Pharoah

Pharoah

ASIN: B0000020WB

Track Listings

1. Harvest Time

2. Love Will Find a Way

3. Memories of Edith Johnson

Pharoah,Pharoah Sanders,India Navigation,Avant-Garde Jazz,Free Jazz,Jazz

Karma
Average customer rating:

Long song worth the over half an hour

A masterpiece.

Breathtaking, Awe-inspiring & Utterly unique......

Remarkable

5 stars is not enough!

Karma
Pharoah Sanders
Manufacturer: Grp Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Soul-Jazz & Boogaloo | Jazz | Styles | Music
GRP | Verve Music Group | Specialty Stores | Music
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Tauhid

ASIN: B000003N7C
Release Date: 1995-11-07

Tracks:

The Creator Has A Master Plan
Colors

Amazon.com

Although introduced as a protégé of John Coltrane and touted by many as his heir apparent, reedman Pharoah Sanders quickly proved his own man. His shared interest in the "cosmic" music of Coltrane's final period belies the fact that Sanders frequently plays with an unhurried sense of peace and satisfaction rarely found in his mentor's music. His use of space, African and Asian motifs and instruments, and simple, repetitive melodies also pointed the way for jazz, rock, and new age musicians in the '70s and '80s, while his sometimes raucous use of harsh, shrieking runs influenced many of jazz's most adventurous saxophonists.

The centerpiece of Karma is the marathon half-hour octet recording "The Creator Has a Master Plan." Although the track features a warm vocal by Leon Thomas, its true feature artist for almost the entire length is Sanders, who carries the melody, feel, and improvisation firmly on his shoulders. All of Sanders's key elements--Afro-centric spiritualism, sweeping use of mood from long, relaxed intervals to frenetic cacophony, and a deep sense of melody and rhythm--are in evidence. The album's religious feeling is cemented by the album's closer, "Colors," which serves as a deeply felt invocation. --Fred Goodman

Customer Reviews:

Long song worth the over half an hour.......2006-09-11

I agree with almost everything said in the other 5 star reviews, so I will not repeat it. There is one thing that I think needs to be stressed further, and that is that even though the first peice is very long, it does pay off to listen to it all the way through. At the end, you'll exclaim, wow, that was amazing, i can't wait to listen to it again. So my advice to you is, start listening!

A masterpiece........2005-08-06

Pharoah Sanders' 1969 album, "Karma", is generally (and rightfully) acknowledged as one of the masterpieces in the free jazz movement of the '60s. The majority of the album is absorbed by the lengthy "The Creator Has a Masterplan", with a brief second piece, "Colors" also on the record. "The Creator Has a Masterplan" has worked its way into jazz consciounsess, becoming a standard of sorts performed by everyone from Louis Armstrong to Don Cherry to Jamaaladeen Tacuma. Composed by Sanders and vocalist Leon Thomas, it receives on this album a sprawling treatement (extending nearly 33 minutes) that is something to be heard.

Beginning with a swelling theme by Sanders (on tenor exclusively), with a nimble rhythm section including Lonnie Liston Smith on piano, Richard Davis and Reggie Workman on bass, William Hart on drums, and Nataniel Bettis and Thomas contributing percussion, Sanders evokes a mood-- mysterious, spiritual and haunting in his blistering playing with falutist James Spaulding and french hornist Julius Watkins countering him ably. After a couple minutes, the piece bleeds into a relaxed tempo with one bassist plucking the familiar bass theme and one by one instruments joining-- swiping piano, flute doubling the main theme, and Sanders at his most lyrical and emotional until finally Thomas intones the chorus to the piece (oddly enough, the verses are not included in this recording).

What follows is the beginning of an explosive improv-- Thomas in his odd yodelling style, Sanders ferocious on tenor, and Smith at the piano all take turns, with the rest supporting-- increases in tempos signal increases in the power of the improv and the preceedings rise and fall repeatedly-- the opening theme is reprised, the main theme is reprised, and it builds one last time until Sanders doubles the main bass line towards the end (about 28 minutes in) and plays one of his loveliest and most powerful solos to bring the piece to its conclusion.

When it's done, "Colors" almost seems like a waste of time-- a reasonable song with some nice playing and a pretty goofy lyric about the colors of nature, its altogether a fairly pointless piece, inoffensive, but not terribly inspired after 'Creator'.

