PHAROAH SANDERS — The Impulse Story (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Like the Archie Shepp and Alice Coltrane volumes in the Impulse Story series, the Pharoah Sanders issue is one of the flawless ones -- despite the fact that it only contains four tracks. Ashley Kahn, author of the book the series is named after, wisely chose tracks with Sanders as a leader rather than as a sideman with John Coltrane (those were documented quite well on the John and Alice volumes). The set begins with "Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt," recorded in 1966 while he was still a member of the Coltrane band. Featuring Sanders on tenor, piccolo, percussion, and vocals, it also contains a who's who of the vanguard: pianist Dave Burrell, guitarist Sonny Sharrock, bassist Henry Grimes, percussionist Nat Bettis, and drummer Roger Blank. Sanders could take a disparate group of players like this one and wind them into his sound world. Burrell is the most automatically sympathetic, and lends a hand in creating a series of call-and-response exchanges with Sanders so Sharrock and Grimes follow suit -- not the other way around. This is also the place where the listener really encounters Sharrock's unique (even iconoclastic) playing -- he performed on Miles Davis' seminal Jack Johnson album but was mixed out. At over 16 minutes, it is barely a hint of what is to come. This cut is followed by Sanders' magnum opus, "The Creator Has a Master Plan." Based on a simple vamp, it unravels into an almost 33-minute textured improvisation that sounds like it could move heaven and earth because it almost literally explodes. Recorded for the Karma album in 1969, "The Creator" also features the late great Leon Thomas on vocals, providing his eerie, deep, and soulful "voice as improvisational instrument" approach that sends the tune soaring. Other sidemen here are bassists Richard Davis and Reggie Workman, James Spaulding, Julius Watkins, pianist Lonnie Liston Smith, Bettis, and drummer Billy Hart. This is where this track belongs, not on the box where it took time and space away from other artists. "Astral Traveling," from the 1970 platter Thembi, follows, with the great violinist Michael White serving as foil to the lyric Pharoah. The last two tracks really chart Sanders' development not just as an improviser and composer but as a bandleader and in his mastery of the soprano saxophone -- only Steve Lacy and Coltrane did it better. The sprawl is tightened -- this cut is less than six minutes long -- but mainly in the way he leads the band with his approach to the saxophone and its dynamics. Cecil McBee plays bass here and Clifford Jarvis is on drums, and Smith uses an electric piano to fantastic effect. The final cut here, "Spiritual Blessing" from the Elevation album in 1973, is widely regarded as another Sanders classic with the man himself on soprano. He is accompanied by a group of percussionists, including Michael Carvin, Jimmy Hopps, John Blue, and Lawrence Killian. Sanders uses the percussionists as a counter to the featured drone instruments (with Joe Bonner on harmonium and Calvin Hill on tamboura). At just under six minutes, it's a song that perfectly fuses Eastern and Western musical improvisational traditions. Listening to this volume of the course of an hour is literally an aurally expansive and spiritually enlightening experience. If you can only have one of the CDs in this series, this may be the one to snag -- along with Alice Coltrane's chapter, this is spiritual jazz at its very best.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Upper Egypt And Lower Egypt 16:16
Bass – Henry Grimes
Drums – Roger Blank
Electric Guitar – Sonny Sharrock
Percussion – Nat Bettis
Piano – Dave Burrell
Tenor Saxophone, Piccolo Flute, Percussion, Vocals, Composed By – Pharoah Sanders
2    The Creator Has A Master Plan 32:45
Bass – Richard Davis
Composed By – Leon Thomas, Pharoah Sanders
Drums – Billy Hart
Flute – James Spaulding
French Horn – Julius Watkins
Percussion – Nat Bettis
Piano – Lonnie Liston Smith
Tenor Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders
Vocals, Percussion – Leon Thomas
3    Astral Traveling 5:48
Bass – Cecil McBee
Electric Piano, Composed By – Lonnie Liston Smith
Soprano Saxophone, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
Violin – Michael White
4    Spiritual Blessing 5:40
Bells [Bell Tree] – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Michael Carvin
Harmonium – Joe Bonner
Percussion – Jimmy Hopps, John Blue
Soprano Saxophone, Composed By – Pharoah Sanders
Tambura – Calvin Hill

ARCANA : BILL LASWELL | TONY WILLIAMS — Arc Of The Testimony (1997) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Arc of Testimony is one of the last recordings to feature legendary drummer Tony Williams, and its bold, experimental textures are a fitting epitaph to his career. Arcana was formed by bassist/producer Bill Laswell with the intention of exploring the outer reaches of fusion, ambient and free jazz. Like the group's debut, Last Wave (released only in Japan), Arc of the Testimony is a freewheeling, unpredictable blend of electronic and acoustic sounds. However, this record is even more adventurous, since it finds a common ground between improvisation and post-production studio trickery. All of the musicians -- Williams, Laswell, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, saxophonist Byard Lancaster, cornetist Graham Haynes, guitarist Nicky Skopelitis and guitarist Buckethead -- are open-minded and help push the music forward, resulting in a thoroughly involving, challenging listen. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracklist :
1    Black Money    4:16
2    Gone Tomorrow    9:39
3    Illuminator    6:07
4    Into The Circle    9:25
5    Returning    4:29
6    Calling Out The Blue Light    6:37
7    Circles Of Hell    7:15
8    Wheeless On A Dark River    4:27
9    The Earth Below    5:28
Credits :
Alto Saxophone [Alto Sax], Bass Clarinet – Byard Lancaster (tracks: 4, 6)
Artwork – Yoko Yamabe
Bass [Basses], Electronics – Bill Laswell
Cornet – Graham Haynes (tracks: 2, 4)
Drums – Tony Williams
Guitar – Buckethead (tracks: 3, 5, 7, 9), Nicky Skopelitis (tracks: 2 to 8)
Songwriter [Songs Written By] – Tony Williams, Bill Laswell, Peter Apfelbaum (tracks: 1)
Tenor Saxophone [Tenor Sax] – Peter Apfelbaum (tracks: 1), Pharoah Sanders (tracks: 2, 7)

PHAROAH SANDERS AND ALICE COLTRANE — Antibes 68 & New York 71 : The Radio Broadcasts (2022) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pharoah Sanders    Medley    (37:54)
1-1    –    Unidentified    
1-2    –    Venus    
1-3    –    The Creator Has A Master Plan    
2    Alice Coltrane–    Africa    28:35
Credits :
Bass – Cecil McBee (tracks: 1-2), Jimmy Garrison (tracks: 1-2), Norris Jones (tracks: 1-1)
Drums – Clifford Jarvis (tracks: 1-2), Ed Blackwell (tracks: 1-2), Majid Shabazz (tracks: 1-1)
Harmonium – Kumar Kramer (tracks: 1-2)
Piano – Lonnie Liston Smith (tracks: 1-1)
Piano, Harp – Alice Coltrane (tracks: 1-2)
Tambora – Tulsi (tracks: 1-2)
Tenor Saxophone, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders (tracks: 1-1)
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Percussion, Fife – Pharoah Sanders (tracks: 1-2)
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Percussion – Archie Shepp (tracks: 1-2)

