Pharoah Sanders Quartet
Birdland
315 W. 44th St. (8th / 9th Aves.)
NYC, NY

04/10/10

Lineage: Zoom H4n w/internal mics @ 90 deg pattern (WAV 44.1kHz/16bit) > ScanDisc > USB >
CDWAV (split tracks) > FLAC frontend

Track List:
(Approx 75:00 mins total)

01) ~ band intros ~ (00:35)
02) ??? (15:59)
03) Naima (07:36)
04) ??? (16:13)
05) ??? (19:38)
06) The Creator Has a Master Plan (09:06)
07) ??? (05:49)

Pharoah Sanders - Tenor Saxophone
William Henderson - Piano
Nathaniel Reeves - Bass
Joseph Farnsworth - Drums

Recording Notes:
- Again...this was a super-stealth pull, so forgive the few defects of this unfinished jewel. The drums are a
bit heavy in the overall mix due to my location. The piano is fairly low in the mix all throughout...but that
was outta' my hands as Birdland's sound technician was content to mix him as background noise rather
than an instrument. Even when he took a solo, it was difficult to hear the action. All apologies.

Performance Notes:
- On reputation alone, I was teeming with excitement to finally catch Pharoah in a live setting for the first
time. (Yes...i know i'm late to the party) Granted, due to age and time, he's not the powerhouse he was
in the '60's...a trailblazing innovative sound on the new frontier of jazz, featured in seminal recordings, both
as a solo artist and alongside 'Trane...his solos are shorter and he lays out for much of the tune when
he's not taking a solo...but he still displays the full pallet of his legendary color, tone and emotion when
he put mouthpiece to lips. I felt he took a little while to "warm up", so to speak...but by the end of the
show, he was simply amazing...blowing crazy notes, making the sax wail and cry, going astral, dancing to the beat and getting the crowd to join-in on the occasional spiritual chant as he whelped and hooted along. Good times.
- Despite the piano being buried in the mix, I assure you...Mr. William Henderson was tasty and spot-on
all evening. He constantly added sweet fills and trickling runs of notes, weaving in and out of the sounds
of his band mates. On bass, Mr. Nat Reeves added a rock-steady anchor to every song they played,
never overplaying or messing with the simplicity of the beat. All-star sidemen to say the least!
- For me, the biggest surprise of the evening was the stellar drumming of Mr. Joseph Farnsworth.
Certainly not to take anything away from Pharoah, Farnsworth's drums were a highlight of every song
they played. His range was huge, be it light touches of his brushes or wild, banshee rhythms pounded
out in waves and flurries of motion. Check this guy out! I know he used to be the regular drummer for
Hammond B-3 organist Mike LeDonne's regular Tuesday night group at Smoke...so that's a no-brainer
right there.

Sorry for rambling...enjoy the show.

Support the artist...buy his CDs...attend his sets...visit his website...and dig his craft.

http://www.pharoahsanders.net/

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