Customer Reviews

Black Unity

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4 star:		(2)
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By late 1971, Pharoah Sanders was on a search for new sounds-- his flavor of spiritually infused free jazz had been widely explored over several albums in the previous couple years. Sanders began soaking his music in world rhythms-- eschewing the previous layer of free jazzish percussion in exchange for a more traditionally rooted percussion sound-- with drummers Norman Connors and Billy Hart along with percussionist Lawrence Killian, Sanders was able to develop an almost Afro-Latin vibe. This was further accentuated with the presence of two bassists-- a very young Stanley Clarke (on upright) and journeyman Cecil McBee. Clarke (and Connors) brought with him a deep sense of groove and a working knowledge of r&b and funk musics that helped push Sanders into a groove-oriented direction. The final piece, I suspect, in the evolution of his music was the departure of pianist Lonnie Liston Smith and his prelacement with Joe Bonner-- Smith's voice was far more distinctive, almost as much as Sanders, whereas Bonner provided a different pallete for the horns (in this case, Sanders and Carolos Garnett on tenor and Hannibal Marvin Peterson on trumpet) to work.

So the piece itself-- a 37 minute track-- opens with a dueling bass cadence over percussion before a funky piano riff and balphone drone takes over, setting the stage for something different. The theme is picked up by tenor (Garnett I suspect) and trumpet-- like many of Sanders' themes, there's an undercurrent of a Monk root to the riff. Eventually a brief collective improv gives way to individual solos supported by a neverending array of inventive percussion. The results are something.

As intriguing as it is though, "Black Unity" is lacking in some unknown quantity for me-- it's a great album, but something stops me from thinking of it in the same light I think of Sanders' best.

Of all of Pharoah's albums, this ranks among my favorites. The album consists of a single 37+ minute track of African-inspired percussive grooves and ace free-form jamming by Pharoah and his sidemen. Like much of his late 1960s-early 1970s work, the piece alternates between anarchistic cacaphony and sheer mellow bliss but seems to work as an organic whole a bit more effectively than his other excellent albums of the time. Note the bass-line from "The Creator Has a Master Plan" reprised toward the end of the piece -- nice touch. Definitely well-worth picking up and grooving to for fans of adventurous spiritual jazz, avant-garde jazz, acid jazz, and world music fans who want to explore fusions of world and jazz idioms. World fusion with teeth? Yeah. Dig it.

If you like this, make sure to check out the rest of Pharoah's label mates on Impulse! A shame that the conglomerate that owns the Impulse! label is no longer interested in reissuing the Impulse! back catalog on cd, and is threating to delete those Impulse! gems that are currently in print.

I am a DJ of over a decade experience and collecting. I have listened to tens of thousands of albums and this is one of the handful that was powerful enough to actually take me by the soul and change me, helping me GROW for the better. I pull it out on special occasions in my life when things are overwhelming. This is an AMAZING album, my favorite of Pharoah's and one of my favorite of all time, of any genre. BUY BUY BUY.

I LOVE this release, even more so than Karma and Jewels of Thought. Cecil McBee, Stanley Clarke, Billy Hart, and Norman Connors along with what sounds like an army of African percussionists lay down an amazing groove while while the horns take it in turns to go wild. There are some hornless sections that focus on the Balophone as sort of African marimba. The first time I heard Black Unity, I played it over and over again for three days straight. With the exception of what sounds like some sort of electronic keyboard fading in and out with a droning chord, it's all acoustic. Sanders is amazing. He's doing with his sax, imagination, and circular breathing what Hendrix did with an electric guitar with a battery of electronic gadgets.

If you are a fan of the Impulse label, especially the late 60's and early 70's then Black Unity is essential. The energy is incredible. The only thing I can compare it to in terms of Energy is Miles Davis "It's About That Time, March 7, 1970 Fillmore East".

Dig it!

Though not even close to the wildest or freakiest thing Pharoah has ever done (check out Sun in Aquarius at about the 20 minute mark!) this may be Pharoah's strongest, most cohesive statement. Fueled by a two basses and plenty of african percussion, Black Unity is trance music at its best.

Not exactly what you'd expect out of a Sanders album esp. on the avant driven Impulse label. But this album is one continuous 38-minute drive of improvised free-funk jam. What took me up within 2 minutes of this brilliant composition was Stanley Clarke's bass lines (am not sure whether Cecil McBee is grooving simultaneously) and Joe Bonner's piano. I didn't even know Stanley Clarke was part of the free-jazz scene and this is his best playing I've ever heard. Of course, as with a Sanders' late 60s/early 70s staple, there was a huge dose of free music, but in between all that melodic cacophony is a sense of structure (unlike some of this other avant-garde stuff esp. with Coltrane).
Like Clarke who went on later to soul-funk-R-n-B territories, drummer Norman Connors too (a surprise again) started the free-jazz route (as finely displyed here) to eventually dwindle in
R-n-B. Get this one. It's a classic in the league of "A Love Supreme".

This one track has one of the greatest rhythms I've ever heard, just a relentless incredible groove between all the drums percussion and McBee & Clarke's dual bass playing. Pharoah sits out for times, I am sure just listening in awe and wonder to the storm these men produced. I know I often do...

I bought this second hand on impulse. When I really listened to it carried me away into a world of sound and brought me back changed. Words defy me! Amazing playing!

Saw Pharoah at Birdland in NYC last night and at nearly 70, he is still as strong and powerful as ever, perhaps only Billy Harper among current tenor players can match the purity and power of his playing. Black Unity along with Karma, Deaf, Dumb and Blind , Jewels of Thought And the live DVD from Santa Cruz and SF in the 80s are simply "must have" additions to any library. He is the last of a line. A master. Excellent playing on Black unity by Cecil McBee, Marvin Hannibal Peterson, Joe Bonner, Lawrence Killian et al.

It is not that 1971's Black Unity is completely a new idea for Pharoah Sanders. After John Coltrane died in 1967, Sanders developed a more melodic and etherial sound than the rough and howling mountains 'Trane had him climb. And Sander's template was, as some of the best jazz, pretty simple: stuff a simple riff with maximum texture and instrumentation. This really shouted volumes on 1969s Karma, which actually became a fallback on free form FM rock radio.

Black Unity's shout is even fuller. The whole album is a thirty five minute title track. Sanders works around Stanley Clarke's bass ostinato, wrapping it in bells, two tenor saxes, a trumpet, piano, and a very interesting instrument called a balaphone.

I have never heard of the balaphone but if you can imagine a very deep harmonica, you know as much as I do. It gives off a monotone which Sanders uses over the long free jamming passages. It is an organic sound, but I could not help but think when I listened this almost had the effect of moog synthesizer., one note held for ambiance. An amazing spice in this otherwise earthy free jazz,

Texture is a big part of Black Unity, along with raw joy--another big contrast to the turbulent sounds of late Coltrane.

None of which matters until you hear the visceral fruits of this album, which you're late on the boat for already



Well..................ckick!