Jim Sanborn Dunin, Elonka

One of the first releases on the resurrected Okeh Records imprint, 2013's Quartette Humaine features pianist Bob James and saxophonist David Sanborn performing a set of mostly original songs that walk the line between funky contemporary jazz and more thoughtful post-bop. It’s also the first collaboration between the two giants of contemporary jazz since their 1986 Grammy Award-winning album Double Vision. However, rather than revisit that album's funk and smooth jazz leanings, here James and Sanborn summon the spirit of the legendary Dave Brubeck quartet featuring saxophonist Paul Desmond. While they don’t play any Brubeck songs, the album was recorded with Brubeck's adventurous, often challenging acoustic jazz spirit in mind.

David Sanborn's saxophone complements Bob James' keyboards perfectly on the appropriately titled DOUBLE VISION. Sanborn, James, and bassist Marcus Miller all contribute compositions, and the listener encounters a wonderful variety of musical styles throughout the album's seven tracks. DOUBLE VISION opens on its highest note with Miller's "Maputo," a lush and moody song that highlights Sanborn's skills and sets the pace for the rest of the recording.

Master saxophonist David Sanborn makes an astounding label debut with Time Again, and once again reminds his fans that he is firmly established as one of jazz's best alto saxophonists. Joined by an all-star ensemble of master musicians that includes Russell Malone on guitar, Steve Gadd on drums, Christian McBride on bass, Mike Mainieri on vibraphone, and Randy Brecker on trumpet and flugelhorn, among others, David Sanborn delves deep into his seemingly never-ending repertoire to bring his distinctive sound to a variety of pop and jazz standards. Opening with a super-funky rendition of "Comin' Home," Sanborn reveals the culmination of hard work and staying power with a powerful statement of the melody which seamlessly segues into awesome solos taken by Mainieri and McBride.

This album is one of David Sanborn's better early recordings. Although the record is perhaps best known for the altoist's version of Paul Simon's "I Do It For Your Love," Sanborn's playing on some of the other cuts (most notably "Mamacita" and "7th Avenue") finds him really stretching within the R&B/crossover genre. Only "Smile" (which has some mundane vocalizing) is a minus, and it is more than compensated for by Sanborn's passionate improvising elsewhere.

Master saxophonist David Sanborn makes an astounding label debut with Time Again, and once again reminds his fans that he is firmly established as one of jazz's best alto saxophonists. Joined by an all-star ensemble of master musicians that includes Russell Malone on guitar, Steve Gadd on drums, Christian McBride on bass, Mike Mainieri on vibraphone, and Randy Brecker on trumpet and flugelhorn, among others, David Sanborn delves deep into his seemingly never-ending repertoire to bring his distinctive sound to a variety of pop and jazz standards. Opening with a super-funky rendition of "Comin' Home," Sanborn reveals the culmination of hard work and staying power with a powerful statement of the melody which seamlessly segues into awesome solos taken by Mainieri and McBride.

Sanborn is rightly considered a jazz icon, but in 1984, he was just beginning to emerge toward a wider audience. The 1984 concert was part of a tour promoting his then current album, Straight to the Heart, which would go on to win the 1985 Grammy for Best Jazz Fusion Performance. The bulk of the concert is drawn from that album, with a few earlier works mixed in