Luaka Bop bringen gerade ein Doppel-LP-Boxset des Albums “Pharoah” (India Navigation) von Pharoah Sanders aus dem Jahr 1977 heraus. Die erste Scheibe deckt die neu gemasterte Version des Original-Albums ab, bei dem Pharoah Tenorsaxophon und gelegentlich Handpercussion spielt und singt und dabei von seiner Frau Bedria Sanders am Harmonium, von Steve Neil am Bass, Tisziji Muñoz an der Gitarre, Greg Bandy an der Rhythmussektion, Clifton “Jiggs” Chase an den Tasten und Lawrence Killian mitzusätzlicher Percussion begleitet wird. Die zweite LP enthält zwei seitenfüllende Live-Performances des Openers “Harvest Time” aus dem gleichen Jahr, bei denen die Band neben Sanders aus Hayes Burnett (Bass, Percussion),Clifford Jarvis (Drums) und Khalid Moss, (Piano, E-Piano) bestand.

This record’s origin story is as elusive as Pharoah himself. It was born out of a misunderstanding between Pharoah and the India Navigation producer Bob Cummins, and was recorded with a group of musicians so unlikely that they were never all in the same room again. There was the guitarist Tisziji Muñoz, who would go on to become a spiritual guru, the organist Clifton “Jiggs” Chase, who would leave jazz to take a job at Sugar Hill Records, where he would co-write and produce “The Message” for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and Bedria Sanders, Pharoah’s wife at the time and a classically trained pianist, who would play the harmonium on this record even though she had never seen a harmonium before. The confluence of surprising circumstances that surrounded the making of this record, though at the time seemed like limitations, only fueled its brilliance. It would go on to become one of Pharoah’s most beloved records, and would be recognized as one of the great works of the 20th century.