December 6, 2008

Pharoah I

For my first post I wanted to share some albums from one of my absolute favorite tenor saxophonists, Pharoah Sanders. This isn't by any means a complete collection of the massive body of incredible work this man has produced, but it's a damn fine place to start. This guy plays his horn as though his life depended on it. His playing is a fantastic example of how viscerally human a saxophone can sound.


1966 - Tauhid

I always get the sense that he's feeling a little cautious on this record considering what he blasts out over the next few years. Still, it's a beautiful record and I think his first on Impulse out of the shadow of the Col-train.




1969 - Izipho Zam

The first time I heard this must have been in about 1999 and I didn't really know Pharoah Sanders work very well. I was at work (crate crawling) in the warehouse-like record store I spent my time in back then and someone put this on. Probably Grover, or Scott... I don't remember. Anyway, at the time it didn't catch my attention much until the title track itself started. This has to be my first time hearing Sonny Sharrock as well... Anyway, musically, the kinds of things that happen in this song are exactly what makes out jazz madness so fucking compelling. This is definitely taking things out on a long, long limb, but the whole time it never stops sounding... lyrical? Whatever it is, you never lose the sensation of being in the middle of a SONG. The math is heavy, but it never disconnects and becomes mechanical. For me, the first of many "whoa" moments I've had listening to this guy play on various sessions. You can't get a CD of this one here in the US. I guess Impulse doesn't care for this one too much? I however, totally dig it.





1969 - Karma

This one just absolutely kills it. I've listened to this album so many times I couldn't begin to count. Descriptions don't do it justice. Just listen.




1971 - Village Of The Pharoahs

This one used to be pretty hard to track down. For a long time it was only released as a Japanese import on CD. I was excited when I found it but a little surprised when I heard it. This is a soooper mellow record. Smoky room music for sure.






1972 - Live At The East


Impulse has yet to release this album on CD. Why? I guess no one over there realizes that they are sitting on such a fucking gem of a record. Lucky for you, I have vinyl! :)