Sanborn Quotes & Sayings

Everyone goes through the ups and downs of living - fretting about the future, worrying about what happened. Music teaches us how to be in the moment. — David Sanborn

Whatever you are, be a good one. - ABRAHAM LINCOLN — Mark Sanborn

I'm moved by a lot of different kinds of music, whether it's pop music or R&B or straight-ahead jazz or free or opera or music from all parts of the world. — David Sanborn

Take life one day at a time, and make each day better than the last. — Mark Sanborn

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. — David Sanborn

When you see the same familiar faces, it's nice when you get a chance to play with the same musicians. You start to develop this shorthand so everybody knows where you're at and where you're going, but then again, there are always surprises. But the more people are comfortable with the material, the more free you can be with the music. — David Sanborn

When I make records, I never listen to stuff after it's done. Ever. — David Sanborn

Good leaders make heroes of others. — Mark Sanborn

It's always difficult to define what jazz is or what jazz isn't. To me, the only definition that I can think of is it's music where a lot of different elements are played at the same time. The harmonic, the melodic ... You're pushing the boundaries on every level. That could be true of rhythm and blues as well. I'm a musician. — David Sanborn

To me, the object of practicing is to allow you to play what you hear. But you're always hearing new things, so you never get to the end of it. — David Sanborn

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

It seems to be a universal generality that while the old want to reminisce, the young are too busy living to bother. — Doc Sanborn

Leadership is the ability to help people and organizations surpass themselves. — Mark Sanborn

The typical Anarchist, then, may be defined as follows: A man perceptible by the spirit of revolt under one or more of its forms, - opposition, investigation, criticism, innovation, - endowed with a strong love of liberty, egoistic or individualistic, and possessed of great curiosity, a keen desire to know. These traits are supplemented by an ardent love of others, a highly developed moral sensitiveness, a profound sentiment of justice, and imbued with missionary zeal." To the above characteristics, says Alvin F. Sanborn, must be added these sterling qualities: a rare love of animals, surpassing sweetness in all the ordinary relations of life, exceptional sobriety of demeanor, frugality and regularity, austerity, even, of living, and courage beyond compare.[2] — Emma Goldman

What affected me most profoundly was the realization that the sciences of cryptography and mathematics are very elegant, pure sciences. I found that the ends for which these pure sciences are used are less elegant. — James Sanborn

I became a musician because I love music, and that is what has sustained me; it's not because I thought it was a great way to make a living. Music saved my life. — David Sanborn

People doing good work feel good & people doing exceptional work feel, exceptional. Accomplishments contributes greatly to satisfaction. — Mark Sanborn

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. Don't dismiss something out of hand because you think it's either beneath you or outside of the realm of where your interests lie. — David Sanborn

The only happy people I know are the ones who are working well at something they consider important. ABRAHAM MASLOW — Mark Sanborn

I think, in a lot of ways, it's easier to play a smaller room. You can exploit the quieter dynamics you would shy away from in larger venues. — David Sanborn

I was actually in an iron lung for about a year, and then I was paralysed from the neck down for another year after that. So I spent a lotta time just lying down as a kid. And some of my earliest memories from then are of listening to the radio. — David Sanborn

Faithfully doing your best, independent of the support, acknowledgment, or reward of others, is a key determinant in a fulfilling career. — Mark Sanborn

We are responsible for living in a way that shows others who we truly are and what we believe. — Mark Sanborn

I think 'Horace Silver' was actually the first live jazz group I ever heard back when I was a kid in St. Louis. So along with most players of my generation, I have a real affection for the music of 'Horace Silver.' — David Sanborn

I look at the artistic process as like experiencing the world, channeling it through your personality and sending it back out there. That's the process. — David Sanborn

Big oaks grow from small acorns, and activity is a precursor to accomplishment. You don't think yourself into success. — Mark Sanborn

All my high school papers were written in the rare book room. — James Sanborn

I didn't try to think what my audience wanted and then make the music accordingly. I made the music and hoped that as many people liked it as possible. — David Sanborn

I think that, given a real choice, people would like to hear something interesting, not something bland and right down the middle. — David Sanborn

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. — David Sanborn

When you have an acoustic bass in the ensemble it really changes the dynamic of the record because it kind of forces everybody to play with a greater degree of sensitivity and nuance because it just has a different kind of tone and spectrum than the electric bass. — David Sanborn

There are moments in history that people should be reminded of. — James Sanborn

Well, I guess my unease with that is ... I'm always a little uneasy with that phrase - smooth jazz, as opposed to what? — David Sanborn

Jazz music by its very nature is just a conglomerate of a lot of different kinds of music. — David Sanborn

I think that that's the way the music grows and changes and becomes new and creative and vital. It's by synthesizing elements from all around it and not to maintain this kind of rigid myopic kind of tunnel vision, in a sense, trying to maintain a certain kind of purity, or whatever. — David Sanborn

You are the spark that sets others on fire when you initiate. — Mark Sanborn

I kinda always wanted to be a tenor player, but I'm a small guy, and tenor was just too big. — David Sanborn

Music is an expression of individuality; it's how you see the world. All art is, for that matter. You take how you experience the world, interpret it, and send it out there - express it - whether it's sculpture, dance or singing. — David Sanborn

