Pharoah Sanders - Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) 'July 1, 1970

Tracks list

Tracks

1. Summun Bukmun Umyun
2. Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord

Personnel

Pharoah Sanders (flute, percussion, piano, soprano sax, whistle)
Gary Bartz (bells, cowbell, percussion, alto sax)
Woody Shaw (martenot, percussion, trumpet)
Lonnie Liston Smith (cowbell, martenot, percussion, piano)
Anthony Wiles (conga, drums, percussion, african percussion)
Nat Bettis (percussion, yodeling)
Cecil McBee (bass)
Clifford Jarvis (drums)

After Karma was issued and Sanders had established himself -- to himself -- as a
musician who had something valuable and of use to say, he was on what this
critic considers to be a divinely inspired tear. Deaf Dumb Blind is an example
of that inspiration. Beginning with the title cut, a suite of over 21 minutes,
Sanders brings in the whole of his obsession with rhythm and R&B. Using African
percussion, bylophones, shakers, cowbells, and all manner of percussion, as well
as drummer Clifford Jarvis, Sanders brought in Cecil McBee to hold down the bass
chair and Lonnie Liston Smith back in on piano, and added a three-piece horn
section that included Gary Bartz on alto and Woody Shaw on trumpet in addition
to himself. Whew! Here the Latin and African polyrhythms collide and place the
horns, as large and varied as they are, in almost a supplementary role. The
horns check counterpoint in striated harmony, calling and responding over the
wash of bass and drums and drums and drums! It evolves into a percussion orgy
before the scary otherworldly multiphonic solos begin. And Shaw and Bartz are
worthy foils for Sanders. And no matter how out it gets, those rhythms keep it
rooted in the soul. Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord is almost 18 minutes in
length. It has a long soprano intro, covered in shimmering bells and shakers
with a glorious piano fill by Smith, who becomes more prominent, along with some
excellent arco work by McBee, until the piece becomes a meditation on lyricism
and silence about halfway through. The entire band eventually rejoins for a
group ostinato with very little variation, except in timbre and subtle accented
color work by Sanders and McBee. It is a stunningly beautiful and contemplative
work that showcases how intrinsic melodic phrasing and drones were to Sanders at
the time -- and still are today. This piece, and this album, is a joyful noise
made in the direction of the divine, and we can feel it through the speakers,
down in the place that scares us.

Thom Jurek

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