The Argentinean bandoneon giant with German cellist Anja Lechner (from the Rosamunde Quartet). Crafted, free chamber music with inspirational roots in South American tradition — this is fab.

Fabulous music-making, as ever from the Argentinian bandoneon-player, with his clarinettist brother Felix, and cellist Anja Lechner.

The wonderful bandoneon player. ‘The work is alive with different genres: from dances such as zamba to carnavalito to chacarera… the tango… the milonga, wounded yet strong, intrinsic yet expressive.’

Wonderfully evocative solo bandoneon. No wonder Jean-Luc Godard whipped from it for both Nouvelle Vague and Histoire(s) du Cinéma.
Warmly recommended.

The great Argentinean bandoneon player in his first purely solo recording for more than thirty years.
‘A powerful reminder of Dino’s gifts as a musical storyteller of great subtlety. His pieces in this intimate recording reach back to early memories: Don Caye, subtitled Variations on the work of Cayetano Saluzzi, is a most touching dedication to his father. Throughout, the bandoneonist reflects upon the fleeting passage of time.’
Wonderful music, warmly recommended.

‘Sublime. The romping High Life, which opens, establishes the album’s mood, which is upbeat and celebratory. Sanders’ vocalized saxophones are at their most vibrant (standouts are his tenor on High Life and soprano on Selflessness); in addition to Norman Connors on drums, there are three percussionists, including Mtume and Badal Roy; James Branch adds some pretty flute; and someone is playing, it sounds like, a sitar in tamboura-style (or a tamboura in sitar-style, it is hard to tell which) on the title track and The Golden Lamp’ (Chris May, AllAboutJazz).

His wonderful 1987 hommage to John Coltrane, leading John Hicks, Curtis Lundy, and Idris Muhammad. You’ve Got To Have Freedom is here, but Naima lands the knockout roundhouse. Warmly recommended.

Heavy, grooving, excursive, Afro-Latin jazz to usher in the seventies, with two bassists — Cecil McBee and Stanley Clarke — and three drummers, in Norman Connors, Billy Hart, and Lawrence Killian. Fronting alongside Hannibal Marvin Peterson and Carlos Garnett, Sanders solos magnificently.
‘Verve By Request.’ Crucial Pharoah.

His first recordings, pre-Trane. Two previously unreleased sessions with Don Cherry and Paul Bley; his debut as a leader; and the first issue ever of the complete end-of-1964 concerts with Sun Ra at Judson Hall (Sanders’ only known recordings with the Arkestra).

In its full-length glory, from the great man’s 1980 LP Journey To The One; plus his version of the Marvin Gaye classic, from his 1978 LP Love Will Find A Way, with Norman Connors.
Both recordings luxuriating on 12” for the first time.

‘Deluxe limited edition embossed 2LP boxset including a 24-page booklet containing interviews with many of the participants, including Pharoah himself, previously unpublished photos, and ephemera. Frequently bootlegged, this is the first official version since 1977 — remastered and definitive. Adds two previously unreleased live performances of the masterpiece Harvest Time, performed during a European tour in the summer of ’77.’

Over to our friends at Soundohm in Milan…

‘The album begins with the throbbing three parts of its title track, collectively clocking in at just under 17 minutes. Underpinned by a tambura drone, heavily rooted in the percussive and rhythmic drive of the ensemble, Sanders soars through modal lines on saxophone (and sometimes voice) in a dance with Sedatrius Brown’s largely wordless vocals… some of the most engrossing and boundary-pushing spiritual jazz ever recorded…. before rounding out the first side with the brilliant, drone-like Myth, which features the bulk of the ensemble in states of chant… The second side begins with the ethereal spiritual jazz piece Mansion Worlds, featuring the majority of the ensemble making up the rhythm section while Joe Bonner delivers shimmering lines on piano and Sanders threads himself through it all… before drifting into the balladic and dreamy Memories Of Lee Morgan. The finale Went Like It Came takes a brilliant and unexpected turn, nodding to Sanders’ roots with Sun Ra. Swinging and raucous — taking on elements from classic R&B — it’s one of the those rare pieces by the saxophonist that makes you want to tap your foot and dance, while still retaining the heat of free jazz fire.
‘Truly staggering on every count, Village of the Pharoahs is one hell of a journey. Unquestionably one of our favourite Pharoah Sanders records of all time.’

This is a blast. From 1996, but summoning the fervour of his early seventies classics, Pharaoh sparks off kora, and high-life, and various African rhythms. The dazzling lineup includes Foday Musa Suso, Michael White, keyboardist Bill Henderson, Bernie Worrell, Charnett Moffett, and Hamid Drake.