Something Blue

DJ Hairy Larry Presents John Coltrane Playing Serenity
From The Archives Of Something Blue – 2026-05-24

John Coltrane – Meditations

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear a classic in spiritual jazz played by two of the best tenor players jazz has ever known.

So, everyone’s got the first one, John Coltrane. Known for playing both tenor and soprano sax. Amazing tone, sheets of sound, free jazz pioneer, that’s John Coltrane. He composed one of the greatest jazz songs of all time, “A Love Supreme”.

Coltrane was born and raised in North Carolina, so he’s not our Arkansas connection.

No, that’s the other tenor player, Pharoah Sanders, born in Little Rock, Arkansas, known for his dense tone and his innovations in spiritual jazz who played with John Coltrane on three of his finest albums, “A Love Supreme”, “Ascension”, and “Meditations”, and then went on to create more spiritual jazz on Impulse! including his most famous album, “Karma”.

This is a two part podcast. Today we’re going to talk about Pharoah Sanders life in jazz and the importance of his music not just to Arkansas but to the entire world.

And then Saturday night I’ll spend a few minutes talking about his album, “Karma” and his premier composition “The Creator Has a Master Plan” which I will play in it’s entirety. A song that is called Pharoah Sanders continuation of his work with Coltrane on “A Love Supreme”.

I want to thank Wikipedia for some of the details of Sander’s life.

Pharoah Sanders was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on October 13, 1940. Like many jazz greats he started playing in church, on the clarinet. When he was at Scipio Jones High School in North Little Rock, Sanders began playing the tenor saxophone.

He went to college in Oakland, California, where he also began his professional jazz career. He moved to New York where Sun Ra took him under his wing and encouraged him to use Pharoah Sanders as his stage name.

In 1965, he became a member of Coltrane’s band, as the latter gravitated towards the avant-garde jazz of Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, and Cecil Taylor. Sanders first recorded with Coltrane on Ascension, then on their dual-tenor album Meditations. After this, Sanders joined Coltrane’s final quintet.

In 1968, he participated in Michael Mantler and Carla Bley’s Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Association album, featuring Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Larry Coryell, and Gato Barbieri.

Starting in 1966, Sanders signed with Impulse! and recorded Tauhid, released the following year. The years Sanders spent with the label were a commercial and critical success.

In the 1970s, Sanders continued to produce his own recordings and also worked with Alice Coltrane on Journey in Satchidananda.

Sanders continued writing and recording for his whole life exploring African rhythms, R&B, modal jazz, and hard bop.

In 2020, Sanders recorded an album titled “Promises”, with the English electronic music producer Floating Points and the London Symphony Orchestra. It was released in March 2021, the first major new album by Sanders in nearly two decades. It was widely acclaimed, with Pitchfork declaring it “a clear late-career masterpiece”. “Promises” was the last album Sanders released before his death.

Sanders passed on September 24, 2022, at his home in Los Angeles, at the age of 81. He was an Arkansas native who conquered the world. His legacy will never die.

Now, from the John Coltrane album, “Meditations”, here’s John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders playing “Serenity”.

Something Blue Archives Featured Album
John Coltrane – Meditations

Something Blue Archives – List Of Concerts
archive.org/details/somethingbluearchives?sort=-publicdate

Wikipedia links

Pharoah Sanders
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharoah_Sanders

Pharoah Sanders – Karma
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_(Pharoah_Sanders_album)
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