Pharoah Sanders
(born October 13, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." [1] Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound." Albert Ayler famously said "Trane was the Father, Pharoah was the Son, I am the Holy Ghost." [2]
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PHAROAH SANDERS TICKETS
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Biography
Early life and career
Born
Ferrell Sanders
in
Little Rock, Arkansas, he began his professional career playing tenor
saxophone in
Oakland, California.
He moved to
New York City in
1961 after playing with
rhythm and blues bands. He received his
nickname "Pharoah" from
Sun Ra, with whom he was performing. He came to prominence playing with
John Coltrane's band, starting in
1965, as Coltrane began adopting the
avant-garde jazz of
Albert Ayler, Ra and
Cecil Taylor. Sanders first performed on Coltrane's
Ascension
(recorded in June 1965), then famously on their dual-tenor recording
Meditations
(recorded in November 1965). After this Sanders joined Coltrane's final quintet, usually performing very lengthy,
dissonant solos. Coltrane's later style was strongly influenced by Sanders. Amiri Baraka lays claim naming him Pharoah in an early sixties Downbeat review upon hearing him introduce himself as Ferrell Sanders and thinking he said "Pharaoh Sanders."
After Coltrane
Although Sanders' voice developed differently from Coltrane, Sanders was strongly influenced by their collaboration together. Spiritual elements such as the chanting in
Om
would later show up in many of Sanders' own works. Sanders would also go on to produce much
free jazz, modified from Coltrane's solo-centric conception. In
1968 he participated in
Michael Mantler and
Carla Bley's JCOA: Jazz Composer's Orchestra Association album
Communications
, featuring
Cecil Taylor,
Don Cherry,
Larry Coryell and
Gato Barbieri. This solo has been referenced by
John Zorn and others, as the most intense and inspiring free tenor solo ever put to tape.
In the 1970s, Sanders pursued his own recordings and continued to work with the likes of
Alice Coltrane on her
Journey In Satchidananda
album. Most of Sanders' best-selling work was made in the late 60's and early 70s for
Impulse Records, including the 30-minute wave-on-wave of free jazz "
The Creator has a Master Plan" from the album
Karma
. This featured Sanders key musical partner, pianist
Lonnie Liston Smith, who worked with Sanders from 1969-1971. Other members of his groups in this period include bassist
Cecil McBee and vocalist
Leon Thomas, on albums such as
Jewels of Thought
,
Izipho Zam
,
Deaf Dumb Blind
and
Thembi
.
The 1970s and beyond
Then, although supported by
African-American Radio, Sanders' brand of revelatory and sometimes political free jazz became less popular and from the experiments with African rhythms on the 1971 album
Black Unity
(with bassist
Stanley Clarke) onwards he began to diversify his sound. In the late seventies and eighties, Sanders sometimes explored different musical modes including smokey R'n'B (on
Love Will Find a Way
),
modal jazz and
hard bop. Popular work of the 1980s include the
Live in San Francisco
DVD from 1981, a rare film of him performing, and the 1981 album
Rejoice
.
In 1994 he traveled to
Morocco to record with master
Gnawa musician
Mahmoud Guinia, resulting in the
Bill Laswell-produced
The Trance Of Seven Colors
. Sanders continued to work with Laswell,
Jah Wobble and others on the albums
Message From Home
(1996) and
Save Our Children
(1998). In 1999, he complained in an interview that despite his pedigree, that he had trouble finding work.
[3]
In the 2000s, a resurgence of interest in
free jazz has kept Sanders playing festivals (including the 2007
Melbourne Jazz Festival), concerts, and releasing albums. He has a strong following in Japan, and in 2003 recorded with the band
Sleep Walker.
Discography
As leader
Title
| Year
| Label
|
Pharoah's First
| 1964
| ESP-Disk
|
Tauhid
| 1966
| Impulse! Records
|
Izipho Zam
| 1969
| Strata-East Records
|
Karma
| 1969
| Impulse!
|
Jewels of Thought
| 1969
| Impulse!
|
Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun)
| 1970
| Impulse!
|
Thembi
| 1971
| Impulse!
|
Village of the Pharoahs
| 1971
| Impulse!
|
Black Unity
| 1971
| Impulse!
|
Live at the East
| 1971
| Impulse!
|
Wisdom Through Music
| 1972
| Impulse!
|
Elevation
| 1973
| Impulse!
|
Love in Us All
| 1973
| ASD
|
Voyage to Uranus
| 1974
| Capitol
|
Pharoah
| 1977
| India Navigation
|
Love Will Find a Way
| 1977
| Arista
|
Beyond a Dream
| 1978
| Arista
|
Journey to the One
| 1980
| Theresa (Evidence)
|
Live
| 1981
| Theresa (Evidence)
|
Rejoice
| 1981
| Theresa (Evidence)
|
Heart is a Melody
| 1982
| Theresa (Evidence)
|
Shukuru
| 1985
| Theresa (Evidence)
|
Oh Lord, Let Me Do No Wrong
| 1989
| Columbia
|
A Prayer Before Dawn
| 1987
| Theresa (Evidence)
|
Africa
| 1987
| Timeless
|
Moonchild
| 1989
| Timeless
|
Welcome to Love
| 1990
| Timeless
|
Crescent with Love
| 1992
| Evidence
|
The Trance Of Seven Colors
(with Mahmoud Guinia)
| 1994
| Axiom
|
Naima
| 1995
| Evidence
|
Message from Home
| 1996
| Verve
|
Save our Children
| 1999
| Verve
|
Spirits
| 2000
| Meta
|
With a Heartbeat
| 2003
| Evolver
|
The Creator Has a Master Plan
| 2003
| Venus
|
As sideman
With John Coltrane
- 1965 - Kulu Sé Mama
- 1965 - Om
- 1965 - Meditations
- 1965 - Ascension
- 1965 - Live In Seattle
- 1966 - Live at the Village Vanguard Again!
- 1966 - Live In Japan
- 1967 - Expression
- 1967 - The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording
With Alice Coltrane
- 1968 - A Monastic Trio
- 1970 - Ptah, the El Daoud
- 1970 - Journey in Satchidananda
With McCoy Tyner
- 1987: Blues for Coltrane
- 1994: Love & Peace
With others
- 1964 - Sun Ra - Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold
- 1966 - Don Cherry - Symphony for Improvisers
- 1966 - Don Cherry - Where Is Brooklyn?
- 1968 - Jazz Composer's Orchestra - Communications
- 1978 - Ed Kelly - Ed Kelly & Friends
- 1985 - Art Davis - Life
- 1991 - Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages
- 1994 - Franklin Kiermyer - Solomon's Daughter
- 2000 - Alex Blake - Now is the Time: Live at the Knitting Factory
- 2006 - Kenny Garrett - Beyond the Wall
- 2008 - Kenny Garrett - Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium
References
- Tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders burst through the gates in John Coltrane's group. At 65, he's going strong
- Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost
- Jazz - AllAboutJazz.com