Pharoah Sanders: Journey To The One
Author: Kevin Le Gendre
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Ray Drummond (b) |
Label: |
Theresa/Pure Pleasure Records |
Magazine Review Date: |
August/2020 |
Media Format: |
LP |
Catalogue Number: |
TR108109 |
RecordDate: |
1980 |
Although his 1970s Impulse! recordings are rightly held in the highest regard, Sanders still had much to say in the 1980s. He started the decade in fine style with this double album where all those years of working through his mentor John Coltrane's legacy, from the modal arrangements to dense African and Indian rhythms and fierce free improvisation coalesced on material that was as appealing as it was challenging. Backed by a formidable band, Sanders moves seamlessly from tenderness to aggression all the while creating a compelling narrative over the two discs, which have a beautifully re-mastered sound. The saxophonist's distinctively impassioned shriek never sounded more effective than when blending into the steam-heat swing of ‘You've Got To Have Freedom’, a track in which the soaring vocal choruses, particularly the scatted lines after the initial statement, still sound as heavenly today as they did when the track was a big tune in the heyday of the UK jazz dance scene.
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