David Sanborn — Newport Jazz Festival, 1998

An alto saxophonist with an instantly recognisable sound, David Sanborn was filmed on 16 August 1998 at the Newport Jazz Festival for a full concert. A pillar of contemporary jazz, fusion and instrumental pop, Sanborn shaped decades of American music with his incisive tone and rhythm-and-blues-rooted sense of groove. This full concert shows him at the height of his craft, blending expressive improvisation, tight dialogue with his band and constant stage energy. The Newport Jazz Festival, an institution founded in 1954, gives this filmed live set a setting worthy of the musician’s reputation. The capture conveys the precision of his phrasing and the interplay among his ensemble, moving between jazz, funk and fusion. This 1998 filmed live concert is an excellent testimony to the vitality of live jazz at the close of the 1990s. A prime document for lovers of jazz saxophone, fusion and festival captures recorded live.