#Pharoah (Farrell) Sanders

[justforbooks]

The distinctive sound of Pharoah Sanders’ tenor saxophone, which could veer from a hoarse croon to harsh multi phonic screams, startled audiences in the 1960s before acting in recent years as a kind of call to prayer for young jazz musicians seeking to steer their music in a direction defined by a search for ecstasy and transcendence.

Sanders, who has died age 81, made an impact at both ends of a long career. In 1965 he was recruited by John Coltrane, an established star of the jazz world, to help push the music forward into uncharted areas of sonic and spiritual exploration.

He had just turned 80 when he reached a new audience after being invited by Sam Shepherd, the British musician and producer working under the name Floating Points, to take the solo part on the widely praised recording of an extended composition titled Promises, a concerto in which he responded with a haunting restraint to the minimalist motifs and backgrounds devised by Shepherd for keyboards and the strings of the London Symphony Orchestra.

By then he had become a vital figure in the recent revival of “spiritual jazz”, whose young exponents took his albums as inspirational texts. When he was named a Jazz Master by the US National Endowment for the Arts in 2016, musicians of all generations, from the veteran pianist Randy Weston to the young saxophonist Kamasi Washington, queued up to pay tribute.

Farrell Sanders was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, a segregated world where his mother was a school cook, his father was a council worker and he grew up steeped in the music of the church. He studied the clarinet in school before moving on to the saxophone, playing jazz and rhythm and blues in the clubs on Little Rock’s West Ninth Street, backing such visiting stars as Bobby Bland and Junior Parker. After graduating from Scipio A Jones high school, he moved to northern California, studying art and music at Oakland Junior College. Soon he was immersing himself in the local jazz scene, where he was known as “Little Rock”.

In 1961 he arrived in New York, a more high-powered and competitive but still economically straitened environment. While undergoing the young unknown’s traditional period of scuffling for gigs, he played with the Arkestra of Sun Ra, a devoted Egyptologist. Sanders soon changed his name from Farrell to Pharoah, giving himself the sort of brand recognition enjoyed by all the self-styled Kings, Dukes, Counts and Earls of earlier jazz generations.

Amid a ferment of innovation in the new jazz avant garde, Sanders formed his own quartet. The poet LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka) was the first to take notice, writing in his column in DownBeat magazine in 1964 that Sanders was “putting it together very quickly; when he does, somebody will tell you about it”.

That somebody turned out to be Coltrane, who invited him to take part in the recording of Ascension, an unbroken 40-minute piece in which 11 musicians improvised collectively between ensemble figures handed to them at the start of the session. When it was released on the Impulse! label in 1966, critics noted that the leader, one of jazz’s biggest stars, had given himself no more solo space than any of the other, younger horn players, implicitly awarding their creative input as much value as his own.

Coltrane also invited Sanders to join his regular group, then expanding from the classic quartet format heard at its peak on the album A Love Supreme, recorded in 1964. With Alice Coltrane and Rashied Ali replacing McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones at the piano and the drums respectively, and other young musicians coming in and out as the band toured the US, the music became less of a vehicle for solo improvisation and more of a communal rite, sometimes involving the chanting of mantras and extended percussion interludes.

While some listeners were dismayed, accusing Coltrane of overdoing his generosity to young acolytes, others were exhilarated. For both camps, Sanders became a symbol of the shift. “Pharoah Sanders stole the entire performance,” the critic Ron Welburn wrote after witnessing Coltrane’s group in Philadelphia in 1966. The poet Jerry Figi reviewed a performance in Chicago and described Sanders as “the most urgent voice of the night”, his sound “a mad wind screeching through the root-cellars of Hell”. Sceptics believed Sanders was leading Coltrane down the path to perdition.

When Coltrane died of liver cancer in 1967, aged 40, Sanders began his own series of albums for Impulse!, starting with Tauhid (1967) and Karma (1969), which included an influential extended modal chant called The Creator Has a Master Plan. He continued to work with Alice Coltrane, appearing on several of her albums as well as those of Weston, Tyner, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Sharrock, the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, Norman Connors and others.

