24.09.2022 – News – The New York Times – Jon Pareles —   –  Details

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Pharoah Sanders

He first gained wide recognition for his work with John Coltrane and went on to a fertile, prolific career, releasing dozens of albums as a leader.

— — The saxophonist Pharoah Sanders in Brooklyn in 2015. — Pharoah Sanders, a saxophonist and composer who was celebrated for music that was at once visceral and spiritual, purposeful and ecstatic, died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 81.

— His death was announced in a statement by the recording company Luaka Bop, which did not specify the cause.

— The sound Mr. Sanders drew from his tenor saxophone was a force of nature: burly, throbbing and encompassing, steeped in deep blues and drawing on extended technique to create shrieking harmonics and imposing multiphonics. He could sound fierce or anguished; he could also sound kindly and welcoming. He gained wide recognition as a member of John Coltrane›s groups from 1965 to 1967 and went on to a fertile, prolific career, with dozens of albums and decades of performances.

— Mr. Sanders played free jazz, jazz standards, upbeat Caribbean-tinged tunes and African- and Indian-rooted incantations such as «The Creator Has a Master Plan,» the first half of his 1969 album «Karma,» a pinnacle of devotional free jazz. He recorded widely as both leader and collaborator, working with Alice Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Randy Weston, Leon Thomas, Joey DeFrancesco and many others.

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