Pharoah Sanders, Spiritual Jazz Legend, Has Passed Away At 81

Legendary jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders has died at age 81 in California, his record label said. “We are devastated to share that Pharoah Sanders has passed away,” the label Luaka Bop said in a statement. “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.” Sanders collaborated with Sun Ra after moving to New York in the 1960s, and the bandleader encouraged him to swap his birth name, Farrell, for “Pharaoh.” A member of John Coltrane’s groups, the Arkansas-born musician was renowned in the spiritual jazz scene. Last year, Sanders released the collaborative studio album Promises with British electronic producer Floating Points and the London Symphony Orchestra which Pitchfork called a “a clear late-career masterpiece.”