In 2004 he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. Ten years later, he travelled from his home in Los Angeles to Little Rock, the city where his classmates had tried, in 1957, to desegregate the local whites-only high school, for an official Pharoah Sanders Day.

When asked to explain the philosophy behind the music that Baraka described as “long tissues of sounded emotion”, he replied: “I was just trying to see if I could play a pretty note, a pretty sound.” In later years, those who arrived at his concerts expecting the white-bearded figure to produce the squalls of sound that characterised Coltrane’s late period were often surprised by the gentleness with which he could enunciate a ballad. “When I’m trying to play music,” he said, “I’m telling the truth about myself.”

🔔 Pharoah (Farrell) Sanders, saxophonist and composer, born 13 October 1940; died 24 September 2022

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[ausetkmt]

Pharoah Sanders

Pharoah Sanders (born Farrell Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound".

Sanders played a prominent role in the development of free jazz and spiritual jazz through his work as a member of John Coltrane's groups in the mid-1960s, and later through his solo work.

He released over thirty albums as a leader and collaborated extensively with vocalist Leon Thomas and pianist Alice Coltrane, among many others. Fellow saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world".

Sanders' take on “spiritual jazz” was rooted in his inspiration from religious concepts such as Karma and Tawhid, and his rich, meditative performance aesthetic.This style was seen as a continuation of Coltrane's work on albums such as A Love Supreme. As a result, Sanders was considered to have been a disciple of Coltrane or, as Albert Ayler said, "Trane was the Father, Pharoah was the Son, I am the Holy Ghost".

[jpbjazz]

LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

JOHN HICKS, LE PIANISTE AU GRAND COEUR

"He brought musical excellence, a generous heart and great joy to everything he did. He was able to be a star in a supporting role."

- Larry Coryell

Né le 21 décembre 1941 à Atlanta, en Georgie, John Josephus Hicks Jr. était l’aîné d’une famille de cinq enfants. Le père de Hicks était John Hicks Sr., un pasteur méthodiste. Issu d’une famille de classe moyenne, Hicks avait vécu dans différentes régions des États-Unis car son père avait souvent dû déménager pour prendre charge de ses différents ministères. La famille de Hicks était déménagée à Los Angeles durant son enfance avant de s’installer à St. Louis, au Missouri, durant son adolescence. Hicks expliquait: "I was brought up as a decent human being, where you had aspirations and there were expectations".

Hicks avait commencé à jouer du piano à l’âge de six ou sept ans. Son premier professeur de piano était sa mère Pollie. Au cours de sa jeunesse, Hicks avait également pris des cours d’orgue, chanté dans des chorales et joué du violon et du trombone. Comme plusieurs musiciens de jazz, Hicks avait d’abord joué de la musique religieuse. Vers l’âge de onze ans, après avoir appris à lire la musique, Hicks avait commencé à jouer du piano à l’église. Il expliquait: "My father was a Methodist minister and my mom was my first piano teacher. I got great experience playing piano in church. I started playing there as soon as I learned how to read music."

Après s’être installé à St. Louis avec sa famille à l’âge de quinze ans, Hicks avait décidé de se concentrer sur le piano. Après avoir commencé à étudier au Sumner High School, Hicks avait joué avec le groupe The Continentals de Lester Bowie qui se produisait dans différents styles musicaux.

Parmi les influences de Hicks à l’époque, on remarquait Fats Waller, Horace Silver et Thelonious Monk. Il appréciait aussi les hymnes religieux ainsi que certains pianistes locaux. Très impressionné par les compositions de Silver axées sur le blues, Hicks avait aussi été marqué par des standards comme "I Got Rhythm" et "There Will Never Be Another You", plus particulièrement en raison de leurs harmoinies facilement identifiables.

