Tauhid [Import, Original recording remastered]

Spyro Gyra, Pharoah Sanders | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 7, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Japanese Import
• ASIN: B00005L8ZJ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,699,387 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt

2. Japan

3. Medley: Aum/Venus/Capricorn Rising

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different side of Coltrane-era Pharoah, November 7, 2001

By 

A. Benjamin (Goodwell, OK United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tauhid (Audio CD)

In late 1966, Pharoah Sanders was still a sideman in Coltrane's final quintet and had made his reputation for his wild and aggressive playing style. This early solo date shows the peaceful, meditative side to Pharoah's music -- a side that he would explore more in-depth after 'Trane's death. The focus of the first track (Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt) is on the rhythm section which provides a haunting soundscape that calls to our deepest ancestral roots as well as the present, and provides a beautiful canvas upon which Pharoah periodically provides some gently lilting flute and piccolo solos -- along with some very melodic sax work. The second piece (Japan) has the feel of an Asian folk melody. The third piece (Aum/Venus/Capricorn Rising) presents more of the fierceness that we Pharoah Sanders fans have grown to know and love, and passages point the way to his later sonic triumphs (e.g., "The Creator Has a Master Plan"). The late guitarist Sonny Sharrock is a treat to hear on this album.

Personally I consider any of his work from the late 1960s and early 1970s to be worth checking out. Tauhid is a good starting point to explore this important creative artist during an era where he was arguably at a creative peak. Unlike some of his subsequent albums, this ain't gonna tear the roof off the sucker, but it makes for some wonderful chill-out music for late at night.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Has any musical recording influenced me more?, July 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Tauhid (Audio CD)

I first heard Tauhid, and Pharoah, in the summer of 1969, lying awake in a walkup flat in Oakland, California at first light. That morning Tauhid became the summer's anthem. Like the time and the place, the music was lush and vibrant, at times dangerous, certainly portentous. But underlying his work was a restful quality that was absent in other freejazz artists who were bigger names, Miles, 'Trane, Ayler. They were really, really good, but Pharoah, he was great, man, he was great.

I left that album behind--it wasn't mine--when I left California for good later that fall. I began searching for Tauhid in the mid-'80's, but didn't find it for ten years. The music is better now than it was three decades ago. I own a lot of the Pharoah's recordings, but Tauhid, hey, it may be his best.

As does a really meaningful book, a really important lover, Tauhid "stays" with you even after long absence. I cannot recommend it more highly to any fan of beautiful-but-eclectic music.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Important Work, February 1, 2000

By 

Connecticut Rooster (Danbury, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tauhid (Audio CD)

This album is where I first became familiar with Pharoah's work-besides Coltrane's Ascension. This is important stuff because it is an excellent departure in the spiritualist merge of three different civilizations: Occident, Orient, and African. All are intertwined within the genre of jazz. This is a movement that can be located in the works of other folks who played with Coltrane such as his wife. The music is a powerful statement.