ELVIN JONES | McCOY TYNER QUINTET — Love & Peace (1982-1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

With the exception of one number ("House That Love Built") from 1978 that matches drummer Elvin Jones with the reeds of Frank Foster and Pat LaBarbera, guitarist Roland Prince and bassist Andy McCloud, this CD reissue focuses on an unusual and generally successful reunion session. Drummer Jones and pianist McCoy Tyner have not recorded together that often since leaving John Coltrane's Quartet in late 1965. With Pharoah Sanders (who was part of the reason they departed) on tenor, bassist Richard Davis in the late Jimmy Garrison's spot, and guitarist Jean-Paul Bourelly an added wild card, the musicians avoid Coltrane tunes in favor of newer originals and the standard "Sweet and Lovely." Sanders sounds very much like late-1950s Coltrane; Bourelly is a bit out of place, and Tyner easily takes solo honors. An interesting but not overly memorable outing that was originally cut for the Japanese Trio label and made available in the U.S. by the now-defunct Black-Hawk company. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Little Rock's Blues    4:35
 Pharoah Sanders
2    Hip Jones    7:27
 Pharoah Sanders
3    Korina    5:35
 Gene Perla
4    For Tomorrow    7:08
 McCoy Tyner
5    Sweet And Lovely    6:52
 Gus Arnheim / Jules LeMare / Harry Tobias
6    Origin    5:05
 Pharoah Sanders
7    House That Love Built    10:27
 Frank Foster
Credits :
Bass – Andy McCloud (tracks: 7), Richard Davis
Drums – Elvin Jones
Electric Guitar – Jean-Paul Bourelly
Guitar – Roland Prince (tracks: 7)
Piano – McCoy Tyner
Soprano Saxophone – Frank Foster (tracks: 7)
Tenor Saxophone – Frank Foster (tracks: 7), Pat LaBarbera (tracks: 7), Pharoah Sanders

DON CHERRY — Symphony for Improvisers (1967-2005) RM | RVG Edition Series | APE (image+.cue), lossless

For his second album, Symphony for Improvisers, Don Cherry expanded his Complete Communion quartet -- tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri, bassist Henry Grimes, and drummer Ed Blackwell -- to a septet, adding vibraphonist Karl Berger, bassist Jean François Jenny-Clark, and tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders (who frequently plays piccolo here). The lineup has a real international flavor, since Barbieri was from Argentina, Berger from Germany, and Jenny-Clark from France; Cherry had gigged regularly with all three during his 1964-1965 sojourn in Europe, and brought them to New York to record. With all the added firepower, it's remarkable that Symphony for Improvisers has the same sense of shared space and controlled intelligence as its predecessor, even when things are at their most heated. Once again, Cherry sets up the album as two continuous medleys that fuse four compositions apiece, which allows the group's improvisational energy and momentum to carry straight through the entire program. The "Symphony for Improvisers" suite is the most raucous part of Cherry's Blue Note repertoire, and the "Manhattan Cry" suite pulls off the widest mood shifts Cherry had yet attempted in that format. Even though the album is full of passionate fireworks, there's also a great deal of subtlety -- the flavors added to the ensemble by Berger's vibes and Sanders' piccolo, for example, or the way other instrumental voices often support and complement a solo statement. Feverish but well-channeled, this larger-group session is probably Cherry's most gratifying for Blue Note. Steve Huey   
Tracklist
 1 Symphony for Improvisers:
 Symphony for Improvisers/Nu Creative Love 19:43
Don Cherry
2 Manhattan Cry: Manhattan Cry/Lunatic/Sparkle Plenty/Om Nu 19:17
Don Cherry
Credits
Bass – Henry Grimes, Jean-François Jenny-Clark
Cornet, Composed By – Don Cherry
Drums – Edward Blackwell
Tenor Saxophone – Gato Barbieri
Tenor Saxophone, Piccolo Flute – Pharoah Sanders
Vibraphone, Piano – Karl Berger

ORNETTE COLEMAN - Chappaqua Suite (1966-2014) RM | 2CD | Jazz Collection 1000 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This four-part suite is actually a film soundtrack to the debut feature by Conrad Rooks, though it was never used as such. Recorded in 1965, it was performed by the Ornette Coleman Trio with Charles Moffett on drums and David Izenson on bass; augmenting the session were Pharoah Sanders on tenor and a large studio orchestra arranged by Joseph Tekula. What is most notable is the kind of control Coleman has over the orchestra. His trio is playing by intuition, which was normal for them, but they open to accommodate the more formal constructs of a band who knows little about improvisation and how it works in the free jazz context. Sanders' interaction with Coleman is startling too, in that his normally overpowering voice is tempered here, playing along with the nuances and odd harmonic figures Coleman suggests and then blatantly states from his alto. The improvisation is complementary, not a cutting contest at all. Most of all, the rhythm section carries the balance of power and keeps the entire thing moving, handling the dynamic changes with a feral grace while at the same time suggesting a knottier path for Coleman to follow in the tempting pastoral sections of the work. While not considered a masterwork of Coleman's, perhaps because of its unavailability in the United States in its entirety, Chappaqua Suite is a testament to Coleman's vision as a composer and the power of his orchestral direction. Very worthwhile indeed.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Chappaqua Suite   
1-1    Part I    21:25
1-2    Part II    19:00
2-1    Part III    17:40
2-2    Part IV    21:58
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Trumpet – Ornette Coleman
Bass – David Izenzon
Drums – Charles Moffett
Tenor Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders

ALBERT AYLER - Holy Ghost : Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962-70) (2004) 10CD BOX | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After listening to Revenant's massive Albert Ayler box set, Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962-70), a pair of questions assert themselves in the uneasily settling silence that follows: who was Albert Ayler, and how did he come to be? At the time of this box set's release 26 years after the Cleveland native's mysterious death -- his lifeless body was found floating in New York's East River, without a suicide note -- those questions loom larger than ever. Revenant's amazing package certainly adds weight and heft to the argument for Ayler's true place in the jazz pantheon, not only as a practitioner of free jazz but as one of the music's true innovators. Ayler may have been deeply affected by the music of Ornette Coleman, but in turn he also profoundly influenced John Coltrane's late period.