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

Durant son adolescence, Hicks avait amorcé sa carrière professionnelle dans le Sud des États-Unis avec des musiciens de blues comme Little Milton et Albert King. C’est d’ailleurs avec Milton que Hicks avait obtenu son premier contrat professionnel en 1958. Hicks avait expliqué plus tard que le fait d’avoir joué avec un piano désaccordé avait grandement amélioré ses performances, car il avait dû transcrire à la main toutes les pièces qu’il jouait. Toujours en 1958, Hicks avait étudié la musique à la Lincoln University en Pennsylvanie où il avait partagé une chambre avec le batteur Ronald Shannon Jackson. Hicks avait aussi étudié durant une brève période à la Berklee School of Music avant de s’installer à New York en 1963.

Après avoir accompagné la chanteuse Della Reese en 1963, Hicks avait joué avec le saxophoniste Joe Farrell avant de partir en tournée avec le tromboniste Al Grey et le saxophoniste Billy Mitchell. Il avait aussi travaillé avec le saxophoniste Johnny Griffin. Peu après s’être installé à New York, Hicks avait été très influencé par John Coltrane. Il précisait: "There's a whole generation -- maybe two -- of players who are influenced by Trane. And it's on a spiritual level as well as musical. Trane was our Charlie Parker, and his sense of commitment to the music was awe-inspiring."

Toujours en 1963, Hicks avait fait partie du premier groupe du saxophoniste Pharoah Sanders et avait fait une apparition avec le chanteur Jimmy Witherspoon dans le cadre d’une émission du réseau de télévision CBC. Après avoir collaboré avec Kenny Dorham et Joe Henderson, Hicks s’était joint aux Jazz Messengers d’Art Blakey en 1964. Hicks avait d’ailleurs fait ses débuts sur disque en novembre de la même année sur l’album des Messengers  'S Make It. Au début de 1965, Hicks avait fait une tournée au Japon, en France, en Suisse et en Angleterre avec Blakey. À l’époque, Blakey encourageait les membres du groupe à écrire leurs propres compositions. Le groupe interprétait également les compositions de ses anciens membres. Hicks était demeuré avec les Jazz Messengers jusqu’en 1966. Lors de son séjour avec le groupe, Hicks avait souvent été comparé à McCoy Tyner pour le niveau d’énergie avec lequel il jouait et pour les espaces qu’il utilisait dans le cadre de son jeu.

De 1966 à 1968, Hicks avait également fait des séjours réguliers dans le groupe de la chanteuse Betty Carter. La passion de Hicks pour les ballades l’avait d’ailleurs aidé à développer son sens du rythme. En 1968, Hicks s’était joint au big band de Woody Herman, dont il avait fait partie jusqu’en 1970. Il écrivait aussi des arrangements pour le groupe. Durant cette période, Hicks avait également enregistré avec de grands noms du jazz comme Booker Ervin, Hank Mobley et Lee Morgan. À partir des années 1970, Hicks avait aussi collaboré avec de nombreux musiciens de free jazz, dont Oliver Lake. Il avait également joué et enregistré aux Pays-Bas avec le trompettiste Charles Tolliver. En 1973, Hicks avait également fait un bref retour avec les Jazz Messengers.

Le 21 mai 1975, Hicks avait participé à ses premiers enregistrements comme leader en Angleterre. La session avait donné lieu à la publication de deux albums, dont un disque en trio intitulé Hells Bells mettant en vedette le contrebassiste Clint Houston et le batteur Cliff Barbaro. Le second album était un enregistrement en solo intitulé Steadfast. Les deux albums avaient été publiés quelques années plus tard par Strata-East Records.

Hicks avait retrouvé la chanteuse Betty Carter en 1975 dans le cadre de la comédie musicale ‘’Don't Call Me Man.’’ Après avoir accompagné Carter lors de l’enregistrement de l’album ‘Now It's My Turn en 1976, Hicks avait recommencé à jouer avec son groupe à temps plein, ce qui avait conduit à l’enregistrement de l’album After the Morning. Au cours de cette période, Hicks avait également continué à enregistrer avec d’autres musiciens, dont Carter Jefferson (1978) et Chico Freeman (1978-79). En 1980, Hicks avait finalement été remercié par la chanteuse Betty Carter en raison de son alcoolisme.

