Pharoah Sanders & William Henderson - 1989 - A Prayer Before Dawn

Recorded in 1987, A Prayer Before Dawn is one of Pharoah Sanders' gentle, reflective dates. Some jazz fans may cringe at his versions of "Christmas Song" and Whitney Houston's "The Greatest Love of All," but the music displays a heartfelt spirituality as opposed to financial slickness. It is the opposite of Sanders' characteristic fire-breathing tenor of his Impulse days, but there is nobility in taking this tranquil direction; Sanders refuses to repeat himself. He demands you listen with open ears, dropping preconceived notions. For instance, unlike the adult contemporary direction taken by one-time free jazz tenor titan Gato Barbieri, this date doesn't sound like a polished commercial venture as much as a quiet, meditative one. The use of tabla, sarod, and chandrasarang adds to the session's spiritual nature.

There's a couple of high points on here, a beautiful melt in the mouth version of Coltrane's "Equinox", where Sanders hints at his wilder former sax style, but otherwise keeps it as hypnotically haunting as the original; and "Clear Out of This World" which is a lovely long drawn out piece with some fantastic piano work by William S. Henderson III. Otherwise this album didn't do too much for me, particularly the reggae tinged title track. Still the version of "Equinox" is so sublime its well worth investing in for that alone.