When I first saw this one at the local record store, I knew it was going to be a good day. When my girlfriend first saw the $17 price tag, she thought it was a bad move. I thought she was out of her mind, as in my opinion Pharoah Sanders is one of the coolest, best jazz musicians to come out of the psychedelic era, second only to Sun Ra himself. When it finally occurred to me that she had never heard the sweet celestial sax of Mr. Sanders, I was not only shocked, but felt kind of bad for her. Needless to say, that was one of those nights spend with the same jam on the turntable for hours. Since I'm unable to have that same experience with every single one of you, I'll do my best to describe the music, although I highly recommend picking up a copy at your local jazz dealer, yard sale, record store, or even Amazon; it's worth every penny.
The record starts out with a real smooth track that just put you in that right state of mind, feelin' young, hip and free. When Pharoah calls out to the listener to clap his/her hands along like "one two thre-ee," one wishes to oblige, and ever sitting here alone, I found it hard to keep my foot from tapping along. When that first track is over you find yourself in a very different place, a sort of free-jazz black hole. getting sucked in among the brushed drums, the clanging piano and the reverberating double bass, you feel like you've fallen in to some kind of nightmare and finally understand why noise fans love free jazz.
Once the sax comes in the track fades out almost immediately and the realization the the entire B-side is one long track of free-jazz sinks in. The remainder of the record is much more intense than that first track can lead to believe. What was once calming, soulful and cool, is now a fiery hot ball of sound, and it never gets boring. At the point where the screeching sax is just about to get old the track cools down about and shows a bit of composition and melody, order within the chaos. The piano is singing like an angel, and you realize that what was once thought to be an improvisation is actually a carefully constructed masterpiece. Back in the 60s or 70s, Albert Ayler (another free jazz master) had allegedly said "Coltrane was the Father, Pharoah was the Son, I am the Holy Ghost." Comparing Pharoah to Jesus or the sun itsself could not have been closer to the truth, because as the sun can be hot, bright, and almost tormenting, it can also be calming, cool, and necessary for life.
[Pharoah Sanders Myspace]
[Buy Jewels of Thought from Amazon]
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