The CD reissue includes lyrics for both pieces (including the unsung verses of 'Creator') but sadly no essay in the liner notes. Sonically, the remastering on this recording is superb and it sounds crisp and clear.

Interested parties after hearing this should dig up Leon Thomas's "Spirits Known and Unknown", he performs "The Creator Has a Masterplan" (among other cuts) in a briefer version with its full lyrics intact and an ensemble that includes several of the players here. Both recordings are highly recommended.

Breathtaking, Awe-inspiring & Utterly unique.............2005-04-12

Although a protege of "John Coltrane", Pharoah Sanders, unquestionably remains one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonist's of his generation, Pharoah's style of passionate, Exuberant jazz is Harmonically rich and heavy in sound & tone, and although his music is largely considered to be expressionistic, spiritual free jazz, into a ultra-dense flurry of sound that relied heavily on the non-specific pitches and timbral distortions. (although his later music would inhibit a sense of gentler tones and more cerebral tones, without sacrificing any of the intensity that he was known for).

His 1969 landmark album "Karma", was his third album as band leader, and was probably not only his most distinctive album, but also the album that truly encapsulated his considerable talents onto one studio recording. If you've ever heard people refer to music as 'Spiritual', this arguably could be a form/level of music that is, in parts, impeccably performed & arranged performances largely due to the stunning line-up: (Reggie Workman - Bass, Pharoah Sanders - Sax (Tenor), Freddie Waits / Billy Hart - Drums, Nat Bettis - Percussion, Ron Carter/ Richard Davis - Bass, Lonnie Liston Smith - Piano, James Spaulding - Flute, Leon Thomas - Percussion /Vocals, Julius Watkins - French Horn).

The album is broken down into two tracks (??), the main meat of the album, is the first track "Creator has a Master Plan", which runs at a staggering 32 minutes. Most musicians would struggle to fill even half of that running time with a track that'll retain the listeners attention, but such is the confidence and creative ability of the musicians involved here, that Pharoah and his band easily creative a completely jaw-dropping track, that is the musical equivalent of a huge multi-threaded story, in which sounds, arrangements, solo performances and deep commitment to a constantly evolving sound, all work alongside each other fleshing out the sound, producing something incredibly organic, and spiritually freewheeling at the same time. Think of this as cosmic music, with a heavy influence of time & space augmenting the sound, with African and Indian instruments adding extra substance to the track. The Flute features heavily throughout the track, softening the edges of between the introduction of Drums & Percussion. With simple music repetition giving way that gradual shifts in sound & mood.

The music is heavily textured throughout the track, with the occasional vocal, "The creator has a master plan--peace and happiness for every man.", repeated throughout certain keypoints of the track, although Pharoah's contribution here really shouldn't be underestimated, he frequently features, for almost the entire length of the track carrying melody wherever appropriate, and empowering the music with a Avant-Garde / Free Jazz feel, with a lot of the improvisation firmly on his shoulders. The mood and gradual musical exploration of the track is partly due to his stunning direction, and all of Sander's key elements are fully utilised here. Be it, the Afro-centric spiritualism, sweeping use of mood from long, relaxed intervals to frenetic cacophony, and a deep sense of melody and rhythm. Its far beyond conventional jazz structures and the composition is amongst the most adventurous & organically created / improvised tracks created.

The second track "Colors" which runs at a mere 5 1/2 minutes, was always going to struggle in comparison to the centre piece track, but its inclusion is no less diminished. Sure, as a track, it can't hope to compete with the magnificent undertaking that is the "Creator has a masterplan", but it is a piece recognising the divinity and harmony of life through the simplest of messages. And the tracks religious feeling is cemented by the fact that it feels deeply engaging, and a sound that through Pharoah's dynamics and leadership pushes irrepressibly forward, with Sanders shifting between spiritual peace and violent outbursts in his tenor solos.

If you are prepared to give Pharoah's music a try, then other than possibly buying a 'Best of / Compilation', this is largely considered to be the best of his studio album output. But be warned if you haven't sampled his work before, this isn't Jazz music in the conventional sense, and if the idea of very open-ended music that gradually unfolds over long arrangements doesn't appeal to you, its advisable that you download or hear a track first before you purchase this. Or even if you're relatively new to Jazz, hearing this first before buying, is most definitely advisable, as it's a little bit like being thrown in the deep end of a musical genre. But if you are well adversed with the many facets of Jazz music, or your feeling particularly adventurous (& Patient), this has to be easily amongst some of the most awe-inspiring jazz out there.

