David Sanborn

At age three, he was in an iron lung with Polio. On a doctor’s advice, he took up the saxophone at age eleven. At 14, he was backing up Little Milton and Albert King. He played Woodstock with Paul Butterfield. When David Bowie, who prided himself as a sax player, needed a solo on Young Americans, he didn’t hesitate to ask David Sanborn. Over a six-decade career, Sanborn toured and recorded with Paul Simon, James Taylor, James Brown, Elton John, Steely Dan, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones. You’ve heard him on the Eagles’ debut album, on Stevie Wonder’s “Talking Book” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” In his “spare time,” he managed to release 25 solo albums and win six Grammys. Six years after being diagnosed with cancer and 75 years since beating polio, David Sanborn died at 78. But part of him lives on in the grooves of the more than 800 records he graced with his signature tone.