The item itself is a deeply detailed 10" by 10" black faux-onyx "spirit box," cast from a hand-carved original. Inside are ten CDs in beautifully designed, individually colored rice paper sleeves. Seven are full-length music CDs, two contain interviews, and one is packaged as a replica of a recording tape box, containing two tracks from an Army band session Ayler participated in. Loose items include a Slug's Saloon handbill, an abridged facsimile of Amiri Baraka's journal Cricket from the mid-'60s containing a piece by Ayler, a replica of the booklet Paul Haines wrote for Ayler's Spiritual Unity album, a note Ayler scrawled on hotel stationery in Europe, a rumpled photograph of the saxophonist as a boy, and a dogwood flower. Finally, there is a hardbound 209-page book. It contains a truncated version of Val Wilmer's historic chapter on Ayler from As Serious As Your Life, a new essay by Baraka, and biographical and musicological essays by Ben Young, Marc Chaloin, and Daniel Caux. In addition, there are testimonies by many collaborators, full biographical essays of all sidemen, detailed track information on the contents, and dozens of photographs.

Almost all this material has been, until now, commercially unavailable. Qualitatively, the music here varies, both artistically and mechanically. Some was taken from broadcast and tape sources that have deteriorated or were dubious to begin with, but their massive historical significance far outweighs minor fidelity problems. Chronologically organized, the adventure begins with Ayler's earliest performances in Europe fronting a thoroughly confounded rhythm section that was tied to conventional time signatures and chord changes. Ayler, seemingly oblivious, was trying out his new thing in earnest -- to the consternation of audiences and bandmates alike. How did a guy who played like this even get a gig in such a conservative jazz environment? Fumbling as this music is, it proves beyond any doubt Ayler's knowledge and mastery of the saxophone tradition from Lester Young to Sonny Rollins. Ayler's huge tone and his amazing, masterfully controlled use of both vibrato and the tenor's high register are already in evidence here. Following these, there is finally recorded evidence to support Ayler playing with Cecil Taylor in Copenhagen in 1962. This is where he met drummer Sunny Murray who, along with bassist Gary Peacock, formed the original Ayler trio. Their 1964 performances at New York's Cellar Café are documented here to stunning effect. Following these are phenomenal broadcast performances from later that year that include Don Cherry on trumpet in France.

Other discs here document Ayler's sideman duties: with pianist Burton Greene's quintet in 1966 (with Rashied Ali), a Pharoah Sanders band with Sirone and Dave Burrell, a Town Hall concert with his brother Donald's sextet that also included Sam Rivers, and a quartet with Donald, drummer Milford Graves, and bassist Richard Davis playing at John Coltrane's funeral. These live sessions have much value historically as well as musically, but are, after all, blowing sessions -- though they still display Ayler as a willing and fiery collaborator who upped the ante with his presence. Though he arrived fully formed as a soloist, his manner of trying to adapt to other players and bring them into his sphere is fascinating, frustrating, and revealing.

Ayler's own music is showcased best when leading his own quartets and quintets, and there are almost four discs' worth of performances here. Much of this music is with the classical violinist Michel Sampson and trumpeter Donald Ayler with alternating rhythm sections. Indeed, the quintet gigs here with Sampson and Donald in the front line that used marching rhythms and traditional hymns as their root may not be as compelling sonically as the Village Vanguard stuff issued by Impulse!, but they are as satisfying musically. The various rhythm sections included drummers Ronald Shannon Jackson, Allen Blairman, Muhammad Ali, Beaver Harris, and Bernard Purdie, and bassists Bill Folwell, Steve Tintweiss, Clyde Shy (Mutawef Shaheed), pianist Call Cobbs, and tenor saxophonist Frank Wright. What is clearly evident is that the only drummer with whom Ayler truly connected with, the only one who could match his manner of playing out of time and stretching it immeasurably, was Murray, who literally played around the beat while moving the music through its dislocated center.

The late music remains controversial. Recorded live in 1968 and 1970 in New York and France, it illuminates the troublesome period on Ayler's Impulse! recordings, New Grass and Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe. In performance, struggling and ill-conceived rhythm sections try to comprehend and articulate the complex patchwork of colors, motivations, and adventurous attempts at musical integration with the blues, rock, poetry, and soul Ayler was engaging instrumentally and -- with companion Mary Parks -- vocally. Ayler's own playing remains unshakable and revelatory, stunning for its ability to bring to the surface hidden melodies, timbres, and overtones and, to a degree, make them accessible. His solos, full of passion, pathos, and the otherworldly, pull everything from his musical sound world into his being and send it out again, transformed, through the horn.

Ayler is credited with the set's title, in that he once said in an interview: "Trane was the father. Pharoah was the son. I was the Holy Ghost." While it can be dismissed as hyperbole, it should also be evaluated to underscore the aforementioned questions. Unlike Coltrane and Sanders whose musical developments followed a recorded trajectory, Ayler, who apparently had very conventional beginnings as a musician, somehow arrived on the New York and European scenes already on the outside, pushing ever harder at boundaries that other people hadn't yet even perceived let alone transgressed. Who he was in relation to all those who came after him is only answered partially, and how he came to find his margin and live there remains a complete cipher. What Revenant has accomplished is to shine light into the darkened corners of myth and apocrypha; the label has added flesh-and-bone documented history to the ghost of a giant. Ayler struggled musically and personally to find and hold onto the elusive musical/spiritual balance that grace kissed him with only a few times during his lifetime -- on tape anyway. But the quest for that prize, presented here, adds immeasurably to both the legend and the achievement.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
All Tracks & Credits

