Pharoah Sanders, born on October 13, 1940 in the Arkansas town of Little Rock that gave him one of his nicknames, played the drums and the clarinet before he adopted the saxophones (alto as well as tenor and soprano), later adding flutes, piccolo, and bass clarinet to his arsenal, along with more unorthodox "wind" instruments such as whistles, reeds, cigar tubes, and even his own voice. He learned the nuances of the horn by playing with blues and R&B musicians who came through his hometown, eventually backing the likes of Bobby Blue Bland and others. Early influences on his musical direction came from players and composers like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Clifford Brown, and James Moody, who played alto on a record called Hard to Get.
In the late 1950s, Pharoah moved to Oakland, California with the intention of pursuing an education in art, but eventually he reaffirmed his dedication to music. Here he developed his singular "new jazz" style further, playing with jazz stalwarts of the day like Dewey Redman and Monty Waters. He also met John Coltrane during this time, and took it upon himself to make the journey to New York, the mecca of the east coast, in late 1962. But Trane proved difficult to track down, and after two hard years on the streets of Greenwich Village, Pharoah had finally begun playing steady gigs with groups that featured drummer Billy Higgins and pocket trumpeter Don Cherry (both of whom were part of Ornette Coleman's revolutionary quartet with Charlie Haden on bass), as well as Sun Ra, among others. After moving back to the Bay Area in early 1965, later that year Pharoah soon rekindled what had been a fleeting acquaintance with Coltrane, whose group had arrived in San Francisco to perform. The reunion touched off a brief but prolific collaboration that would forever change the face of the "avant garde" in jazz.
The John Coltrane group released a series of recordings on the Impulse label beginning with Ascension in June 1965, and progressing through Kulu Se Mama, Meditations, and Expression. "What I like about Pharoah," Coltrane told Nat Hentoff at the time, "is the strength of his playing, the conviction with which he plays. He has will and spirit, and those are the qualities I like most in a man. He is constantly trying to get more and more deeply into the human foundations of music." Although stiff jazz critics apparently had little idea what Coltrane was trying to accomplish with the addition of Pharoah and drummer Rashied Ali to his group (many complained of "amelodic" performances), the truth was that traditional notions of jazz composition were being deconstructed in favor of a freer exploration of "sheets of sound," as Trane called it. Both players were influencing each other, with Pharoah's intense screaming and multiphonic squawks opening up the range of the horn, and Coltrane's supremely inventive phrasing and melodic flair reaching new heights in improvisation. "I loved the way he built his solos, playing on chords," Pharoah recalls today. "He had very well planned ideas. I always had my own feeling for what I wanted to do, but listening to John made me want to develop my sound. Even now I'm trying to perfect that."
After Coltrane's death in 1967, Pharoah continued in earnest toward a discovery of the sound he'd been striving for. It was a journey he had already undertaken on his own in late 1966 with the recording of Tauhid, his first session for Impulse (featuring a young guitarist by the name of Warren "Sonny" Sharrock who was an avid fan of Coltrane, and who nearly 25 years later would record his own Ask The Ages with Pharoah and drummer Elvin Jones essentially the core of the Coltrane group's last configurations). What ensued was a string of records documenting Pharoah's growth both as a musician and composer, from the seminal album Karma and the 30-minute-plus epic "The Creator Has A Master Plan" to such strong Ôstatements of intent as Black Unity, Wisdom Through Music, and Elevation. Through the conception of these recordings, and perhaps to some extent through his work with Alice Coltrane in the early 70s, Pharoah acquired a breadth of sound that was as majestic, melodic, and spiritual as it was free, hellbent, and gut©wrenchingly emotional. He had moved closer to Coltrane, even as he had surged forward with the incorporation of more African and Eastern rhythms and instruments into his repertoire. As Amiri Baraka (then Leroi Jones) wrote in the late 60s, Pharoah "makes people stomp, experience transcendental meditation and think about revolution," all in the same breath.
Years later Pharoah Sanders has experienced a resurgence of sorts in a career that was somewhat overshadowed in the late 70s and 80s by other more "inside" and "commercial" movements in American music and even in what is called American "jazz". The widening definition of that word to include "acid jazz" is probably what has sparked this new interest in Pharoah's music in the 90s, although its proponents may fail to realize that Pharoah himself has never stopped composing and performing. "My thing is about making positive music," he says today. "I'm not into ego stimulation; all I really care about right now is playing. As far as the critics go, if you want to come and hear me perform and then write something Ôabout it, it's all good as long as you're being heard. But really, if it's working, it's the music that should be saying something." All of which comes together in Pharoah's latest release Message From Home...
Timelessness(Verve, 1995) -- with Bheki Mseleku
Crescent With Love (Evidence, 1994) -- the Pharoah Sanders Quartet
Solomon's Daughter (Evidence, 1994) -- with drummer Franklin Kiermyer
The Trance of Seven Colors (Axiom, 1994) -- with Maleem Mahmoud Ghania and Gnawa
musicians of Essaouira, Morocco
A Prayer Before Dawn (Evidence, 1993)
Shukuru (Evidence, 1992)
Ask The Ages (Axiom, 1991) -- Sonny Sharrock solo album, with Charnett Moffett and
Elvin Jones
Blues For Coltrane (Columbia, 1989) -- with David Murray, McCoy Tyner, and Cecil McBee
Heart Is A Melody (Theresa, 1982)
Rejoice (Theresa, 1981)
Journey To The One (Theresa, 1980)
Beyond A Dream (Arista, 1978)
Love Will Find A Way (Arista, 1977)
Harvest Times (India Navigation, 1976)
Love Is In Us All (Impulse, 1973)
Elevation (Impulse, 1973)
Village of the Pharoahs (Impulse, 1972)
Wisdom Through Music (Impulse, 1972)
Black Unity (Impulse, 1971)
Journey In Satchidananda (Impulse, 1970) -- Alice Coltrane solo album, with Cecil
McBee and Rashied Ali
Ptah, The El Daoud (Impulse, 1970) -- Alice Coltrane solo album, with Joe Henderson,
Ron Carter, and Ben Riley
Thembi (Impulse, 1970) -- with Michael White on violin, Lonnie Liston Smith on keyboards
Karma (Impulse, 1970) -- featuring "The Creator Has A Master Plan"
Izipho Zam (Impulse, 1969) -- with Sonny Sharrock on guitar
Tauhid (Impulse, 1967) -- with Sonny Sharrock
With the John Coltrane group: McCoy Tyner/Alice Coltrane -- piano, Jimmy Garrison -- bass, Elvin Jones/Rashied Ali -- drums
Expression (Impulse, 1966)
Live in Seattle (Impulse, 1966)
Kulu Se Mama (Impulse, 1966)
Meditations (Impulse, 1965)
Ascension (Impulse, 1965)
Thanks to Axiom/Bill Murphy for providing this information.