Pharoah Sanders: Karma (impulse!)

Elevation, Pharoah Sanders' final album for Impulse!, is a mixed bag. Four of the five cuts were recorded live at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles in September of 1973, and the lone studio track, "Greeting to Saud (Brother McCoy Tyner)," was recorded in the same month at Wally Heider's studio. The live date is fairly cohesive, with beautiful modal piano work from Joe Bonner, Pharoah playing tenor and soprano as well as a myriad of percussion instruments and vocalizing in places, and a percussion and rhythm section that included Michael Carvin on drums, bassist Calvin Hill, and hand drummers John Blue and Lawrence Killian…

Coltrane's right-hand man for a time and a giant of creative power in his own right, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders was one of the ultimate figures of the free jazz movement of the '60s and into the '70s. Taking a path often more spiritual than political, but melding the two, his music was riding high with solo albums like Karma, Thembi, and Jewels of Thought, all released on Impulse! during a particularly charged and prolific period between 1966 and 1971. Spiritual Blessings focuses on this rich creative period, with tunes coming mostly from these and other Sanders astral-jazz masterpieces of the time. Highlights are many, and include an edited take on "The Creator Has a Master Plan," a carefree and joyous ode to the higher powers of nature; the electric-piano driven "Astral Traveling"; and the hypnotic meditation "Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah."

Conventional wisdom has it that saxophonist Pharoah Sanders' signature, late-1960s astral jazz recording is "The Creator Has A Master Plan" from Karma (Impulse!, 1969). But conventional wisdom is rarely to be trusted. Clocking in at an unhurried and mesmerising 32:45, "Master Plan" is certainly definitive Sanders of the time; yet "Upper Egypt And Lower Egypt," from Sanders' own-name Impulse! debut, Tauhid, recorded in November, 1966, is arguably the finest statement in his astral oeuvre.

Pharoah Sanders - Jewels of Thought (1969) {Impulse! IMPD-247 rel 1998}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 284 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 104 Mb
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© 1969, 1998 Impulse! / MCA Records / GRP Records | IMPD-247
Jazz / Modal Music / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz / Spiritual Jazz / Saxophone

In 1969, Pharoah Sanders was incredibly active, recording no less than four albums and releasing three. The band on Jewels of Thought is largely the same as on Deaf Dumb Blind and Karma, with a few changes. Idris Muhammad has, with the exception of "Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah Hum Allah," replaced Roy Haynes, and Richard Davis has permanently replaced Reggie Workman and Ron Carter, though Cecil McBee is still present for the extra bottom sound. Leon Thomas and his trademark holy warble are in the house, as is Lonnie Liston Smith. Comprised of two long cuts, the aforementioned and "Sun in Aquarius," Jewels of Thought sees Sanders moving out from his signature tenor for the first time and delving deeply into reed flutes and bass clarinet. The plethora of percussion instruments utilized by everyone is, as expected, part of the mix.