PHAROAH SANDERS - The Impulse Story (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Like the Archie Shepp and Alice Coltrane volumes in the Impulse Story series, the Pharoah Sanders issue is one of the flawless ones -- despite the fact that it only contains four tracks. Ashley Kahn, author of the book the series is named after, wisely chose tracks with Sanders as a leader rather than as a sideman with John Coltrane (those were documented quite well on the John and Alice volumes). The set begins with "Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt," recorded in 1966 while he was still a member of the Coltrane band. Featuring Sanders on tenor, piccolo, percussion, and vocals, it also contains a who's who of the vanguard: pianist Dave Burrell, guitarist Sonny Sharrock, bassist Henry Grimes, percussionist Nat Bettis, and drummer Roger Blank. Sanders could take a disparate group of players like this one and wind them into his sound world. Burrell is the most automatically sympathetic, and lends a hand in creating a series of call-and-response exchanges with Sanders so Sharrock and Grimes follow suit -- not the other way around. This is also the place where the listener really encounters Sharrock's unique (even iconoclastic) playing -- he performed on Miles Davis' seminal Jack Johnson album but was mixed out. At over 16 minutes, it is barely a hint of what is to come. This cut is followed by Sanders' magnum opus, "The Creator Has a Master Plan." Based on a simple vamp, it unravels into an almost 33-minute textured improvisation that sounds like it could move heaven and earth because it almost literally explodes. Recorded for the Karma album in 1969, "The Creator" also features the late great Leon Thomas on vocals, providing his eerie, deep, and soulful "voice as improvisational instrument" approach that sends the tune soaring. Other sidemen here are bassists Richard Davis and Reggie Workman, James Spaulding, Julius Watkins, pianist Lonnie Liston Smith, Bettis, and drummer Billy Hart. This is where this track belongs, not on the box where it took time and space away from other artists. "Astral Traveling," from the 1970 platter Thembi, follows, with the great violinist Michael White serving as foil to the lyric Pharoah. The last two tracks really chart Sanders' development not just as an improviser and composer but as a bandleader and in his mastery of the soprano saxophone -- only Steve Lacy and Coltrane did it better. The sprawl is tightened -- this cut is less than six minutes long -- but mainly in the way he leads the band with his approach to the saxophone and its dynamics. Cecil McBee plays bass here and Clifford Jarvis is on drums, and Smith uses an electric piano to fantastic effect. The final cut here, "Spiritual Blessing" from the Elevation album in 1973, is widely regarded as another Sanders classic with the man himself on soprano. He is accompanied by a group of percussionists, including Michael Carvin, Jimmy Hopps, John Blue, and Lawrence Killian. Sanders uses the percussionists as a counter to the featured drone instruments (with Joe Bonner on harmonium and Calvin Hill on tamboura). At just under six minutes, it's a song that perfectly fuses Eastern and Western musical improvisational traditions. Listening to this volume of the course of an hour is literally an aurally expansive and spiritually enlightening experience. If you can only have one of the CDs in this series, this may be the one to snag -- along with Alice Coltrane's chapter, this is spiritual jazz at its very best.
|> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|
Tracklist :
1    Upper Egypt And Lower Egypt 16:16
Bass – Henry Grimes
Drums – Roger Blank
Electric Guitar – Sonny Sharrock
Percussion – Nat Bettis
Piano – Dave Burrell
Tenor Saxophone, Piccolo Flute, Percussion, Vocals, Composed By – Pharoah Sanders
2    The Creator Has A Master Plan 32:45
Bass – Richard Davis
Composed By – Leon Thomas, Pharoah Sanders
Drums – Billy Hart
Flute – James Spaulding
French Horn – Julius Watkins
Percussion – Nat Bettis
Piano – Lonnie Liston Smith
Tenor Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders
Vocals, Percussion – Leon Thomas
3    Astral Traveling 5:48
Bass – Cecil McBee
Electric Piano, Composed By – Lonnie Liston Smith
Soprano Saxophone, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
Violin – Michael White
4    Spiritual Blessing 5:40
Bells [Bell Tree] – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Michael Carvin
Harmonium – Joe Bonner
Percussion – Jimmy Hopps, John Blue
Soprano Saxophone, Composed By – Pharoah Sanders
Tambura – Calvin Hill

PHAROAH SANDERS - Meditation (Pharoah Sanders Selections Take 1 & 2) 2xCD (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Although Pharoah Sanders first made his name in the free jazz scene of early-'60s New York and then by playing with John Coltrane in his most radical lineup, the saxophonist has never been merely a harsh, aggressive player. Meditation: Pharoah Sanders Selections, Take 1 does Sanders a great service by introducing the uninitiated to his work through music that is accessible and at times downright pretty without watering down his often-astonishing melodic freedom. 1970's "Thembi" marries an African rhythm to Sanders' graceful soprano sax and a fluid lead violin line by Michael White. "Morning Prayer," from the same sessions, has a hypnotic feel rooted in its polyrhythmic hand percussion (courtesy of Lonnie Liston Smith and a four-man team of African percussionists) and features an outstanding set of solos by Sanders on alto flute. "Colors" suffers a bit from being taken out of its original context as the becalmed coda to 1969's epic "The Creator Has a Master Plan," but Leon Thomas' incantatory vocal still has an eerie power. Finally, the epic 15-minute "Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah" has the ecstatic frenzy of a classic Sun Ra Arkestra side and the cockeyed grace of Rahsaan Roland Kirk's best work, blended with perhaps Thomas' finest vocal ever, mixing the staid cadences of a four-square preacher with some defiantly outside ululations. Besides the album's four other tracks (which include 1971's rare "Mansion Worlds," a fairly traditional piece of modal jazz making its CD debut), these tracks alone are evidence of Sanders' abiding spirituality and restless creative spirit, making Meditation: Pharoah Sanders Selections, Take 1 a perfect introduction to the man and his work. Stewart Mason  
Meditation - Pharoah Sanders Selections Take 1 -
1.    Greeting To Saud 4'06
Percussion – Jimmy Hopps, Kenneth Nash, Lawrence Killian, Michael Carvin, Pharoah Sanders
Piano – Joe Bonner
Tambora – Calvin Hill
Violin – Michael White
Vocals – Sedatrius Brown
2.    Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum Allah 05'05
Drums – Roy Haynes
Drums, Percussion – Idris Muhammad
Flute, Thumb Piano, Percussion – Lonnie Liston Smith
Percussion – Cecil McBee
Tenor Saxophone, Contrabass Clarinet, Flute, Thumb Piano, Chimes, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
Vocals, Percussion – Leon Thomas
3.    Mansion Worlds 9'14
Bass – Cecil McBee, Stanley Clarke
Drums – Norman Connors
Flute – Art Webb
Piano – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Vocals, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
4.    The Gathering 13'53
Bass – Calvin Hill
Congas, Bell Tree – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Michael Carvin
Percussion – John Blue
Piano, Flute, Horn, Vocals, Percussion – Joe Bonner
Sopranino Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Vocals, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
5.    Morning Prayer 9'12
Bass, Effects – Cecil McBee
Percussion – Anthony Wiles, Chief Bey, Majid Shabazz, Nat Bettis
Piano, Finger Cymbals, Thumb Piano – Lonnie Liston Smith
Tenor Saxophone, Alto Flute, Handbell, Thumb Piano, Maracas, Fife – Pharoah Sanders
6.    Thembi 7'02
Bass, Finger Cymbals, Percussion – Cecil McBee
Drums, Maracas, Bells, Percussion – Clifford Jarvis
Finger Cymbals – James Jordan
Piano, Electric Piano, Claves, Percussion – Lonnie Liston Smith
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Bells, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
Violin, Percussion – Michael White
7.    Memories Of Lee Morgan 5'37
Bass – Cecil McBee, Stanley Clarke
Congas, Percussion – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Norman Connors
Percussion – Hannibal (Marvin Peterson)
Piano, Flute, Percussion – Joe Bonner
Sopranino Saxophone, Vocals, Percussion, Bells – Pharoah Sanders
8.    Colors 5'38
Bass – Reggie Workman, Ron Carter
Drums – Freddie Waits
French Horn – Julius Watkins
Piano – Lonnie Liston Smith
Tenor Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders
Vocals, Percussion – Leon Thomas
Meditation - Pharoah Sanders Selections Take 2 -
1    Shukuru 5'49
2    Rejoice 12'45
3    Pharomba 4'35
4    Origin 5'44
5    Naima 7'31
6    Sun Song 6'05
7    Think About The One 4'18
8    Midnight At Yoshi's 6'00
9    You Got To Have Freedom 6'51
10    Heart Is A Melody Of Time 7'34
11    Light At The Edge Of The World 5'09

