Pharoah Sanders Karma (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series) 180g LP

TAS Rated 5/5 Music, 5/5 Sonics in the March 2023 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

Pharoah Sanders' third Impulse! album, 1969's Karma, is a milestone of the spiritual jazz movement and a natural progression in the sonic exploration that Sanders, along with John and Alice Coltrane, had spearheaded over the previous five years. "The Creator Has a Master Plan" is as close as spiritual jazz comes to having its own anthem. Verve's Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Seeking to offer definitive audiophile grade versions of some of the most historic and best jazz records ever recorded, Verve Label Group and Universal Music Enterprises' audiophile Acoustic Sounds vinyl reissue series utilizes the skills of top mastering engineers and the unsurpassed production craft of Quality Record Pressings. All titles are mastered from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged by Stoughton Printing Co. in high-quality gatefold sleeves with tip-on jackets.

The 180-gram-vinyl reissue of Pharoah Sanders' most loved album is a fitting tribute to the tenor saxophonist, who died at age 81 on September 24, 2022. Karma achieved legendary status as a masterpiece of spiritual jazz by way of 'The Creator Has a Master Plan,' which on LP is divided into a 19-minute track on side one and a 13-minute track on side two. Although flipping the disc breaks the frenetic momentum of the dense, wildly improvised main section, the minor interruption is offset by the sonic payoff of Ryan Smith's mastering at Sterling Sound and the pristine pressing, which parlay the original production and engineering into a detailed listening experience that transcends the 53-plus years since the February 1969 recording dates.