Dave Sanborn

Marcus Miller (born William Henry Marcus Miller, Jr.; June 14, 1959) is an American jazz composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a bass guitarist. Throughout his career, Miller worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as maintaining a successful solo career. Miller is classically trained as a clarinetist and also plays keyboards, saxophone and guitar.

Super funky sax, in a lineup that's also got plenty of great electric touches too – all put together by CTI/Kudu maestro Dave Matthews – and featuring David Sanborn, Michael Brecker, and Ronnie Cuber as the sax players in the title! The group's got a nice vibe that has the three horns taking off in then lead – then splitting out into well-stated solos – while grooves feature David Spinozza on electric guitar, and Don Grolnick and Cliff Carter on keyboards – all of whom, like the reedmen, still hang onto the warmer styles of 70s fusion. Titles are all Matthews originals.

Playing uninspired background "Muzak" had brought Bob James commercial success, and financially, he certainly had no incentive to change. Despite employing such talent as David Sanborn (alto sax), Hubert Laws (flute), Ron Carter (bass), and Idris Muhammad (drums), Touchdown is a bland throwaway. Overproduction is the rule here, and their talents are largely smothered by James' excessive production and trite arrangements. This CD does contain James' likeable "Angela (Theme from Taxi)," but most of the songs on Touchdown are pure schlock.

Bob James is a highly developed pianist, arranger, and composer. This set is notable for its heavyweight cast including David Sanborn, Ron Carter, Idris Muhammad, Steve Gadd, Eric Gale, Hubert Laws, and Earl Klugh. It also netted the monster hit "Angela (Theme from Taxi)," which continued to get airplay on smooth jazz stations into the 21st century.