Saxophonist and jazz legend David Sanborn died on Sunday in Tarrytown at age 78. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018.
Born in Tampa, FL in 1945, Sanborn began playing saxophone as a way to strengthening his lungs after contracting polio as a child. He took to it and continued playing after his recovery, and was performing alongside blues greats like Albert King and Little Milton when still a teenager. He studied music at Northwestern University and the University of Iowa, and in his early 20s, he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, playing the original Woodstock Festival during his stint in the group.
Sanborn recorded his first solo album, Taking Off, in 1975, which cemented his signature style that mixed in rock, pop and R&B, which also was part of the saxophone’s resurgence in popular music. He toured with David Bowie and played sax on “Young Americans,” and also played the solo on Bruce Springsteen‘s “10th Avenue Freeze-Out.” Sanborn also played on records by Stevie Wonder, BB King, Paul Simon, Mick Jagger, James Taylor, Luther Vandross and more.
In 1980, David joined the Saturday Night Live band for that season and would work with SNL music director Hal Willner on his groundbreaking series Night Music as host and featured player. During the ’80s and ’90s, Sanborn also regularly sat in with Paul Schaffer and the band on David Letterman, and his playing is all over the score for the original Lethal Weapon movie. He was also a six-time Grammy winner, including 1981’s Voyeur and 1986’s Double Vision, both of which went to #1 on the jazz charts. His most recent album was 2018’s This Masquerade.
As the official statement on his death noted, even though he had been living with cancer since 2018, David had been able to maintain his concert schedule up until recently and had dates lined up into 2025.
Rest in peace, David.