‘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:
From the very beginning, David Sanborn worked with greatness, because greatness wanted to work with him. And those iconic artists who brought him into their fold could come from literally anywhere within the vast field of music.
Barely in his twenties in 1967, Sanborn was in the Paul Butterfield Band. By the mid-70s he was called on for recording dates by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, James Brown and the Eagles. Concurrently, Sanborn was also a member of Gil Evans’ orchestra. So right alongside Young Americans, Born To Run and One of These Nights were Sanborn credits at the same time for Evans’ Svengali, Plays The Music of Jimi Hendrix and Priestess.
After Priestess, Sanborn embarked on recording his fourth album, which was released in March of 1978 as Heart To Heart. The variety of styles presented on this album coupled with strong originals from a variety of composers makes Heart To Heart my sleeper pick album by the world’s most recognizable alto reedman.
The second track was penned by the album’s producer John Simon, but “Short Visit” has Gil Evans’ fingerprints all over it. He arranged the song and for this number only, Sanborn is backed by an orchestra of musicians, many of whom were his cohorts in Evans band at the time: George Adams, Arthur Blythe, Lou Soloff, Howard Johnson and Pete Levin. Toss in some other sessionists like, oh I don’t know, Steve Gadd, Don Grolnick, Jon Faddis and Hiram Bullock, and that’s about as an elite assemblage of musicians as was possible in the late 70s.
“Short Visit” won’t win plaudits for an elaborate or canny song structure, it’s just two chords until it makes a key change downward for the brief coda. Those two chords alternate for almost eight minutes, too, but Evans’ arrangement modulates the tempo and feel into a flow that makes you forget about its simple structure. Sanborn himself elevates this song as well: leading the entire way, he comes up with the right impassioned phrases and accents at the right moments, never looking back and falling into the cliché trap. His melodic bent also does a lot to decorate Simon’s tune.
Even after finding success as a solo artist in the following decade, David Sanborn would try to play in the renowned jazz orchestrator’s ensemble whenever he could sit in, up until Evans’ passing in 1988. Sanborn had so many influences, and he held tight to all of them throughout his entire career. “Short Visit” was an early hat tip to his sometimes-employer, but it wouldn’t be his last.
*** David Sanborn CD’s on Amazon ***
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