PHAROAH SANDERS - Pharoah Sanders Quintet (1965-2005) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pharoah Sanders' first release on the ESP label is relatively tame compared to what was to come. Trumpeter Stan Foster and pianist Jane Getz are allowed as much solo space as the leader. The problem with that is they play bebop, Sanders doesn't. You can hear that Sanders is ready to go out, but restrains himself due to this mismatching of musicians. Sanders does retain the Coltrane influence on this date and, especially on the initial portion of "Seven By Seven," you can hear the beginnings of Sanders' trademark tenor screech. However, it becomes obvious by the conclusion of the track that the musical sparing between Sanders and Foster never jells. While Sanders wants to fly, Foster is content to walk. "Bethera" finds Foster and Getz taking extended solos, playing as though Sanders isn't there! It sounds as if this date was set up for someone like Dexter Gordon, who didn't show up, so they got Sanders at the last minute. Sanders really has no purpose on this conventional date besides initial name exposure as a leader. What a shame. Al Campbell
Tracklist :
1     Seven by Seven 26:17
Pharoah Sanders   
2     Bethera 23:39
Pharoah Sanders   
Interviews:   
3    Bernard Stollman Meets Pharoah    0:57
4    Coming To New York    0:28
5    Meeting Sun Ra    1:23
6    Meeting John Coltrane    2:11
7    Comments On Other Musicians    1:52
8    Playing With Don Cherry    2:15
9    The Scene    1:18
10    Why The Music Changes    2:11
Credits :
Bass – William Bennett
Percussion – Marvin Pattillo
Piano – Jane Getz
Tenor Saxophone, Composed By – Pharoah Sanders
Trumpet – Stan Foster   

PHAROAH SANDERS - Tauhid (1967-2007) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tauhid marks the 1966 Impulse debut of tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, who had already gained fame as a flame-throwing saxophonist of the "new thing" playing with John Coltrane. However, Sanders' tenor appearance doesn't saturate the atmosphere on this session; far from it. Sanders is content to patiently let the moods of these three pieces develop, whether it be through the percussion of Roger Blank and Nat Bettis, guitarist Sonny Sharrock, or his own piccolo. For those looking for Sanders' patented screeching tenor throughout, Tauhid will disappoint. Al Campbell
Tracklist :
1    Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt    16:16
2    Japan    3:22
3    Aum / Venus / Capricorn Rising    14:46
Credits :
Bass – Henry Grimes
Drums – Roger Blank
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Sonny Sharrock
Percussion – Nat Bettis
Piano – Dave Burrell
Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Piccolo Flute, Voice, Composed By – Pharoah Sanders

PHAROAH SANDERS — Izipho Zam (1973-2006) RM | Serie 70年代ジャズを味わう!! – 11 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Two years after the death of his mentor and boss, John Coltrane, and just before signing his own contract with Impulse!, Pharoah Sanders finally got around to releasing an album as a leader apart from the Impulse! family. Enlisting a cast of characters no less than 13 in number, Sanders proved that his time with Coltrane and his Impulse! debut, Tauhid, was not a fluke. Though hated by many of the jazz musicians at the time -- and more jazz critics who felt Coltrane had lost his way musically the minute he put together the final quintet -- Sanders followed his own muse to the edges of Eastern music and sometimes completely outside the borderlines of what could be called jazz. That said, Izipho Zam is a wonderful recording, full of the depth of vision and heartfelt soul that has informed every recording of Sanders since. Guests include Sonny Sharrock, Lonnie Liston Smith, Chief Bey, Cecil McBee, Sirone, Sonny Fortune, Billy Hart, Howard Johnson, and others. The set begins with a gorgeous soul tune in "Prince of Peace," with Leon Thomas doing his trademark yodel, croon, and wail as Smith, McBee, and Hart back him and Sanders fills the gaps. Next is "Balance," the first blowing tune on the set, with the African drums, the modal horns, and Sanders' microtonal investigations of sonic polarity contrasted with Johnson's tuba, leaving the rhythm section to join him as Sharrock and Smith trade drone lines and Sanders turns it into a Latin dance from outer space about halfway through to the end -- it's astonishing. Finally, on the 28-minute title track, the band members -- all of them -- begin a slow tonal inquiry, a textured traipse into the abyss of dissonance and harmonic integration, with Thomas as the bridge through which all sounds must travel on their way to the ensemble. From here, percussion, bells, whistles, Sharrock's heavily chorded guitar -- all provide rhythm upon interval upon tonal figure until the horns enter at about 12 minutes. They move slowly at first and gather force until they blast it right open at 20 minutes and the last eight are all free blowing and an endurance ride for the listener because, with four minutes left, Sanders leads the band in a gorgeous lyric ride that brings together all disparate elements in his world and ours, making this track -- and album -- an exhilarating, indispensable out jazz experience.
> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <
Tracklist :
1     Prince of Peace 8:50
Pharoah Sanders    
2     Balance 12:43
Pharoah Sanders    
3     Izipho Zam 28:50
Pharoah Sanders    
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Sonny Fortune
Bass – Cecil McBee, Sirone (Norris Jones)
Drums – Billy Hart, Majeed Shabazz
Drums [African] – Chief Bey
Guitar – Sonny Sharrock
Percussion – Nat Bettis, Tony Wylie
Piano – Lonnie Liston Smith
Saxophone, Percussion, Composed By – Pharoah Sanders
Tuba – Howard Johnson
Vocals, Percussion – Leon Thomas

PHAROAH SANDERS - Jewels of Thought (1969-2007) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In 1969, Pharoah Sanders was incredibly active, recording no less than four albums and releasing three. The band on Jewels of Thought is largely the same as on Deaf Dumb Blind and Karma, with a few changes. Idris Muhammad has, with the exception of "Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah Hum Allah," replaced Roy Haynes, and Richard Davis has permanently replaced Reggie Workman and Ron Carter, though Cecil McBee is still present for the extra bottom sound. Leon Thomas and his trademark holy warble are in the house, as is Lonnie Liston Smith. Comprised of two long cuts, the aforementioned and "Sun in Aquarius," Jewels of Thought sees Sanders moving out from his signature tenor for the first time and delving deeply into reed flutes and bass clarinet. The plethora of percussion instruments utilized by everyone is, as expected, part of the mix. "Hum-Allah" begins with a two-chord piano vamp by Smith and Thomas singing and yodeling his way into the band's improvisational space. For 12 minutes, Sanders and company mix it up -- especially the drummers -- whipping it first quietly down into the most pure melodic essences of Smith's solo and then taking the tension and building to ecstatic heights with all manner of blowing and intervallic interaction between the various elements until it just explodes, before coming down in pieces and settling into a hush of melodic frames and the same two-chord vamp. On "Sun in Aquarius," African thumb pianos, reed flutes, sundry percussion, and orchestra chimes are employed to dislocate all notions of Western music. Things get very quiet (though there is constant motion); the innards of the piano are brushed and hammered quietly before Sanders comes roaring out of the tense silence with his bass clarinet, and then the tenor and bass share an intertwined solo and Smith starts kicking ass with impossibly large chords. It moves into another two-chord vamp at the end of 27 minutes, to be taken out as a closed prayer. It's more like a finished exorcism, actually, but it is one of the most astonishing pieces by Sanders ever.  
 |> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|
Tracklist :
1 Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum Allah 15:04
Drums – Roy Haynes
Lyrics By – Amos Leon Thomas
2 Sun In Aquarius 27:51
Bass, Percussion – Richard Davis 
Credits
Bass, Percussion – Cecil McBee
Bells [Orchestra Chimes], Contrabass Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Flute [Reed], Percussion, Thumb Piano [African] – Pharoah Sanders
Composed By – Lonnie L. Smith, Jr., Pharoah Sanders
Drums, Percussion – Idris Muhammad
Percussion, Piano, Thumb Piano [African], Flute [African] – Lonnie Liston Smith
Vocals, Percussion – Leon Thomas

