It’s been almost a year since the ground-breaking jazz legend, Pharoah Sanders, passed away. Now, fans are getting a chance to dive into one of the most interesting albums from his nearly-six-decade career. On Friday, September 15th, the record label Luaka Bop shared the first official reissue of his 1977 LP, Pharoah. Stream it below.
With three tracks spanning over 40 minutes, Pharoah has earned a reputation as one of Sanders’ most creative works. It was recorded in 1976, nearly a decade after the death of his friend and collaborator, John Coltrane, and Sanders was at a crossroads of sorts. With a growing fascination with rock music, he put together a band for some kind of fusion project, but a miscommunication with producer Bob Cummins resulted in the sessions going poorly.
A disappointed Sanders left, reconvened, and returned to record with Cummins again, this time with a unique ensemble featuring spiritual guru Tisziji Muñoz on guitar, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five producer Clifton “Jiggs” Chase on organ, and Sanders’ then-wife, Bedria Sanders, on harmonium, an instrument she had never played before. Improvising, the musicians came together and made an inventive, emotional, and continually-resonant album that has been considered one of the greatest contributions to the cannon of 20th century jazz.
Now, the new reissue from Luaka Bop is giving fans an opportunity to enjoy Pharoah on a deeper level than ever before. Sanders had rejected all requests to reissue the album for years, but finally agreed to put something together in 2022, just months before his death. While he didn’t live to see the end result, the team that was assembled has curated an impressive product. The box set is available in 2xLP and 2xCD formats, and arrives with a 24-page booklet featuring “a treasure trove of rarely seen photographs, archival materials, interviews with many of the participants, and a conversation with Pharoah himself.” Orders are ongoing.
Additionally, physical copies will also include two additional versions of the highlight track, “Harvest Time,” which were recorded during a European tour in the late summer of 1977, following the release of the original album.
Meanwhile, the team behind the reissue are also preparing to bring Sanders’ music to live audiences around the world this year and next. Along with the announcement of Pharoah, they also shared details for “The Harvest Time Project: A Tribute to Pharoah Sanders,” According to the press release, the project will be “a bespoke, ever-evolving concert based on the album’s composition ‘Harvest Time,’ which will happen around the world, with each performance featuring different musical ensembles playing together at the same time.”
The world premiere of “The Harvest Time Project” will go down at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands, on November 12th, and is set to feature Irreversible Entanglements, Domenico Lancellotti, and special guest Muñoz, the album’s original guitarist. Tickets are available here.
Prior to that, there will be a “special workshop performance” of the project at National Sawdust in Brooklyn on October 14th, in honor of Sanders’ birthday. Grab your tickets for that here.
Pharoah Artowrk:
Pharoah Tracklist:
01. Harvest Time
02. Love Will Find a Way
03. Memories of Edith Johnson
