[guidamaral]

Someone know what kind of mouthpiece he is using here?

 

[Phil Barone]

Someone know what kind of mouthpiece he is using here?

OMG, he uses a different mouthpiece every hour!

 

[lostcircuits]

It's a pre 1982 vintage acrylic custom MPC !

 

[liggy]

Lol... I had a chance to meet him while hanging out at my old local sax shop. He was in town for a gig and carried around about 20 pieces in what looked like a shaving kit.

 

[ZenBen]

OMG, he uses a different mouthpiece every hour!

I was going to say every day, but if you have it on record that its every hour, then I'll defer to you.

 

[Sebastian]

It looks like a metal Selmer Jazz piece.

 

[10mfan]

I am voice texting from the car, and I cannot look at the mouthpiece in the video, but I have probably traded 100 mouthpieces with Pharaoh over the years. He loves everything! He just loves the joy that each mouthpiece gives him for what it is. We have talked in depth about it and he really sees the joy in different gear.

I have a handful of mouthpieces that he traded me that he got from his friend “John”. YES, THAT JOHN.
I am thinking of making copies of those available at some point.

Pharoah is an incredibly special person. As sweet as sweet can be.

 

[JL]

His playing is sublime, no matter what mpc he plays!

I have a lot of fond memories seeing him play in various local bars, dives, clubs in Oakland, Berkeley, and SF back in the early '70s.

 

[Sofiane]

As a hard pharoah Sanders listener, I realized through the years that no matter which mouthpiece he plays, he sounds beautifully and always got his voice.
Like a saxophones heaven.
One of my top 3 Tenor Sounds.

 

[Ken]

His playing is sublime, no matter what mpc he plays!

I have a lot of fond memories seeing him play in various local bars, dives, clubs in Oakland, Berkeley, and SF back in the early '70s.

On my first trip to the US in the early 90's I had the pleasure of seeing him at a jam session at Yoshi's in Oakland. I remember the bass player was a beautiful blond woman. She looked like a model and she could play!

 

[Kritavi]

His playing is sublime, no matter what mpc he plays!

I have a lot of fond memories seeing him play in various local bars, dives, clubs in Oakland, Berkeley, and SF back in the early '70s.

We might have been at some of the same shows. I saw him about a dozen times in that era.

 

[JL]

We might have been at some of the same shows. I saw him about a dozen times in that era.

One show that I remember best was in a place on Telegraph Ave, on the corner just north of the Cafe Med. It was kind of an unlikely venue for music and I don't remember what it was called. At one time it was a restaurant. He really went wild on that occasion and it was fantastic.

 

[Kritavi]

One show that I remember best was in a place on Telegraph Ave, on the corner just north of the Cafe Med. It was kind of an unlikely venue for music and I don't remember what it was called. At one time it was a restaurant. He really went wild on that occasion and it was fantastic.

Was that the place that had kind of a UFO motif? It was some kind of space cult vegetarian place. I saw him there and also saw Sun Ra there.
Pharoah was with Ed Kelly I think and tour it up.

 

[JL]

Was that the place that had kind of a UFO motif? It was some kind of space cult vegetarian place. I saw him there and also saw Sun Ra there.
Pharoah was with Ed Kelly I think and tour it up.

Yes! That's the place. We could very well have been there on the same night because I think it was a one-night appearance for Pharoah. I also saw Sun Ra a few times, but not at that place. With musicians like Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra (Roland Kirk also), I think you had to see them in live performance to get the full impact of their music, for some reason. Recordings and video clips really don't come close.

I have to say back then I never thought anything about what mpc or even what brand horn these guys were playing. It never crossed my mind; I just listened to what they were playing and loved the music.

 

[Kritavi]

Yes! That's the place. We could very well have been there on the same night because I think it was a one-night appearance for Pharoah. I also saw Sun Ra a few times, but not at that place. With musicians like Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra (Roland Kirk also), I think you had to see them in live performance to get the full impact of their music, for some reason. Recordings and video clips really don't come close.

I have to say back then I never thought anything about what mpc or even what brand horn these guys were playing. It never crossed my mind; I just listened to what they were playing and loved the music.

We were probably at the same show, very cool. Yes I saw Kirk too and with all of them the live thing was just at another level. Old and New Dreams and Prime Time were also both that way.
And for me as well, mouthpieces were not a big subject back then. Gear in general was not a big topic of conversation compared to the music itself.

 

[10mfan]

Thats pretty cool! Its a small world indeed!

 

[tony51]

I was in San Francisco in 2007 and was lucky enough to hear him playing a concert in the cathedral, no amplification with just a piano player (unfortunately I don’t remember who). The only time I’ve ever heard him live, great experience and a wonderful sound filling the building.

 

[HeavyWeather77]

I have to admit, with all the hundreds of records I've listened to over the years, Pharaoh is a big gap in my history. There are quite a few Pharaoh fans on this thread, I'm curious what your favorite records of his (or records featuring him prominently) might be!

 

[BH9]

I have to admit, with all the hundreds of records I've listened to over the years, Pharaoh is a big gap in my history. There are quite a few Pharaoh fans on this thread, I'm curious what your favorite records of his (or records featuring him prominently) might be!

Well, you have to start with Ascension, when he was with Trane. After that, any and all of his Impulse albums, if you think you have a taste for that. There was one pretty recently, a live album with Kenny Garrett, that's worth hearing too.

I remember an interview published in a magazine, might have been Saxophone Journal, at a time when he wasn't performing. I think he was just about to be re-discovered, but was at a very low point. He talked a lot about his mouthpieces and he gave the impression that he was constantly working on them and his sound. tweaking, tweaking...

 

[motteatoj]

I have to admit, with all the hundreds of records I've listened to over the years, Pharaoh is a big gap in my history. There are quite a few Pharaoh fans on this thread, I'm curious what your favorite records of his (or records featuring him prominently) might be!

I to came late to the game on Pharoah, and I really really like the standard Karma, Thembi Alice colabs, etc and are truly must listen to music (As soon as I heard the fst few notes of Karma I understood where Kamasi Washington came from!)
For me my really sweet spot with Pharoah is his ballads, they just run deep for me.
Welcome to Love and Love Will Find A Way are my faves.
Actually working on transcribing "I Want To Talk About You" and slowing it down further. This is not easy stuff for me and a real challange but I really do love his version of this song.