Pharoah Sanders

Pharoah Sanders brought a fierce, searching tenor saxophone voice to John Coltrane’s mid-1960s groups, then carried that intensity into a long solo career that helped define free jazz and spiritual jazz. Born Ferrell Lee Sanders in Little Rock on October 13, 1940, he became known for overblowing, harmonics, multiphonics and dense “sheets of sound,” techniques that could make the saxophone roar, fracture and sing within the same performance.

His work with Coltrane placed him in a pivotal period for the music, and Sanders’ later recordings extended ideas associated with Coltrane albums such as A Love Supreme. His approach to spiritual jazz drew on religious concepts including karma and tawhid, with performances often built around a meditative atmosphere as well as explosive improvisation. Albert Ayler framed their connection in familial terms: “Trane was the Father, Pharoah was the Son, I am the Holy Ghost.”

Sanders released more than 30 albums as a leader and worked extensively with vocalist Leon Thomas and pianist Alice Coltrane. His collaborations and solo music moved between free-form saxophone passages, spiritual themes and expansive ensemble playing. Ornette Coleman once called Sanders “probably the best tenor player in the world.”

Sanders died on September 24, 2022. His recorded work remains closely associated with the open-ended, devotional and deeply physical sound of spiritual jazz.