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"Sacred Space II"

Pharoah Sanders, solo

Friday, April 21 • 8pm

“[Pharoah Sanders is] a man of large spiritual reservoir.”—John Coltrane

A veteran of John Coltrane’s later ensembles and a modern jazz and world-music legend in his own right, Pharoah Sanders fills majestic Grace Cathedral with his “impossibly sweet and full tenor saxophone tone” (The Independent, London) in this latest edition of SFJAZZ’s long-running “Sacred Space” program—an exploration of jazz at its most reflective and contemplative.

Note: Grace Cathedral's soaring vault produces a natural, seven-second reverberation. This effect˜far different from typical concert hall acoustics˜will be an integral component of this performance.

Mr. Lewis E. Byrd

Program Notes

SFJAZZ’s long-running “Sacred Space” concerts at Grace Cathedral explore the reflective and contemplative side of jazz. Dramatic performances over the years have included remarkable solo shows by such masters as Joe Henderson, Charles Lloyd, and Steve Lacy. This year’s spotlight solo artist is the iconic tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, the one-time John Coltrane disciple and band mate, whose music teems with spirituality.

Born in Arkansas in 1940, Sanders moved to the Bay Area in 1959 to play with R&B and avant-garde bands before moving to New York a few years later. Early gigs included sets with Don Cherry and Billy Higgins, but Sanders’ breakthrough came in 1965 when John Coltrane invited him to join his compelling, cathartic yet controversial free jazz band.

Sanders, who had met Coltrane in San Francisco, was given a boost by the master in New York when Sanders was homeless and riding the subways at night to stay warm. Sanders recalls Trane inviting him onstage in 1964: “I was confused a good deal of the time when I first started playing with John. I didn’t know what he had in mind. It was a big question mark as to why he wanted me to play. I kept thinking that what I was doing wasn’t good enough. I’d be playing a solo and thinking maybe I better end it here and get off the stage. So, I’d play some and then start to pack up my horn. And John would say, ‘Don’t do that. Take it back out. Play some more.’”

Sanders’ tenure with Coltrane lasted from 1965 until the saxophonist’s death in 1967 and was marked by the tonal aberrations and spiritual intensity of collective improvisation. The tenor saxist went on to become a championed leader in his own right, passionately spearheading dozens of his own projects—tearing into overblown squeals, frenzied split tones, urgent honks and explosive splats as well as delivering soulful melodic gems.

Ten years ago, Sanders performed at the San Francisco Jazz Festival’s concert “Peace and Love: A Tribute to John Coltrane.” Prior to the show, he said he wasn’t sure what would happen once he got onstage: “It’s going to be a surprise even to myself. But whatever I do, I’ll be coming to give to the audience. That’s my main purpose in playing.” Expect this kind of improvisational transcendence at his solo performance at Grace Cathedral.

— Dan Ouellette