Search - David Sanborn :: Closer

Music for Seduction

Marc deVilliers | Dallas | 03/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A real gem this disc. To my ears, the words `control, lyricism and splendor' speak out of this work. A delightful record, Sanborn's constraint shines through. Without doubt, David Sanborn's best recording yet. Not perhaps music for the die-hard avant garde lovers, but in its own way a veritable wall of luxurious and wonderful sounds. Christian McBride keeps it all together and the guitar punctuation of Russell Malone keeps it all neat and punchy. Sanborn's reedy tone is an acquired taste, a touch to harsh for me, but it leads where the music has to go. One cannot say enough about Lizz Wright. There are too many adjectives to do justice to her sound. Again, controlled, but powerful and melodious, she might well be the greatest of all time. I would love to hear a full album of Sanborn and Wright, the support they lend to each other is perfection. One quibble, sound balance is off a tad at times; off enough drown that wondrous voice. Definitely this recording deserves a five star rating."

Vintage Dave

Shannon Freeman | Tennessee | 12/10/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Closer begins with a lively tune with an unfortunate title; that, however, does not detract from the catchy beat and melody. This number is one that will cause one to hit the repeat button. As for the remainder of the CD, it hums along nicely, following a pattern of predictable, yet enjoyable Sanborn. Track nine is another one that gets under you. I would definitely recommend this as an introduction to David Sanborn or for the loyal fan."

Thougtful and incredibly beautiful

Olukayode Balogun | Leeds, England | 11/14/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"David Sanborn was one of the first people I got into when I turned to jazz back in the early 1980s. He was certainly the first alto saxophonist I got to know. He did a lot of stuff with Marcus Miller back then and I used to think he was the bee's knees, but my tastes have matured somewhat since those heady youthful days.



He's dismissed by the hoity-toity brigade as a purveyor of smooth jazz, muzak or elevator music, even as a pop instrumentalist and while I agree that some of his product has been incredibly lightweight at various stages in his career, I've always found something essentially appealing about his music. I remain a loyal fan and though I haven't got all his albums, I still like to check him out from time to time.



This 2005 release is his most recent CD in my collection and, produced by Stewart Levine, it has a nice Latin flavour to it, helped along in the most part by percussionist Luis Quintero. This album is also somewhat unique - at least among my other Sanborn CDs (except, perhaps, for Pearls) - in that there are a lot of standards on it. There are songs from people like Horace Silver ("Señor Blues" & "Enchantment"), Nat Simon & Buddy Bernier ("Poinciana"), Tommy Wolf & Fran Landesman ("Ballad of the Sad Young Men") and Charles (Charlie) Chaplin, Geoffrey Parsons & John Palmer ("Smile"). Then there's the James Taylor classic, "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" on which Sanborn is joined by the fabulous Lizz Wright on vocals. This song is the main reason I decided to buy this CD and it's almost worth the price of the CD all on its own.



Other featured musicians include Larry Goldings on electric piano & organ, Gil Goldstein on electric piano & accordion, Mike Mainieri (who I used to love when he was in Steps Ahead with Michael Brecker) on vibraphone, Russell Malone on guitar, (beautiful on "You Must Believe In Spring"), Christian McBride on bass, Steve Gadd on drums and Bob Sheppard on tenor and soprano saxophones.



This is a thoughtful and incredibly beautiful piece of contemporary jazz, well worth a look."