''Rejoice'' is a double album led by saxophonist

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

, recorded in 1981 and released on the

Theresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; ) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Classical Greek, Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

label.

Reception

In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Scott Yanow commented: "The music always holds on to one's interest, making this one of Sanders's better later recordings". The authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' stated that the album is "cluttered by spurious vocals, but packed with interesting episodes," and noted that "the basic group is hard to fault, but it's rarely heard in isolation and there is always someone running interference." Imran Mirza of UK Vibe remarked: "''Rejoice'' lovingly strives for that notion of celebration, achieving it almost immediately... this is an album that embraces its 80s surrounding soundscape, particularly during the album’s early portion of highlife songs." Writing for ''

Jazz Journal ''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund S ...

'', Derek Ansell noted that, on the opening track, "Sanders is full of complex, high-octane improvising," while the succeeding tracks present "a more mellow, mature Sanders... sounding at times like a supercharged Sonny Rollins doing his calypso thing."

Track listing

''All compositions by Pharoah Sanders except as indicated'' # "Rejoice" – 12:42 # "High Life" – 7:38 # "Nigerian Juju Hilife" – 9:57 # "Origin" – 5:41 # "When Lights Are Low" (

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

) – 6:24 # "

Moment's Notice "Moment's Notice" is a "classic" jazz standard composed by John Coltrane. The song was featured on Coltrane's noted 1958 recording '' Blue Train''. History Coltrane never recorded "Moment's Notice" after the version on ''Blue Train'', but other s ...

" (

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

) – 5:16 # "

Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...

" (

) – 5:43 # "Ntjilo Ntjilo/Bird Song" – 4:03 # "Farah" – 5:28

Personnel

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

, bells, vocals *Danny Moore – trumpet (tracks 4–7) *

Steve Turre Stephen Johnson Turre (born September 12, 1948, in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American jazz trombonist and a pioneer of using Conch (instrument), seashells as instruments, a composer, arranger, and educator at the collegiate-conservatory level. For ...

– trombone (tracks 4–7) *Lois Colin –

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

(tracks 7 & 8) *

Bobby Hutcherson Robert Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. "Little B's Poem", from the 1966 Blue Note Records, Blue Note album ''Components (album), Components'', is one of his best-known composi ...

–

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

(tracks 1, 4, 6 & 7) *

John Hicks Sir John Richard Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economics ...

– piano (tracks 4–7) *

Joe Bonner Joe Bonner (April 20, 1948 – November 20, 2014) was an American jazz pianist. Influenced by McCoy Tyner and Art Tatum, he specialized in the hard bop and modal jazz styles. Biography Bonner was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and studied a ...

– piano, vocals (tracks 1–3 8 & 9) *Peter Fujii – guitar, vocals (track 2 & 3) *

Art Davis Arthur Davis may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur Davis (animator) (1905–2000), American animator and director * Art Davis (actor) (1913–1987), American musician, singer, and actor * Art Davis (bassist) (1934–2007), American jazz bassist * A ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(tracks 1 & 4–7) *Jorge Pomar – bass, vocals (tracks 2 & 3) *

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

(track 1),

Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, be ...

(tracks 4–7) – drums *Big Black –

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...

, vocals (tracks 2 & 3) *Babatunde Lea – bells, drums,

shekere The shekere (from Yoruba Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀) is a percussion instrument consisting of a dried gourd with beads or cowries woven into a net covering the gourd. There are multiple ways to produce sounds with the instrument. It can be shaken or ...

, vocals (tracks 1–3) *George V. Johnson Jr. – vocals (track 6) *B. Kazuko Ishida – voice (track 1) *Flame Braithwaite, Bobby London, Sakinah Muhammad, Carroll Wilson Scott, Yvette S. Vanterpool – vocals (tracks 4 & 7) *William S. Fischer (vocal arranger (tracks 4 & 7)

References

{{Authority control 1981 albums Pharoah Sanders albums Theresa Records albums