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"The Creator Has A Master Plan" is dominated by this in its mid secotion for about tweleve minutes. Can you imagine such a time.But Sanders surrounds the free playing with bells, chimes, all kinds of sound sheens, and uses melodic starts and ends to the numbers on Karma to almost create a new type of free jazz--where you can go anyplace you want, but where the planned sections are as melodic as the free sections are roucas. You would never dream listening to Pharoah Sanders' work with John Coltrane from 1965-67 that he could create such lyrical music. The track was so cool, it was actually a standby in the days of progressive FM radio. This juxtapositions of extremes is exceedingly powerful and make this a classic record, for jazz or any genre. Ascension or Live in Seattle give few indications of this. Not that there is not plenty of riotious free playing on Karma.
I also recently heard "Black Unity" and was totally blown away, I plan to pick that one up as well (no Leon Thomas on that one).This is an incredibly unique recording and well worth your hard-earned pennies. I got curious and discovered his web site. See if you can find some of his music on a Web radio site (he is out there on some of these sites) or perhaps your library can get some in to their collection. But.
Both of these works feature Mr. If you have not heard Sanders before, you cannot judge this recording on the basis of the Amazon clips. Why did I purchase this. Well, I'd finally managed to get my head around Coltrane's "Mediations" and learned to love it. If you haven't been there you should stop in there soon. There is nothing at all wrong with his bizarre "yodeling" affect.
Note that while most of this CD is gentle, there are spots of intensely chaotic playing, which Sanders is known for. it is over used to the point of distraction in my opinion. There is just too much of it. Of the two releases I think I prefer "Jewels of Thought" but both are worth owning. The "Tunnel" video is wonderful. That is the only reason I say 95% Fantastic and Awesome, I just wish there was a little less Leon and a little more Pharoah. I happened to pick up a used disc by Alice Coltrane "Journey in Satchimandana".
It really catches the new listener off guard, and that's ok. Leon Thomas' singing is good, he's a good vocalist. Sanders. So anyway, I picked this up along with "Jewels of Thought".Both releases are almost 100% wonderful but I do have one thing that bothers me.
I can't give it 5 stars, because I can't give an album that is largely a couple of ideas taken ad nauseum 5 stars; however, I will say this: I hear some references to Coltrane's A Love Supreme in this album. The beauty of Karma is not the Free Jazz, but rather the repetitive hymnal harmonic chord progression that is uplifting. By the way, the LP contains all the music that this CD contains, except that it is continued on side 2. It is even more uplifting in some ways than A Love Supreme, if not as influential in its scope. The vocal aspect is also very nice. I have this on vinyl and recently listened to it.
So my advice to you is, start listening. At the end, you'll exclaim, wow, that was amazing, i can't wait to listen to it again. I agree with almost everything said in the other 5 star reviews, so I will not repeat it. There is one thing that I think needs to be stressed further, and that is that even though the first peice is very long, it does pay off to listen to it all the way through.
Composed by Sanders and vocalist Leon Thomas, it receives on this album a sprawling treatement (extending nearly 33 minutes) that is something to be heard.Beginning with a swelling theme by Sanders (on tenor exclusively), with a nimble rhythm section including Lonnie Liston Smith on piano, Richard Davis and Reggie Workman on bass, William Hart on drums, and Nataniel Bettis and Thomas contributing percussion, Sanders evokes a mood-- mysterious, spiritual and haunting in his blistering playing with falutist James Spaulding and french hornist Julius Watkins countering him ably. Sonically, the remastering on this recording is superb and it sounds crisp and clear.Interested parties after hearing this should dig up Leon Thomas's "Spirits Known and Unknown", he performs "The Creator Has a Masterplan" (among other cuts) in a briefer version with its full lyrics intact and an ensemble that includes several of the players here. Pharoah Sanders' 1969 album, "Karma", is generally (and rightfully) acknowledged as one of the masterpieces in the free jazz movement of the '60s. After a couple minutes, the piece bleeds into a relaxed tempo with one bassist plucking the familiar bass theme and one by one instruments joining-- swiping piano, flute doubling the main theme, and Sanders at his most lyrical and emotional until finally Thomas intones the chorus to the piece (oddly enough, the verses are not included in this recording).What follows is the beginning of an explosive improv-- Thomas in his odd yodelling style, Sanders ferocious on tenor, and Smith at the piano all take turns, with the rest supporting-- increases in tempos signal increases in the power of the improv and the preceedings rise and fall repeatedly-- the opening theme is reprised, the main theme is reprised, and it builds one last time until Sanders doubles the main bass line towards the end (about 28 minutes in) and plays one of his loveliest and most powerful solos to bring the piece to its conclusion.When it's done, "Colors" almost seems like a waste of time-- a reasonable song with some nice playing and a pretty goofy lyric about the colors of nature, its altogether a fairly pointless piece, inoffensive, but not terribly inspired after 'Creator'.The CD reissue includes lyrics for both pieces (including the unsung verses of 'Creator') but sadly no essay in the liner notes. Both recordings are highly recommended. The majority of the album is absorbed by the lengthy "The Creator Has a Masterplan", with a brief second piece, "Colors" also on the record. "The Creator Has a Masterplan" has worked its way into jazz consciounsess, becoming a standard of sorts performed by everyone from Louis Armstrong to Don Cherry to Jamaaladeen Tacuma.
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