À partir du milieu des années 1970, Hicks avait dirigé plusieurs groupes. Parmi ceux-ci, on remarquait un quartet mettant en vedette Sonny Fortune, Walter Booker et Jimmy Cobb. Le groupe avait été actif de façon intermittente de 1975 à 1990. Durant cette période, Hicks avait également dirigé un groupe avec la flûtiste Elise Wood ainsi que des formations comprenant les saxophonistes Gary Bartz, Vincent Herring et Craig Handy, le contrebassiste Ray Drummond et les batteurs Idris Muhammad et Victor Lewis. Les quintets et les sextets de Hicks incluaient aussi Robin Eubanks, Charles Tolliver (1982), Branford Marsalis (1982–84), Hannibal Peterson (à partir de 1983), Wynton Marsalis (1983–84), Craig Harris (1985–86), Eddie Henderson (1985–86 et 1988–90) et Chico Freeman (1985-88). Hicks avait aussi formé son propre big band à l’automne 1982. Hicks avait également joué avec le groupe de Freeman au Royaume-Uni en 1989.

Collaboratrice régulière des groupes de Hicks, la flûtiste Elise Wood avait également joué en duo avec le pianiste, tant dans des contextes jazz que classique. Après s’être marié et avoir formé une entreprise connue sous le nom de John Hicks-Elise Wood, Inc., le duo s’était produit en tournée aux États-Unis, en Europe et au Japon dans les années 1980.

DERNIÈRES ANNÉES

En 1981, Hicks avait enregistré l’album Some Other Time, un enregistrement en trio avec Walter Booker à la contrebasse et Idris Muhammad à la batterie. L’album, qui avait permis à Hicks de mettre à profit ses talents de compositeur, comprenait le grand succès "Naima's Love Song". Hicks avait enregistré deux albums au Japon en 1988: East Side Blues, un album en trio, et Naima's Love Song, avec le saxophoniste alto Bobby Watson. Il avait aussi fait des apparitions régulières dans des festivals de jazz tout en continuant de se produire à New York.

En 1999, Hicks avait également rendu hommage à ses principales influences dans le cadre de l’album de Larry Coryell "Monk, Trane, Miles and Me." Se remémorant l’enregistrement de l’album, Coryell avait commenté: "The most touching moment for me was his solo on John Coltrane's 'Naima.’ It is absolutely, unbelievably beautiful. When we finished that performance in the studio, I broke down in tears."

Comme accompagnateur, Hicks s’était produit avec de nombreux musiciens de jazz, dont Freddie Hubbard, Richie Cole (1980), Arthur Blythe (sur l’album In the Tradition), David Murray, Hamiet Bluiett, Eddie Henderson, Art Davis, Woody Shaw, Clark Terry, Sonny Rollins, Roy Hargrove (1989–90, 1995), Gary Bartz (1990), Jay McShann, Oliver Lake (1991), Steve Marcus, Javon Jackson, Johnny Griffin, Joe Henderson Valery Ponomarev (1993),  Nick Brignola, Russell Gunn, Kevin Mahogany (1994), Sonny Fortune (1996), Jimmy Ponder (1997) et Pharoah Sanders. Il avait également accompagné les chanteurs Jon Hendricks et Carmen McRae. Durant cette période, Hicks avait aussi enregistré avec Ricky Ford (1980, 1982), Alvin Queen (1981), Peter Leitch (1984), Vincent Herring (1986) et Bobby Watson (1986, 1988). Au milieu des années 1990, Hicks s’était joint au groupe Mingus Dynasty avec qui il avait fait une tournée au Royaume-Uni en 1999 et avait enregistré l’album Blues and Politics la même année. Hicks avait également collaboré au septième album de "Live at Maybeck Recital Hall", une série d’albums de piano solo publiés par Concord Records. En 1998, Hicks avait fait partie du quartet de Joe Lovano. Il s’était également joint au nonet du saxophoniste lors de sa fondation l’année suivante.