PHAROAH SANDERS - Karma (1969-2019) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pharoah Sanders' third album as a leader is the one that defines him as a musician to the present day. After the death of Coltrane, while there were many seeking to make a spiritual music that encompassed his ideas and yearnings while moving forward, no one came up with the goods until Sanders on this 1969 date. There are only two tracks on Karma, the 32-plus minute "The Creator Has a Master Plan" and the five-and-a-half-minute "Colours." The band is one of Sanders' finest, and features vocalist Leon Thomas, drummer Billy Hart, Julius Watkins, James Spaulding, a pre-funk Lonnie Liston Smith, Richard Davis, Reggie Workman on bass, and Nathaniel Bettis on percussion. "Creator" begins with a quote from "A Love Supreme," with a nod to Coltrane's continuing influence on Sanders. But something else emerges here as well: Sanders' own deep commitment to lyricism and his now inherent knowledge of Eastern breathing and modal techniques. His ability to use the ostinato became not a way of holding a tune in place while people soloed, but a manner of pushing it irrepressibly forward. Keeping his range limited (for the first eight minutes anyway), Sanders explores all the colors around the key figures, gradually building the dynamics as the band comps the two-chord theme behind with varying degrees of timbral invention. When Thomas enters at nine minutes, the track begins to open. His yodel frees up the theme and the rhythm section to invent around him. At 18 minutes it explodes, rushing into a silence that is profound as it is noisy in its approach. Sanders is playing microphonics and blowing to the heavens and Thomas is screaming. They are leaving the material world entirely. When they arrive at the next plane, free of modal and interval constraints, a new kind of lyricism emerges, one not dependent on time but rhythm, and Thomas and Sanders are but two improvisers in a sound universe of world rhythm and dimension. There is nothing to describe the exhilaration that is felt when this tune ends, except that "Colours," with Ron Carter joining Workman on the bass, was the only track that could follow it. You cannot believe it until you hear it.   

|> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|

Tracklist :
1 Creator Has a Master Plan 32:47
(Pharoah Sanders / Leon Thomas)
Bass – Richard Davis
Drums – William Hart
Flute – James Spaulding
Percussion – Nathaniel Bettis
2 Colors 5:36
(Pharoah Sanders / Leon Thomas)
Bass – Ron Carter
Drums – Frederick Waits
Credits :
Bass – Reggie Workman
French Horn – Julius Watkins
Piano – Lonnie L. Smith Jr.
Tenor Saxophone, Music By – Pharoah Sanders
Vocals, Percussion, Lyrics By – Leon Thomas

PHAROAH SANDERS - Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) (1971-1997) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After Karma was issued and Sanders had established himself -- to himself -- as a musician who had something valuable and of use to say, he was on what this critic considers to be a divinely inspired tear. Deaf Dumb Blind is an example of that inspiration. Beginning with the title cut, a suite of over 21 minutes, Sanders brings in the whole of his obsession with rhythm and R&B. Using African percussion, bylophones, shakers, cowbells, and all manner of percussion, as well as drummer Clifford Jarvis, Sanders brought in Cecil McBee to hold down the bass chair and Lonnie Liston Smith back in on piano, and added a three-piece horn section that included Gary Bartz on alto and Woody Shaw on trumpet in addition to himself. Whew! Here the Latin and African polyrhythms collide and place the horns, as large and varied as they are, in almost a supplementary role. The horns check counterpoint in striated harmony, calling and responding over the wash of bass and drums and drums and drums! It evolves into a percussion orgy before the scary otherworldly multiphonic solos begin. And Shaw and Bartz are worthy foils for Sanders. And no matter how out it gets, those rhythms keep it rooted in the soul. "Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord" is almost 18 minutes in length. It has a long soprano intro, covered in shimmering bells and shakers with a glorious piano fill by Smith, who becomes more prominent, along with some excellent arco work by McBee, until the piece becomes a meditation on lyricism and silence about halfway through. The entire band eventually rejoins for a group ostinato with very little variation, except in timbre and subtle accented color work by Sanders and McBee. It is a stunningly beautiful and contemplative work that showcases how intrinsic melodic phrasing and drones were to Sanders at the time -- and still are today. This piece, and this album, is a joyful noise made in the direction of the divine, and we can feel it through the speakers, down in the place that scares us.
|> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|
Tracklist :
1    Summun, Bukmun, Umyun 21:16
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
2    Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord 17:46
Adapted By – Lonnie Liston Smith
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Bells, Cowbell, Shaker, Percussion – Gary Bartz
Bass – Cecil McBee
Congas [Conga Drum], Percussion [African] – Anthony Wiles
Drums – Clifford Jarvis
Piano, Cowbell, Kalimba [Thumb Piano], Percussion – Lonnie Liston Smith
Soprano Saxophone, Horn [Cow], Whistle [Tritone], Cowbell, Flute [Wood], Kalimba [Thumb Piano], Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
Trumpet, Yodeling, Percussion – Woody Shaw
Xylophone [Bylophone], Yodeling, Percussion [African] – Nathaniel Bettis

