Album of the Week April 9-16

[felser]

Pharoah Sanders - Karma (click to buy)

This was the 1969 work which defined Sanders. Tom Jurek in the AMG says " After the death of Coltrane, while there were many seeking to make a spiritual music that encompassed his ideas and yearnings while moving forward, no one came up with the goods until Sanders on this 1969 date... There is nothing to describe the exhilaration that is felt when this tune ends...You cannot believe it until you hear it." The album consists mainly of the 33 minute "The Creator Has a Master Plan", the only other cut being the six minute "Colours". The personnel, in addition to Sanders, includes Leon Thomas,James Spaulding, Julius Watkins, Lonnie Liston Smith, Richard Davis, Reggie Workman, Billy Hart, and Nat Bettis. If any of you younger guys aren't familiar with this work, go get it immediately, as it is indisputably (regardless of your opinion of it) a cornerstone of jazz history. We(most of us, anyways. I did.) loved it in it's day. The question I would most like to see discussed is, how has this work, and the kind of work it inspired and pioneered, aged with the passing of time. We're now 37 years down the road, hard as that is to grasp sometimes.

[Guy Berger]

I think it's interesting that after leaving Coltrane's band, Pharoah* (the guy who was probably considered the most radical member of that group, at least at the time) went in a more conservative direction.

Leon Thomas joined Santana a few years later.

I will dig this one out.

Guy

[7/4]

I think it's interesting that after leaving Coltrane's band, Pharoah* (the guy who was probably considered the most radical member of that group, at least at the time) went in a more conservative direction.

I thought he just went back to what he did on his own. His early solo recordings sound a lot like his Impulse recordings.

Leon Thomas joined Santana a few years later.

I will dig this one out.

Guy

And went on to work for NJ Transit (or so I heard).

Great album!

[Guest akanalog]

how many were pre-impulse!?

there was the ESP and the strata east.

i was just listening to that one today-what the hell is it called? it has a funny typo-"prince of pesce" for "prince of peace".

[ep1str0phy]

I think it's interesting that after leaving Coltrane's band, Pharoah* (the guy who was probably considered the most radical member of that group, at least at the time) went in a more conservative direction.

Leon Thomas joined Santana a few years later.

I will dig this one out.

Guy

To be fair, I think Pharoah pulled far fewer punches in his patented idiom (the whole twenty-minute-plus vamp-spiritual jam thing) than his cohorts (look to Leon Thomas's version of 'The Creator...' as an example). That being said, Pharoah was one of Don Cherry's old running partners--he appeared on Chappaqua Suite, too. Frankly, I think the dint of Sanders's work with Coltrane is a direct reflection of JC's galvanizing power--he sure sounded 'out,' but Coltrane was the centrifugal force (the same could be said of virtually all of JC's latter-day sidemen). For a guy who spent the earlier part of his career with the New Thing 'masters,' it's not too surprising that his solo work sounds a little more conservative--that's his groove, and, unlike his sideman work, unquestionably personal.

[felser]

how many were pre-impulse!?

there was the ESP and the strata east.

i was just listening to that one today-what the hell is it called? it has a funny typo-"prince of pesce" for "prince of peace".

Chronologically, 'Izipho Zam' (the Strata-East album) actually falls in between 'Tauhid' and 'Karma' (the first two Impulse sets). Anyone know what Sanders was doing in '67 and '68? 'Tauhid' was recorded in '66, and he did not record again as a leader until '69. Not sure at what point he left Trane, but I think of him being there in '66, gone in '67. I've actually learned to appreciate '66 Trane stuff (even some of what Pharoah was doing, sort of), but '67 is still a stretch for me. 'Expression' is the toughest Trane of all for me to listen to.

Edited April 11, 2006 by felser

[Guest akanalog]

jf, i have heard or read that sanders was in a trio with john patton!!! and maybe was it george e. brown on drums? not sure. but chronologically i could imagine that trio falling inside this "dark perdiod".

[ep1str0phy]

'Expression' is the toughest Trane of all for me to listen to.

Really? Including the late live stuff (Olatunji)?

[fent99]

Definitely a favourite of mine too the only Pharoah I consistently go back to.

Bought this in Australia on a working holiday in 91. Hadn't had a lot of work and when a truck driver offered me a lift from Armidale in NSW to Melbourne it meant I could cover some miles and hook up with a friend of a friend there. The speed assisted truck journey was crazy but I saw some country and had a great time in Melbourne the south east corner. A bargain bin yielded this and a Hal Wilner Disney album which were duly taped and provided a soundtrack via walkman to travel around the right hand half and long distances down through the middle of that amazing place.

Enough about me what about the music. Its excellent. Great ensemble playing and I love the vocals too. Its a psychedelic crossover for me from rock to jazz and wigs out just enough without losing me. Pharoah's other recordings never grabbed me the same. The other impulses don't get to me and the later stuff is fine but not outstanding and what I've heard could be Coltrane repertory. To be honest Pharoah with Coltrane tests me, though I like some of it (Nature Boy and Meditations?) Karma just nails it for me but maybe its the memories of blistering sun and the limitless miles of listening.