Remarkable.......2004-09-18

This album is brilliant. Only two tracks, the first, called "The Creator Has a Master Plan" lasting over 30 minutes, Karma is awesome. Slowly building, "The Creator Has a Master Plan" gets grooving almost 9 minutes into it and features a repetition of "The creator has a master plan, peace and happiness for every man." This is really one of those albums that I plan on listening to over and over.

5 stars is not enough!.......2004-07-22

This album is a classic. If you like the saxophone this is an essential recording. I have over 2000 cds of all kinds of music,blues,rock,country,folk,jazz... but if I could only keep 5 of them this cd would be one of the 5.

Average customer rating:

There are worse things in life
Sanders takes on the Quiet Storm.

Love Will Find a Way
Pharoah Sanders
Manufacturer: Collector's Choice
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Looking Out
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Village of the Pharoahs

ASIN: B000A7BB9C
Release Date: 2005-10-25

Tracks:

Love Will Find A Way
Pharomba
Love Is Here
Got To Give It Up
As You Are
Answer Me My Love
Everything I Have Is Good

Product Description

1. Love Will Find A Way
2. Pharomba
3. Love Is Here
4. Got to Give It Up
5. As You Are
6. Answer Me My Love
7. Everything I Have Is Good

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

There are worse things in life.......2006-08-25

... than this admittedly softer, more radio-friendly incarnation of Pharoah. But like fellow saxophonist Gato Barbieri, the Little Rock native's sound ( and compositional approach) remains intact-occasionally sappy trappings notwithstanding... Like middle age, this date has grown on me.

Sanders takes on the Quiet Storm........2005-10-25

In one of the great "what the heck happened" moments, free jazz legend Pharoah Sanders took a bizarre detour in the late '70s to smokey r&b-- "The Quiet Storm". It had been quite a while since he recorded at the time this was released, and no doubt that usual accusations of commercial sellout were distributed. As is often the case, the truth is somewhere in between.

Sanders' playing, like Albert Ayler's nearly a decade before, is actually far more remarkably suited for this sort of playing that anyone would guess-- his gentle, delicate soprano blends nicely with soft synths and his tenor playing can be expressive and warm or fierce to fit the mood of a given piece. Along the way, his former drummer who now was emerging as a vocalist, Norman Connors and Phyllis Hyman contribute vocals to several tracks.

The result is pretty mixed-- sometimes the magic of Pharoah Sanders' playing surfaces ("Pharomba"), but by and large, the pieces are pretty much sweet r&b and it seems at times that once it starts cooking, the vocals grow increasingly at odds with the leader's work ("Love is Here"). And certainly at least one song drifts way deep into pop and r&b ("Answer Me My Love", "Got to Give It Up") and doesn't fit Sanders at all. Still, he proves surprisingly sensitive ("Love Will Find a Way") and passionate ("Everything I Have is Good") at times, and sinks well into the groove the music calls for. And certainly "Pharomba" sits comfortably alongside anything Sanders has done.

It's not a bad record, and certainly Sanders' playing is every bit as passionate and fiery as on the early material, but in the end, it is a detour, both for the artist and the listener. I find it fairly pleasant listen, but keep in mind I love Ayler's "New Grass", and it doesn't particularly bother me when musicians try new things. If you're curious, try it out, but be warned-- it's likely not what you expect.

Average customer rating:

Ultraspontane
John Jorgenson Quintet
Manufacturer: Pharoah Records/J2 Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000S6LTNI
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Product Description

Leader John Jorgenson, a founding member of the Desert Rose Band, the Hellecasters, and six-year member of Elton John's band, is a guitarist's guitarist. Artists ranging from Barbara Streisand to Bonnie Raitt to Earl Scruggs have sought out his work. It has been 3 years since the release of Jorgenson's first Gypsy Jazz tribute, ""Franco-American Swing"", but fans can now discover that the wait has been worth it for ""Ultraspontane"", a 12-track collection of pure musical artistry in the same tradition. As proven in the last release, John and company do not merely recreate the hot jazz that blazed through Europe in the 1920s and 30s. The JJQ have expanded upon this extraordinary musical genre to keep it modern and marvelous.

