from Linda Eastman (McCartney). I started piano about 5½, got into guitar when I was about 7. I liked guitar as an instrument. If I’d learned to play guitar first, I’d have loved it. I wanted to be portable. Plus it’s hard to tune your own piano. I started on acoustic folk, figuring it all out: Bob Dylan, Richie Havens. Then my brother Ed brought home Are You Experienced?, and my father turned me on to B.B. King. I begged my mom to get me an electric guitar.
LEONARD BERNSTEIN AND THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC – HOLST: THE PLANETS (1971): Gustav Holst’s Planets is one of the best examples of orchestrating. If Holst was alive today, he’d be getting so much in royalties. It’s the beauty of the music itself. As the youngest of three boys, I got exposed to a lot of adult music. I always liked that. All of it to me was fascinating. Kids my age were not listening to Mozart or Chopin. The first time I flew in a plane I was 18 or 19, going from New York to California with the E Street Band to do a CBS Records convention. I put the plane’s headphones on, pressed play and it was the Planets. I listened to it twice. There’s a great [rendition] by Leonard Bernstein [and the New York Philharmonic].
WEATHER REPORT – HEAVY WEATHER (1977): It’s a stunning record, a major influence. Fantastic composing, master players, the way they played together. “Havona” is just gorgeous. Joe [Zawinul]’s piano solo gliding through the changes. Jaco [Pastorius] – what an incredible musician. There’s a video of Jaco and Toots Thielemans on Youtube playing standards – Jaco on piano, he’s killing it. He looked so happy, grinning and laughing. Weather Report was one of my favorite bands.
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO NOW: Various jazz. Driving in my car, I’m listening to film scores by Ennio Morricone – a collection with The Untouchables, The Mission and various spaghetti Westerns. I’m really getting turned on to Avatar by Gonzalo Rubalcalba. I did a tour of New England and Europe with Dennis Chambers, Jeff Berlin and Oz Noy. In the course of that, Dennis and I got close, and he turned me on to the electric stuff Gonzalo did. The writing and everything is great. There’s a lot of interesting young talent on Colbert. Wyclef Jean on Colbert was great too, visually arresting.
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