Pharoah Sanders: Love Is Here
Two years after his last Impulse! recording, and without a major label behind him, or indeed much new material, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders played a live set at the Maison de la Radio’s Studio 104 in Paris on 17 November 1975. His bassist was Calvin Hill, who alone of the backing trio had, after a stint with McCoy Tyner, once previously recorded with Sanders on his final Impulse! date. Drummer Greg Bandy was new, and it was he who recommended the pianist and organist Danny Mixon, in whose trio he had occasionally played, to complete the band. The material they performed was all by Sanders, other than Moment’s Notice and Lazy Bird, two early Coltrane pieces from Blue Train, and a Billy Eckstine standard, I Want To Talk About You, also associated with Coltrane.
An opening and grandiloquent Improvisation With Pipe Organ – Studio 104 boasted an impressive pipe organ on loan from Lille cathedral at the back of the stage – gives Mixon time to show off his skills before the band leads into the title track, which is in effect a 28-minute, three-part suite, a freewheeling outing that allows Sanders some fine unaccompanied breaks and the slightly nervous band time to settle in. A gleeful piano medley, complete with a rollocking stride interlude, a strained and clichéd vocal blues from Sanders, and the heartfelt Eckstine classic complete the first half, before the two Coltrane songs appear. The Creator Has A Master Plan gets its inevitable outing, although initially more riff-based than usual, and sounding most bizarre when accompanied by a cathedral organ, and after a relaxed outing for Ferrell’s Tune – Pharoah’s original first name before becoming deified (as it were – the Egyptian kings were pharaohs) – the concert ends with Love Is Everywhere, a vocalised version of the title track.
Given its first-ever hearing in full, this set should be a revelation, but in truth, the band here often sounds a bit thin and unsure of itself, bassist Hill is often wayward, and some of these pieces are pure crowd-pleasers. But from what was generally a fallow period for Sanders, it is good to have this archive recording available for the first time.
Discography
CD1: Improvisation With Pipe Organ; Love Is Here [part 1]; Love Is Here [part 2]; Love Is Here [part 3]; Piano Medley Into Pharoah’s Blues; I Want To Talk About You
CD2: Moment’s Notice; The Creator Has A Master Plan; Ferrell’s Tune; Lazy Bird; Love Is Everywhere
Sanders (ts); Danny Mixon (p, org), Calvin Hill (b), and Greg Bandy (d). Maison de la Radio, Studio 104, Paris, 17 November 1975.
Transcendence Sounds 23040
Natsuki Tamura & Satoko Fujii: Ki
The ever-productive pianist Satoko Fujii continues to record prolifically, here partnering trumpeter Natsuki Tamura in the hushed lyricism of Ki, their tenth duo recording, and then as a duo with Tamura in the Kaze cooperative quartet alongside French trumpeter Christian Pruvost and drummer Peter Orins in the gleeful lunacy that is Shishiodoshi. Guest vocalist Kochi Makigami joins them for the ride.
The duo set features seven compositions by Tamura – each named for a species of tree – and a lone Fujii original, all them unhurried in their intense lyricism and quiet intensity. As Tamura says, “I wanted to play the entire album with the same atmosphere. The image of that atmosphere was of standing dignified in clear air.” Ki might owe much to the duo’s previous, equally lyrical Gato Libre quartet albums, each piece remaining at the same leisurely tempo as they slowly reveal a dignified world of carefully enunciated introspection. Tamura’s trumpet unfurls in measured style, Fujii recognising the challenge of not having to think about changing tempos and different moods, allowing her deep piano notes to decay into silence before the next one is played. Silence is always an important part of each tune, as is the contrast between the sometimes bright, percussive piano phrases and the smoky, translucent trumpet tones, whether in duo or solo. Those contrasting textures and the finally crafted detail create an intimate music of great emotional depth, of both majesty and intimacy.
Discography
Keyaki; Sugi; Hinoki; Kusunoki; Arakashi; Icho; Kunugi; Dan’s Oceanside Listening Post (58.31)
Natsuki Tamura (t); Satoko Fujii (p). Orpheus, Tokyo, 15 July 2025.
Libra Records 102-081
Kaze & Kochi Makigami: Shishiodoshi
In complete contrast, the Shishiodoshi set is an inspired blend of serious music-making and oddball humour, the Kaze quartet fronted by the singer Koichi Makigami, a legend of Japanese avant-rock and a regular collaborator with free improvisers. The opening Make A Change explodes with a rolling and dense quartet improvisation that breaks off suddenly before Makigami launches into a display of vocal pyrotechnics, a flood of incomprehensible babbling vocal multiphonics whose absurd juxtapositions eventually cohere as an organising principle. The pace slows down and the surprises continue on the completely improvised title track, which takes its name from the water-filled bamboo tubes that are a common sight in Japanese gardens. Even at this slower tempo, the same surreal logic guides the music, its subtle textures and tone colours forming a cloud of gentle abstract sounds that gradually give way to a quirky vocal trio and a soaring free-wheeling climax. The evocative Inspiration 2 ends proceedings in temporary serenity as the group imitates the sounds of nature before some quiet percussion, breathy trumpets and strummed piano strings lead into another intense vocal outing from Makigami. Fujii’s incendiary piano solo brings the piece to an exuberant climax. As the press release so aptly says, “This is music of teeming vitality that embraces life in all its glorious absurdity,” although some listeners will no doubt pale at its vocal excesses.
Discography
Make A Change; Shishiodoshi; Inspiration 2 (60.58)
Koichi Makigami (v, shak, t); Christian Pruvost (t, flh); Natsuki Tamura (t, v); Satoko Fujii (p); Peter Orins (d). Recorded at La Malterie, Lille, France, 13 May 2024.
Circum/Libra 208
