“What a rush!” – Pharoah Sanders in the Daily News on this day in 1977

A review of Pharoah’s week-long residency at the Village Vanguard by Stan Mieses in the New York Daily News, August 10, 1977. From the personal collection of Sharon Howard, the wife of the pianist Khalid Moss.

“There was a moment Tuesday night at the Village Vanguard when I felt like yelling out loud and launching head-first through the ceiling—that’s the kind of feverish pitch that Pharoah Sanders and his group hit me.”

– Stan Mieses, New York Daily News, August 10, 1977

For his week-long residency at the Village Vanguard in August 1977, Pharoah brought bassist Steve Neil, drummer Greg Bandy, and guitarist Tisziji Muñoz, whose “carefully wrought attacks are outstanding, placed next to Sander’s instant intensity,” Mieses wrote. “His new group is just the best he’s played as a leader. They have to be seen and heard to be believed.”

Together, they had all played on his new album released earlier that spring, Pharoah.

“The whole ensemble cooks,” wrote Mieses in his glowing review.

This was a notable week in New York City and if you were around then, you probably remember it, too. Heat wave after heat wave had been hitting the city, and a serial killer was on the loose. A few weeks earlier, a lightning strike had caused what became the famous blackout of 1977, with riots and widespread looting across town.

The police sketch of Son of Sam was on the front page of the New York Daily News on the day of the “Hail Pharoah” review.

All the while a murderer had been tormenting the city, with the frenzy reaching its peak during this very week of Pharoah’s residency at the Vanguard. In the original copy of the paper, you can see a sketch of the suspected killer that was finally published on the front page: David Berkowitz was apprehended the next day.

This newspaper clipping of Mieses’ review was saved all these years in the private collection of Sharon Howard, the wife of pianist Khalid Moss. As we’ll learn, a few weeks after this gig, Khalid and Sharon would accompany Pharoah, Bedria and the rest of his band on a brief but intense tour in Europe in the late summer of 1977.

After the Daily News, Stan Mieses joined The New Yorker, and went on to write many beloved “The Talk of the Town” pieces, including this one from 1978. For those interested, we share his full review of Pharoah’s gig below.

Were you around at the time in New York? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Pharoah is out September 15.

Hail Pharoah

by Stan Mieses

New York Daily News, August 10, 1977

There was a moment Tuesday night at the Village Vanguard when I felt like yelling out and launching head-first through the ceiling — that’s the kind of feverish pitch that Pharoah Sanders and his group hit me.

Sanders has regained an intensity on his saxophones that made him a real jazz happening a few years back, when his albums "Karma" and "Jewels of Thought" propelled him to the forefront; his new group is just the best he's played as a leader. They have to be seen and heard to be believed.

For a number of years, Sanders seemed to have left his Coltrane-inspired saxophone religion in favor of a lot of mumbo-jumbo and bell-shaking. Leon Thomas, a fine singer whose melodic yodeling complemented Pharoah's wild shrieking very well, had left the group, and Sanders adopted a percussive accent that unfortunately overwhelmed his playing.

Now, in electric guitarist Muñoz (he goes by that name only), Sanders has found the best soloist he's ever had in his bands. Munoz' carefully wrought attacks are outstanding, placed next to Sanders' instant intensity. Together, especially when Sanders plays his Eastoned soprano sax, they have come up with a singular wailing sound. The whole ensemble cooks. Steve Neil really works his bass, and Greg Bandy on drums is no less energetic or tasteful.

Sanders took off right away with his tenor on "My Favorite Things," a tip of his mid-cap to Coltrane, with whom he once played, and got so loose he began blues-shouting on the finale. "Love Will Find a Way." What a rush! You can catch him at the Vanguard through Sunday.