Album Description

The John Jorgenson Quintet features guitarist John Jorgenson, a founding member of the Desert Rose Band, the Hellecasters, and six-year member of Elton John's band. Artists ranging from Barbara Streisand to Bonnie Raitt to Earl Scruggs have sought out Jorgenson's guitar work. It has been 3 years since the release of Franco-American Swing but fans will soon find out the wait has been worth it for Ultraspontane, a 12-track collection of pure musical artistry in the tradition of Gypsy Jazz. As proven in the last release, John and company do not just recreate the hot jazz that blazed through Europe in the 1920s and 30s. The JJQ have expanded upon this extraordinary musical genre to keep it modern and marvelous.

Average customer rating:

Thembi
Pharoah Sanders
Manufacturer: Grp Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Karma
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ASIN: B0000065KL
Release Date: 1998-03-10

Tracks:

Astral Traveling
Red, Black & Green
Thembi
Love
Morning Prayer
Bailophone Dance

Average customer rating:

20 Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber

Manufacturer: Madacy Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Musical Theater | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Orchestral Pop | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Broadway & Vocalists | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

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4-for-3 Soundtracks | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00027JZ8E
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Tracks:

Phantom of the Opera: Phantom of the Opera
Phantom of the Opera: Music of the Night
Phantom of the Opera: Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
Phantom of the Opera: All I Ask of You
Jesus Christ Superstar: Everything's Alright
Jesus Christ Superstar: John 19: 41 [Instrumental]
Jesus Christ Superstar: I Don't Know How to Love Him
Jesus Christ Superstar: The Last Supper
Evita: Another Suitcase in Another Hall
Evita: Buenos Aires
Evita: High Flying Adored
Evita: Don't Cry for Me Argentina
Cats: Memory
Cats: Magical Mr. Mistofelles
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: Pharoah's Story
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: Any Dream Will Do
Sunset Boulevard: Too Much in Love to Care
Sunset Boulevard: As If We Never Said Goodbye
Song and Dance: Take That Look Off Your Face
Song and Dance: Tell Me on a Sunday

Average customer rating:

Tauhid
Pharoah Sanders
Manufacturer: Grp Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Jewels of Thought

ASIN: B000003N6S
Release Date: 1993-07-20

Tracks:

Upper Egypt And Lower Egypt
Japan
Aum/Venus/Capricorn Rising

Amazon.com

Although introduced as a protege of John Coltrane and touted by many as his heir apparent, reedman Pharoah Sanders quickly proved his own man. His shared interest in the "cosmic" music of Coltrane's final period belies the fact that Sanders frequently plays with an unhurried sense of peace and satisfaction rarely found in his mentor's music. His use of space, African and Asian motifs and instruments, and simple, repetitive melodies also pointed the way for jazz, rock, and new age musicians in the '70s and '80s, while his sometimes raucous use of harsh, shrieking runs influenced many of jazz's most adventurous saxophonists. Tauhid showcases both of those abilities. By turns meditative and impulsive, Tauhid's lynchpin is the 17-minute "Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt," on which Sanders plays piccolo in the first half and tenor sax in the second; the duality of the composition suggests both the ancient and modern aspects of Africa and, in turn, its melding with European and American culture. "Japan," a short composition on which Sanders performs a warm, spry vocalese, is both folksy and engaging, while the album's closing triumvirate of "Aum," "Venus," and "Capricorn Rising" proves wild and woolly. --Fred Goodman

Average customer rating:

Jewels of Thought
Pharoah Sanders
Manufacturer: Grp Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000065KG
Release Date: 1998-03-10

Tracks:

Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum Allah
Sun In Aquarius

Average customer rating:

Wisdom Through Music
Pharoah Sanders
Manufacturer: Impulse!
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000QUCXHM
Release Date: 2007-08-06

Tracks:

High Life
Love Is Everywhere
Wisdom Through Music
Golden Lamp
Selflessness

Album Details

Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

Average customer rating:

Continued evolution.
A guy you should buy.
The best record Stanley Clarke ever played on by far & wide
Where it all comes together for Pharoah
Tribal rudimentary funk!

