David Sanborn - As We Speak (1982)

While not a Christmas CD, I was thinking of this album the other day because it contains a song titled Rain On Christmas, which, if current weather patterns hold, is a distinct possibility here this year. Although this music is more like instrumental pop music, Sanborn is considered a smooth jazz artist, wailing over R&B and funk rhythms from a fantastic set of studio musicians, anchored by Marcus Miller on bass and Omar Hakim on drums. One of my favorite Sanborn albums, mainly because it was part of my teenage introduction to this type of music.

Interesting note: I was over at the Amazon website to check out the current price of this CD. I was expecting the cost to be about $8, but it was $13.98. I mistakenly thought maybe the CD had been reissued with bonus tracks, but a little more reading found the following:

"This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media."

Never seen that before. The music is not available for download, so it looks like CD-R is the only option for now. That's a step backwards, isn't it?

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "will sing to you as exquisitely as any vocalist."
• DownBeat (★★★½): "more than just good"
• Billboard: "After two consecutive number one jazz LPs...a strong shot at three for three."
• Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #70
• Billboard Jazz: #1
• Billboard R&B: #32
• CashBox: #75
• CashBox Jazz: #1
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #1

Tracks: The best song on the disc is Straight To The Heart. Other favorites are Port Of Call, Over And Over, the title track, and the aforementioned Rain On Christmas. Two poppish songs, Back Again and Love Will Come Someday, feature vocals by Michael Sembello who you may remember from his 1983 hit, Maniac. Sembello also wrote three songs on this album. I'm so used to listening to this thing straight through I normally don't skip tracks. However, I'm not terribly fond of Better Believe It or Rush Hour.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In high school, I dubbed a copy of this album from a LP borrowed from one of my band directors. That cassette had this album on one side, Voyeur on the other. That tape got a lot of playing time.

The simplistic cover art has always appealed to me. For about 18 months during college, I lived in small house that had several album covers that had been reproduced on the walls by previous tenants. This album cover was one of them. Having cover art reproduced on your walls sounds like a fun, wacky idea until you realize that you are stuck with an 8 foot amateurish reproduction on your bedroom wall and it's the first thing you see everyday.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Best of (1994)
A Change of Heart (1987)
Backstreet (1983)
Voyeur (1981)