The great Pharoah Sanders; saxophone player, composer, human, spirit.

[jdgm]

In  August 1969 I was 15 and sitting in the crowd at the Isle of Wight Festival, reading an interview with Carole King's guitarist Danny Kortchmar in Zigzag magazine.  He told about an LP called "Tauhid" by a saxophonist called Pharoah Sanders in such glowing terms that I found and bought the record as soon as I could.   That started me off on a wonderful path of listening to and finding out about Pharoah, John and Alice  Coltrane, Elvin Jones and many more artists signed to the Impulse jazz label, and all the other labels of those days too.    I bought the 'Trane records and every album I could find by Pharoah; his music was literally sacred to me for about 15 years.   

Pharoah Sanders passed away earlier this weekend in California; he was 81.  

Sanders got his break through John Coltrane, whose group he joined in 1965.  He was a completely modern tenor saxophonist who (unlike Coltrane) did not have a background of years spent playing conventional jazz tunes and standards; he was melodic, but back then his forte was free playing and this can be heard on the post-quartet Coltrane group records in which the conventions of harmony, melody and rhythm are stretched and gradually dispensed with.   After the untimely death of Coltrane in July 1967, Sanders regrouped and continued to make albums for the Impulse label; these records often had tracks a whole side (or whole album) long, and combined passages of great delicacy and beauty with enormous squalls of saxophone and noise - the entire band going completely out -  and to me were the first time I heard what would later be called either 'World' music or 'Trance' music.  A Sanders recording invariably had both and I'd never heard anything like it.  The album and song titles always reflected his spiritual concerns -  "Tauhid", "Karma", "Wisdom Through Music" - and the song he made with singer Leon Thomas (another huge talent) "The Creator Has a Master Plan" has become a well-known anthem since the 90s.  John Mclaughlin sang it at his concert in London earlier this year. 

Sanders gradually became more conventional and formal in his saxophone playing after his Impulse years; his sound became sparser, far more intimate, meditative and fragile.  I was fortunate enough to see him live in London in the early 80s (?) - the drummer was Dannie Richmond who had been associated with Mingus - and the sheer joy and happiness radiating from the stage was like a benign force of music recharging your batteries.   Sometime after that, I lost touch; the albums were hard to find.  Eventually people like Bill Laswell started to champion him and he became better known, and the inspiration for a whole new generation of young jazz musicians.   Last year he was the featured soloist on 'Promises' by Floating Points with the LSO, which has been described as 'music like clouds'.  This is pure ambient music;  limpid, delicate, slowly evolving and beautiful; however it is nowhere near the whole story.   Sanders left a unique legacy of recordings covering almost 60 years and he is already much missed. 

R.I.P.

 

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by jdgm

[jdgm]

And this is the LP side-long track which Kortchmar spoke about and was my introduction to Pharoah's music. It is also the recording debut of guitarist Sonny Sharrock.

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by jdgm

[Whitefang]

Pharoah  was definitely one of the greats.  A sad day for jazz and music in general.

Whitefang

[Notes_Norton]

Another great gone. Thanks Mr.Sanders for the inspiration.

[Cassy0110]

The greatest! 

[Murph]

And so it goes.

[fortyearspickn]

It is interesting -  to casually notice the deaths of people of great significance when you are 20 - people you felt were already old when you were born - Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin - historical figures.  Then, more or less pay  some  attention when you are middle aged and they are your parents contemporaries.  Then your parents pass and you suddenly start to realize that it is not only flowers that die, but also oaks and hickories.  Soon people, often actor and musicians,  you felt an attachment to but hadn't heard of your years - make the news for their last press release.  .  And, in the blink of an eye,  people - famous and friends who are only a few years older than you...   and you finally gain perspective.   Too soon old, too late smart.  

[Whitefang]

"Too soon old;  Too late smart"

I like that.  I'm gonna put that on a plaque.

Where'd you get that 40?   Old family saying or someone else, or just remember hearing or reading it somewhere?  Or your original?

Whitefang

[Sgt. Pepper]

9 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

"Too soon old;  Too late smart"

I like that.  I'm gonna put that on a plaque.

Where'd you get that 40?   Old family saying or someone else, or just remember hearing or reading it somewhere?  Or your original?

Whitefang

It is a good statement.

Another great musician passes, and the world is no better for it.

RIP

[fortyearspickn]

23 hours ago, Whitefang said:

"Too soon old;  Too late smart"

I like that.  I'm gonna put that on a plaque.

Where'd you get that 40?   Old family saying or someone else, or just remember hearing or reading it somewhere?  Or your original?

Whitefang

Yep - you're right - it was from my mother, who got it from her German grandfather - from 'the old country'.  She would jokingly pronounce 'smart' as  "SCHMART" !    She also entertained us whenever she opened up a can of Campbells Soup -  she mimicked him calling it  "Zooop".     On my father's side - there were several memorable ones.  "You make the bullets and I shoot them!"    I guess back in the day, before the Internet - wisdom was passed down at our grandparents knee.  

Thanks.   

[Notes_Norton]

32 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:

Yep - you're right - it was from my mother, who got it from her German grandfather - from 'the old country'.  She would jokingly pronounce 'smart' as  "SCHMART" !    She also entertained us whenever she opened up a can of Campbells Soup -  she mimicked him calling it  "Zooop".     On my father's side - there were several memorable ones.  "You make the bullets and I shoot them!"    I guess back in the day, before the Internet - wisdom was passed down at our grandparents knee.  

Thanks.   

A guy I worked with describing the relationship between himself and the boss: "He is the handle, but I am the blade."

[Whitefang]

20 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:

Yep - you're right - it was from my mother, who got it from her German grandfather - from 'the old country'.  She would jokingly pronounce 'smart' as  "SCHMART" !    She also entertained us whenever she opened up a can of Campbells Soup -  she mimicked him calling it  "Zooop".     On my father's side - there were several memorable ones.  "You make the bullets and I shoot them!"    I guess back in the day, before the Internet - wisdom was passed down at our grandparents knee.  

Thanks.   

That's no lie.  Either from their own thoughts or something they got along their way.  My Grandmother was good for several.  Like;

"No one man should be the yardstick by which all others should be measured."

"You can sprinkle all the sugar you want on a bowl of horse sh!t and call it oatmeal. But it's still a bowl of horse sh!t."

"My life is in the hands of any fool who can cause me to lose my temper."

"You can spend a lifetime being sad if you wait for somebody else to make you happy."

Ah, "The old country"!

"Round here there used to be a chain of restaurants named "Old Country Buffet"  Going there once with my wife and her sister and her husband I voiced disappointment that it didn't feature Polish cuisine, me being of Polish descent.    My wife and her sister voiced the same disappointment that there were no Mexican dishes on the menu.  

"Old country" indeed.  

Whitefang

 

[fortyearspickn]

In Brooklyn, NY and Chicopee, MA  where I've lived - there were Polish enclaves. Stores, newspapers, churches that were certified 'Polish'.  I'm sure there were dozens of other cities that had these - like "Chinatown"...   to me, it was the best part of The Melting Pot we got to experience in the US.   I'm guessing they're all gone now, as each generation moves out.   When we moved into our old house in Chicopee, the very first thing our next door neighbor said to us was "Are you Polish?"   Sweet old Polish lady who lived alone.