The album is named later Sanders's wife. Sanders moved away from the long, intense compositions of his solo albums too produced an album of shorter tracks. He too other musicians played a large multifariousness of instruments. Sanders played tenor, alto, too soprano saxophone, bailophone (African pollex piano), small-scale percussion instruments, too a moo-cow horn.
Sanders's other major collaborator, pianist too composer Lonnie Liston Smith, performs on Thembi (though this would live on the final fourth dimension they recorded together). Also featured are violinist Michael White, bassist Cecil McBee, too percussionists Chief Bey, Majid Shabbaz, too Nat Bettis. "Thembi", "Astral Travelling' too "Morning Prayer" were included on the two-disc anthology, You've Got to Have Freedom, on Soul Brother Records. ' Lonnie Liston Smith began experimenting with electrical keyboards acre recording this album.
On Thembi, that was the get-go fourth dimension that I always touched a Fender Rhodes electrical piano. We got to the studio inwards California — Cecil McBee had to unpack his bass, the drummer had to gear upwards his drums, Pharoah had to unpack all of his horns. Everybody had something to do, but the pianoforte was simply sitting at that topographic point waiting. I saw this musical instrument sitting inwards the corner too I asked the engineer, 'What is that?' He said, 'That's a Fender Rhodes electrical piano.' I didn't convey anything to do, too hence I started messing with it, checking some of the buttons to run across what I could practise with dissimilar sounds. All suddenly I started writing a vocal too everybody ran over too said, 'What is that?' And I said, 'I don't know, I'm simply messing around.' Pharoah said, 'Man, nosotros gotta tape that. Whatcha gonna telephone phone it?' I'd been studying astral projections too it sounded similar nosotros were floating through infinite too hence I said let's telephone phone it 'Astral Traveling.' That's how I got introduced to the electrical piano.
Thembi has been criticized for its somewhat cut-and-paste experience (it was compiled from 2 sessions, recorded inwards 1970 too 1971); the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, written past times Richard Cook too Brian Morton, offers a particularly harsh assessment. However, Ashley Kahn, writer of The House that Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records, describes it equally "a career high-point: [it was] co-produced past times Michel too stone producer Bill Szymczyk, who together introduced Sanders's music to advanced studio techniques of the twenty-four hours — unopen miking, overdubbing, too effects similar reverb, echo, too phasing."
Recorded with 2 dissimilar ensembles, Thembi was a departure from the piece of cake developing, side-long, mantra-like grooves Pharoah Sanders had been pursuing for almost of his solo career. It's musically all over the map but, fifty-fifty if it lacks the same consistency of mood equally many of Sanders' previous albums, it does offering an intriguingly broad hit of relatively concise ideas, making it something of an anomaly inwards Sanders' prime number period. Over the vi selections, Sanders romps through a tremendous multifariousness of instruments, including tenor, soprano, alto flute, fifes, the African bailophone, assorted small-scale percussion, too fifty-fifty a moo-cow horn. Perhaps because he's preoccupied elsewhere, there's relatively piffling of his trademark tenor screaming, express generally to the thunderous cacophony of "Red, Black & Green" too portions of "Morning Prayer." The compositions, too, endeavour all sorts of dissimilar things. Keyboardist/pianist Lonnie Liston Smith's "Astral Traveling" is a shimmering, pastoral slice centered around his electrical pianoforte textures; "Love" is an intense, five-minute bass solo past times Cecil McBee; too "Morning Prayer" too "Bailophone Dance" (which are segued together) add together an expanded percussion department devoted alone to African instruments. If there's a unifying factor, it's the classic championship track, which combines the softer lyricism of Sanders' soprano too Michael White's violin with the polyrhythmic grooves of the almost Africanized cloth (not to cite a catchy bass riff). Some fans may gripe that Thembi isn't conceptually unified or intense enough, but it's rare to convey this many dissimilar sides of Sanders coexisting inwards ane place, too that's what makes the album such an interesting listen.
It is foreign that 2 of the almost striking albums made past times saxophonist Pharoah Sanders during the get-go level of belatedly 1960s/early 1970s astral jazz convey been too hence frequently overlooked inwards reissue series. Tauhid (Impulse!, 1967)—the recording which launched astral jazz, the manner Sanders fashioned with harpist/pianist Alice Coltrane—and Thembi convey been available only intermittently during the final 20 years.