Hicks avait aussi participé à cinq albums du saxophoniste David "Fathead" Newman pour les disques HighNote pour lequel il jouait un peu le rôle de pianiste attitré. En 2002, Hicks avait fait un de ses seuls enregistrements à l’orgue Hammond B3 dans le cadre de l’album Exhale du saxophoniste Arthur Blythe.

Hicks, qui avait également entrepris une brève carrière de professeur, avait enseigné l’histoire du jazz et l’improvisation à la Southern Illinois University de 1972 à 1973. À la fin de sa vie, Hicks avait également enseigné à l’Université de New York et à la New School of Music. Interrogé au sujet de son expérience dans l’enseignement quelques mois avant sa mort en janvier 2006, Hicks avait expliqué: "I don't care how advanced my students are, I always start them off with the blues. It all comes from there."

Au début de la même année, Hicks était retourné jouer avec son big band, qui était alors dirigé par le trompettiste Charles Tolliver. En janvier et en février de la même année, Hicks avait fait une tournée en Israël et avait joué principalement des compositions de Thelonious Monk. Hicks avait enregistré un dernier album intitulé On the Wings of an Eagle en mars 2006. En 2005, Hicks avait également enregistré un album live intitulé Twogether, qui mettait en vedette le saxophoniste alto Frank Morgan sur quatre pièces. Hicks se produisait en solo sur les trois autres pièces. Quatre des pièces de l’album étaient des standards du jazz: ‘’Parisian Thoroughfare’’ de Bud Powell, ‘’Night in Tunisia’’ de Dizzy Gillespie, ‘’Round Midnight’’ de Thelonious Monk et ‘’Passion Flower’’ de Billy Strayhorn.

Hicks avait présenté son dernier concert à la St Mark's United Methodist Church de New York quelques jours avant sa mort. Le concert visait à recueillir des fonds pour l’église dont Hicks était un fidèle assidu. Le père de Hicks avait également été pasteur dans cette église des décennies plus tôt. C’est aussi à la St Mark's United Methodist Church que Hicks avait présenté son premier concert à New York en 1963.

John Hicks est décédé le 10 mai 2006 des suites d’une hémorragie interne. Il était âgé de soixante-quatre ans. Hicks a été inhumé au South-View Cemetery dans sa ville natale d’Atlanta. Hicks laissait dans le deuil son épouse Elise Wood, son frère Raiford, ses soeurs Emma Hicks Kirk et Paula Hicks Neely, sa fille Naima et son fils Jamil (qui étaient issus de son premier avec Olympia Hicks), sa belle-fille Khadesha Wood et son beau-fils Malik Wood, et une petite-fille. Au moment de sa mort, Hicks devait se produire au Twins Lounge de Washington, D.C. Les archives de Hicks sont conservées à l’Université Duke, à Durham, en Caroline du Nord.

Hicks s’est marié à deux reprises. Au début des années 1990, Hicks avait divorcé de sa première épouse Olympia. Le couple avait un fils, Jamil Malik, et une fille, Naima. Hicks s’était remarié avec sa collaboratrice, la flutiste Elise Wood, en juin 2001.

Comme plusieurs musiciens de jazz des années 1990, Hicks avait enregistré avec plusieurs maisons de disques différentes, ce qui lui avait permis d’enregistrer dans des styles et des contextes diversifiés. Parmi ces enregistrements, on remarquait des sessions en duo avec Jay McShann (1992) et Peter Leitch (1994) pour American Reservoir Records et des sessions en trio enregistrées pour diverses compagnies japonaises, dont  une avec le New York Unit composé du contrebassiste Richard Davis et du batteur Tatsuya Nakamura et une autre session avec la New York Rhythm Machine composée du contrebassiste Marcus McLaurine et du Victor Lewis.  Ces sessions avaient été suivies d’autres enregistrements en trio avec des groupes comme le Power Trio et le Keystone Trio de George Mraz (1995) et un groupe composé de Dwayne Dolphin à la contrebasse et de Cecil Brooks III à la batterie à partir de 1997.

