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Celebrating Silentes: Gigi Masin, Rod Modell, Aube, Maurizio Bianchi and more, with test pressings and rarities
Celebrating Silentes: Gigi Masin, Rod Modell, Aube, Maurizio Bianchi and more, with test pressings and rarities
Pharoah SandersPharoah Box EditionBack to the record
AllMusic
★★★★

“For most Sanders fans, Pharoah remains a masterpiece, and as such, it finally gets the respect it deserves.”

Thom Jurek

Pharoah Sanders' India Navigation album Pharoah is among his most beloved, but he remained critical of it. Thanks to Luaka Bop, the oft-pirated title gets its first official re-release with excellent remastering. Sanders entered the studio in August 1976 with a band that he never hired again: Organist Clifton "Jiggs" Chase (who co-wrote Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five's "The Message"), electric guitarist Tisziji Munoz, drummer Greg Bandy, upright bassist Steve Neil, then-wife Bedria Sanders (a classically trained pianist) on harmonium, and percussionist Lawrence Killian. An impoverished Sanders, released from his contract with Impulse! two years earlier, was seeking to include rock in his evolving sound.

Originally published by AllMusic.Read it on AllMusic

7 other reviews

Pitchfork

“Few heard Pharoah then and we are very lucky to hear it now, in all its glorious imperfection.”

All About Jazz

“The 20:24 track is a strong addition to the strand of spiritual jazz he pioneered with the side-long "Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt" on his own-name Impulse! debut, Tauhid, recorded in 1966.”

Mojo

“That’s what Harvest Time sounds like, too: an ethereal masterpiece, created when its maker was ready, spontaneously, and intuitively.”

Morning Star

“With no drums, there is coolness to the track that makes it feel fresh and modern.”

Tracking Angle

“Pharoah isn’t Sanders’ best record, but it’s reasonably widely loved for a meditative quality that contrasts with his more ferocious better-known work.”

Spectrum Culture

“Regardless of how it was or is perceived, Pharoah is extraordinary both as a product of its time and as a part of Sanders’ catalog.”

AnalogPlanet

“When Pharoah Sanders starts playing his sax, there is a sweet sense of air and room, and the rich breathiness of his horn coming through.”