Tauhid is unalloyed bliss from start to finish, a sweetness too lyrical evocation of Eastern mysticism which established astral's template: prominent African too Asian percussion instruments; velvet-sandpaper saxophone vocalizations too multiphonics; hummable tunes too melody-centric improvisations; stone steady bass ostinatos; pianoforte vamps; chanted vocals; rich collective grooves.
Thembi inhabits this territory over iv of its vi tracks, but steps out of it on the other two. The album was recorded during 2 sessions—in Los Angeles inwards Nov 1970 (tracks 1-3), too inwards New York City inwards Jan 1971 (tracks 4-6)—with some changes inwards personnel. Sanders, pianist Lonnie Liston Smith too bassist Cecil McBee were nowadays at both sessions; violinist Michael White was inwards Los Angeles, though was featured little; traps drummer Roy Haynes too iv percussionists supersede Los Angeles' drummer Clifford Jarvis too percussionist James Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan inwards New York.
The album opens with Smith's "Astral Traveling," a lush, sweeping grouping workout foursquare inwards the astral paradigm; inwards 1973, Smith, too, used it equally an opening track, on his solo debut Astral Traveling, on ex-Impulse! producer Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label. The tune is given an exquisite surgical operation on both albums, with Sanders' presence giving his Thembi version the edge.
But on Thembi, "Astral Traveling" proves to live on the calm earlier the perfect storm. "Red, Black & Green," which follows, is equally ferocious equally is suggested past times its title, a reference to the colors made emblematic past times dark liberation movements inwards the U.S. of A. too Africa. At 8:56 minutes, it is the 2d longest rails on the album, too Sanders' overdubbed saxophones are foregrounded practically throughout, played inwards a manner closer to the tumultuous ane adopted past times Sanders when he was a fellow member of saxophonist John Coltrane's groups inwards 1966-67. Here, Sanders' sole concession is to play inside a marginally to a greater extent than lyrical harmonic framework.
"Thembi" returns to the melodic, ostinato-driven palette of "Astral Traveling," earlier the album ane time again switches out of the astral comfort zone.
"Love," is an unaccompanied, 5:12 infinitesimal bass solo. If y'all are already reaching for the "skip track" button, don't practise it. McBee turns inwards a corker, starting conventionally enough, albeit with frequent role of percussive, "Africanized" string-on-wood effects, earlier focusing on cleanly articulated high-harmonics (well recorded past times producer Ed Michel too engineer Bill Szymczyk). Given all the tirelessly iterated ostinatos McBee contributed to Sanders' music—here too on Izipho Zam (Strata East, 1969) too Impulse!'s Jewels Of Thought (1970), Summun, Bukmun, Umyun (1970), Black Unity (1972), Wisdom Through Music (1972) too Village Of The Pharoahs (1973)—he was owed this 5 minutes alone, too he seizes them; "Love" is the variety of rails that gives bass solos a skilful name.
The closing "Morning Prayer" too "Bailophone Dance" furnish to to a greater extent than familiar, collective astral territory. "Morning Prayer," at 9:11 minutes the longest track, revisits the vehement tenor heard on "Red, Black & Green," but inwards an amiable, ostinato-driven groove. "Bailophone Dance," built around a traditional West African cross-rhythm, makes skilful role of mitt drummers Chief Bey, Majid Shabass, Anthony Wiles too Nat Bettis.
Delicious, essential listening.
Track listing:
1. Astral Travelling (Lonnie Liston Smith) - 5:48
2. Red, Black & Green (Sanders) - 8:56
3. Thembi (Sanders) - 7:02
4. Love (Cecil McBee) - 5:12
5. Morning Prayer (Sanders/Liston Smith) - 9:11
6. Bailophone Dance (Sanders) - 5:43
Personnel:
Pharoah Sanders – tenor too soprano saxophones, alto flute, koto, brass bells, balaphone, maracas, moo-cow horn, fifes
Lonnie Liston Smith – piano, electrical piano, claves, percussion, band cymbal, shouts, balaphone
Michael White – violin, percussion
Cecil McBee – bass, finger cymbal, percussion
Roy Haynes – drums
Clifford Jarvis – drums, maracas, bells, percussion
Nat Bettis, Chief Bey, Majid Shabazz, Anthony Wiles – African percussion
James Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan – band cymbal
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