Black Unity
Pharoah Sanders
Manufacturer: Grp Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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GRP | Verve Music Group | Specialty Stores | Music
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ASIN: B000003N9G
Release Date: 1997-04-08

Tracks:

Black Unity

Customer Reviews:

Continued evolution........2005-10-13

By late 1971, Pharoah Sanders was on a search for new sounds-- his flavor of spiritually infused free jazz had been widely explored over several albums in the previous couple years. Sanders began soaking his music in world rhythms-- eschewing the previous layer of free jazzish percussion in exchange for a more traditionally rooted percussion sound-- with drummers Norman Connors and Billy Hart along with percussionist Lawrence Killian, Sanders was able to develop an almost Afro-Latin vibe. This was further accentuated with the presence of two bassists-- a very young Stanley Clarke (on upright) and journeyman Cecil McBee. Clarke (and Connors) brought with him a deep sense of groove and a working knowledge of r&b and funk musics that helped push Sanders into a groove-oriented direction. The final piece, I suspect, in the evolution of his music was the departure of pianist Lonnie Liston Smith and his prelacement with Joe Bonner-- Smith's voice was far more distinctive, almost as much as Sanders, whereas Bonner provided a different pallete for the horns (in this case, Sanders and Carolos Garnett on tenor and Hannibal Marvin Peterson on trumpet) to work.

So the piece itself-- a 37 minute track-- opens with a dueling bass cadence over percussion before a funky piano riff and balphone drone takes over, setting the stage for something different. The theme is picked up by tenor (Garnett I suspect) and trumpet-- like many of Sanders' themes, there's an undercurrent of a Monk root to the riff. Eventually a brief collective improv gives way to individual solos supported by a neverending array of inventive percussion. The results are something.

As intriguing as it is though, "Black Unity" is lacking in some unknown quantity for me-- it's a great album, but something stops me from thinking of it in the same light I think of Sanders' best.

A guy you should buy........2004-12-13

The thought of Pharoah Sanders being a pharoah? Never accured to many. But he's a pharoah here. A king that can swing. The man with a plan.

The best record Stanley Clarke ever played on by far & wide.......2002-12-11

This one track has one of the greatest rhythms I've ever heard, just a relentless incredible groove between all the drums percussion and McBee & Clarke's dual bass playing. Pharoah sits out for times, I am sure just listening in awe and wonder to the storm these men produced. I know I often do...

Where it all comes together for Pharoah.......2001-11-08

Of all of Pharoah's albums, this ranks among my favorites. The album consists of a single 37+ minute track of African-inspired percussive grooves and ace free-form jamming by Pharoah and his sidemen. Like much of his late 1960s-early 1970s work, the piece alternates between anarchistic cacaphony and sheer mellow bliss but seems to work as an organic whole a bit more effectively than his other excellent albums of the time. Note the bass-line from "The Creator Has a Master Plan" reprised toward the end of the piece -- nice touch. Definitely well-worth picking up and grooving to for fans of adventurous spiritual jazz, avant-garde jazz, acid jazz, and world music fans who want to explore fusions of world and jazz idioms. World fusion with teeth? Yeah. Dig it.

If you like this, make sure to check out the rest of Pharoah's label mates on Impulse! A shame that the conglomerate that owns the Impulse! label is no longer interested in reissuing the Impulse! back catalog on cd, and is threating to delete those Impulse! gems that are currently in print.

Tribal rudimentary funk!.......2001-10-03

Not exactly what you'd expect out of a Sanders album esp. on the avant driven Impulse label. But this album is one continuous 38-minute drive of improvised free-funk jam. What took me up within 2 minutes of this brilliant composition was Stanley Clarke's bass lines (am not sure whether Cecil McBee is grooving simultaneously) and Joe Bonner's piano. I didn't even know Stanley Clarke was part of the free-jazz scene and this is his best playing I've ever heard. Of course, as with a Sanders' late 60s/early 70s staple, there was a huge dose of free music, but in between all that melodic cacophony is a sense of structure (unlike some of this other avant-garde stuff esp. with Coltrane).
Like Clarke who went on later to soul-funk-R-n-B territories, drummer Norman Connors too (a surprise again) started the free-jazz route (as finely displyed here) to eventually dwindle in
R-n-B. Get this one. It's a classic in the league of "A Love Supreme".

