Jazz Articles about Pharoah Sanders

Pharoah Sanders: Pharoah

by Rex Butters
August 31, 2005

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 ...

Pharoah Sanders: Pharoah

by Trevor MacLaren
April 14, 2005

With Bernard Stollman opening up the ESP vaults, jazz fans find themselves privy to some of jazz's most interesting and eclectic recordings remastered for the first time. Among the initial remasters is one of ESP's first releases, Pharoah's First, recorded in 1964.

This record has always been a thorn in the discography of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. The playing is solid, but his legendary ripping chops are extremely subdued, making this disc seem out of place. Not to mention the fact ...

Legend of the Pharoah

by AAJ Staff
December 8, 2004

By Jennifer Odell After a recent performance of Before the Blues , a new ballet by the Lines Ballet Company, someone from the audience asked choreographer Alonzo King where he got the idea to pair a Pharoah Sanders composition with music by the baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli. “It was odd that people think in such boxes," said King, who has commissioned Sanders to score two other ballets in the past ten years. “It's the ...

A Fireside Chat With Pharoah Sanders

by AAJ Staff
March 21, 2003

As a preface, I have been a devotee of Pharoah Sanders (Ferrell Sanders) since I first heard the now legendary John Coltrane recording, Meditations. From Meditations, I came to the storied Ascension session and that furthered my interest to Live in Japan (includes an almost hour long version of “My Favorite Things"), for my two cents, the most unappreciated and critically misunderstood album in Trane's discography. That spawned my purchase of Sanders' Karma, which gave way to Black Unity. For ...

Pharoah Sanders/ Hamid Drake/ Adam Rudolph: Spirits

by Derek Taylor
August 1, 2000

The New Thing of the 1960s was in many ways an insurgent movement- both building from and at the same time challenging the prevailing traditions in Jazz. Players like Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp were among the most outspoken and recognizable mutineers. But when the fires of insurrection abated in the 1970s, both men were criticized for what many mistook to be an apostasy from their former selves. Shepp returned to jazz tradition, cutting records that relied heavily on readings ...

Pharoah Sanders/Hamid Drake/Adam Rudolph: Spirits

by Mark Corroto
July 1, 2000

I consider Saxophonist Pharoah Sanders to be the heir to John Coltrane’s earthly mission. As a young man he was taken under Coltrane’s wing, recording the spiritually turbulent music Coltrane made on Meditations, Live In Seattle, and Live At The Village Vanguard. Sanders searing tone was a piece of the puzzle John Coltrane worked on at the end of his short life. After Coltrane’s death, Sanders continued on a spiritual quest in his music, often with the help of John’s ...