Oh and by the way that first cd (now replaced) kept the break for flipping the lp over. What were they thinking...

[Stereojack]

Anyone know what Sanders was doing in '67 and '68? 'Tauhid' was recorded in '66, and he did not record again as a leader until '69. Not sure at what point he left Trane, but I think of him being there in '66, gone in '67.

As far as I know, Pharaoh was with Trane right until the end. He appears on the Olatunji concert and on Expressions, both recorded in early 1967.

I bought "Karma" as a new release back in 1968. I had loved "Tauhid" (still do) and snapped the new one up the day I saw it. The album was somewhat of a hit, as Pharaoh attempted a similar approach with his next release "Jewels of Thought".

I saw Pharaoh at the Jazz Workshop in Boston sometime after the release of "Karma", and the music they played was mostly in the style of the album. Leon Thomas was there, as was Norris Jones/Sirone, can't remember who else. My friend and I spoke to Pharaoh briefly between sets, commending him on how much we liked what they were doing, and he emphaticaly stated that everything they played came from John Coltrane, or words to that effect.

Shortly around the time of Trane's death, perhaps in middle or late 1967, I saw Larry Young leading a group at Connolly's in Boston. He had Pharaoh Sanders on tenor (I could see his saxophone case which had his real name Farrell Sanders written on it), and a drummer whose name escapes me. At the time I was disappointed, as the music was much looser that what had been on Young's LP's, and the drummer was weak.

[Guest]

Karma has been a favourite of mine since it`s release in 1969. Wonderful music.

In 1968 Pharoah Sanders probably did many thihngs - he played with Alice Coltrane (Monastic trio)

and made a live recording for the Jihad label. About 22 minutes of this has been issued on the Albert

Ayler box on Revanant. The rest rermains unissued.

And nowadays he is without a record contract, so there hasn`t been any new recordigs since 2003.

I read somewhere that he is playig a solo-saxophne consert at Grace Cathedral later

this month. I wish I could be there, but unfortunately I live too far away.

[Guest akanalog]

yeah sanders is one of the only jazz dudes around where i search out his recent live performances. i really like what he and his sidemen are up to usually. often with will calhoun, formerly of living colour, on drums and percussion.

karma is not one of my favorite impulse! dates, though this may be because of overfamiliarity with it.

i think black unity is my top sanders album though i can see how it would not be many peoples cup of tea. i love the repetitive rhythm line threading through almost the entire nonstop 35 or so minutes but it can be wearying, i guess.

i also think i like jewels of thought better than karma. not sure why. and tauhid and elevation too. but it's all good music.

i think i read in the frank kofsky book he was showing how every long sanders song's bassline is based on a variation of the "a love supreme" bass pattern. so maybe this is what sanders meants when he said it all came from coltrane... kind of doubt it.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Karma was one of four hit albums that Pharoah had. It got to #47 on the R&B album chart and 188 on the pop chart. Funnily enough, it didn't get on the R&B chart until a few weeks after it had left the pop chart.

I love this album. In the late '60s and early '70s, I used to play it to friends who exclusively liked rock and it invariably made a big impact. But I never thought that they were really digging it for what it was but only because it sounded "freaky"; ah, and because of the lyrics of "Master plan" (as well as of "Hum Allah"), which were very '60s flower power, only a bit late. One of the things that always surprised me - and still does, whenever I think of it - was that Pharoah, who is 3 years older than me, was taken in by all that idealistic flower power hogwash that the youth of that day thought was the answer to everything. But of course, it's no good arguing with Sanders' opinions; you simply have to accept that was what he thought; his views are no more objectionable than those of, say, the Dixie Hummingbirds.

Historically, Pharoah, to me, is the true descendant of the honking tenor players of the '40s: Illinois Jacquet; Arnett Cobb; Big Jay McNeely (particularly); Wild Bill Moore; Willis Jackson; and Hal "Cornbread" Singer. Yes, even when he plays a ballad album like "Welcome to love", he puts that kind of sexy breathy passion into his ballads.

You get everything in "Karma". While "Master plan" is obviously the major cut, "Colors" is also a wonderful ballad track. Sanders music always makes me feel good; makes me breathe more deeply; makes me smile more; makes me dance. "Karma" does all this even more than most of Pharoah's albums (exceptions are "Rejoice" "Live" and "Lord let me do no wrong").

I'm glad this is AOTW - I'll put it on when I've stopped listening to Rev Gates.