Parmi les derniers enregistrements de Hicks, on remarquait des  hommages à d’autres pianistes comme ‘’Something to Live For: A Billy Strayhorn Songbook’’, ’’Impressions of Mary Lou’’, ‘’Nightwind: An Erroll Garner Songbook’’, ‘’Music in the Key of Clark’’ (un hommage au pianiste Sonny Clark)  et ‘’Fatha's Day: An Earl Hines Songbook.’’ En 1993, Hicks avait également rendu hommage à la chanteuse Billie Holiday dans le cadre de l’album ‘’Lover Man: A Tribute to Billie Holiday.’’

Caractérisé par son jeu puissant et raffiné, Hicks avait participé à des centaines d’albums au cours de sa carrière, tant comme leader que comme accompagnateur. Le disc-jockey Rusty Hassan, qui connaissait Hicks depuis plus de trente ans, avait déclaré à son sujet: "He was a major, important player who was probably not as well recognized as he should have been.’’ Penchant dans le même sens, le chroniqueur du site AllMusic Michael G. Nastos avait ajouté: "Hicks died before reaping the ultimate rewards and high praise he deserved". Pour sa part, le guitariste Larry Coryell, qui avait souvent enregistré avec Hicks, avait commenté: "He brought musical excellence, a generous heart and great joy to everything he did. He was able to be a star in a supporting role."

Décrivant le style de Hicks, le pianiste George Cables avait souligné son jeu rempli de chaleur et très respectueux de la tradition. À ceux qui avaient reproché à Hicks de manquer de substance de son jeu, The Penguin Guide to Jazz avait rétorqué: "This [...] is missing the point. Almost always, he is more concerned to work within the dimensions of a song than to go off into the stratosphere." Caractérisé par une grande créativité, le jeu de Hicks était aussi très influencé par le swing, le blues, le hard bop et le jazz d’avant-garde.

©-2024, tous droits réservés, Les Productions de l’Imaginaire historique

SOURCES:

‘’John Hicks.’’ Wikipedia, 2024.

RATLIFF, Ben. ‘’John Hicks, 64, Jazz Pianist Active on New York Scene, Is Dead.’’ New York Times, 13 mai 2006.

SCHUDEL, Matt. ‘’John Hicks, 64.’’ Washington Post, 19 mai 2016.

TRUFFAUT, Serge. ‘’Jazz - John Hicks l'historien.’’ Le Devoir, 12 juin 2010.

[inthemoodforportnawak]

Farrell "Pharoah" Sanders (1940-2022)

[de-salva]

R.I.P.   Pharoah Sanders (October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022)

[nofatclips]

You've Got To Have Freedom (Pharoah Sanders cover) by The Gondwana Orchestra (featuring Dwight Trible) from the album Colors

[mutant-what-not]

Pharoah Sanders (born Farrell Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist.

[kutmusic]

R.I.P. Farrell Sanders, aka Pharoah Sanders. A few days ago a giant of jazz has left the physical plane. Farewell, thanks and see you again in another life. Photo: Dmitry Scherbie / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

[alicecoltraneofficial]

"A Love Supreme” was the title of the classic album from legendary American jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane. Released in January 1965, it was one of Coltrane's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums. It is widely considered his masterpiece, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time. Part 3 features footage of Alice Coltrane playing the piano at a small jazz concert with a few other musicians such as the American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders (born as Farrell Sanders in 1940). Pharoah Sanders was a member of John Coltrane’s classic line-up during the mid-1960s. Footage licensed from WNET. All rights reserved. 

Listen to Alice Coltrane: Kirtan: Turiya Sings' here: https://alicecoltrane.lnk.to/kirtan

[marrengo]

Happy Birthday, Farrell “Pharoah” Sanders {Oct. 13}! 

[tmnk]

Klasszikus “overtake” szituáció - lennének ugyan más játszható lemezeim is a BBD holnapi adásában, de a napokban elhunyt Farrell “Pharoah” Sanders és Henry “Pucho” Brown annyira jók voltak, hogy esélytelen bármi mást is játszanom holnap, mint az ő felvételeiket. Nyugodjanak békében és köszönjük nekik a jóságokat. 

