Needle Time

  Pharoah Sanders - Pharoah [LB 0090 / LB 5051 BOX  2023 USA 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Today is the first anniversary of Pharoah Sanders death at the age of 81. Rather fittingly, David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records have recently reissued Sander's impossible to find 1977 album Pharoah as a double album gatefold boxset, mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. This set evolves around the twenty-minute track, Harvest Time and the soulful R&B track  Love Will Find A Way . There are also two differing live interpretations of Harvest Time recorded in Belgium & Germany in 1978 which breathe a whole new life into the track. The boxed set also includes a large booklet of interviews, photographs & essays on Sanders, along with a whole bunch of related ephemera. Best known for his work with John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane & Lonnie Liston Smith, Sanders was also to work with Jah Wobble & Bill Laswell in his later years, culminating in his 2020 albu...

  Alice Coltrane Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Joe Henderson - Ptah, The El Daoud [AS-9196 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] With the growing success of the higher specification Acoustic Sounds Series re-releases, Universal Music Group decided the wanted a little more of the action and have resurrected their Verve By Request sub-label, contracting Ryan K. Smith for these new cuts of rare long lost gems from the catelogue. UMG may or may not decide to share the provenance of their source material, as many many questions still circulate about which master reels, and which did not, get lost in the infamous 2008 warehouse fire. The conglomerate decided to follow the model of the Blue Note Classic Series and use a cheaper pressing plant, Blue Note went with Optimal in Germany, the Verve By Request releases have been given to Third Man in Detroit.  Ptah, The El Daoud is the second in the series, featuring the spiritual duo of Alice Coltrance (piano & harp) and Pharoah Sanders (...

  Pharoah Sanders - Karma [A-9181 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] On his inspirational third album, spiritual jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders takes jazz beyond anywhere it has been before. Recorded at the RCA Studios in New York in February of 1969 and first released on Impulse Records in May of the same year, this legendary album has been seen by many as a response to Coltrane's A Love Supreme - you will hear the similarities in melody during the more peaceful moments. This album is not easy listening, this is not cigar lounge jazz, if you do not know this record then be prepared for an assault on your senses. This new pressing was cut by Ryan K. Smith from the original master tapes, pressed at QRP and packaged up in a gorgeous high gloss tip-on gatefold jacket as part of Verve's Acoustic Sounds Series. A1 The Creator Has A Master Plan B1 The Creator Has A Master Plan (Part II) B2 Colors

  Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises [PLP-7135 JPN 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Promises seems to feature on nearly all 'best-of' album lists for 2021, so what is it all about? Some of the genrefication police will struggle with a tag for this album, I have settled for ambient , but it could also be jazz or classical ......choose whatever you prefer. This is a recording full of air and space - I chose the black vinyl Japanese version on the P-Vine label, rather than all the different coloured Luaka Bop vinyl versions or the compact disc. The vinyl has a low noise floor which allows the music to shine through, even at lower volumes.  Sam Shepherd's simple pattern of keyboard notes builds on familiarity as the nine segments build - they must have heavily mic'ed the studio as you can hear his hands move across the keyboard and his feet move across the piano pedals. Pharoah Sanders' saxophone drifts and floats at the front of the sound...