Pharoah Sanders
Encyclopedia
Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American
jazz
saxophonist.
Saxophonist Ornette Coleman
once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane
's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound
." Sanders is an important figure in the development of free jazz
; Albert Ayler
famously said "Trane was the Father, Pharoah was the Son, I am the Holy Ghost."
, he began his professional career playing tenor saxophone
in Oakland, California
. He moved to New York City
in 1961 after playing with rhythm and blues
bands. He received his nickname
"Pharoah" from bandleader Sun Ra
, with whom he was performing. After moving to New York, Sanders had been destitute: "[H]e was often living on the streets, under stairs, where ever he could find to stay, his clothes in tatters. Sun Ra gave him a place to stay, bought him a new pair of green pants with yellow stripes (which Sanders hated but had to have), encouraged him to use the name 'Pharoah', and gradually worked him into the band."
Sanders came to greater prominence playing with John Coltrane
's band, starting in 1965, as Coltrane began adopting the avant-garde jazz
of Albert Ayler
, Ra and Cecil Taylor
. Sanders first performed on Coltrane's Ascension (recorded in June 1965), then on their dual-tenor recording Meditations
(recorded in November 1965). After this Sanders joined Coltrane's final quintet, usually performing very lengthy, dissonant solos. Coltrane's later style was strongly influenced by Sanders. Amiri Baraka
lays claim naming him Pharoah in an early sixties Downbeat review upon hearing him introduce himself as Farrell Sanders and thinking he said "Pharaoh Sanders."
, modified from Coltrane's solo-centric conception. In 1968 he participated in Michael Mantler
and Carla Bley
's Jazz Composer's Orchestra Association album The Jazz Composer's Orchestra, featuring Cecil Taylor
, Don Cherry
, Larry Coryell
and Gato Barbieri
.
In the 1970s, Sanders pursued his own recordings and continued to work with the likes of Alice Coltrane
on her Journey In Satchidananda album. Most of Sanders' best-selling work was made in the late 60's and early 70s for Impulse Records, including the 30-minute wave-on-wave of free jazz "The Creator has a Master Plan" from the album Karma. This composition featured vocalist Leon Thomas
' unique, "umbo weti" yodeling, and Sanders' key musical partner, pianist Lonnie Liston Smith
, who worked with Sanders from 1969-1971. Other members of his groups in this period include bassist Cecil McBee
, on albums such as Jewels of Thought, Izipho Zam, Deaf Dumb Blind and Thembi.
, Sanders' brand of free jazz became less popular. From the experiments with African rhythms on the 1971 album Black Unity (with bassist Stanley Clarke
) onwards he began to diversify his sound. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Sanders explored different musical modes including R'n'B (Love Will Find a Way), modal
jazz, and hard bop
.
In 1994 he traveled to Morocco
to record the Bill Laswell
-produced album The Trance Of Seven Colors with Gnawa
musician Mahmoud Guinia
. Sanders worked with Laswell, Jah Wobble
, and others on the albums Message From Home (1996) and Save Our Children (1998). In 1999, he complained in an interview that despite his pedigree, he had trouble finding work. The same year, Sanders appeared on the Red Hot Organization
's album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool, on the track "This is Madness" with Umar bin Hassan
and Abiodun Oyewole
and the bonus track, "The Creator Has A Master Plan (Trip hop Remix)." The album was named "Album of the Year" by Time
.
In the 2000s, a resurgence of interest in jazz has kept Sanders playing festivals including the 2007 Melbourne Jazz Festival
and the 2008 Big Chill Festival, concerts, and releasing albums. He has a strong following in Japan, and in 2003 recorded with the band Sleep Walker. Pharoah Sanders is currently represented by Addeo Music International and has album representation with United For Opportunity. Pharoah Sanders has been chosen by Caribou
to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas
festival that they co-curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.
With John Coltrane
With Alice Coltrane
With McCoy Tyner
With Don Cherry
With others
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist.
Saxophonist Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound
Sheets of sound
Sheets of sound was a term coined in 1958 by Down Beat magazine jazz critic Ira Gitler to describe the new, unique improvisational style of John Coltrane...
." Sanders is an important figure in the development of free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
; Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
famously said "Trane was the Father, Pharoah was the Son, I am the Holy Ghost."
