Search - Pharoah Sanders :: Priceless Jazz

Almost a good intro to this great Cosmic Jazz master

happydogpotatohead | New Orleans, LA USA | 02/08/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This was the first Pharoah Sanders CD I ever bought, and I guess it accomplished its purpose; it made me want to hear everything he did. On that level this CD is a success. But on another level, it's not satisfactory, because mostly it focuses on Pharoah's lyrical side and his more or less straight-ahead work. That's only a part of Sanders' music. A new-age fan might love this CD but then be utterly frightened by albums like Karma and Thembi, where Sanders takes you on a trip through meditative music to furious free jazz energy and back again. Pharoah's free jazz energy work is just not fairly represented here. I love his multiphonic screaming sessions just as much as I love his lyrical, meditative side, and it's a shame this collection chooses just to focus on his mellower work. It shortchanges a really great artist, which is why I can only give this recording three stars. This CD is a good starter, and for some people it will be sufficient, but for those with adventurous souls, buy "Thembi" or "Karma" and jump in the deep end, and leave this for those who can't swim yet."

Mellow Pharoah

Jay Murphy | Landover Hills, Maryland United States | 11/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As a fan of jazz in its mellower forms I really dig "Priceless Jazz by Pharoah Sanders". Along with albums such as Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue", John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme", Charles Mingus's "Mingus Ah Um" and Dave Brubeck's "Time Out", this sampler CD is essential listening. Most of the songs on "Priceless" are spacey and meditative. I'm not so thrilled by the blues-inflected and busy "Bluesin' For John C." (though I know 'where he's coming from'), the oriental flavored "Japan" or the free-form "The Promise" so I've subtracted a couple of stars. The rest of the tracks are gems with "The Creator Has A Master Plan" being the high point for me. If albums like "[...] Brew" by Miles are a bit much, a bit too 'difficult listening' (to borrow a phrase from avant garde popster Laurie Anderson), then this CD is for you."