For the late jazz legend Pharoah Sanders, sidelong tracks—indeed, even album-long tracks, as the stunning Black Unity proves—served him very well. In this way, the American saxophonist was something like astral jazz’s Fela Kuti; both musicians thrived in epic frameworks.
Coming off the 1969 blockbuster Karma and its soul-inflating, 33-minute anthem “The Creator Has A Master Plan,” Jewels Of Thought continues Sanders’ journey into transcendental sonic exploration. His band for this important mission is stellar: Lonnie Liston Smith (piano, African flute, kalimba, percussion), Richard Davis and Cecil McBee (bass, percussion), Idris Muhammad and Roy Haynes (drums, percussion), and Leon Thomas (vocals, percussion). In addition to playing his powerful tenor sax, Pharoah contributes reed flute, contrabass clarinet, kalimba, chimes, and percussion. (Jeez, that’s a lot of percussion.)
The 15-minute opener, “Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah,” possesses one of Pharoah’s most sublimely beautiful melodies. It’s marked by Smith’s subliminally rolling piano, which could easily be pitched up and interpolated into a killer house-music track. Near the beginning, Thomas instructs us, “We want you to join us this evening in this universal prayer for peace. All you got to do is clap your hands—1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3,” (if only it were that simple), before singing and yodeling his ass off in his trademark manner. There are few more emotive singers in all of jazz than Leon Thomas, even as he’s groaning like a wounded water buffalo (in perfect pitch, to boot).
The lyrics are concise and consoling: “Prince of peace/Won’t you hear our plea/Bring your bells of peace/Let loving never cease.” Smith’s piano becomes a shimmering beacon of hope while Sanders’ sax is a conduit to some of the most extreme emotions in human history, ranging from absolute tenderness to shrieking ecstasy/agony. Rarely is catharsis this artful. The bell- and gourd-shaking, kalimba-plucking, and tub-thumping keep things vibrating on a higher plane. Unfettered joy alternates with scalding vitriol, giving your psyche whiplash.
The nearly 28-minute “Sun In Aquarius” begins with a strange fanfare of flute, contrabass clarinet, chimes, gong splats, and shakers, all of which wouldn’t sound out of place on The Holy Mountain soundtrack—a high compliment, to be sure. Following this odd intro, Smith’s pounding piano clusters lead the portentous rumble the band generates, recalling avant-garde improvers such as MEV or Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza more than any jazz artist of the time. That is, until Sanders’ sax enters the fray with some emergency-warning bleats.
Unexpectedly, the piece shifts into an exuberant, jaunty paraphrase of “Creator,” with Thomas yodeling “yeah”s and “oh”s in his lovable way. Leon really set the bar high with his ecstatic, utterly moving glossolalia. A bass duet at around 17 minutes grounds “Sun In Aquarius” with lithe pizzicati follows, accompanied by emphatic bell-tree tintinnabulation and fragrant kalimba arpeggios. Then Sanders delivers his most fiery blasts yet, setting off drum explosions. This is the sort of infernal free jazz that separates true heads from dilettantes. The last three minutes find Thomas returning with his heart-healing ululations and Pharoah blowing righteous, raspy soulfulness. Talk about an emotional roller coaster…
Jewels Of Thought will leave you exhausted yet paradoxically stimulated to the max. It’s one of Sanders’ greatest achievements. -Buckley Mayfield
Located in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, Jive Time is always looking to buy your unwanted records (provided they are in good condition) or offer credit for trade. We also buy record collections.
