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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
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.”

Mark Smotroff · 29 September 2023

I’ve long appreciated Pharoah Sanders’ saxophone playing, but I’ve never counted myself as a deep fan in the way I am for Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Lester Young, Bill Evans, Les Paul, and Oscar Peterson. I’ve had a handful of his albums that I’ve enjoyed and respected, for sure. But as I’ve learned in the past, all it takes is hearing that one magical recording to take me over the rainbow into deeper fandom, in turn triggering a desire to hear everything the artist ever did, as well as learn more about his life.

For this, the seventh Short Cuts edition of Review Explosion, it’s a combo review of a pair of current Pharaoh Sanders releases, one of which is an excellent new 2LP box set dubbed Pharoah, which also happens to be the title of that one magical recording I just alluded to above.

Originally published by AnalogPlanet.Read it on AnalogPlanet

7 other reviews

Pitchfork

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

AllMusic

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

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.”