Pharoah Sanders

USA, 1959–2022

American tenor saxophonist (1940-2022). He played the overblown, shrieking upper register in Coltrane's late groups, then made that violence serve stillness on Karma (1969), whose side-long 'The Creator Has a Master Plan' defined spiritual jazz.

MusicRoots documents 2 artists who influenced Pharoah Sanders and 0 artists Pharoah Sanders influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Pharoah Sanders?

• John Coltrane — Sanders played in Coltrane's late group from 1964 until Coltrane's death in 1967; the free playing of those years is what he then built a music of his own from.
• Sun Ra — Sanders joined Sun Ra's Arkestra a year after reaching New York, and it was Sun Ra who gave him the name Pharoah.