Early life and career
Born Ferrell Sanders in Little Rock, ArkansasLittle Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, he began his professional career playing tenor saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. He moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1961 after playing with rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
bands. He received his nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"Pharoah" from bandleader Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
, with whom he was performing. After moving to New York, Sanders had been destitute: "[H]e was often living on the streets, under stairs, where ever he could find to stay, his clothes in tatters. Sun Ra gave him a place to stay, bought him a new pair of green pants with yellow stripes (which Sanders hated but had to have), encouraged him to use the name 'Pharoah', and gradually worked him into the band."
Sanders came to greater prominence playing with John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
's band, starting in 1965, as Coltrane began adopting the avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...
of Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
, Ra and Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
. Sanders first performed on Coltrane's Ascension (recorded in June 1965), then on their dual-tenor recording Meditations
Meditations (album)
Meditations is a 1965 album by John Coltrane. It features Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders as soloists, both playing tenor saxophones. Much of the recording is fairly avant-garde, featuring extensive passages in free rhythm and extended saxophone techniques such as honked and overblown notes, as well...
(recorded in November 1965). After this Sanders joined Coltrane's final quintet, usually performing very lengthy, dissonant solos. Coltrane's later style was strongly influenced by Sanders. Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...
lays claim naming him Pharoah in an early sixties Downbeat review upon hearing him introduce himself as Farrell Sanders and thinking he said "Pharaoh Sanders."
After Coltrane
Although Sanders' voice developed differently from Coltrane, Sanders was strongly influenced by their collaboration together. Spiritual elements such as the chanting in Om would later show up in many of Sanders' own works. Sanders would also go on to produce much free jazzFree jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
, modified from Coltrane's solo-centric conception. In 1968 he participated in Michael Mantler
Michael Mantler
Michael Mantler is a composer and trumpeter in new jazz and contemporary music.-Career: United States:Mantler was born in Vienna, Austria...
and Carla Bley
Carla Bley
Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
's Jazz Composer's Orchestra Association album The Jazz Composer's Orchestra, featuring Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
, Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
, Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
and Gato Barbieri
Gato Barbieri
Leandro Barbieri , better known as Gato Barbieri , is an Argentinean jazz tenor saxophonist and composer who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and from his latin jazz recordings in the 1970s.-Biography:Born to a family of musicians, Barbieri began playing music...
.
In the 1970s, Sanders pursued his own recordings and continued to work with the likes of Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane, née McLeod was an American jazz pianist, organist, harpist, and composer.-Biography:...
on her Journey In Satchidananda album. Most of Sanders' best-selling work was made in the late 60's and early 70s for Impulse Records, including the 30-minute wave-on-wave of free jazz "The Creator has a Master Plan" from the album Karma. This composition featured vocalist Leon Thomas
Leon Thomas
Amos Leon Thomas Jr was an American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois.Thomas studied music at Tennessee State University. In the 1960s he was a vocalist for Count Basie and others....
' unique, "umbo weti" yodeling, and Sanders' key musical partner, pianist Lonnie Liston Smith
Lonnie Liston Smith
Lonnie Liston Smith, Jr. is an American jazz, soul, and funk musician who played with important free jazz artists such as Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis before forming Lonnie Liston Smith And The Cosmic Echoes, recording a number of albums widely regarded as classics in the fusion / Quiet Storm /...
, who worked with Sanders from 1969-1971. Other members of his groups in this period include bassist Cecil McBee
Cecil McBee
Cecil McBee is an American post bop jazz bassist, described by the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz as "a full-toned bassist who creates rich, singing phrases in a wide range of contemporary jazz contexts." Allmusic called him "One of post-bop's most advanced and versatile bassists".-Biography:McBee...
, on albums such as Jewels of Thought, Izipho Zam, Deaf Dumb Blind and Thembi.
The 1970s and beyond
Although supported by African-American radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, Sanders' brand of free jazz became less popular. From the experiments with African rhythms on the 1971 album Black Unity (with bassist Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...
) onwards he began to diversify his sound. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Sanders explored different musical modes including R'n'B (Love Will Find a Way), modal
Modal
Modal may refer to:* Modal , a textile made from spun Beechwood cellulose fiber* Modal analysis, the study of the dynamic properties of structures under vibrational excitation...
jazz, and hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
.
