is Karma by Pharoah Sanders the best record ever?

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I prefer the Jewels of Thought version of "Prince of Peace," because it's got that utterly fuckin transcendent sax blast from Pharoah at the end, but Izipho Zam is better overall.

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

Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Friday, 29 July 2005 14:28 (eighteen years ago) link

ive never heard jewels of thought!

i just ordered a copy from sound323

charltonlido (gareth), Friday, 29 July 2005 16:48 (eighteen years ago) link

six months pass...
I just found Village Of The Pharoahs for five bucks. I am loving it. Clearly I have to get all of the Impulse albums now.

sleeve (sleeve), Monday, 13 February 2006 05:31 (eighteen years ago) link

I've only got Jewels of Though & Sunmun Bukmun Umyun, but they're both great. I'll give most any pharaoh sanders record a chance.

Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Monday, 13 February 2006 05:44 (eighteen years ago) link

karma is totally in my top 20 records ever, and "colors" is the perfect ending. it's definitely my favorite p.sanders album, but i like jewels of thought, live at the east, and thembi a ton, plus all his work on alice coltrane albums and on ask the ages.

pssst - badass revolutionary art! (plsmith), Monday, 13 February 2006 15:01 (eighteen years ago) link

five months pass...
the sound of summer

-- (688), Saturday, 15 July 2006 20:22 (seventeen years ago) link

LOVE IS EVERYWHERE (the live, bootlegged cut)

fongoloid sangfroid (sanskrit), Saturday, 15 July 2006 21:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Karma is my fave Pharoah Sanders.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Saturday, 15 July 2006 21:53 (seventeen years ago) link

which do people prefer, ouy out of hum allah hum allah hum allah, and prince of peace. i....dont know

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

-- (688), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 20:49 (seventeen years ago) link

i havent heard pharoahs first, then i have them all up until village of the pharoahs/blackunity/live at the east/wisdom through music/elevation

lets talk about these lps

-- (688), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 20:52 (seventeen years ago) link

and not to be contrarian to the rest of the thread, but i listen to "Village of the Pharoahs" and "Wisdom Through Music" far more than i listen to any other Sanders albums
-- [that bastard] jaxon (jaso...), May 28th, 2005 2:37 PM. (jaxon)

Mike Hawk (jaxon), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 22:23 (seventeen years ago) link

tell me about them!

-- (688), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 22:25 (seventeen years ago) link

but yeah, Village of the Pharoahs and Wisdom Through Music are pretty different albums. they're kinda happy and upbeat and don't even have that much free playing on them. they're a bit latin, a bit worldy, very sing songy and chanty. a lot of percussion. he's not even playing sax on a bunch of songs.

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.

Mike Hawk (jaxon), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 22:32 (seventeen years ago) link

i also remember thinking Summun Bukmun Umyun had too much soprano sax on it for my tastes. i'll listen next

Mike Hawk (jaxon), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 22:34 (seventeen years ago) link

the production on Live at the East isn't as immediate and in your face and sounds a little far away

Mike Hawk (jaxon), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 22:35 (seventeen years ago) link

one year passes...

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?

Tuomas, Sunday, 3 February 2008 19:22 (sixteen years ago) link

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

jaxon, Sunday, 3 February 2008 19:50 (sixteen years ago) link

Def. one of the huge benefits of CD.

Alex in SF, Sunday, 3 February 2008 22:30 (sixteen years ago) link

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.

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 4 February 2008 04:41 (sixteen years ago) link

eight months pass...

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.

andrew m., Monday, 13 October 2008 20:34 (fifteen years ago) link

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

Tuomas, Monday, 13 October 2008 20:47 (fifteen years ago) link

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

tylerw, Monday, 13 October 2008 20:49 (fifteen years ago) link

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

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

dell, Monday, 13 October 2008 20:49 (fifteen years ago) link

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.

Tuomas, Monday, 13 October 2008 20:51 (fifteen years ago) link

Gareth do you still have that live set?

