Pharoah Sanders - Thembi (1971)

A hugely enjoyable, often downright mellow and groovy, mixed bag from Pharoah Sanders' early years on Impulse.  The fearsome free jazz skronk of his previous records and guest appearances began to tone down around this time, concentrated into just one burst of ferocity on the second track here.

Before that is the gorgeous opener Astral Travelling, spontaneously written by Lonnie Liston Smith on his first encounter with a Fender Rhodes.  The title track coasts along on a nice Latin rhythm, then Love, a bass solo spotlight for Cecil McBee, completes the November 1970 recording session.  The final two tracks date from January 1971, and are the most intricate and interesting in terms of their instrumentation.  Sanders packs in turns on koto, flute and sax on Morning Prayer, before the tempo picks up and leads straight into the closing free-for-all of Bailophone Dance.  All in all, a great album that shows Sanders' stylistic versatility to maximum effect.

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