In 1994 he traveled to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
to record the Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
-produced album The Trance Of Seven Colors with Gnawa
Gnawa
The Gnawa people originated from North and West Africa; to be precise the ancient Ghanaian Empire of Ouagadougou .This name Gnawa is taken from one of the indigenous languages of the Sahara Desert called Tamazight...
musician Mahmoud Guinia
Mahmoud Guinia
El Maallem Mahmoud Guinia El Maallem Mahmoud Guinia El Maallem Mahmoud Guinia (المعلم محمود ﯕينيا or المعلم محمود كينيا; also spelled Mahmoud Gania is a musician from Morocco. He has appeared on a number of recordings, most notably with Verve recording The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco....
. Sanders worked with Laswell, Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two albums...
, and others on the albums Message From Home (1996) and Save Our Children (1998). In 1999, he complained in an interview that despite his pedigree, he had trouble finding work. The same year, Sanders appeared on the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
's album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool, on the track "This is Madness" with Umar bin Hassan
Umar Bin Hassan
Umar Bin Hassan is an African-American poet associated with The Last Poets. He sold his younger sister's record player to purchase a bus ticket to New York City, where he joined the Last Poets...
and Abiodun Oyewole
Abiodun Oyewole
Abiodun Oyewole , is a poet, teacher and founding member of the American music and spoken-word group The Last Poets that developed into what is considered the first ever hip hop group....
and the bonus track, "The Creator Has A Master Plan (Trip hop Remix)." The album was named "Album of the Year" by Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
.
In the 2000s, a resurgence of interest in jazz has kept Sanders playing festivals including the 2007 Melbourne Jazz Festival
Melbourne Jazz Festival
The Melbourne International Jazz Festival is an annual jazz music festival held in Melbourne, Australia from 4 - 13 June 2011.-History:The Melbourne International Jazz Festival was first held in 1998....
and the 2008 Big Chill Festival, concerts, and releasing albums. He has a strong following in Japan, and in 2003 recorded with the band Sleep Walker. Pharoah Sanders is currently represented by Addeo Music International and has album representation with United For Opportunity. Pharoah Sanders has been chosen by Caribou
Caribou (musician)
Daniel Victor Snaith is a composer, musician and recording artist under stage names Caribou, Manitoba and Daphni. Under the supervision of Kevin Buzzard, he obtained a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College London.- Career:...
to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival that they co-curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.
As leader
| Title | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Pharoah's First | 1964 | ESP-Disk ESP-Disk ESP-Disk is a New York-based record label, founded in 1964 by lawyer Bernard Stollman.From the beginning, the label's goal has been to provide its recording artists with complete artistic freedom, unimpeded by any record company interference or commercial expectations—a philosophy summed-up by the... |
| Tauhid Tauhid (album) -Track listing:#"Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt" #"Japan" #"Medley:Aum/Venus/Capricorn Rising" -Personnel:*Pharoah Sanders - Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Piccolo, Voice*Dave Burrell - Piano*Henry Grimes - Bass... |
1966 | Impulse! Records Impulse! Records Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City... |
| Izipho Zam | 1969 | Strata-East Records Strata-East Records Strata-East Records is an American record label specialising in jazz which was founded in 1971 by Stanley Cowell and Charles Tolliver.Gil Scott-Heron recorded his 1974 album Winter in America with Brian Jackson for Strata-East. "The Bottle" featured on the album, was a popular single... |
| Karma Karma (Pharoah Sanders album) Karma is a 1969 jazz recording by the American tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders.-Background:The social and political upheavals of the 1960s have been cited as a major factor in the emergence of a new stylistic trend in jazz, with a very different emphasis to previous sub-genres such as swing,... |
1969 | Impulse! |
| Jewels of Thought Jewels of Thought Jewels of Thought is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was recorded at Plaza Sound Studios in New York City on October 20, 1969, and was released on Impulse! Records in the same year. The 1998 reissue merged "Sun In Aquarius" into one 27-minute-long track.-Track... |
1969 | Impulse! |
| Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) Deaf Dumb Blind is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was recorded at A & R Studios in New York City on July 1, 1970, and released on Impulse Records in the same year... |