Pfunkboy Formerly Known As... (Herman G. Neuname), Monday, 13 October 2008 20:57 (fifteen years ago) link

eight months pass...

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

the table is the table, Friday, 19 June 2009 18:59 (fourteen years ago) link

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

barney kestrel (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 19 June 2009 19:52 (fourteen years ago) link

one month passes...

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?

Tuomas, Wednesday, 29 July 2009 14:11 (fourteen years ago) link

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

jaxon, Wednesday, 29 July 2009 20:52 (fourteen years ago) link

Phenomenal! Thanks for that Tuomas.

matt2, Tuesday, 4 August 2009 16:24 (fourteen years ago) link

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.

Tuomas, Tuesday, 4 August 2009 17:37 (fourteen years ago) link

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.

Tuomas, Tuesday, 4 August 2009 17:45 (fourteen years ago) link

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.

jaxon, Tuesday, 4 August 2009 17:52 (fourteen years ago) link

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).

Tuomas, Tuesday, 4 August 2009 18:00 (fourteen years ago) link

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

Turangalila, Tuesday, 4 August 2009 18:04 (fourteen years ago) link

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.

matt2, Tuesday, 4 August 2009 18:16 (fourteen years ago) link

i have elevation, but not love in us all.

jaxon, Tuesday, 4 August 2009 18:42 (fourteen years ago) link

wow great clip

girlish in the worst sense of that term (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 4 August 2009 18:49 (fourteen years ago) link

two weeks pass...

It's Sonny Sharrock's birthday this week so WKCR is playing some great Sonny and Pharoah right now.

Horace Silver Machine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 23 August 2009 18:22 (fourteen years ago) link

Man, I went looking for live Pharoah on YouTube around his birthday, especially Creator, and totally couldn't find anything satisfying.

James Blood Ulver (I eat cannibals), Monday, 24 August 2009 00:04 (fourteen years ago) link

picked up a cheap copy of 'love will find a way' but haven't been able to listen to it yet because every time i do, mrs jaxon asks me to turn it off during the first song. too smooth. we'll see...

jaxon, Monday, 24 August 2009 03:20 (fourteen years ago) link

two months pass...

This is awesome - Louis Armstrong (w/Leon Thomas) sings "The Creator Has A Master Plan", with arrangement by Oliver Nelson:

http://destination-out.com/?p=474

EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:44 (fourteen years ago) link

!

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:45 (fourteen years ago) link

I'm really hoping that's not one of these: Britney's cover of Funkadelic's "Red Hot Mama"

When Baron Saturday Comes (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:49 (fourteen years ago) link

I already mentioned it upthread. It's a okay version, but not as awesome as it sounds on paper. I think it ends a bit abruptly and too soon, and Satchmo doesn't really put much effort into it. The reason this version exists is that Armstrong and Leon Thomas were both on Bob Thiele's label, Flying Dutchman, at that time. I think it was Thiele's idea to have Satchmo record it.

Tuomas, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:50 (fourteen years ago) link

Sorry, didn't scan the thread, and sure hadn't heard it. Neat little curio.

EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:53 (fourteen years ago) link

No problem, now others get to hear it too.

I think Thomas's own solo version of it on his debut album is clearly better though, as fun as it is to hear Satchmo on this version.

Tuomas, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:56 (fourteen years ago) link

Thiele was an interesting cat, "discovered" Buddy Holly, married to Theresa Brewer, had song written about him by George Coleman's wife, Gloria, called "Funky Bob." Think he maybe wrote some songs himself.

When Baron Saturday Comes (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:56 (fourteen years ago) link

Also, in Thomas's version you actually get to hear the verses too - even though the verse lyrics were printed in the liner notes of Karma, they aren't sung in the Pharoah version (nor in the Satchmo version).

Tuomas, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:57 (fourteen years ago) link

(x-post)

Tuomas, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:58 (fourteen years ago) link


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