@oregonpapa said: "To be honest, David Sanborn is not for jazz purists."
Of course, at this point I am not a jazz purist so that does not make a big difference to me. I do seem to recall hearing about Sanborn, in the 80's maybe, as being more pop oriented like Kenny G. But at that time jazz was not on my radar other than the bits I heard from Steely Dan.
However, the main thing I always got from Kenny G was cheese. I paid no attention to his ability on the instrument, it was just that the music seemed shallow and cheesy to me.
I have never heard Sanborn at all until this album. And while I have nothing to say about recording techniques or his proficiency on the instrument, the songs on Another Hand do not strike me as pablum. They seem mature and thoughtful. That's pretty much all I can say about that.
I did listen to the links you posted regarding 50's vs 40's (vs now).
On my system the recordings from the 50's sound pure, clean, precise, sharp, well defined, natural. I do perceive some sound stage but not much. Maybe all in my head. It has a shape but it is not deep. The 40's recording sounds like it is in a can, far far away.
Compared to the 1950's recordings the modern recordings, Marcus Miller M2 for instance (aside from the heavy bass) seem to have much more sound stage and it is rounder and deeper. There seems to be more richness for lack of a better word, maybe that is the same as depth. However, they do not sound as clean and crisp as the 50s ones you shared.
I might be totally wrong about all that. I'm totally new to jazz and fairly new to serious hi-fi. Just giving it a shot.