My drummer, Gene Lake, is Oliver Lake's son. So I certainly have wide tastes, in not only what I listen to, but what I play as well. — David Sanborn

I chose to deal with the science of cryptography. Cryptography began in mathematics. Codes were developed, even from Caesar's time, based on number theory and mathematical principles. I decided to use those principles and designed a work that is encoded. — James Sanborn

Leadership always benefits the greater good. — Mark Sanborn

There are two types of people who never achieve very much in their lifetimes. One is the person who won't do what s/he is told to do. And the other is the person who does no more than s/he is told to do. - Andrew Carnegie — Mark Sanborn

While St. Louis is technically regarded as part of the Mid-West, it's actually - geographically and emotionally - more part of the South. I mean, the sensibility of St. Louis is really very much that of a Southern Mississippi river-town. — David Sanborn

The dark, cluttered, polished mahogany splendor of the Sanborns' Victorian drawing room. Mr. Sanborn wavered. Roark asked, his arm sweeping out at the room around them: Is this — Ayn Rand

When I was 17 or 18 and it was time to figure out what to do with my life, I realized that I didn't enjoy anything as much as I enjoyed playing music. I felt that I had no choice: that I had to become a musician. — David Sanborn

When you're on stage, unless you surrender to the moment, you're not telling the truth. I look for people that tell me the truth. — David Sanborn

Deception is everywhere. — James Sanborn

Music is like an open sky. You know it's out there ... and there you are. — David Sanborn

The test of leadership is, is anything or anyone better because of you? — Mark Sanborn

I think a valid approach to being a musician is to take all of the experience of your life and filter it through your personality and send it back out there, and that's what art is. — David Sanborn

The only thing better than an acknowledgement is action. — Mark Sanborn

In most of the stuff that I've done over the years as a sideman, I wasn't really a session musician, because to me, a session musician is a guy who makes his living in the studio, and I never really did that. — David Sanborn

It's tough to be in a relationship with a musician, because it reads sometimes as this ego and self-involvement when it's really just concentration and focus. — David Sanborn

When those who know are able to show, those who learn are able to grow. — Mark Sanborn

Its all about finding the right note at the right place and knowing when to leave well enough alone. And that's a lifelong quest. — David Sanborn

When I accepted the commission, I had something of an epiphany in the research I did about the agency, actually the science of espionage. I realized there is a connection between the sciences and the invisible forces of man. — James Sanborn

Better is the most important step to becoming your best. If you want to be your best, you need to start by getting better. Start doing better. Good, better, best. That's how it works. — Mark Sanborn

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. — David Sanborn

You never get it figured out. You just keep playing. — David Sanborn

Don't wait for the perfect opportunity. Just take an opportunity and make it as perfect as you can. — Mark Sanborn

Going from the written, flat word to the three-dimensional object, that was one of the more enriching things that I've done. — James Sanborn

A decade ago, I really did believe that the average investor could do it himself. I was wrong. I've come to the sad conclusion that only a tiny minority, at most one percent, are capable of pulling it off. Heck, if Helen Young Hayes, Robert Sanborn, Julian Robertson, and the nation's largest pension funds can't get it right, what chance does John Q. Investor have? — William J. Bernstein

Don't confuse activity with action. — Mark Sanborn

I just kinda like playing. I don't necessarily go on tour to promote my albums. I'm on the road all the time. The fact that I have a new record is out is a coincidence. — David Sanborn

One does not imagine the presence of a dog in the Garden of Eden, for had there been, no doubt he would have given adequate protection to his mistress and saved her descendants from all subsequent trouble. — Kate Sanborn

I have a certain temperament, a disposition that I think lends itself to not playing outside the lines that much. But I do test the boundaries, certainly, and break one or two of my own. Some people are mystified by it, but not me. — David Sanborn

Nobody can prevent you from choosing to be extraordinary. — Mark Sanborn

Leadership is about movement and growth. — Mark Sanborn

Music is just kind of an expression of who I am. It's what I do. — David Sanborn

Jazz music should be inclusive. Smooth jazz to me rules out a certain kind of drama and a certain tension that I think all music needs. Especially jazz music, since improvising is one of the cornerstones of what jazz is. And when you smooth it out, you take all the drama out of it. — David Sanborn

All the music that I've made in the past I've believed in. I think some of it has been more commercially successful than others, but it wasn't premeditated. — David Sanborn

I always wanna be in the process of evolving and growing. — David Sanborn

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. — David Sanborn

I try to do things that keep me interested. And play music that moves me. I like to move around and play in a lot of different ways. — David Sanborn

Make each day your masterpiece. - JOSHUA WOODEN, father of John Wooden — Mark Sanborn

If we are going to survive, we must build communities of caring and connection. CECILE ANDREWS — Mark Sanborn

There are several really interesting clocks in Berlin. — Jim Sanborn

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. — David Sanborn

Ninety-nine percent of the music that was of any interest to me when I was growing up came out of the black community. — David Sanborn

If you're playing with somebody from another idiom, you can't react to them in the same way that you react to somebody that is closer to your idiom. You don't fall into the same habits. You find a new way of communicating. — David Sanborn

It takes just about the same amount of time to be a nice guy as it does to be a jerk. — Mark Sanborn

I've always considered myself a nonfiction artist. — James Sanborn

You may own a cat, but cannot govern one. — Kate Sanborn