“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.”
Pharoah Sanders’ long-out-of-print, not-available-on-streaming semi-self-titled 1977 album didn’t make much of an impact upon its limited release and was generally dismissed by its creator. Despite that, it’s become a much-sought-after grail by record collectors, due, at first, at least, to its relative scarcity – label India Navigation (Sanders, seeking a change, had left Impulse) was run by a jazzhead lawyer and lasted about 12 years – and its unusual sound – even compared to Sanders’ genre-hopping wilderness albums of the late ‘70s and 1980s, the gauzy atmosphere and guitar-heavy focus of Pharoah stick out. As times and tastes have changed, the album became a hot commodity due to a third reason – it’s essentially a New Age fusion album, two genres that, while largely reviled and mocked during the late 20th century, have undergone serious reappraisal in the last decade or so.
Originally published by Spectrum Culture.Read it on Spectrum Culture