Anything You Want: Warner/Reprise/Elektra Years 1975-1999

Just in time for David Sanborns 75th birthday, Englands Soul Music label delivers the goods with a remastered, three-disc, 46-track overview of the saxophonists iconic Warner Bros./Elektra period, which netted no less than 17 charting albums -- in a row. While the vast majority made the upper rungs of the jazz and/or smooth jazz charts, some attained places in the higher reaches of the Top 200. None of this material is unreleased, but this collection goes far deeper, given its length and scope, than any other Sanborn compilation. Further, it was curated aesthetically rather than chronologically by Los Angeles-based musicologist and set producer and annotator A. Scott Galloway. He carefully and judiciously offers radio edits of singles alongside full versions. By the time Sanborn signed with Warner in 1974, he had been a traveling professional musician for 15 years. He began at the age of 14 with Albert King and Little Milton, then served in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band from 1967 to 1971. After leaving, he undertook a long and influential apprenticeship with the Brecker Brothers before releasing his solo debut, Taking Off, in 1975. The first disc in this set is subtitled New York Dave & the Cali-Crossover Express. It explores the driving jazz-funk and early examples of smooth jazz. Flight is an intense opener that showcases the saxist going head-to-head with strings and layers of percussion. Theres the classic proto-smooth jazz reading of Leon Russells This Masquerade, the orchestral rendition of folk standard The Water Is Wide with vocalist Linda Ronstadt, the dancefloor burner Anything You Want, and resonant ballads including Carlys Song and the sublime radio edit of Lesley Ann. The disc closes with a live version of Smile from Sanborn. Disc two, entitled Sanborn: Soul Man, is massively funky. Commencing with a slick, synth-heavy High Roller, featuring greasy New Orleans piano from Dr. John, it also includes a live version of Al Greens Love and Happiness with vocalist Hamish Stuart. This is a striking example of Sanborns canny ability to offer blues and gospel through the refracted musical prism of hard bop and soul. There are fine edits of the shimmering yet rubbery Chicago Song and Got to Give It Up. This disc is not absent some wonderful balladry, however. Also included is Sanborns incomparable take on soul classic Neither One of Us. The final disc, titled Evening Ember Essence, mixes groove-laden quiet storm tracks and polished smooth jazz in a sensual play list. It includes tender ballads such as Benny juxtaposed with atmospheric and meditative pieces like Its You, Marcus Millers Naked Moon (from 1999s Inside), and Don Grolnicks Lotus Blossom (from the 1984 live set Straight to the Heart). There are wonderfully arranged versions of standards including Come Rain or Come Shine, and For All We Know, and a poignant read of Lou Reeds Jesus from 1992s uncharacteristic Another Hand. The set includes complete track credits, a historical and critical essay by Galloway, and new commentary from Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Hal Willner, and others. ~ Thom Jurek