Pharoah Sanders: Village Of the Pharoahs/Wisdom Through Music
Author: Marcus O'Dair
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Calvin Hill (b) |
Label: |
Impulse! |
Magazine Review Date: |
February/2012 |
Catalogue Number: |
06007 5334702 |
RecordDate: |
1971 |
The photo of Sanders in lotus position, generously collared psychedelic shirt poking out from under his white robes, says it all. Having abandoned the Ayler-influenced sound of Pharoah's First, released almost a decade previously, by Village Of The Pharoahs the saxophonist had jumped with both feet into the soaring and the spiritual. The album is a slightly mixed bag, with material from the main San Francisco sessions bulked out with tracks recorded in New Jersey and New York. It's also unusual in that Sanders plays tenor on just one track, the rest of the time contributing a combination of soprano, bells, percussion and vocals. Wisdom Through Music proceeds along broadly similar lines, its impassioned spirit best captured in the call and response vocals of the appropriately named ‘Love Is Everywhere’. Overall, this two-for-one may not be not the Tutankhamun of Pharoah's back catalogue, but the it still makes for a welcome early Easter present for the cosmically inclined.

Jazzwise Full Club
- Latest print and digital issues
- Digital archive since 1997
- Download tracks from bonus compilation albums throughout the year
- Reviews Database access
From £9.08 / month
Subscribe
Jazzwise Digital Club
- Latest digital issues
- Digital archive since 1997
- Download tracks from bonus compilation albums during the year
- Reviews Database access