Tauhid | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1967 [1] | |||
Recorded | November 15, 1966 | |||
Studio | Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ | |||
Genre | Avant-garde jazz | |||
Length | 34:40 | |||
Label | Impulse! | |||
Producer | Bob Thiele | |||
Pharoah Sanders chronology | ||||
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Tauhid is a jazz album by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was the second album released under his name, and his first album on the Impulse! label. It was recorded on November 15, 1966 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, [2] four days after the concert heard on the John Coltrane album Offering: Live at Temple University, [2] and was released in 1967, after the death of Coltrane, with whom Sanders had played since 1965. Tauhid was reissued in 2017 on Anthology Recordings. The album marks guitarist Sonny Sharrock's first appearance on a record, as well as one of pianist Dave Burrell's earliest recordings.
In the album liner notes, Sanders wrote: "I don't really see the horn anymore. I'm trying to see myself. And similarly, as to the sounds I get, it's not that I'm trying to scream on my horn, I'm just trying to put all my feelings into the horn. And when you do that, the notes go away... Why [do] I want clusters [of notes]? So that I [can] get more feeling, more of me, into every note I play. You see, everything you do has to mean something, has to be more than just notes. That's behind everything I do – trying to get more ways of getting feeling out." [3]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 8.2/10 [5] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Uncut | 8/10 [7] |
Gary Giddins referred to Tauhid as "the first and best of Pharoah Sanders's Impulse albums." [8] Chris May, writing for All About Jazz, called Tauhid "arguably the finest statement in [Sanders'] astral oeuvre," and states that "Of all Sanders' Impulse! albums... Tauhid has the best sound." [9] In his review for AllMusic, Al Campbell notes that "Sanders' tenor appearance doesn't saturate the atmosphere on this session; far from it. Sanders is content to patiently let the moods of these three pieces develop..." [4]
Writing on the Red Bull Music Academy web site, Andy Beta stated: "Drawing on his travels through Japan with Coltrane's group, as well as his reading about ancient Egypt, Tauhid balanced the incendiary sax shredding of Sanders' years with Coltrane with a newfound lyricism and patience, letting each song unfold at a natural pace. And with the guitar of Sonny Sharrock adding both furious noise and nimble R&B chording that gave the sidelong 'Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt' its melodic hook, Sanders' work began to resonate beyond jazz as the Stooges and MC5 incorporated the spirit of Sanders into their proto-punk sound." [10]
Will Schube called Tauhid "a perceptive insight into Sanders' mission, balancing jazz's studious technical aspects with a contemplative verve that lends his playing a striking looseness. It's in this balance that Sanders has remained an inspiration for the modern incarnations of spiritual jazz. Sanders' style is at once both deconstructive and innovative. Taking the tenants[ sic ] of jazz, he works backwards, stripping its tropes bare and rebuilding the genre in his own image. The playing strikes a balance, constantly driving yet stripped-down in its search for a capital-t Truth... Sanders was working in a style of jazz out-there enough for the most adventurous of listeners, but in control of his vision to such a thorough degree that even the most casual of jazz fans could find a lick, a melody, or a solo to latch onto." [11]
In a review for Pitchfork, Daniel Martin-McCormick wrote: "Tauhid... plays like a mission statement. At the helm of an all-star sextet... Sanders leads the group through three pieces that transcend the traditional 'head/solo/head' structure... On Tauhid, the pieces are suites that play like seances, with movements billowing and unfolding of their own accord. The group's unity is powerful, creating a spiritual atmosphere that casts a spell from the opening bars." [12]
All songs written by Pharoah Sanders
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.
Pharoah Sanders was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", Sanders played a prominent role in the development of free jazz and spiritual jazz through his work as a member of John Coltrane's groups in the mid-1960s, and later through his solo work. He released more than thirty albums as a leader and collaborated extensively with vocalist Leon Thomas and pianist Alice Coltrane, among many others. Fellow saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world".
Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock was an American jazz guitarist. His first wife was singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he recorded and performed.