Average customer rating:

What's all this twaddle about Liberal Jazz police?
A great record.
The jazz police were out in force when this released . . .
Beyond the reach of Jazz snobs, RIP.
Pharoah of the World

Save Our Children
Pharoah Sanders
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
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Spirits

ASIN: B00000HYHT
Release Date: 1999-02-02

Tracks:

Save Our Children
Midnight In Berkeley Square
Jewels Of Love
Kazuko
The Ancient Sounds
Far-Off Sand

Amazon.com

Reading John Szwed's fascinating Space is the Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra, you meet "Farrell" Sanders, whom the bandleader ardently convinced to pronounce and spell his name "Pharoah" and extend his already woolly tenor saxophone style even further. So developed some of the 1960s' most unbridled free-jazz wails, especially where Sanders and Coltrane teamed up in the latter's late-period band (as on Live in Japan). But Sanders eventually moved into the realms of sultry balladry, especially that caught on Crescent with Love, and then his late-1990s period, where he's squared up with producer Bill Laswell. Here Sanders leads his second Verve-Laswell session, with numerous collaborators (East Indian percussionists Zakir Hussain and Trilok Gurtu; keyboardists Bernie Worrell, William Henderson, and Jeff Bova; and even Tony Cedras on harmonium). All the edges are rounded and unfierce, with Sanders's tone mostly sweet and lilting, and the dub-tinged tunes draw comparisons well beyond ballads and postbop, reaching toward a geographically unspecific Middle Eastern mix. The vibes are cool. But the music seems a bit less than it could be at most points, except during the eerie "Ancient Song" with its mournful double-reed melody and the mbira-backed "Far-Off Sand." --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

What's all this twaddle about Liberal Jazz police?.......2006-04-18

There is no such thing as the Jazz Police ..There is no such thing as a jazz audience,not around these parts anyway .. most people talk over the band whenever i'm out,and i'm out a lot ...Do some of these reviewers ever go out to see live music? try Trios Enoteca in Denver Colorado on a Wednesday night , great music , nobody there. Then go round the corner to Sullivans .. same thing .. cigar smoking yuppies talking LOUDLY over the most brilliant jazz trio .Back to Pharoah .. this, as are most of Pharoahs' varied efforts over the years is a wonderful listen ; Tablas ,adventurous grooves all the elements that a Pharoah fan would want to hear ...BUT ...Certain reviewers political rantings certainly don't interest me when I want to read about a music recording , can we stick to talking about the music ? The soundshapes contained here do not conjure up any desire in me to slam left or right wing opinions politically .. I just like the music I love this disc and I have yet to be introduced to an officer of the jazz police!! I would love to meet one ..It's the uniform ! Mind you; the Gestapo is out there on the streets in cars marked 'To Serve and Protect' Ha Ha!!

A great record........2005-10-14

In the mid-1990s, Pharoah Sanders began a movement into a new direction on his studio records, exploring world influences and elements of his past (his time on Impulse!) that he'd neglected for a long while-- it was almost as though Sanders was trying to come to grips with his legacy. With producer Bill Laswell, Sanders had available to him a host of musicians normally outside his sphere who could provide these sorts of rhythms and ideals with a sense of authenticity.

And so, "Save Our Children", an album soaked in Indian, Middle-Eastern and Northern African rhythms appeared, the second (and sadly, last, courtesy of a catalog slash) album by Pharoah Sanders on Verve. With a host of musicians including longtime Sanders pianist William Henderson, Parliament keyboardist (and Laswell regular) Bernie Worrell, bassist Alex Blake, tabla master Zakir Hussein and drummer Trlok Gurtu, Sanders constructed a unique and varied album, wrappd and world percussion, where the presence of Laswell as overseer and Hussein is felt, but understated. This is clearly a Pharoah Sanders album.

The record covers a number of moods, and probably the opener and title track best displays this-- mixing chanted vocals, an African rap, and a positively triumphant vocal harmony-laden chorus over a funky backbeat soaked in percussion with Sanders positively transcendent on soprano sax, the piece is at the same time both light and yet filled with depth (it's also nearly universally hated by everyone else I've ever talked to). Other standouts include "Midnight in Berkeley Square"-- a retake on "A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley Square", with Sanders really getting inside the ballad over a haze, a superb tabla performance and Henderson's framing chords, and "The Ancient Sounds", which finds Sanders over drone then beats, first on an anonymous double reeded instrument then wailing away as freely as he ever has on tenor.

The one even nicer thing about this record is that there's nothing bad or dull-- some of the pieces don't really standout too far ("Far-Off Sand"), but they're all quite listenable. It's not quite a masterpiece, but it's a fine album, well worth investigation for folks who can put Sanders' past behind him and see him as a forward looking musician.

