Odean Pope and Pharoah Sanders
An excerpt from an article written in 2001 about Pope, who turned 80 this past October 24:
Odean Pope spends his time in the relentless pursuit of truth as codified in the fiery scales of a searing free-jazz sax solo. Indeed, 10 minutes into a phone interview with this obscure Philadelphia-based tenor sax player, it becomes clear that this is a man who is not a mere musician in the traditional sense of the word, but a committed spiritual seeker thirsting for sacred knowledge inside a swirl of polytonality. "To me, music is a universal thing," says Pope.
An excerpt from an newspaper article written in 2006 about Sanders, who turned 78 this past October 13:
After moving back to the East Bay, Sanders joined Coltrane's radical "free" group and stayed in it until Coltrane's death in 1967.
Here, however, is what gets lost in the conventional retelling: Sanders did not adopt Coltrane's tone -- Coltrane adopted Sanders'. Their styles are compatible, but who rubbed off on whom? It's clear: By the late '50s, Coltrane was up to his shoulders in pentatonic scales and minor modes, pioneering approaches to harmony. Sanders? Somewhere else completely.
Both tenors use overlapping rhythms and strong dissonance, an approach Sanders continued to refine into the 1970s. One of his favorite spots for it was the Keystone Korner in North Beach, which before closing in 1983 had incense on the stage, mandalas on the walls and lines out the door. A clear fit.
I saw Odean Pope, Pharoah Sanders, and James Carter live at the Blue Note NYC in 2014 and the three of them brought down the house playing solos and together. The honks, squeals, and screeches blended in perfectly with a harmonic rythm that only these 3 tenors, IMHO, could pull off with justice. One of the best, if not the best, concerts I ever saw.