PHAROAH SANDERS - Message From Home (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The world music-minded producer Bill Laswell gets a hold of Pharoah Sanders here and lo, the sleeping volcano erupts with one of his most fulfilling albums in many a year. Message From Home is rooted in, but not exclusively devoted to, African idioms, as the overpowering hip-hop groove of "Our Roots (Began In Africa)" points out. But the record really develops into something special when Sanders pits his mighty tenor sound against the pan-African beats, like the ecstatically joyful rhythms of "Tomoki" and the poised, percolating fusion of American country & western drums and Nigerian juju guitar riffs on "Country Mile." In addition, "Nozipho" is a concentrated dose of the old Pharoah, heavily spiritual and painfully passionate, with a generous supply of the tenor player's famous screeching rhetoric, and kora virtuoso Foday Musa Suso shows up on "Kumba" with a touch of village Gambian music. This resurrection will quicken the pulse of many an old Pharoah fan. Richard S. Ginell
Tracklist :
1    Our Roots (Began In Africa)    10:21
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
2    Nozipho    9:43
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
3    Tomoki    6:26
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
4    Ocean Song    8:49
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
5    Kumba    7:50
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders / Foday Musa Suso
6        Country Mile    6:03
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Charnett Moffett
Backing Vocals – Fanta Mangasuba, Fatumata Sako, Mariama Suso, Salie Suso
Bass – Steve Neil
Drums, Tabla, Drums [Frame Drums], Vocals – Hamid Drake
Electric Piano, Piano, Vocals – William Henderson
Guitar – Dominic Kanza
Keyboards, Programmed By – Jeff Bova
Keyboards, Vocals – Bernie Worrell
Kora, Kora [Dousongonni], Vocals – Foday Musa Suso
Percussion [Chatan], Congas, Bells, Gong, Vocals – Aiyb Dieng
Producer – Bill Laswell
Saxophone, Flute, Bells, Vocals, Singing Bowls [Bowls] – Pharoah Sanders
Violin – Michael White

PHAROAH SANDERS - Save Our Children (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Back with Bill Laswell after their ecstatically successful pan-African collaboration Message From Home, Sanders tries to capture that lightning again but this time, the ambience is mellower, the spirituality less fierce. Though the African percussive element is still present, it now takes a back seat to subtle layered electronics and influences from India and the Middle East, and the huge, passionate Pharoah sound of old is mostly toned-down and recessed, sometimes squeezed into a double-reeded instrument. The 14-minute "My Jewels of Love" captures the ethereal Sanders particularly well, his cool soprano rising over tablas, harmonium and electric piano as Laswell's production imperceptibly changes the scenery over time. On "The Ancient Song," there are some ghostly fascimiles of the exciting Pharoah of not very long ago, and Sanders attains some gentle spiritual fervor over the subtly layered electronics of "Kazuko." Then there is the anomaly of "Midnight In Berkeley Square," which is "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square" done pretty straight, with Pharoah playing sweet and almost sentimental tenor, until the dream world of pop standards slowly dissolves at the close. This record has a sleek, absorbing sound of its own, but that's mostly Laswell's triumph. Richard S. Ginell  
Tracklist :
1    Save Our Children 7:51
Voice – Abiodun Oyewole, Asante
Voice, Talking Drum – Abdou Mboup
2    Midnight In Berkeley Square    9:17
3    Jewels Of Love    14:00
4    Kazuko    10:15
5    The Ancient Sounds    10:51
6    Far-Off Sand    9:09
Credits :
Bass [Acoustic] – Alex Blake
Drums, Tabla, Percussion – Trilok Gurtu
Harmonium – Tony Cedras
Organ, Piano [Electric], Synthesizer – Bernie Worrell
Piano, Harmonium – William Henderson
Producer – Bill Laswell
Saxophone [Tenor, Soprano], Reeds [Double], Percussion, Voice – Pharoah Sanders
Synthesizer, Programmed By – Jeff Bova
Tabla, Voice – Zakir Hussain

PHAROAH SANDERS | BILL LASWELL - With a Heartbeat (2003) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

OK, this sounds like a pretty hokey concept: Pharoah Sanders and some of Bill Laswell's Material crew perform along with recordings of a heartbeat, supplied by Dr. Jean-Louis Zink. Fortunately, it comes off far better in execution than one might expect. First off, the heartbeat itself is sonically treated to be more of a bass pulse, which Laswell then elaborates on when his bass is in the picture. As might be expected with Laswell, there are strong elements of dub throughout, from the sound of the basslines to the way the instruments fade in and out. Besides the heartbeat, which is always present to varying degrees, the main sounds are the guitar and electric sitar of Nicky Skopelitis and keyboards either by Jeff Bova or Laswell. Pharoah Sanders' playing is excellent, and the album is enjoyable, but one gets the sense that this is Laswell's project, and Pharoah just plays on it. If you're looking to start a Pharoah Sanders collection, begin with something from the Impulse catalog, like Karma or Thembi. As a Pharoah Sanders record, With a Heartbeat makes a fine Bill Laswell album. Sean Westergaard
Tracklist :
1    Across Time    17:06
2    Morning Tala    7:45
3    Alankara (Beats Of The Heart)    8:58
4    Gamaka    15:52
Credits :
Bass, Flute, Keyboards – Bill Laswell
Cornet, Electronics – Graham Haynes
Guitar, Sitar [Electric] – Nicky Skopelitis
Keyboards – Jeff Bova
Producer, Arranged By – Bill Laswell
Tabla, Voice – Trilok Gurtu
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Pharoah Sanders