1970 | Impulse! |
| Thembi Thembi Thembi is a 1971 album by free-jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders.In this album, named after Sanders's wife, the saxophonist moved away from the intense, lengthy, percussion-heavy jams he'd been pursuing in his solo work up to that point, and produced a record made up of shorter tracks, often with a... |
1971 | Impulse! |
| Village of the Pharoahs | 1971 | Impulse! |
| Black Unity Black Unity Black Unity is a composition and album by jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, recorded and released in late 1971.The whole album consists of a single thirty-seven minute track, which was described by critic Joe S... |
1971 | Impulse! |
| Live at the East | 1971 | Impulse! |
| Wisdom Through Music | 1972 | Impulse! |
| Elevation | 1973 | Impulse! |
| Love in Us All | 1973 | ASD |
| Pharoah | 1977 | India Navigation India Navigation India Navigation was an American independent record label that was active from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Founded by corporate lawyer Bob Cummins, the label specialized in jazz music, particularly avant-garde jazz.-Discography:... |
| Love Will Find a Way | 1977 | Arista |
| Beyond a Dream | 1978 | Arista |
| Journey to the One | 1980 | Theresa (Evidence) |
| Live | 1981 | Theresa (Evidence) |
| Rejoice | 1981 | Theresa (Evidence) |
| Heart is a Melody | 1982 | Theresa (Evidence) |
| Shukuru | 1985 | Theresa (Evidence) |
| Oh Lord, Let Me Do No Wrong | 1989 | Columbia |
| A Prayer Before Dawn | 1987 | Theresa (Evidence) |
| Africa | 1987 | Timeless |
| Moonchild | 1989 | Timeless |
| Welcome to Love | 1990 | Timeless |
| Crescent with Love | 1992 | Evidence |
| The Trance Of Seven Colors (with Mahmoud Guinia Mahmoud Guinia El Maallem Mahmoud Guinia El Maallem Mahmoud Guinia El Maallem Mahmoud Guinia (المعلم محمود ﯕينيا or المعلم محمود كينيا; also spelled Mahmoud Gania is a musician from Morocco. He has appeared on a number of recordings, most notably with Verve recording The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco.... ) |
1994 | Axiom |
| Naima | 1995 | Evidence |
| Message from Home | 1996 | Verve |
| Save our Children | 1999 | Verve |
| Spirits | 2000 | Meta |
| With a Heartbeat | 2005 | Douglas Records |
| The Creator Has a Master Plan | 2003 | Venus |
As sideman
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
- Kulu Sé MamaKulu Sé MamaKulu Sé Mama is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane. Recorded during 1965, it was released in early 1967 as Impulse! A-9106 . The title piece and "Selflessness" were recorded in October 1965 and feature a large ensemble including Sanders, Garrett, Butler and Lewis...
(1965) - OmOm (John Coltrane album)Om is a 1968 album by John Coltrane.In October, 1965, Coltrane recorded Om, referring to the sacred syllable in Hindu religion, which symbolizes the infinite or the entire Universe. Coltrane described Om as the "first syllable, the primal word, the word of power". The 29-minute recording contains...
(1965) - MeditationsMeditations (album)Meditations is a 1965 album by John Coltrane. It features Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders as soloists, both playing tenor saxophones. Much of the recording is fairly avant-garde, featuring extensive passages in free rhythm and extended saxophone techniques such as honked and overblown notes, as well...
(1965) - Ascension (1965)
- Live In Seattle (1965)
- Live at the Village Vanguard Again!Live at the Village Vanguard Again!Live At The Village Vanguard Again! is a jazz album by saxophonist John Coltrane. Recorded in May of 1966, the album shows Coltrane playing in the free jazz style that characterized his final recordings....
(1966) - Live In Japan (1966)
- ExpressionExpression (album)Expression is an album by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. The title track was Coltrane's last studio recording; the rest of the album was recorded at about the same time as Interstellar Space. "To Be" features Coltrane on flute, the only recording he made on the instrument for an entire track...
(1967) - The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live RecordingOlatunji ConcertThe Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording is the Impulse! Records-released final live recording of saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded April 23, 1967, at the Olatunji Center of African Culture in New York and released posthumously on Compact Disc...
(1967)
With Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane, née McLeod was an American jazz pianist, organist, harpist, and composer.-Biography:...
- A Monastic TrioA Monastic TrioA Monastic Trio is the first solo album by Alice Coltrane. Recorded in 1968 , she intended it to be a tribute to her husband, John Coltrane, who had died the year before.-Reception:...