[globalworship]

The Creator Has a Master Plan (RIP Pharoah Sanders)

Pharoah Sanders (born Farrell Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. A member of John Coltrane's groups of the mid-1960s, Sanders was known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound". He released over 30 albums as a leader and collaborated extensively with many other musicians.

An only child, Sanders began his musical career accompanying church hymns on drums, then clarinet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharoah_Sanders

Sanders had one of his biggest hits with a 1969 LP . The album's main piece is the 32-minute-long "The Creator Has a Master Plan", co-composed by Sanders with vocalist Leon Thomas.

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The song features Sanders on tenor sax, along with two of his most important collaborators, the aforementioned Leon Thomas and pianist Lonnie Liston Smith, as well as a supporting cast of musicians who were major musicians in their own right: flautist James Spaulding; French-horn player Julius Watkins; bassist Reggie Workman, who had played with Coltrane earlier in the 1960s; second bassist Richard Davis; drummer Billy Hart, and percussionist Nathaniel Bettis.

Despite its length, it achieved mainstream FM radio airplay, surely the closest the avant-garde movement came to a "hit." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_(Pharoah_Sanders_album)

Read an informative interview with Sanders from 2020 at https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/if-youre-in-the-song-keep-on-playing-pharoah-sanders-interview

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The song has been covered by many artists. Here is Louis Armstrong’s part from his 1970 recording of “The Creator Has a Master Plan”.

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The lead sheet for Louis' version:

[ausetkmt]

He first gained wide recognition for his work with John Coltrane. He went on to a fertile, prolific career, releasing dozens of albums as a leader.

The saxophonist Pharoah Sanders in performance in Brooklyn in 2015.Credit...Sam Polcer for The New York Times

Published Sept. 24, 2022Updated Sept. 25, 2022

Pharoah Sanders, a saxophonist and composer celebrated for music that was at once spiritual and visceral, purposeful and ecstatic, died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 81.

His death was announced in a statement by Luaka Bop, the company for which he had made his most recent album, “Promises.” The statement did not specify the cause.

The sound Mr. Sanders drew from his tenor saxophone was a force of nature: burly, throbbing and encompassing, steeped in deep blues and drawing on extended techniques to create shrieking harmonics and imposing multiphonics. He could sound fierce or anguished; he could also sound kindly and welcoming.

He first gained wide recognition as a member of John Coltrane’s groups from 1965 to 1967. He then went on to a fertile, prolific career, with dozens of albums and decades of performances.

Mr. Sanders played free jazz, jazz standards, upbeat Caribbean-tinged tunes and African- and Indian-rooted incantations such as “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” which opened his 1969 album, “Karma,” a pinnacle of devotional free jazz. He recorded widely as both a leader and a collaborator, working with Alice Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Randy Weston, Joey DeFrancesco and many others.

Looking back on Mr. Sanders’s career in a 1978 review, Robert Palmer of The New York Times wrote, “His control of multiphonics on the tenor set standards that younger saxophonists are still trying to live up to, and his sound — huge, booming, but capable of great delicacy and restraint — was instantly recognizable.”

Mr. Sanders told The New Yorker in 2020: “I’m always trying to make something that might sound bad sound beautiful in some way. I’m a person who just starts playing anything I want to play, and make it turn out to be maybe some beautiful music.”

Pharoah Sanders was born Farrell Sanders in Little Rock, Ark, on Oct. 13, 1940. His mother was a cook in a school cafeteria; his father worked for the city.

He first played music in church, starting on drums and moving on to clarinet and then saxophone. (Although tenor saxophone was his main instrument, he also performed and recorded frequently on soprano.) He played blues, jazz and R&B at clubs around Little Rock; during the era of segregation, he recalled in 2016, he sometimes had to perform behind a curtain.

In 1959 he moved to Oakland, Calif., where he performed at local clubs. His fellow saxophonist John Handy suggested he move to New York City, where the free-jazz movement was taking shape, and in 1962, he did.

At times in his early New York years he was homeless and lived by selling his blood. But he also found gigs in Greenwich Village, and he worked with some of the leading exponents of free jazz, including Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry and Sun Ra.

