Ignored Obscured Restored
Pharoah Sanders was one of the greatest tenor sax players of the 20th Century. After years of collaborating with John Coltrane at the vanguard of the “free jazz” movement, he transitioned into “spiritual jazz”. Wikipedia describes spiritual jazz as “not follow(ing) a strictly defined musical style but generally features elements of free jazz, avant-garde jazz and modal jazz with influences from Asian and African music.”
Sanders’ 1977 album Pharoah was an underappreciated example of spiritual jazz. After many years of recording on the respected Impulse! label, Sanders released Pharoah on the independent India Navigation. It sank into obscurity and was out of print until finally reissued by Luaka Bop in 2021.
“Harvest Time” took up the whole first side of the original vinyl album.
In a review of the album in MOJO, John Mulvey described “Harvest Time” eloquently:
… a two-chord vamp. There’s a restrained guitar groove from Tisziji Munoz, weaving in and out of Steve Neil’s equally understated bass line. Organ comes from Clifton “Jiggs” Chase, who’d go on to produce and co-write Grandmaster Flash’s The Message. Harmonium shade is provided by Sanders’ then-wife, Bedria, apparently encountering the instrument for the first time. No drums. And Sanders himself, conjuring phrases out of his tenor as subtle as breaths, privileging his most sensuous playing rather than his fearsome capacity for skronk.
Sit back and let this meditative music wash over you as you sip your morning coffee.
Enjoy… until next week.