Pharoah Sanders was born Farrell Sanders on Oct. 13, 1940 and died Sept. 24, 2022. Like Archie Shepp, he was a powerful saxophonist who revered Coltrane and managed to fit into that sound world. But unlike Shepp, it seems that Sanders dramatically limited himself in order to do that.
Nice digging, Lewis, I'm sure I'm not the only one who hadn't heard the debut LP by Pharoah. And it makes his later more straight-ahead, though always totally personal, playing seem quite natural. I was, I guess you could say, fortunate to have heard Pharoah with Coltrane twice, though those experiences were quite challenging -- as anyone who heard them knows, it was, indeed, free playing after the head -- and then to have heard him post-Trane with his quartet with William Henderson, where he liked to play long. Then in the middle are those Impulse! LPs that are quite atmospheric and often lyrical. An impressive musician, deeply creative and unique. Cheers to you for your research and your deeply felt interest in our music.
Thanks much Zan. That is amazing that you saw Pharoah with Coltrane twice and have followed his music all these years! Where did you see Trane (with and without Pharoah)? I'd love to hear more, here or in a private email. THANKS!
Hi Lewis, happy to dig through the memory bin, see what comes up. I saw Trane twice with the quartet: 1961 Monterey Jazz Festival with Eic Dolphy and Wes Montgomery sitting in (I have an indelible memory of Wes putting his right foot on top of his Fender amp), and around same time at Shelly's Manne-hole in Hollywood. On the former, Trane played "My Favorite Things," his recent hit. On the latter, I sat in the front row, and the music -- literally and figuratively -- went right over my head. The band played one tune for the set I heard, with Trane playing close to half an hour with the rhythm section, then 10 minutes of McCoy, 5 minutes Jimmy Garrison, and then the rest just Trane and Elvin. Powerful to say the least. Then in 1966 or 1967, I heard the quintet with Alice, Rashid, maybe Rafael Garrett, and Pharoah at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. I was already a mainstreamer and it was tough to hang with the melody played once and then not followed, free playing instead. I am quite fortunate to have had these experiences. Thanks for asking, and for the inspiration.
WOW--that's amazing that you saw Trane at Monterey with Dolphy and Wes!! They were not sitting in--Dolphy was a full member of the group in the fall of 61, and Trane was considering adding Wes full-time, but Wes didn't work out. (The holy grail is to find a tape of Trane and Wes, but it appears there isn't one.) Shelly's must have been in 63 with the "classic" quartet. SF would have been Jan or July 66--they were there twice that year. GREAT! THANKS Zan.
Thanks to you, Lewis, for pointing out those details. Yes, San Francisco in 1966, in 1967 I was living in Canada. And right on 1963 or later, as that band wasn't formed until 1962 sometime. I'm sure you have the date for that. I wish I had the ears I have now then. I'd like to discern more clearly what the band and the featured soloist were playing. And Monterey. I guessed I'd always thought Wes was sitting in, maybe Eric, too, but I was not completely on top of things always and so little misinformations are stuck in my brain. Anyway, how lucky am I to have heard these masters on several occasions. Opens the ears. Speaking of that phrases, I heard Charles Mingus, George Adams, Don Pullen and Dannie Richmond at Shelly Manne's Manne-Hole's last home, a Japanese restaurant on Wilshire Blvd., and George and the rest played quite out first set. That really opened my ears for the more conservative second set. I still haven't read the Coltrane book, sorry, will get on it. How many times did you see him, or did you get to? Cheers, nice chatting with you...ZS
Please understand, I am amazed by what you saw--if I point out a date here and there it's only because I assumed you'd be interested. That's great that you saw that Mingus group too. I never saw Trane--I was a Rollins man until the 70s, when I started to get deep into Trane.
Hey, man, all good, really. I want to know the story of this music. I was and am a Rollins guy. Really I guess Bird and his disciples who have traveled into contemporary music. That said, Trane was really something else, wasn't he?