It was Sun Ra who persuaded him to change his first name to Pharoah, and for a short time Mr. Sanders was a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Mr. Sanders made his first album as a leader, “Pharoah,” for ESP-Disk in 1964. John Coltrane invited him to sit in with his group, and in 1965 Mr. Sanders became a member, exploring elemental, tumultuous free jazz on seminal albums like “Ascension,” “Om” and “Meditations.”

After Coltrane’s death in 1967, Mr. Sanders went on to record with his widow, the pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane, on albums including “Ptah, the El Daoud” and “Journey in Satchidananda,” both released in 1970.

Mr. Sanders had already begun recording as a leader on the Impulse! label, which had also been Coltrane’s home. The titles of his albums — “Tauhid” in 1967, “Karma” in 1969 — made clear his interest in Islamic and Buddhist thought.

His music was expansive and open-ended, concentrating on immersive group interaction rather than solos, and incorporating African percussion and flutes. In the liner notes to “Karma,” the poet, playwright and activist Amiri Baraka wrote, “Pharoah has become one long song.” The 32-minute “The Creator Has a Master Plan” moves between pastoral ease — with a rolling two-chord vamp and a reassuring message sung by Leon Thomas — and squalling, frenetic outbursts, but portions of it found FM radio airplay beyond jazz stations.

During the 1970s and ’80s, Mr. Sanders’s music moved from album-length excursions like the kinetic 1971 “Black Unity” toward shorter compositions, reconnections with jazz standards and new renditions of Coltrane compositions. (He shared a Grammy Award for his work with the pianist McCoy Tyner on the 1987 album “Blues for Coltrane.”) His recordings grew less turbulent and more contemplative. On the 1977 album “Love Will Find a Way,” he tried pop-jazz and R&B, sharing ballads with the singer Phyllis Hyman. He returned to more mainstream jazz with his albums for Theresa Records in the 1980s.

But his explorations were not over. In live performances, he might still bear down on one song for an entire set and make his instrument blare and cry out. During the 1990s and early 2000s he made albums with the innovative producer Bill Laswell. He reunited with the blistering electric guitarist Sonny Sharrock — who had been a Sanders sideman — on the 1991 album “Ask the Ages,” and he collaborated with the Moroccan Gnawa musician Maleem Mahmoud Ghania on “The Trance of Seven Colors” in 1994.

Information on Mr. Sanders's survivors was not immediately available.

Mr. Sanders had difficult relationships with record labels, and he spent nearly two decades without recording as a leader. Yet he continued to perform, and his occasional recorded appearances — including his wraithlike presence on “Promises,” his 2021 collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sam Shepherd, the electronic musician known as Floating Points — were widely applauded.

Reviewing “Promises” for The Times, Giovanni Russonello noted that Mr. Sanders’s “glistening and peaceful sound” was “deployed mindfully throughout the album,” adding, “He shows little of the throttling power that used to come bursting so naturally from his horn, but every note seems carefully selected — not only to state his own case, but to funnel the soundscape around him into a precise, single-note line.”

In 2016 Mr. Sanders was named a Jazz Master, the highest honor for a jazz musician in the United States, by the National Endowment for the Arts.

In a video made in recognition of his award, the saxophonist Kamasi Washington said, “It’s like taking fried chicken and gravy to space and having a picnic on the moon, listening to Pharoah.” The saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin said, “It’s like he’s playing pure light at you. It’s way beyond the language. It’s way beyond the emotion.”

[nebris]

Pharoah Sanders (born Farrell Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022)

[musicpromoapp]

Pharoah Sanders Dies at 81

Pharoah Sanders Dies at 81

Saxophonist and jazz legend Pharoah Sanders has died, the label Luaka Bop announced. His cause of death has not been revealed, but the label wrote, “He died peacefully surrounded by loving family and friends in Los Angeles earlier this morning. Always and forever the most beautiful human being, may he rest in peace.” Sanders was 81. Born Farrell Sanders on October 13, 1940 in Arkansas, he…

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Pharoah Sanders