Search - Pharoah Sanders :: Pharoah

Decent, But Not Spectacular

A. Benjamin | Goodwell, OK United States | 02/03/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This mid-70s effort finds Pharoah Sanders drifting a bit. The first track (Harvest Time) features a contemplative Sanders on Saxophone and the subtle guitar work of Tisziji Munoz. The second track (Love Will Find a Way) features Sanders with a bit more that old Sanders fire, but I could have done without the vocals. The final track is basically a keyboard dominated vamp that never quite gets anywhere. I usually end up playing the first track and skipping the remaining tunes. Worth picking up -- if you can find it -- for dedicated fans, but new listeners would be better off starting with his superior efforts of the 1960s/1970s, such as "Thembi", "Karma", or "Summun, Bukmun, Umyun", or the more recent "Spirits"."

Skip to "Tauhid" and save this for later

happydogpotatohead | New Orleans, LA USA | 01/20/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This CD, Pharoah's first, shows him saddled with mediocre backing musicians and still very much overshadowed by his influences. Only occasionally do you hear the full throated cosmic-chaotic roar or the floating Zen melodicism found in his later work. It isn't surprising that this release didn't generate much critical interest; there's frankly not much here to hold one's attention. It is pleasant and occasionally interesting, but not anything more than that. It's probably best that this is out of print; it is of marginal interest only to dedicated Sanders fans who want to hear what his sound was like in embryonic form. He showed great promise here, but it was only promise."