Pharoah Sanders - Thembi (2024 Verve By Request 180g Vinyl LP Gatefold)

Recorded across two sessions in late 1970 and early 1971, Thembi captures Pharoah Sanders transitioning from his most intense free jazz explorations toward a more spiritual, accessible sound that would define his 1970s masterpieces. This 9 August 2024 reissue, part of Universal Music's Verve By Request series and pressed by Third Man Pressing on 180-gram vinyl in a gatefold sleeve, offers this landmark Impulse! recording in premium contemporary presentation.

The album's first side, recorded on 25 November 1970 at The Record Plant in Los Angeles, features Sanders leading a sextet through three extended explorations. "Astral Traveling" opens with the hypnotic, trance-inducing quality that would become Sanders' signature, layering his tenor saxophone over Lonnie Liston Smith's Fender Rhodes, Cecil McBee's bass, Clifford Jarvis' percussion-heavy drumming, and Michael White's violin. Sanders adds bells and percussion himself, creating dense rhythmic textures that support his increasingly ecstatic saxophone flights.

"Red, Black & Green" addresses Pan-African consciousness through its title (referencing the Black liberation flag colours) and music, Sanders' tenor alternating between screaming intensity and tender melodicism. "Thembi", the title track dedicated to Sanders' wife at the time, closes the first side with a performance that balances spiritual searching with accessible beauty, pointing toward the approach Sanders would perfect on albums like Karma and Journey to the Source.

Side two, recorded on 12 January 1971 at The Record Plant in New York City, presents a different trio configuration featuring Sanders on saxophone, Lonnie Liston Smith on acoustic piano, and Cecil McBee on bass. The absence of drums creates a more spacious, contemplative atmosphere. "Love" is a brief meditation, while "Morning Prayer" and "Bailophone Dance" showcase Sanders' ability to create spiritual music that honours African traditions while remaining distinctly jazz-based.

Sanders' tenor saxophone playing throughout moves between extraordinary technical control and ecstatic abandon. His tone, enormous and sometimes harsh, conveys spiritual yearning and transcendent joy. The extended technique he employs, including overtones, multiphonics, and extreme register explorations, serves emotional and spiritual expression rather than mere display.

Lonnie Liston Smith's presence is crucial, his modal piano and electric piano work providing harmonic foundation while allowing space for collective improvisation. Smith would continue working with Sanders before forming his own successful Cosmic Echoes group. Cecil McBee's bass anchors both sessions with melodic invention and rhythmic solidity, while Clifford Jarvis' drumming on the first side adds propulsive energy and African-influenced polyrhythms. Michael White's violin adds another voice to the collective, his playing influenced by both jazz and Indian classical music.