120 Quotes by David Sanborn

Instrumental music is increasingly marginalized and there’s just no outlet, there’s no venue for it, in terms of media.

I tend to play in a way that feels natural to me. To me that’s authentic for myself. I play by where I’m led by some sense of where I feel I’m supposed to be.

I’ll just sit at the piano a lot an play like through different chord exercises and kind of just throwing my hands down on the piano from one chord to the next to see what happens.

I have pretty ecumenical tastes. I’m interested in a lot of different kinds of music, so I don’t listen with a jaundiced ear to music because it’s in a certain category, whether it’s country or opera or hip-hop or bebop or whatever it is.

In regard to music, I just think that it’s always best to have an attitude of being a perpetual student and always look to learn something new about music, because there’s always something new to learn.

Music is just kind of an expression of who I am. It’s what I do.

My name is on the thing, but the reality of it is, when I get up there on stage, I’m part of a band. I’m part of a unit. It’s like a basketball team.

When I make records, I never listen to stuff after it’s done. Ever.

As a melody instrument player, it’s all about getting from one note to the next, and those intervals and how you navigate your way through these vertical structures of chords. You realize that everything’s moving forward, and it’s all linear.