Pharoah Sanders @ SF Jazz

[Guy Berger]

My wife and I caught Pharoah Sanders and his quartet at SF Jazz last night (Ravi Coltrane is curating a "Coltrane legacy" weekend.)

Pharoah sounded great as always on a mix of his originals and Coltrane-associated material, though it's pretty obvious that his stamina is waning (he sat out a lot of the 2nd set and his solos are shorter than they were a few years ago).  The highlight was "Ole", with Ravi sitting in.

[BFrank]

Cool! Glad to know he's doing well at his age.

I'm seeing Ravi w/DeJohnette and Matt Garrison tomorrow night.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

i didnt know he was still doin Ole- thats awesome- was it 20 minutes?

[mjazzg]

Sanders is headlining a Coltrane tribute evening as part of the London Jazz Festival so I'm really pleased to hear these positive reports. looking forward to hearing him again

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I must be missing something... I don't read that review of Sanders' performance as positive. Sitting out most of the 2nd set is not a good thing.

To be honest, he's scheduled to play in Boston Oct. 6th and I'm skipping it. I have many fond memories of Pharoah at the Regattabar. They'll have to suffice.

[jlhoots]

He played at the New Mexico Jazz Festival this summer & was just fine.

[Guy Berger]

12 hours ago, chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez said:

i didnt know he was still doin Ole- thats awesome- was it 20 minutes?

it was a pretty long performance.

3 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I must be missing something... I don't read that review of Sanders' performance as positive. Sitting out most of the 2nd set is not a good thing.

Compared to what?  My wife and I had a great time.

We got to hear one of the most magical saxophone sounds in jazz, and he's still playing - just with less force than he used to.

If you have never heard Pharoah in concert and he's playing near you, don't hesitate.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

4 hours ago, Guy Berger said:

Compared to what?  My wife and I had a great time.

We got to hear one of the most magical saxophone sounds in jazz, and he's still playing - just with less force than he used to.

If you have never heard Pharoah in concert and he's playing near you, don't hesitate.

While I don't doubt that you had a great time, describing Sanders this way: "it's pretty obvious that his stamina is waning (he sat out a lot of the 2nd set and his solos are shorter than they were a few years ago)" describes a lesser version of Sanders than the one I've seen many times over the years.

I have been going to a lot of shows for a long time and I've seen a few where the elder statesman wasn't playing up to his usual standards and I've often left wondering if I would have been better off not seeing them in that lesser state. There's also the fact that Northeastern's Blackman Auditorium is not my favorite venue and the tickets are $40 each. In this instance, I'm going to pass.

Edited September 26, 2017 by Kevin Bresnahan

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

the pharoah-william henderson duo shows i saw few mos. ago were exceptional, i mean better than if bass and drums were there.

[Gheorghe]

I also love his music and fell in love with it after hearing my first album I had purchased "Live at the East".

Saw him live in his prime in the 80´s and 3 years ago when he still had a lot of energy at least on the horn, but even then he seemed to have difficulties walking.

I´m glad to hear that he still plays. But we all know how it is when we used to see our heroes during their prime and it would be unkind to compare what they used to do with what remained.

It happened with Dexter Gordon and Johnny Griffin, it´s the same with Pharoah Sanders. You just try not to compare how strong they were years ago, you just try to be happy you had the change to get glimpses of what they used to do and know he still has the essential part of it.