Reading John Szwed's fascinating Space is the Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra, you meet "Farrell" Sanders, whom the bandleader ardently convinced to pronounce and spell his name "Pharoah" and extend his already woolly ... more »tenor saxophone style even further. So developed some of the 1960s' most unbridled free-jazz wails, especially where Sanders and Coltrane teamed up in the latter's late-period band (as on Live in Japan). But Sanders eventually moved into the realms of sultry balladry, especially that caught on Crescent with Love, and then his late-1990s period, where he's squared up with producer Bill Laswell. Here Sanders leads his second Verve-Laswell session, with numerous collaborators (East Indian percussionists Zakir Hussain and Trilok Gurtu; keyboardists Bernie Worrell, William Henderson, and Jeff Bova; and even Tony Cedras on harmonium). All the edges are rounded and unfierce, with Sanders's tone mostly sweet and lilting, and the dub-tinged tunes draw comparisons well beyond ballads and postbop, reaching toward a geographically unspecific Middle Eastern mix. The vibes are cool. But the music seems a bit less than it could be at most points, except during the eerie "Ancient Song" with its mournful double-reed melody and the mbira-backed "Far-Off Sand." --Andrew Bartlett« less
Reading John Szwed's fascinating Space is the Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra, you meet "Farrell" Sanders, whom the bandleader ardently convinced to pronounce and spell his name "Pharoah" and extend his already woolly tenor saxophone style even further. So developed some of the 1960s' most unbridled free-jazz wails, especially where Sanders and Coltrane teamed up in the latter's late-period band (as on Live in Japan). But Sanders eventually moved into the realms of sultry balladry, especially that caught on Crescent with Love, and then his late-1990s period, where he's squared up with producer Bill Laswell. Here Sanders leads his second Verve-Laswell session, with numerous collaborators (East Indian percussionists Zakir Hussain and Trilok Gurtu; keyboardists Bernie Worrell, William Henderson, and Jeff Bova; and even Tony Cedras on harmonium). All the edges are rounded and unfierce, with Sanders's tone mostly sweet and lilting, and the dub-tinged tunes draw comparisons well beyond ballads and postbop, reaching toward a geographically unspecific Middle Eastern mix. The vibes are cool. But the music seems a bit less than it could be at most points, except during the eerie "Ancient Song" with its mournful double-reed melody and the mbira-backed "Far-Off Sand." --Andrew Bartlett
"This is not a Jazz album. This is not an album to have as background music. This is not a hip-hop venture to capture the ears of a younger audience. This is the world class drumming of Trilok Gurtu, beyond duplication. This the incredible fluid and furious bass lines of Charnet Moffett. This the unique production quality of Bill Laswell, one of his better more focused efforts, without question. This is the freaky deaky sounds from the Mothership Connection as provided by Bernie Warell, (yet another original.) This album is full of the whose who of unique progressive musicians to date. The effort is focused on creating new unique spiritual music with plenty of cosmic extacy. Pharoah is saying more with his playing at this point in his career than he ever had before. Critics will always hold on to their personal past associations as a measuring stick for new invention that has little to do with the past. This CD is like nothing you have ever heard before. So get over it!
I am now my second copy of this CD. I can't get enough of it."
Nearly Sanders Best
Stephen | 11/14/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It took a while to get into this cd. Though I often admire Bill Laswell, sessions that he produces are often terribly uneven (except Sharrock's Ask the Ages where he basically lets the music do the talking). The title track starts with an "ambient" percussion section that makes you want to say "laswell is a genius." This is followed by an "afro-pop" song/rap that makes you want to say "why does Laswell have to mess with everything." The problem today is, everybody thinks you have to fill up a whole CD with music. Try programing this disc without the "smooth jazz" Midnight in berkely and the title track and I believe you will find this could have been Pharoah's best album and it still clocks in at about 50 minutes."
Some great stuff
Stephen | Virginia Beach, VA USA | 11/03/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Though the vocal title track and the very "smooth-jazz like" Midnight are not Pharoah's best work, some of the reviewers below show that they are nor in tune to pharoah's esthetic. To call this CD a sell-out is ridiculous. Pharoah's work has ALWAYS been a search for peace in a troubled world.When I put this CD in, I start at track three and what a wonderful CD this becomes. Jewels of Love is an excellent though rather smooth tune and the reworking of the earlier Kazuko is beautiful. Then with "The Ancient Sounds" things get really great. Alex Blake is probably the best unknown bassist (or musician) working today. He propels this track the way he does on Randy Weston's recent work. Over this bass and layered percussion, Pharoah once again shows that his high register playing is not a gimmick, he is actually controlling the notes in a range wher others cant even reach (this guy is 60 years old-a poster boy for clean living). The CD finishes with the sublime percussion of the Far Off Sands.Though this CD has a couple of real weaknesses, I find that its one of my most played."
A great record.
Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 10/14/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"In the mid-1990s, Pharoah Sanders began a movement into a new direction on his studio records, exploring world influences and elements of his past (his time on Impulse!) that he'd neglected for a long while-- it was almost as though Sanders was trying to come to grips with his legacy. With producer Bill Laswell, Sanders had available to him a host of musicians normally outside his sphere who could provide these sorts of rhythms and ideals with a sense of authenticity.
And so, "Save Our Children", an album soaked in Indian, Middle-Eastern and Northern African rhythms appeared, the second (and sadly, last, courtesy of a catalog slash) album by Pharoah Sanders on Verve. With a host of musicians including longtime Sanders pianist William Henderson, Parliament keyboardist (and Laswell regular) Bernie Worrell, bassist Alex Blake, tabla master Zakir Hussein and drummer Trlok Gurtu, Sanders constructed a unique and varied album, wrappd and world percussion, where the presence of Laswell as overseer and Hussein is felt, but understated. This is clearly a Pharoah Sanders album.
The record covers a number of moods, and probably the opener and title track best displays this-- mixing chanted vocals, an African rap, and a positively triumphant vocal harmony-laden chorus over a funky backbeat soaked in percussion with Sanders positively transcendent on soprano sax, the piece is at the same time both light and yet filled with depth (it's also nearly universally hated by everyone else I've ever talked to). Other standouts include "Midnight in Berkeley Square"-- a retake on "A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley Square", with Sanders really getting inside the ballad over a haze, a superb tabla performance and Henderson's framing chords, and "The Ancient Sounds", which finds Sanders over drone then beats, first on an anonymous double reeded instrument then wailing away as freely as he ever has on tenor.
The one even nicer thing about this record is that there's nothing bad or dull-- some of the pieces don't really standout too far ("Far-Off Sand"), but they're all quite listenable. It's not quite a masterpiece, but it's a fine album, well worth investigation for folks who can put Sanders' past behind him and see him as a forward looking musician."
The best CD of 1999
blindmowin | 12/07/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There are a lot of typical jazz snobs that will hate this CD. Forget that it's Jazz or any kind of catagory. Forget that it's Pharoah and that he should only make music that is very outside and demanding. This record has soul, It has Balls. It is a very unique and coherent peice. It's beautiful, nothing wrong with that. Trilok on the drums, Bernie on the boards, what more do you want? I play it almost every day. He just gets better with age. Taste great, less to prove more to express."