Pharoah Sanders, Floating Points, The London Symphony Orchestra
Promises (LP, Color)
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* Repress, on color vinyl* Apparently it's been over a decade since avant jazz deity Pharoah Sanders recorded any new music, it took Sam Shephard aka Floating Points to coax the 80 year old out of near-retirement. Anyone familiar with Sanders' work will know how life-affirming his music can be, from his early work with John Coltrane, through 1967's mind-altering "Tauhid" to his spiritual pairing with Alice Coltrane on "Journey in Satchidananda". Here, he takes a more restrained role, offering bursts of tenor to compliment Shephard's pretty snippets of piano and synth. As "Promises" builds, the London Symphony Orchestra's presence becomes more stark, evolving the slow-moving work into cinematic levels of grandeur.
It's pretty senseless comparing "Promises" to Sanders' early catalogue as he's most definitely in a completely different place mentally. But his cloud-reaching brilliance is still a joy to behold; when his familiar overblown phrases appear from Shephard's gossamer synth clouds, it's hard not to smile. We can't help but wonder how different it might have been if Sanders had been paired with Dean Blunt, mind you. Just saying.
Format
"A composition for Saxophone, Strings, Keyboards and Electronics entitled 'Promises' by Sam Shepherd."
Marbled vinyl version, Xmas 2021 special edition, housed in a die-cut gatefold sleeve, with a 12x12" insert.
Sticker on shrink-wrap:
SOME PEOPLE LIKE SPECIAL COLOR VINYL.
FOR THEM WE MADE THIS.
Runout notes:
"-56593-" is stamped, everything else is etched.
Release notes
"A composition for Saxophone, Strings, Keyboards and Electronics entitled 'Promises' by Sam Shepherd." Marbled vinyl version, Xmas 2021 special edition, housed in a die-cut gatefold sleeve, with a 12x12" insert. Sticker on shrink-wrap: SOME PEOPLE LIKE SPECIAL COLOR VINYL. FOR THEM WE MADE THIS. Runout notes: "-56593-" is stamped, everything else is etched.
| A | Movements 1-5 | ||
| B | Movements 6-9 |
- Sally Herbert
- Conductor
- Paul Diddy
- Design, Layout
- Jeremy Murphy
- Engineer
- Sean Cook
- Engineer
- Eric Welles-Nyström
- Executive-Producer, Photography By [Los Angeles]
- Yale Evelev
- Executive-Producer
- CB
- Lacquer Cut By
- Carmine Lauri
- Leader [LSO]
- Tim Pennells
- Mixed By [Assistant]
- Sam Shepherd
- Mixed By, Arranged By, Written By, Piano, Harpsichord, Celesta, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Electric Organ [Hammond B3], Synthesizer [Oberheim 4 Voice], Synthesizer [OB-Xa], Synthesizer [Solina String Ensemble], Synthesizer [Therevox ET-4.3], Synthesizer [EMS Synthi], Synthesizer [ARP 2600], Synthesizer [Buchla 200e]
- The London Symphony Orchestra
- Orchestra
- Julie Mehretu
- Painting ["Congress"]
- Tom Powel Imaging
- Photography By
- Shawn Johnson
- Photography By [London]
- John Prestage
- Recorded By
- Ashley Andrew-Jones
- Recorded By [Assistant]
- Gianluca Massimo
- Recorded By [Assistant]
- Colin Rae
- Score Editor
- Olli Cunningham
- Score Editor
- Floating Points
- Tenor Saxophone, Voice