Sanders was a legend and its sad to hear of his passing. I feel like Sanders had a different mission statement for his career and playing than Coltrane; in music (especially jazz) avoiding redundancy is always welcomed, just as he was. RIP Mr. Sanders.
Nice digging, Lewis, I'm sure I'm not the only one who hadn't heard the debut LP by Pharoah. And it makes his later more straight-ahead, though always totally personal, playing seem quite natural. I was, I guess you could say, fortunate to have heard Pharoah with Coltrane twice, though those experiences were quite challenging -- as anyone who heard them knows, it was, indeed, free playing after the head -- and then to have heard him post-Trane with his quartet with William Henderson, where he liked to play long. Then in the middle are those Impulse! LPs that are quite atmospheric and often lyrical. An impressive musician, deeply creative and unique. Cheers to you for your research and your deeply felt interest in our music.
Thanks much Zan. That is amazing that you saw Pharoah with Coltrane twice and have followed his music all these years! Where did you see Trane (with and without Pharoah)? I'd love to hear more, here or in a private email. THANKS!
Hi Lewis, happy to dig through the memory bin, see what comes up. I saw Trane twice with the quartet: 1961 Monterey Jazz Festival with Eic Dolphy and Wes Montgomery sitting in (I have an indelible memory of Wes putting his right foot on top of his Fender amp), and around same time at Shelly's Manne-hole in Hollywood. On the former, Trane played "My Favorite Things," his recent hit. On the latter, I sat in the front row, and the music -- literally and figuratively -- went right over my head. The band played one tune for the set I heard, with Trane playing close to half an hour with the rhythm section, then 10 minutes of McCoy, 5 minutes Jimmy Garrison, and then the rest just Trane and Elvin. Powerful to say the least. Then in 1966 or 1967, I heard the quintet with Alice, Rashid, maybe Rafael Garrett, and Pharoah at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. I was already a mainstreamer and it was tough to hang with the melody played once and then not followed, free playing instead. I am quite fortunate to have had these experiences. Thanks for asking, and for the inspiration.
WOW--that's amazing that you saw Trane at Monterey with Dolphy and Wes!! They were not sitting in--Dolphy was a full member of the group in the fall of 61, and Trane was considering adding Wes full-time, but Wes didn't work out. (The holy grail is to find a tape of Trane and Wes, but it appears there isn't one.) Shelly's must have been in 63 with the "classic" quartet. SF would have been Jan or July 66--they were there twice that year. GREAT! THANKS Zan.
Thanks to you, Lewis, for pointing out those details. Yes, San Francisco in 1966, in 1967 I was living in Canada. And right on 1963 or later, as that band wasn't formed until 1962 sometime. I'm sure you have the date for that. I wish I had the ears I have now then. I'd like to discern more clearly what the band and the featured soloist were playing. And Monterey. I guessed I'd always thought Wes was sitting in, maybe Eric, too, but I was not completely on top of things always and so little misinformations are stuck in my brain. Anyway, how lucky am I to have heard these masters on several occasions. Opens the ears. Speaking of that phrases, I heard Charles Mingus, George Adams, Don Pullen and Dannie Richmond at Shelly Manne's Manne-Hole's last home, a Japanese restaurant on Wilshire Blvd., and George and the rest played quite out first set. That really opened my ears for the more conservative second set. I still haven't read the Coltrane book, sorry, will get on it. How many times did you see him, or did you get to? Cheers, nice chatting with you...ZS
Please understand, I am amazed by what you saw--if I point out a date here and there it's only because I assumed you'd be interested. That's great that you saw that Mingus group too. I never saw Trane--I was a Rollins man until the 70s, when I started to get deep into Trane.
Hey, man, all good, really. I want to know the story of this music. I was and am a Rollins guy. Really I guess Bird and his disciples who have traveled into contemporary music. That said, Trane was really something else, wasn't he?
Sanders was a legend and its sad to hear of his passing. I feel like Sanders had a different mission statement for his career and playing than Coltrane; in music (especially jazz) avoiding redundancy is always welcomed, just as he was. RIP Mr. Sanders.