Herman Davis "Dave" Burrell is an American jazz pianist. He has played with many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray.
Ptah, the El Daoud is the third solo album by American jazz pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane, released on Impulse! Records in September 1970. The album was recorded in the basement of her home in Dix Hills, New York, in a session on January 26, 1970.
Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was recorded at A & R Studios in New York City on July 1, 1970, and released on Impulse! Records in the same year. The album's title is bilingual: "Summun Bukmun Umyun" is Arabic for "Deaf Dumb Blind".
Live At The Village Vanguard Again! is a live jazz album by saxophonist John Coltrane. Recorded in May 1966 during a live performance at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York City, the album features Coltrane playing in the free jazz style that characterized his final years. The lineup features Coltrane's quintet, with Coltrane on tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, and flute, Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone and flute, Alice Coltrane on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Rashied Ali on drums, supplemented by Emanuel Rahim on percussion. It was the quintet's only official recording released during Coltrane's lifetime.
Ask the Ages is the final album recorded by jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock during his lifetime. It was produced by Bill Laswell and released in 1991 on his Axiom Records label. It features saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, bassist Charnett Moffett and drummer Elvin Jones.
Michael Walter White was an American jazz violinist.
Ascension is a jazz album by John Coltrane recorded in June 1965 and released in 1966. It is considered a watershed in Coltrane's work, with the albums recorded before it being more conventional in structure and the albums recorded after it being looser, free jazz inspired works. In addition, it signaled Coltrane's interest in moving away from the quartet format. AllMusic called it "the single recording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant-garde".
Karma is a jazz recording by the American tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, released in May 1969 on the Impulse! label, with catalog number AS 9181. A pioneering work of the spiritual jazz style, it has become Sanders' most popular and critically acclaimed album.
Coltrane "Live" at the Village Vanguard is a live album by the jazz musician and composer John Coltrane. It was released in February 1962 through Impulse Records. It is the first album to feature the members of the classic quartet of Coltrane with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones, as well as the first Coltrane live album to be issued. In contrast to his previous album for Impulse!, this one generated much turmoil among both critics and audience alike with its challenging music.
Norris Jones, better known as Sirone was an American jazz bassist, trombonist, and composer.
Jewels of Thought is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was recorded at Plaza Sound Studios in New York City on October 20, 1969, and was released on Impulse! Records in the same year. The 1998 reissue merged "Sun In Aquarius" into one 27-minute-long track.
Offering: Live at Temple University is a live album by John Coltrane recorded in 1966 and released posthumously by Resonance Records on September 23, 2014, Coltrane's 88th birthday. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Album Notes and was well-received by critics. Proceeds from the album benefit the John Coltrane Home.
Izipho Zam (My Gifts) is the third album led by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders recorded in 1969 but not released on the Strata-East label until 1973. It features Sanders with a large ensemble.
Highlife is a studio album by American jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock. It was recorded at Jersey City's Quantum Sound Studio in October 1990 and released later that same year by Enemy Records.
Pharoah's First is the debut album by American free jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, recorded in New York City at the loft of audio engineer Jerry Newman on September 10, 1964, and first released in 1965 on the ESP-Disk label. The album was originally issued with the title Pharaoh and was later re-released with the titles Pharoah,Pharaoh Sanders Quintet, Pharoah Sanders Quintet, and Pharaoh's First, and was also included in its entirety in the 2012 4-CD compilation In The Beginning 1963-1964.
Spiritual jazz is a sub-genre of jazz that originated in the United States during the 1960s. The genre is hard to characterize musically but draws from free, avant-garde and modal jazz and thematically focuses on transcendence and spirituality. John Coltrane's 1965 album A Love Supreme is considered landmark in the genre.
Carnegie Hall '71 is a live album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York City on February 21, 1971, and was released in 2018 by the Hi Hat label. On the album, Coltrane appears on piano and harp, and is joined by saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp, bassists Jimmy Garrison and Cecil McBee, and drummers Ed Blackwell and Clifford Jarvis.