is Karma by Pharoah Sanders the best record ever?

I’m listening to Thembi. First album I heard from him and still my favorite. Opening track alone “astral travelling” hits the spot.

Not his best I’d agree but a personal favorite.

I don't know if it's considered a great one or not but I really love Wisdom Through Music

RIP

Absolutely vital to my getting into jazz in the first place, so he's always been a keystone for me

― rob, Saturday, September 24, 2022 10:51 AM (eleven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah this. when i was figuring out what about jazz was interesting to me he was right in the center of it. his late 60s/early 70s aesthetic and overall vibe stands unmatched.

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

omg

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah ye-ah.

Wow.

Sounds like a mash up but it's apparently real. There's a wikipedia entry on it mentioning a couple of other tracks from teh sessions with Leon Thomas on and a few other unexpected artists like Ornette coleman. Apparently it's about Louis Armstrong's last but one session and he was too weak to play trumpet but sang ok.
It's up on Spotify as the full original lp if you want to hear any more.

I discovered that Louis track via this excellent NTS show from a few years ago (maybe even posted on ILM?) thats an hourlong mashup of a bunch of different covers of "Creator", lots of great versions

Really nice appreciation of Pharoah by Kamasi Washington in the Guardian.

Pharoah reissued and streaming

a blessing

http://www.pharoahsanders.com/harvesttime/2023/9/14/its-harvest-time

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

otm

bet $5 that a year from now there will be a single-LP version

(for $30)

i have a bootleg repro that i'm happy with, and it sounds like they are posting photos and essays online so

same!

The bootleg's been so expensive for ages, so I'm happy to be able to pick up a copy. The live stuff's great too.

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)