MG

[ep1str0phy]

yeah sanders is one of the only jazz dudes around where i search out his recent live performances. i really like what he and his sidemen are up to usually. often with will calhoun, formerly of living colour, on drums and percussion.

karma is not one of my favorite impulse! dates, though this may be because of overfamiliarity with it.

i think black unity is my top sanders album though i can see how it would not be many peoples cup of tea. i love the repetitive rhythm line threading through almost the entire nonstop 35 or so minutes but it can be wearying, i guess.

i also think i like jewels of thought better than karma. not sure why. and tauhid and elevation too. but it's all good music.

i think i read in the frank kofsky book he was showing how every long sanders song's bassline is based on a variation of the "a love supreme" bass pattern. so maybe this is what sanders meants when he said it all came from coltrane... kind of doubt it.

Agree with you on 'Jewels of Thought' and 'Black Unity'--the latter is among Pharoah's more cohesive long-form efforts, IMO.

As for the Kofsky thing... the same thing could be said of 'Whole Lotta Love.' I've always taken the Coltrane/Pharoah-vamp relationship to be more direct influence than straight-up variation, although the opposite may be the case. I put stock in the notion that the 'New Thing' Coltrane lineage is more spiritually and intellectually oriented than bluntly theoretical, anyhow (and the 'family tree'--with cats like Frank Wright, Frank Lowe, Billy Harper, etc. is far more intelligible that way... it's arguable that the 'essence' of Coltrane's mature works is substantially more evident in the music of the later 'avant' style players than in the majority of so-called 'post-Coltrane' saxophonists--many of whom are stylistic conservatives).

[Guest akanalog]

also i think black unity doesn't fall into the kind of formulaic stuff as some other sanders efforts of the time do. like a lot of time the wild passages seemed tacked on. and when there are no wild passages sometimes everything gets too diffuse and pretty and shaker-ey(like on "lets go into the house of the lord" or whatever on dead dumb....)

i just relistened to tauhid and i kind of think it has too much diffuseness to actual substance. it takes a while to get to the good places and you are left with like 10 minutes of solid stuff and 20 so minutes of empty space.

[JSngry]

To show you how times have changed, I used to call in a request for "The Creator Has A Master Plan" at least twice a week to KNTU in my freshman year. I had just dicovered the piece, and was awestruck by it. Back then, they only played jazz from 7 PM to midnight. The request was always played, and always almost immediately!

Today, the thing seems kinda "hippy-dippy", but you still can't fault the basic sentiment (at least I can't). And Pharoah's tone was (and remains) one of the treasures of this music. He's made other albums that I listen to a lot more often and enthusiastically than Karma, but I can't find it in me to say anything bad about this, my first introduction to non-Trane Sanders.

The appeal to me today of Karma might be primarily nostalgic and/or "sentimental", but I'm ok with that. Whether or not "The Creator" exists, much less has a "Master Plan" is a notion that time can't help but give some bumps and bruises to. But if there's a better ultimate goal for this life than "peace and happiness throughout the land", I've yet to hear it.

[rostasi]

To show you how times have changed, I used to call in a request for "The Creator Has A Master Plan" at least twice a week to KNTU in my freshman year.

That was you?

[Chuck Nessa]

Gee, all these years I thought the song was titled "The Creator Has a Monster Van".

[JSngry]

To show you how times have changed, I used to call in a request for "The Creator Has A Master Plan" at least twice a week to KNTU in my freshman year.

That was you?

Yeah. And that was you?

Who was the chick DJ, what was her name? Cathy? She used to act like she loved to play it. Whether she really did or not, I don't know. But she'd play it.

[ep1str0phy]

But if there's a better ultimate goal for this life than "peace and happiness throughout the land", I've yet to hear it.

As per the Sandersish theme of this thread: amen.

[rostasi]

Who was the chick DJ, what was her name? Cathy? She used to act like she loved to play it. Whether she really did or not, I don't know. But she'd play it.

Caroline! and she did love playing it!

Do you remember Larry Roark

who did alternate nights with her?

[felser]

Gee, all these years I thought the song was titled "The Creator Has a Monster Van".

I guess we'll take that to mean it's not a favorite of Chuck's.

[felser]

'Expression' is the toughest Trane of all for me to listen to.

Really? Including the late live stuff (Olatunji)?

Yep. The change in his tone by 'Expression' (the album) is painful for me.

[felser]

But if there's a better ultimate goal for this life than "peace and happiness throughout the land", I've yet to hear it.

As per the Sandersish theme of this thread: amen.

I'm with you all the way, and I believe. The ugly reality doesn't diminish the beauty or righteousness of the goal, for reasons I can't expound on here without likely setting off some of the overseas board members (again).

[JSngry]

Who was the chick DJ, what was her name? Cathy? She used to act like she loved to play it. Whether she really did or not, I don't know. But she'd play it.

Caroline! and she did love playing it!

Do you remember Larry Roark

who did alternate nights with her?

Caroline, yeah! What a sweetheart she was. Wonder what happened to her?

Vaguely remember Larry. Sorry to hear of his unfortunate demise.