is Karma by Pharoah Sanders the best record ever?

That Karma though...man, what an album.

i just ordered a copy from sound323

at the moment i like summun bukmun umyun best, and ive been into sun in aquarius a lot more also

lets talk about these lps

i've only ever listened to Live at the East once or twice. kinda whatever. (actually i take that back.listening now. it's what you'd expect from a prime period PS album except you can hear people clapping in the background).

Pharoahs First, even though it's on ESP was boring. remember it being just bop.

i only got Elevation recently. weird that i didn't even know it existed because he's one of my fave artists. it's pretty good. some of the same players on the later albums (village, wisdom). not as much sax also.

fuck. just buy or download them all. except First and the Pharoah & Latin Jazz Quartet album.

This might be a stupid question, but how did those Pharoah Sanders albums that have tunes longer than 25 minutes work on vinyl? Did the tune fade out at the end of side A and the fade in at the beginning of side B? Did they only become available in their intended form after they were released on CD?

yes. http://www.discogs.com/release/873261

Def. one of the huge benefits of CD.

everyone should own two copies of each pharoah album!

-- vahid (vahid), Saturday, May 28, 2005 1:49 AM

i am working on this as we speak.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FARRELL PHAROAH SANDERS!!!

and i was just singing "the creator has a master plan" to myself today before i found out. made me feel damn in tune, lemme tell ya. also i'm in little rock, his birthplace! gotta listen to some this eve in his honor.

oh and jaxon, interesting cover of it you put up on the blog recently.

I wish someone would reissue the CD version of "Izipho Zam", it's impossible to find even a used copy at a reasonable price.

not enough love for colors here -- i like the way the singer sings "puuuuuuuuuurple"...

happy birthday! i'm so glad i got to see you play within my lifetime!

to paraphrase neal cassady, "thembi" beats "karma"

The Louis Armstrong duet with Leon Thomas on "The Creator Has a Master Plan" is kinda fun, though Armstrong doesn't really put much effort to it.

Gareth do you still have that live set?

this record is killing me right now:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_S6slEGoLEz0/SMlQxHOcb6I/AAAAAAAAAZw/T7SiAscNQdY/s200/Trance+of+Seven+Colors.jpg

Went and saw the man perform at Birdland a few weeks ago and he delivered the goods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7EGQzn8e1k

Just found this awesome live performance on Youtube, what an incredibly beautiful solo! Does anyone know if this is available on record?

thanks tuomas. that video was amazing. the circular breathing at around 5minutes was breathtaking (heh)

Phenomenal! Thanks for that Tuomas.

It looks like that song (though not the same version as in the video) is available this CD, which still in print. I just ordered it online, will report back once I get to hear it.

To be honest I'd always seen Sanders as more of a "groove"/"cosmic" type of player, so I've stayed away from the later albums with smoother, extended solos. However, that video convinced that he might be equally good at that sort of setting.

ya. there are so many of his albums i've never heard. everything from 1973-2000! i see a bunch of those around too. love will find a way, journey to the one, rejoice. i have Spirits, his 2000 record with Hamid Drake and Adam Rudolph and it's ridiculously beautiful.

It's nice that those Theresa/Evidence albums are still easily available, as this doesn't seem to be case with many other late 70s/early 80s jazz albums. A while ago I bought this great album by Idris Muhammad, which also features some pretty, smooth playing by Sanders (though there's some shrieking and wailing as well).

His collabs with Alice Coltrane are absolutely transcendent, esp. 'Ptah, The El Daoud' & 'Journey in Satchidananda.'

Not sure if you're including these in your 1973-2000 range jaxon but Elevation and Love In Us All (both from 1973) are possibly my two favorite albums by him, Elevation being my definite favorite.

i have elevation, but not love in us all.

wow great clip

streaming on Bandcamp fwiw

cool origin story that I did not know:

This record’s origin story is as elusive as Pharoah himself. It was born out of a misunderstanding between Pharoah and the India Navigation producer Bob Cummins, and was recorded with a group of musicians so unlikely that they were never all in the same room again. There was the guitarist Tisziji Muñoz, who would go on to become a spiritual guru, the organist Clifton “Jiggs” Chase, who would leave jazz to take a job at Sugar Hill Records, where he would co-write and produce “The Message” for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and Bedria Sanders, Pharoah’s wife at the time and a classically trained pianist, who would play the harmonium on this record even though she had never seen a harmonium before.

i'm glad it's back in print, and i see now that it's also available on CD or digitally, which is great.

i love this record but have to say that $55 for a "box set" (actually just a 2XLP with booklet) is highway robbery

I'm selling mine — mint, sealed — on Discogs for just $50 plus shipping. A bargain!

Is the cover photo not to your liking? 8)