Uploaded December 2009 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
'Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord'
Pharoah Sanders - tenor sax, percussion
Lonnie Liston Smith - piano
Cecil McBee - bass
Jimmy Hopps -drums
Laurence Killian - percussion
Nice, France (July 18th, 1971)
A different version of this piece, which is based on an old spiritual, formed the second side of Pharoah's studio LP 'Summun Bukmun Umyun'. There, the vibe was almost totally serene for the entire, near-20 minute track, with Pharoah on soprano and a fabulous arco bass solo from Cecil McBee. On this live performance, broadcast on French radio, the band is smaller, but things get more intense. It all begins calmly enough, with Pharoah playing the melody on tenor and Lonnie Liston Smith laying out reams of rolling chords as he had on 'Jewels of Thought'. Phaorah ends his extrapolations on the melody with a delicate upwards flurry, leaving Smith centre-stage. (Click forward to Part Two) As the piano solo builds, repeating figures endlessly moving up the keyboard, he keeps the pedal depressed and the chords become more and more dense and less and less consonant. The rumbling reaches its loudest and Pharoah comes in with his trademark overblowing, someone starts screaming, and a passage of fearsome power erupts. (Click forward to Part Three) Things settle down again for McBee's bass solo, which he plays as beautifully as one might expect (though the background hiss reminds one that this is a radio broadcast, and the sound quality isn't always ideal), and Pharoah takes things out with an authoritative calm that's nonetheless full of yearning. A quite exceptional performance, Sanders tempering the infamous unearthly sounds of his extended techniques with a serenity that owes much to his mentor John Coltrane.
'Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord'
Pharoah Sanders - tenor sax, percussion
Lonnie Liston Smith - piano
Cecil McBee - bass
Jimmy Hopps -drums
Laurence Killian - percussion
Nice, France (July 18th, 1971)
A different version of this piece, which is based on an old spiritual, formed the second side of Pharoah's studio LP 'Summun Bukmun Umyun'. There, the vibe was almost totally serene for the entire, near-20 minute track, with Pharoah on soprano and a fabulous arco bass solo from Cecil McBee. On this live performance, broadcast on French radio, the band is smaller, but things get more intense. It all begins calmly enough, with Pharoah playing the melody on tenor and Lonnie Liston Smith laying out reams of rolling chords as he had on 'Jewels of Thought'. Phaorah ends his extrapolations on the melody with a delicate upwards flurry, leaving Smith centre-stage. (Click forward to Part Two) As the piano solo builds, repeating figures endlessly moving up the keyboard, he keeps the pedal depressed and the chords become more and more dense and less and less consonant. The rumbling reaches its loudest and Pharoah comes in with his trademark overblowing, someone starts screaming, and a passage of fearsome power erupts. (Click forward to Part Three) Things settle down again for McBee's bass solo, which he plays as beautifully as one might expect (though the background hiss reminds one that this is a radio broadcast, and the sound quality isn't always ideal), and Pharoah takes things out with an authoritative calm that's nonetheless full of yearning. A quite exceptional performance, Sanders tempering the infamous unearthly sounds of his extended techniques with a serenity that owes much to his mentor John Coltrane.
