Pharoah Sanders, right, performs with Elijah Jamal Balbed of the HUJE on Mar. 3. Courtesy elijahjamaljazz.com

by John Cook

Pharoah Sanders with the HUJE
Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Howard University
Thursday, Mar.  3

The Howard University Jazz Ensemble’s spring concert on Thursday, Mar. 3 featured a very special guest: avant-garde saxophone master Pharoah Sanders.

The HUJE is a project that was initiated by trumpeter and Director Fred Irby in 1975, soon after he arrived at Howard. Its mission is to put top students together into a large working band. On top of that, Howard has brought in professional musicians every year since 1996 to join the ensemble in a special concert and work directly with students, while being recognized for their contributions to jazz.

The choice of Sanders this semester was perhaps more adventuresome than many previous ones, and the results were rewarding. Hearing Sanders in a big-band context was nice, with the arrangements sympathetic and the young scholars quite proficient. In a way, it book-ended with the last time I was fortunate enough to see him in D.C., many years ago, when he was with a very different big band: the Sun Ra Arkestra. (That event was presented by District Curators, whose loss many still feel). Pharoah’s body of work is of course quite diverse, so this proved to be another likely and suitable context for exploration.

The program began with the HUJE playing four pieces that showcased the strengths of the collective, as well as its individual soloists. A number of the students are working in a variety of contexts outside the academy and may be familiar to local readers who have heard them elsewhere. The performers varied throughout the program to provide all the ensemble’s members with opportunities to participate, highlighting their talents while tailoring the instrumentation to each song. Pianist Sam Prather was particularly fluid, and I hope we’ll hear more from him in the future.

The award-winning student a cappella jazz group Afro-Blue then sang “In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning,” to the great appreciation of many friends and admirers in the audience. Sanders was recognized, and he and the HUJE launched into his composition, “Thembi.” Sanders played eloquently and brilliantly, with the solidity of the group providing an opportunity for him to tease time and tone in remarkable ways – both on this song and on the following “Naima” (a John Coltrane ballad). Both tunes provided a wondrous range of contrasts within themselves and between each other. Howard tenor saxophonist Elijah Jamal Balbed also took a brief solo on “Naima” that showed he had absorbed a little technique from the master in short order.

The band closed with “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” another Sanders composition, which offered a little less space than the other two joint pieces. The reading felt almost staid, though still finely textured and able.

While the overall context here was not as open as Sanders’ working groups are, the collaboration brought considerable life and depth to the songs themselves, and it was invigorating to see that the students were clearly observing and learning on the spot. I’ll also mention as an aside that Sanders must have the most beautiful horn I’ve ever seen, and its effect was magnified by the daylight filling the chapel.

In all, a beautiful afternoon and a hopeful demonstration of the vitality of the music as it continues to be seriously studied and performed by a new generation of players. A working sense of and great respect for the tradition was evident amongst the virtuosity that keeps it all vital.

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Video by E.A. Stansbury

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