Date/Time
Date(s) - 01/08/2015
7:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Location
Miner Auditorium, SFJAZZ Center
Category(ies)
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“Pharoah is a man of large spiritual reservoir, always trying to reach out to truth.” — John Coltrane
“Mystic, showman, preacher, musician – the bracing, immense sound of his tenor still commands attention.” — Chicago Tribune
“Sanders has never stopped imbuing his performances with the tone of a spiritual quest.” — The New York Times
- Pharoah Sanders — saxophones
- William Henderson — piano
- Nat Reeves — bass
- Joe Farnsworth — drums
A living legend who embodies the spiritual foundation of avant-garde jazz, tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders is a singular player who came of age in John Coltrane’s roiling free-jazz groups of the mid-1960s. He has shaped his own sonic world that encompasses the primal wails and fierce energy of late Coltrane and the stomping R&B of his Little Rock youth, Asian modes and Moroccan grooves, while balancing his explosive improvisations with gentle ballads of sublime simplicity. His saxophone sound is unforgettable — deep, raw, humming with overtones and laden with fervent feeling and serene beauty. Sanders’ recordings include the classic “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” from his 1969 album Karma and 1996’s Message From Home, a compelling mix of funky African chants, pastoral songs and highlife grooves. “I like a dark sound with more roundness, more depth and feeling in it,” Sanders said at the time. “I want my sound to be like a fragrance that people will like, something fresh, like the smell of your grandmother’s cake cooking. I have a way of playing all over my horn, in between the notes. There are expressive things I couldn’t do with a conventional pitch.” Don’t miss the artist Ornette Coleman once called “probably the best tenor player in the world.”