New CD ESP 4054 Sun Ra - Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold

In 1964, Sun Ra asked the young tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders to join him, while Arkestra mainstay John Gilmore was busy working with Paul Bley, Andrew Hill, and Art Blakey. Before the recording's original release in 1976, Sun Ra stated: "It should be very interesting to the world to show what the pre-Coltrane Pharoah Sanders was like." Also appearing on "Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold" is the little-heard flautist, Black Harold (Harold Murray), who takes the lead on the track "The Voice of Pan," continuing into "Dawn over Israel." Bassist Alan Silva (ESP 1091) also does some fine bass work on the release.

"Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold" is notable not only for its unique lineup, but also for the first known recording of the composition "The Shadow World," here titled "The World Shadow," which was featured on later Arkestra albums. This release contains an additional 45 minutes and 36 seconds of unreleased material.


Personnel

Sun Ra: keyboards
Art Jenkins: space vocals
Pharoah Sanders: tenor
Black Harold: flute & percussion
Marshall Allen: alto saxophone
Danny Davis: alto saxophone
Pat Patrick: baritone
Chris Capers: trumpet
Al Evans: trumpet, flugelhorn
Teddy Nance: trombone
Bernard Pettaway: bass trombone
Robert Cummings: bass clarinet
Alan Silva: bass
Clifford Jarvis: drums

Track Listing
1. Cosmic Interpretation
2. The Other World
3. The Second Star is Jupiter
4. The Now Tomorrow
5. Discipline 9
6. Gods on a Safari
7. The World Shadow
8. Rocket Number 9
9. The Voice of Pan
10. Dawn Over Israel
11. Space Mates

Tracks 1-5 - Stereo - Previously unreleased
Tracks 6-11 - Mono - Issued as El Saturn - JHNY - 165
All compositos Enterplanetary Koncepts (BMI)

Credits


Presented by the Jazz Composers Guild's Four Days In December
Recorded at Judson Hall, New York on December 31, 1964
Photo by Raymond Ross

Music research and compilation by Michael D. Anderson
Production Manager: Tom Abbs
Digital remastering by Douglas McGregor
Design & layout by Miles Bachman & Fumi Tomita


Press Quotes

"This album is a curiosity not just because of the presence of Pharoah Sanders, but because of the absence of John Gilmore...After a noisy intro, Alan Silva does some nice arco playing before Sun Ra sets a piano vamp for the horns. There's tons of percussion and some great space voice courtesy of Art Jenkins, and they slip briefly into "Rocket Number Nine." "The Voice of Pan" is a feature for Black Harold where he is either doing a Rahsaan Roland Kirk thing on flute or in a serious mind meld with Art Jenkins' space voice. Either way, it's pretty wild...." - Sean Westergaard

(ESP-Disk')