Jazz legend Pharoah Sanders dead at 81

Pharaoh Sanders, revered American jazz saxophonist, has died aged 81. The news was confirmed by Sanders’ label, Luaka Bop, on Twitter. “We are devastated to share that Pharoah Sanders has passed away,” the label’s statement read. “He died peacefully surrounded by loving family and friends in Los Angeles earlier this morning. Always and forever the most beautiful human being, may he rest in peace.”

Born Farrell Sanders in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1940, Sanders’ career began in Oakland, California. After moving to New York in the 60s, Sanders started collaborating with Sun Ra, who gave him the name Pharoah, before becoming a member of John Coltrane’s band; Sanders played with Coltrane until the latter musician’s death in 1967.

Along with Coltrane, Sanders was a key figure in the spiritual jazz scene; his 1969 album Karma, which incorporated influence from traditional African and South Asian music, is considered one of the major early documents of the form. Throughout the early 70s, Sanders continued to release records as a bandleader, largely on the Impulse! label. In 1971, he performed on Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda, another milestone in modal and avant-garde jazz.

After leaving Impulse! in 1973, Sanders released albums on Arista and the avant-garde jazz label India Navigation, before releasing a run of records on the Theresa label in the 80s. His output began to slow in the 90s but Sanders continued to tour and collaborate throughout the 2000s. In the mid-2010s, Sanders heard a composition by the British electronic producer Sam Shepherd, aka Floating Points, and asked to collaborate with him; the resulting album, 2021’s Promises, recorded in 2019 with the London Symphony Orchestra, was Sanders’ first new album in over a decade, and was widely acclaimed.

More news to come.