PHAROAH SANDERS - Thembi (1971-1987) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Recorded with two different ensembles, Thembi was a departure from the slowly developing, side-long, mantra-like grooves Pharoah Sanders had been pursuing for most of his solo career. It's musically all over the map but, even if it lacks the same consistency of mood as many of Sanders' previous albums, it does offer an intriguingly wide range of relatively concise ideas, making it something of an anomaly in Sanders' prime period. Over the six selections, Sanders romps through a tremendous variety of instruments, including tenor, soprano, alto flute, fifes, the African bailophone, assorted small percussion, and even a cow horn. Perhaps because he's preoccupied elsewhere, there's relatively little of his trademark tenor screaming, limited mostly to the thunderous cacophony of "Red, Black & Green" and portions of "Morning Prayer." The compositions, too, try all sorts of different things. Keyboardist/pianist Lonnie Liston Smith's "Astral Traveling" is a shimmering, pastoral piece centered around his electric piano textures; "Love" is an intense, five-minute bass solo by Cecil McBee; and "Morning Prayer" and "Bailophone Dance" (which are segued together) add an expanded percussion section devoted exclusively to African instruments. If there's a unifying factor, it's the classic title track, which combines the softer lyricism of Sanders' soprano and Michael White's violin with the polyrhythmic grooves of the most Africanized material (not to mention a catchy bass riff). Some fans may gripe that Thembi isn't conceptually unified or intense enough, but it's rare to have this many different sides of Sanders coexisting in one place, and that's what makes the album such an interesting listen. Steve Huey  
Tracklist :
1     Astral Traveling 5'48
Lonnie Liston Smith
2     Red Black and Green 8'56
Pharoah Sanders
3     Thembi 7'02
Pharoah Sanders
4     Love 5'12
Cecil McBee
5     Morning Prayer 9'11
Pharoah Sanders / Lonnie Liston Smith
6     Bailophone Dance 5'43
Pharoah Sanders
Credits :
Bass – Cecil McBee
Cymbal [Finger], Percussion – Cecil McBee (pistas: 1 to 3)
Cymbal [Ring] – James Jordan (pistas: 3)
Cymbal [Ring], Featuring [Bailophone], Voice [Shouts] – Lonnie Liston Smith (pistas: 5, 6)
Drums – Roy Haynes (pistas: 5, 6)
Effects [Bird Effects] – Cecil McBee (pistas: 5, 6)
Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Claves, Percussion – Lonnie Liston Smith (pistas: 1 to 3)
Flute [Alto], Koto, Tenor Saxophone, Percussion [Brass Bell], Featuring [Bailophone], Horn [Cow Horn], Maracas, Flute [Fifes] – Pharoah Sanders (pistas: 5, 6)
Percussion [African] – Anthony Wiles (pistas: 5, 6), Chief Bey (pistas: 5, 6), Majid Shabazz (pistas: 5, 6), Nat Bettis (pistas: 5, 6)
Piano – Lonnie Liston Smith (pistas: 1 to 3, 5, 6)
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Bells, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders (pistas: 1 to 3)
Violin, Percussion – Michael White (pistas: 1 to 3)

PHAROAH SANDERS - Live At The East (1971-2007) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

By 1971 Pharoah Sanders' playing essentially alternated between two moods: ferocious and peaceful. This live record gives one a good example of how the passionate tenor sounded in clubs during the early '70s. Sanders is joined by an impressive group of players: trumpeter Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson, flutist Carlos Garnett, Harold Vick on tenor, pianist Joe Bonner, the basses of Stanley Clarke and Cecil McBee, drummers Norman Connors and Billy Hart, and percussionist Lawrence Killian. On the 20-minute "Healing Song," the lengthy "Memories of J.W. Coltrane," and the two-part "Lumkili," Sanders is heard in top form. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Healing Song 21'46
Written-By – J. Bonner, F. Sanders
2    Memories Of J. W. Coltrane 12'52
Written-By – F. Sanders
3    Lumkili 8'35
Written-By – F. Sanders
Credits :
Bass – Cecil McBee, Stanley Clarke
Congas, Marimba [Bailophone] – Lawrence Killian
Drums – William Hart, Norman Connors
Flute, Voice – Carlos Garnett
Piano, Harmonium – Joseph Bonner
Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders
Tenor Vocals – Harold Vic
Trumpet – Marvin Peterson

PHAROAH SANDERS - Love In Us All (1974-2007) RM | Japan Mini LP | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Recorded near the end of Pharoah Sanders' tenure at Impulse, Love in Us All consists of two extended compositions. Together, they serve as an aural representation of the way Sanders' music polarized the jazz world at the time. Like many of his "New Thing" peers, the saxophonist sought the sound world beyond the constraints of conventional harmony. This often translated into music played at the grating, far reaches of his instrument. "To John" finds Sanders in this territory. His solo begins with Coltrane-isms of short motive development before stretching out into a more personal sound. Finding himself engulfed by a rising musical tide, he plays like he's fighting desperately to stay above it. Soon his saxophone takes on a sorrowful tone as if admitting inevitable defeat. With little optimism apparent, it ultimately communicates a sense of emptiness. However, the often one-dimensional criticism of Sanders as an angry, confrontational musician fails to take in the ragged beauty of a work like "Love Is Everywhere." The song offers little explanation as to what the furor was all about. It begins with an exquisite bass vamp that the song builds from. "Love is everywhere" is repeatedly and passionately shouted as the music escalates into a disorienting swirl of sound. Sanders enters midway through with a surprisingly restrained and lyrical solo on soprano. These two songs hardly seem to belong on the same album and are best approached separately. Many of the players who took musical and philosophical inspiration from John Coltrane failed to translate it into resonant works of their own. Sanders' unsuccessful attempt on "To John" falls in this category. Yet, in a way, Coltrane himself never created a work as emotionally direct as "Love Is Everywhere." Nathan Bush
Tracklist :
1    Love Is Everywhere    19:52
2    To John    20:42
Credits :
Bass – Cecil McBee
Drums – Norman Connors
Flute – James Branch
Percussion – Badal Roy, James Mtume, Lawrence Killian
Piano – Joe Bonner
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Pharoah Sanders

