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Get well Pharoah Sanders

Hardbopjazz

By Hardbopjazz
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felser Veteran

felser

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Posted

I saw him back in the 70's at some long-gone Philly Jazz club (don't remember the name, might have been "Memphis").  He and the group played very well, but were clearly having issues with the club management about set length and stuff, and the musicians were clearly angry, especially Steve Neil, the bass player, who stayed on stage and played an extended bass solo, glaring at the club manager, after the rest of the group had exited. 

Kevin Bresnahan Mentor

Kevin Bresnahan

Posted
Posted
51 minutes ago, felser said:

I saw him back in the 70's at some long-gone Philly Jazz club (don't remember the name, might have been "Memphis").  He and the group played very well, but were clearly having issues with the club management about set length and stuff, and the musicians were clearly angry, especially Steve Neil, the bass player, who stayed on stage and played an extended bass solo, glaring at the club manager, after the rest of the group had exited. 

If I remember correctly, overly long bass solos were a bit of a trademark for Pharoah's shows. :)

Did he "play" the metal bowl then?

mjazzg Grand Master

mjazzg

Posted
Posted

He wasn't particularly steady on his feet due to mobility issues when I saw him eighteen months ago, a broken hip isn't going to help. Here's hoping he mends well. He played masterfully, if a little sparingly, that night.

Gheorghe Mentor

Gheorghe

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Posted

I remember one of the first more "far out" recordings in my jazz collection was his "Live at the East" which also features a vocal group, has a wonderful "Healing Song" with that chantings by a vocal group and that superb tenor sound of Pharoah. I fell in love with that and it stuck.

During the late70's, early 80's Pharoah, who like Archie Shepp had been one of the frontmen of "free-jazz" switched back to the regular standard quartet formations with p,b and drums and mixed some of his former repertoir with some older stuff like standard ballads and boppish tunes like let's say Tadd Dameron's "Misty Night"......, that's how I first saw him in 1985, when he was in his prime, about 45 years old.

I saw him again in 2013 or 14, and he still had a lot to say and it was a powerful concert, but even then he seemed to have difficulties walking. Too bad I didn't try to ask to meet him I would have liked to ask him to sign me the "Life in the East" and tell him that I purchased it when I was almost a kid and how much I loved his music since that moment.......

 

Shrdlu Newbie

Shrdlu

Posted
Posted

 Kevin Bresnahan mentioned "Crescent With Love". Back in the 90s, I was in a record store browsing and I heard this Trane piece playing. I had most of Trane's records and I thought "What's this?". I asked the guy at the counter which new Trane album it was, and he said it was Pharaoh.

I have never heard a tenor saxophonist sound as close as that to Trane. At the time, I had never heard Pharaoh play without a lot of screeching. Very beautiful.

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