Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Pharoah Sanders: Pharoah

163

Pharoah Sanders: Pharoah

By

Sign in to view read count
Pharoah Sanders: Pharoah
Recorded in 1964, the same year as Gods on Safari, his Sun Ra recording, and months before Ascension, his first with Coltrane, Pharoah's First pictures the legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders at the threshold of his historic and still startling cosmic operettas with John Coltrane. It was originally released on LP as two sidelong jams and has been reissued here as part of the ESP reactivation series with insightful interviews.

Both tracks feature a hard swinging bebop quartet, and while "Seven by Seven shows sparks of the fire to come, "Bethera has Sanders wrestling his horn away from the ghost of Prestige Coltrane. Sanders wastes no time blowing his horn apart on the opener, inspired by percussionist Marvin Pattillo and bassist William Bennett's indomitable drive. Pianist Jane Getz stays out of the way with small, clean chord chimes punctuating off-beats. As a soloist, she runs with the rhythm section and occasionally throws in deliberate Tynerisms. For the group outro, Sanders plays some trademark wail and spasmodic multiphonic roar over the straight-ahead quartet.

The light and bouncy "Bethera keeps Sanders pacing the edges of the repetitive theme. Trumpeter Stan Foster reads it midrange, while Getz elegantly spreads out, voicing chords so tightly with her melody line she suggests chorded lead without immersing both feet.

The interview segments cover tales of struggling in NYC, as well as valuable first person remembrances of the '64 scene. Trane, Dolphy, Sun Ra, Don Cherry, and others sit for portraits, as does Billy Higgins, about whom this gem is offered: "He had so much rhythm he played the knives and forks on the table.

Track Listing

Seven By Seven; Bethera.

Personnel

Pharoah Sanders
saxophone, tenor

Pharoah Sanders: tenor saxophone; Stan Foster: trumpet; Jane Getz: piano; William Bennett: contrabass; Marvin Patillo: percussion.

Album information

Title: Pharoah's First | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: ESP Disk

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.