PHAROAH SANDERS - Village of the Pharoahs + Wisdom Through Music (2011) RM | Serie : Impulse! 2-On-1 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The albums packaged in this Impulse two-fer -- Village of the Pharoahs and Wisdom Through Music -- were both released in 1973, but only the latter was recorded as an album. They share the same basic personnel -- pianist Joe Bonner, bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Norman Connors, and percussionist Lawrence Killian -- while Village, because it was recorded at three different sessions over three years, also contains numerous other players, including vocalist Sedatrius Brown, bassists Stanley Clarke, Jimmy Hopps, and Calvin Hill, percussionists Hannibal Peterson and Kenneth Nash, and flutist Art Webb. Wisdom Through Music simply adds Mtume and Badal Roy to the percussion section, with Killian and flutist James "Plunky" Branch (founder of spiritual jazz-funk pioneers Oneness of Juju). Historically, Village of the Pharoahs has gotten a bad rap because of its wide range of musical approaches. The largest part of the former album is taken up with the three-part title track on which Sanders plays only soprano saxophone, percussion instruments, and sings. It's a cosmic, sprawling jam that seems to lead everywhere through Middle Eastern modalities, but is wonderfully accessible. Other highlights include "Memories of Lee Morgan," with gorgeous flute playing by Webb matching Sanders' soprano, and a wonderfully elliptical piano line by Bonner, and the closing "Went Like It Came," where Sanders pulls out his mighty tenor and makes his brand of vanguard jazz swing like mad. Wisdom Through Music, with its smaller lineup, consists of five tracks. Most notable is "High Life," on which Sanders emulates the West African style of music with roiling, celebratory drumming and singing, and killer flute playing. "Love Is Everywhere" is a shorter version of what is now a Sanders performance standard; it appeared in full on Love in Us All released in 1974. Its rawness and soulfulness simply burst from the musical frame with celebration before Bonner and the ensemble take over and rip it up. The title track is a slow, meditative, drone-like piece with abundant percussion by Roy and gorgeous arco work from McBee. Bonner's "The Golden Lamp" is driven by McBee, Branch, and an uncredited instrument rreminiscent of kora and/or an oud. It closes with the nearly 11-minute "Selflessness," a jam that begins as a sung chant and sprawls out into another Sanders orgy of celebration with excellent tenor blowing, as well as spirited interplay with Bonner and the percussionists. These two recordings belong together, and create a compelling whole, revealing a compelling chapter in Sanders recorded history.
|> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|
Village Of The Pharoahs (1971)
Bass – Calvin Hill
Congas – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Jimmy Hopps
Drums [Sakara And Murdunom], Percussion – Kenneth Nash
Piano, Flute, Percussion, Shakuhachi – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Vocals, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
Tambura, Percussion – Kylo Kylo
Vocals, Percussion – Sedatrius Brown
1    Part One    7:14
2    Part Two    4:58
3    Part Three    4:51
4    Myth 1:47
Bass – Calvin Hill
Percussion, Whistle – Kenneth Nash
Vocals, Percussion – Joe Bonner, Lawrence Killian, Pharoah Sanders, Sedatrius Brown
5    Mansion Worlds 9:15
Bass – Cecil McBee, Stanley Clark
Congas, Percussion – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Norman Connors
Percussion – Marvin Peterson
Piano – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Bells – Pharoah Sanders
6    Memories Of Lee Morgan 5:38
Bass – Cecil McBee, Stanley Clark
Drums – Norman Connors
Flute – Arthur Webb
Piano – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Bells – Pharoah Sanders
7    Went Like It Came 5:09
Bass – Calvin Hill
Congas – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Jimmy Hopps
Percussion – Kenneth Nash, Kylo Kylo
Piano – Joe Bonner
Tenor Saxophone, Vocals, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
Vocals, Percussion – Sedatrius Brown
Wisdom Through Music (1972)   
8    High Life 4:23
Bass – Cecil McBee
Drums – Norman Connors
Flute – James Branch
Percussion – Badal Roy, Mtume, Lawrence Killian
Piano – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Pharoah Sanders
9    Love Is Everywhere 5:21
Bass – Cecil McBee
Drums – Norman Connors
Flute – James Branch
Percussion – Badal Roy, Mtume*, Lawrence Killian
Piano – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Pharoah Sanders
10    Wisdom Through Music 5:46
Bass – Cecil McBee
Drums – Norman Connors
Flute – James Branch
Percussion – Badal Roy, Mtume, Lawrence Killian
Piano – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Pharoah Sanders
11    The Golden Lamp 4:47
Bass – Cecil McBee
Drums – Norman Connors
Flute – James Branch
Percussion – Badal Roy, Mtume, Lawrence Killian
Piano – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Pharoah Sanders
Written-By – Joseph Bonner
12    Selflessness 10:56
Bass – Cecil McBee
Drums – Norman Connors
Flute – James Branch
Percussion – Badal Roy, Mtume, Lawrence Killian
Piano – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Pharoah Sanders

PHAROAH SANDERS - Elevation (1974-2007) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Elevation, Pharoah Sanders' final album for Impulse!, is a mixed bag. Four of the five cuts were recorded live at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles in September of 1973, and the lone studio track, "Greeting to Saud (Brother McCoy Tyner)," was recorded in the same month at Wally Heider's studio. The live date is fairly cohesive, with beautiful modal piano work from Joe Bonner, Pharoah playing tenor and soprano as well as a myriad of percussion instruments and vocalizing in places, and a percussion and rhythm section that included Michael Carvin on drums, bassist Calvin Hill, and hand drummers John Blue and Lawrence Killian. The standout on the set is the opener. At 18 minutes, it's the longest thing here and gives the band a chance to stretch into African and Latin terrains. Sanders' long, loping, suspended lines create a kind of melodic head that is underscored by Bonner's hypnotically repetitive piano work, playing the same chord progression over and over again as he begins his solos (one on each horn). Somewhere near the five-minute mark, Pharoah enters into a primal wail and the whole thing becomes unhinged, moving into a deep blowing session of free improv. Honks, squeals, wails, and Bonner pounding the hell out of the piano erase any trace of what came before, and this goes on for four minutes before the theme restates itself and once more the magic begins. It's utterly compelling and engaging. "Saud" finds a host of percussionists (including Sanders) along with Hill on tamboura, Bonner, and violinist Michael White. It's a subtle and droning work, full of a constant hum. The other long track, "The Gathering," clocks in at almost 14 minutes, but instead of being a somber nocturnal work it's a lively South African-inspired work that nods to Dollar Brand for inspiration. A gorgeous, nearly carnival piece, it rolls and chugs and runs along on the steam created by Bonner's beautiful chord work. The chorus of vocals chanting in the foreground and background adds to the party feel, but once again it choogles right off the track into some rather angry and then spooky free improv, with a fine solo by Hill. This may not rate as highly as some of Sanders' other recordings for the label like Thembi or Karma, but there is plenty here for fans, and it is well worth the investigation and the purchase.
|> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|
Tracklist :
1    Elevation 18:01
Bass – Calvin Hill
Congas, Bell Tree – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Michael Carvin
Percussion – Jimmy Hopps, John Blue
Piano, Horn [Cow Horn], Flute [Wood] – Joe Bonner
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Shaker, Vocals, Bells, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
2    Greeting To Saud (Brother McCoy Tyner) 4:07
Percussion – Jimmy Hopps, Lawrence Killian, Michael Carvin, Pharoah Sanders
Piano – Joe Bonner
Tambura – Calvin Hill
3    Ore-Se-Rere 5:36
Bass, Vocals – Calvin Hill
Congas, Bell Tree, Vocals – Lawrence Killian
Drums, Vocals – Michael Carvin
Percussion, Vocals – John Blue
Piano, Vocals, Percussion – Joe Bonner
Vocals, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
4    The Gathering 13:51
Bass – Calvin Hill
Congas, Bell Tree – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Michael Carvin
Percussion – John Blue
Piano, Horn [Cow Horn], Flute [Wood], Vocals, Percussion – Joe Bonner
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Vocals, Percussion – Pharoah Sanders
5    Spiritual Blessing 5:41
Bell Tree – Lawrence Killian
Drums – Michael Carvin
Harmonium – Joe Bonner
Percussion – Jimmy Hopps, John Blue
Soprano Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders
Tambura – Calvin Hill