(1968) - Ptah, the El DaoudPtah, the El DaoudPtah, the El Daoud is the third solo album by Alice Coltrane.This was Coltrane's first album with horns . Sanders is recorded on the right channel and Joe Henderson on the left channel throughout.All the compositions were written by Coltrane...
(1970) - Journey in SatchidanandaJourney in SatchidanandaJourney in Satchidananda is the fourth solo album by Alice Coltrane. Its title reflects Coltrane's inspiration by Swami Satchidananda, to whom she had become close, and whose disciple she was....
(1970)
With McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
- Blues for ColtraneBlues for ColtraneBlues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane is a 1987 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner released on the Impulse! label. It features performances by Tyner, David Murray, Pharoah Sanders, Cecil McBee and Roy Haynes...
(1987) - Love & PeaceLove & Peace (album)Love & Peace is a 1982 album by the Elvin Jones-McCoy Tyner Quintet released on the Japanese Trio label. It was recorded in April 1982 and features performances by Jones and Tyner with Pharoah Sanders, Jean-Paul Bourelly and Richard Davis...
(1994)
With Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
- Symphony for ImprovisersSymphony for ImprovisersSymphony for Improvisers is an album by Don Cherry featuring Gato Barbieri, Henry Grimes, Ed Blackwell, Karl Berger, Jean-François Jenny-Clark, and Pharoah Sanders recorded in 1966 and released on the Blue Note label...
(1966) - Where Is Brooklyn?Where is Brooklyn?Where Is Brooklyn? is an album by Don Cherry featuring Henry Grimes, Ed Blackwell, and Pharoah Sanders recorded in 1966 and released on the Blue Note label...
(1967)
With others
- 1964 - Sun RaSun RaSun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
- Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black HaroldFeaturing Pharoah Sanders & Black HaroldFeaturing Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold is a jazz album by Sun Ra, recorded live in 1964, but not released until 1976, on Ra and Alton Abraham's El Saturn label.... - 1965 - Ornette ColemanOrnette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
- Chappaqua SuiteChappaqua SuiteChappaqua Suite is a free jazz album, recorded and released in 1965, by alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman. It was originally commissioned by actor/director Conrad Rooks as the soundtrack to his film Chappaqua; however, the music was not used in the released version of the film... - 1968 - Jazz Composer's OrchestraJazz Composer's OrchestraJazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group founded in 1965, to further avant-garde jazz in New York. Carla Bley and Michael Mantler were important in its organization and style....
- The Jazz Composer's Orchestra - 1978 - Ed Kelly - Ed Kelly & Friends (Ed Kelly & Pharoah Sanders)
- 1985 - Art DavisArt DavisArt Davis was a double-bassist, known for his work with various seminal jazz musicians including Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Max Roach.-Biography:...
- Life - 1991 - Sonny SharrockSonny SharrockWarren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock was an American jazz guitarist. He was once married to singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he sometimes recorded and performed....
- Ask the AgesAsk the AgesAsk the Ages was the last album released by jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock before his death in 1994 .-Track listing:#"Promises Kept" –9:43#"Who Does She Hope to Be?" –4:41... - 1994 - Franklin KiermyerFranklin KiermyerFranklin Kiermyer in Montréal, Canada, is a drummer/composer who came to prominence in the 1990s during his long residency in New York City. Kiermyer's work is inspired by a variety of spiritual musics including the late period of John Coltrane...
- Solomon's Daughter - 2000 - Alex BlakeAlex BlakeAlex Blake is a post bop jazz double-bassist who began his career with Sun Ra in his band Arkestra. A live performance compilation was released by Bubble Core Records in 2000 titled Now Is the Time: Live at the Knitting Factory...
- Now is the Time: Live at the Knitting Factory - 2000 - Kahil El'ZabarKahil El'ZabarKahil EL'Zabar is a jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer. He regularly records for Delmark Records. He joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in the early 1970s, and became its chairman in 1975...
's Ritual Trio - Africa N'da Blues - 2006 - Kenny GarrettKenny GarrettKenny Garrett is a Grammy Award-winning American post bop jazz saxophonist and flautist who gained fame in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and of Miles Davis's band. He has since pursued a critically acclaimed solo career...
- Beyond the Wall - 2008 - Kenny Garrett - Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium
- 2008 - Sleep Walker - "Into The Sun" (on "The Voyage")