Spirits

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Music CD Cover

Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2000-06-13
Music Label: Meta
Soundtracks:

Sunrise
Morning in Soweto
The Thousand Petalled Lotus
I and Thou
Uma Lake
Ancient Peoples
Calling to the Luminous Beings
Roundhouse
Molimo
Sunset

Free Music Notes for Spirits

Free Music Review: A stripped-down take on Sanders' Verve output.
Hit: 5 Stars

It seems so rare that a musician would maintain his fire into his third or fourth decade of music, and indeed, when one looks at Pharoah Sanders-- who pushed John Coltrane to his freeist and performed some of the greatest "fire music" of the late '60s and early '70s, one expects much the same, particularly in light of his willingness to explore other musical opportunities after his free jazz explorations had run their course. But one thing about Sanders is that he always maintained his fire, and his passion for exploration kept him looking. In the mid-90s, Sanders began a more organized and detailed investigation of world music and percussion. This set, recorded live in 1998, finds Sanders (primarily on tenor sax) in the company of trap drummer/tablaist Hamid Drake and percussionist/hand drummer Adam Rudolph. The results are simply astounding.

Feeling very much like a stripped down version of Bill Laswell-fueled "Message From Home" and "Save Our Children", the music by and large consists of Sanders improvising over a surface of percussion. Drake and Rudolph set up an amazing backdrop for him and Sanders is clearly inspired by the percussionists on this three-suite performance.

The opening suite (documented on the first track, "Sunrise") finds the trio in a meditative mood-- Sanders summons forth all his balladry, delicately stating the theme over drone and simple percussion, occasionally vocalizing rather than playing. It's one of those pieces that after nearly twenty minutes, you wish it'd keep going. This moves into the most jazz-inflected part of the performance-- a theme that feels related to Monk's "Well You Needn't" (something I noted in reviewing my Sanders CDs is how closely to Monk his songwriting tends to be) is stated over syncopated percussion before Sanders begins freely (and fiercely!) associating over the percussion backdrop.

The third suite is the most unique-- the percussion is taken down a notch to a more tribal and subtle, quieter feel and the leads are taken down with it, from overblows, gentle keenings, and flutes, occasionally coming to a boil and keeping attention but by and large sitting closer to a world vein than a jazz one. By the time it (and the hour long CD) wraps up, you're left wanting more.

For those familiar only with Sanders' early catalog, this may be a good place to begin exploring his later work, certainly it is a downright superb album. Highly recommended.

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