Jazz legend Pharoah Sanders Passes Away at 81 🕊️🕊️🕊️

[KingsOfKings]

Pharoah Sanders, the revered American jazz saxophonist, has died aged 81. The news was confirmed by Sanders’ label, Luaka Bop, on Twitter.

“We are devastated to share that Pharoah Sanders has passed away,” the label’s statement read. “He died peacefully surrounded by loving family and friends in Los Angeles earlier this morning. Always and forever the most beautiful human being, may he rest in peace.”



Born Farrell Sanders in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1940, Sanders’ career began in Oakland, California. After moving to New York in the 1960s, he started collaborating with Sun Ra, who gave him the name Pharoah, before becoming a member of John Coltrane’s band; Sanders played with Coltrane until the latter’s death in 1967.

Along with Coltrane, Sanders was a key figure in the spiritual jazz scene. His 1969 album Karma, which incorporated influences from traditional African and south Asian music, is considered one of the major early documents of the form. Throughout the early 1970s, Sanders continued to release records as a bandleader, largely on the Impulse! label. In 1971, he performed on Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda, another milestone in modal and avant-garde jazz.

After leaving Impulse! in 1973, Sanders released albums on Arista and the avant-garde jazz label India Navigation, before releasing a run of records on the Theresa label in the 1980s.


Although his output began to slow in the 90s, Sanders continued to tour and collaborate throughout the 2000s. In the mid-2010s, Sanders heard a composition by the British electronic producer Sam Shepherd, AKA Floating Points, and asked to collaborate with him. The resulting album, 2021’s Promises, recorded in 2019 with the London Symphony Orchestra, was Sanders’ first new album in more than a decade, and was widely acclaimed.


Paying tribute to Sanders on Instagram, Shepherd wrote: “My beautiful friend passed away this morning. I am so lucky to have known this man, and we are all blessed to have his art stay with us forever. Thank you Pharoah.”

Jazz legend Pharoah Sanders dead at 81

Revered spiritual jazz saxophonist was known for his unique playing style and collaborations with John Coltrane

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[KingsOfKings]

 

[valet]

Any hip hop songs sampled him?

 

[KingsOfKings]

Any hip hop songs sampled him?

Nujabes heavily sampled him

 

[Auger]

Found out he passed through Floating Points

 

[concise]

he just dropped a record last year. salute to an absolute legend

 

[Peter Popoff]

One of my favorite jazz musicians of all time. R.I.P. King



@blues_funk_reggae are you familiar with his work?

 

[Dad]

 

[KingsOfKings]

he just dropped a record last year. salute to an absolute legend

He was next level

 

[SCJoe]

Damn, him and Ramsey in like the same month.

 

[The Message]

RIP to a trailblazer.

my dad used to have ALL of his albums on vinyl. it used to sound like straight noise to my ears…not some smooth, butter shyt like dexter gordon. and that’s no disrespect to dexter.

but pharaoh’s shyt was DIFFERENT. and my young ears weren’t nuanced like they are now to appreciate his style and the directions he was taking in the music.

he had very spiritual themes in this music. and his sax was a conduit to seek a deeper level of consciousness and understanding. that shyt bled through the music. he wasn’t someone I could listen to as background music. it commanded me to sit down to respect it and “listen”. it was always an immersive experience…almost meditative.

my man was astral traveling through the music.

rest in peace

 

[KingsOfKings]

but pharaoh’s shyt was DIFFERENT

Definitely was

 

[Burned Verses]

I just got back into listening to him too smh.

RIP.

 

[ba'al]

RIP

 

[Pull Up the Roots]