The jazz police were out in force when this released . . ........2004-02-21

. . . making sure this trancendent music would be heard by as few people as possible. Much to my chagrin, I heeded them and let this ravishing recording languish in the backwaters of my aural soundstream.

What about this disc made the jazz police go ballistic? I think it's its sentimental, heart-on-its-sleave vibe so prominently present on the title cut, with its arm-chair Liberal, arm's-length expression of perfectly legitimate sentiments: a desire to see that the needs of the world's children are met.

What's wrong with this approach is that it's aesthetically inept for the Nobly Liberal Public Virtues the song intends to put forward. Frankly, it's an embarrassment. Ironically, in a strange twist of logic, we're in Shelby Steele territory, where Liberal truisms are exposed for the idiocy they actually are, environs entirely uncongenial to Liberals, who form the vast majority of the jazz police camp.

What's going on here is a naive, unwitting deconstruction of Liberalism's shame concern for burning social issues. Thus, the disc is profoundly politically incorrect because it expresses core Liberal sensibilities in a bathetic, ham-fisted way. But, not being a card-carrying Liberal, I'm free of sham Liberal social orthodoxies, and can thus encounter this music on its own terms, sans the rose-colored Liberal glasses.

What I find here is glorious world jazz of the absolute highest order. Perhaps even better and more fully realized than another Sanders disc, With a Heartbeat, Save the Children operates in a similar vibe and features some of Bill Laswell's richest and most fully realized production. I confess, I'm just completely taken by this disc. Actually, it's probably a little unfair to ground the jazz police's objections to this disc in its naive politics (though I'm pretty convinced that played a prominent part); there's also the wild mixture of (seemingly) alien music aesthetics: Fender Rhodes with tablas and synthesizer drones, deeply sincere (though, admittedly, naive) vocal espressions, and quite simple melodic material.

But you know what? If you've got big enough ears, and can overcome stupid and wrong-headed cultural assumptions, this can be an entirely enjoyable, even revelatory disc. For one thing, it contains brilliant passages of that late-Sanders impossibly rich tenor sax tone, which, for me, would probably work even if he were playing German Polkas or an entire disc of Kenny G compositions. For another, when the Laswell approach works, it tends to work fabulously, as it does here. So forget about the synth washes, the ambient vibe, the politically incorrectness.

Just do it.

Beyond the reach of Jazz snobs, RIP........2003-10-13

This is not a Jazz album. This is not an album to have as background music. This is not a hip-hop venture to capture the ears of a younger audience. This is the world class drumming of Trilok Gurtu, beyond duplication. This the incredible fluid and furious bass lines of Charnet Moffett. This the unique production quality of Bill Laswell, one of his better more focused efforts, without question. This is the freaky deaky sounds from the Mothership Connection as provided by Bernie Warell, (yet another original.) This album is full of the whose who of unique progressive musicians to date. The effort is focused on creating new unique spiritual music with plenty of cosmic extacy. Pharoah is saying more with his playing at this point in his career than he ever had before. Critics will always hold on to their personal past associations as a measuring stick for new invention that has little to do with the past. This CD is like nothing you have ever heard before. So get over it!
I am now my second copy of this CD. I can't get enough of it.

Pharoah of the World.......2003-04-04

That's right: this is the Pharoah's world-music album. And it succeeds brilliantly (especially in contrast to recent world-music outings by other jazzmen, like Joe Zawinul's "Faces and Places," which is confused, flat and sometimes even "smooth" a la "smooth jazz"). Some purists may be put off by the neo-hip-hop chanting at the front end of the title cut (the only reason I don't rate it 5 stars). But with maestros like Trilok Gurtu (from the later Oregon) and Zakir Hussain (John McLaughlin, Ravi Shankar etc.), both playing tablas & assorted percussion, backing up the sweet, melodious sound of the Pharoah's tenor (especially cut 4, "Kazuko"), how could this album be anything less than brilliant? No way! Check out the North African reed sounds, dry and passionate at the same time, the subtly driving bass, the mysterioso keyboards and Ra-like bells--all on cut 5, "The Ancient Sound." And he never goes outside, with the squealing and wailing often found on his other albums. This CD is truly a "Jewel of Love" in the crown of the Pharoah.

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