David Sanborn’s Version Of A Rock Sax Solo
Author: Helen
Since the golden era of rock and roll—when the saxophone was included in 50% or more of rock and roll bands—our instrument has arguably fallen out of favour with the rock music world. While some bands still utilize a sax player, that person is often tasked with playing keys as well, or even being a guitar player.
Sometimes however, the saxophone makes a special guest appearance. Such was the case with David Sanborn, when he appeared live with Sheryl Crowe and Eric Clapton for a performance of the Jimi Hendrix song, Little Wing.
Sanborn’s solo starts around 2:35, and goes for over a minute and a half. These 90 seconds are filled with what is an amazing rock saxophone solo/duet with Eric Clapton.
Sanborn fills his solo with his signature altissimo and split tones, which are instantly recognizable, even if you’re not watching the video.
Some say that playing rock and roll is easy. It’s not. You still have to know what you’re doing, and you still have to have a great number of skills to pull it off well. While very few of us will ever play like David Sanborn does, he shows us just what a rock and roll saxophone solo can look like.
So for all of you who think that rock is a cop out genre for saxophonists, I urge you to upload your own videos of this solo to YouTube. I suspect you’ll find it’s not as easy as you thought.
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