Second Cup Cafe: David Sanborn

Grammy-Winning Artist Who Combines Jazz, Pop & R&B Releases 23rd Album, "Here & Gone"

(CBS)  It could be said it was fate that made Grammy Award-winning saxophonist David Sanborn the stellar musician that he is today.

At the tender age of 3, Sanborn caught polio, which would affect him the rest of his life - but in a good way.

As a form of rehabilitation, his parents gave him a saxophone, which became a blessing in disguise.

The legendary saxophonist visited The Early Show's Second Cup Café Saturday to play songs off of his latest nine-track CD, "Here & Gone."

Sanborn keeps the hits coming on his 23rd album.

Produced by Phil Ramone, the CD features a number of special guests, including Eric Clapton, Joss Stone and Sam Moore, proving that at 63, Sanborn still remains current and contemporary.

While growing up in St. Louis, Sanborn was drawn to the music of Chicago blues artists. As a high school kid, he played alongside musicians Albert King and Little Milton.

"When I was 17 or 18 and it was time to figure out what to do with my life, I realized that I didn't enjoy anything as much as I enjoyed playing music," Sanborn said on his official Web site. "I felt that I had no choice that I HAD to become a musician. Either that or steal cars."

Following his dream to pursue music, Sanborn attended Northwestern University and then transferred to the University of Iowa. After getting married, he had a son, Jonathan, to whom he has dedicated every album.

Next stop was California, where Sanborn joined the Butterfield Blues Band for five years. After playing Woodstock, many doors opened in his career. He went on to perform with music legends Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Paul Simon and James Taylor.

Sanborn, who has been considered as one of the greatest saxophone players of all time, has built his impressive reputation. By blending his soulful sounds in jazz, pop and R&B genres and adding soulful singers to the mix, he found the right formula to move the masses.

[eberlin2]

Me again under another name. I think it''s odd that you criticize my post simply because I disagree with you. I certainly don''t question your right to think Sanborn is a great player, I just don''t agree.

Virtually all critics would agree that "pop" refers to a style/genre and not to how popular someone is.

I''m talking about Sanborn from the point of view of the jazz tradition. If you read a history of jazz that carries up to the present you''ll find him referred to at most only in passing.

He may well be among the best of "smooth jazz" artists but that sub-genre is a form of light instrumental pop music much more than it continues the jazz tradition.

I can''t list all the saxophonists I consider greater than Sanborn because the list would be too long. Just graze through a volume of jazz history for the names...

[eaberlin]

I''ve nothing against Sanborn, but consider him more of a pop/jazz saxophonist than a jazz artist. I find the suggestion that he''s "one of the greatest saxophone players of all time" to be laughably inaccurate. You''d have to make the pool of the "greatest" absurdly large to include him in it.

[eaberlin]

I''ve nothing against Sanborn, but consider him more of a pop/jazz saxophonist than a jazz artist. I find the suggestion that he''s "one of the greatest saxophone players of all time" to be laughably inaccurate. You''d have to make the pool of the "greatest" absurdly large to include him in it.

[jjgpots]

I first heard Sanborn while walking through a mall...I stopped in my tracks!!! could not take another step. When the music stopped I spent a 1/2 hour trying to find out who was playing that SAX! That was at least 25 years ao!