This
is another album that was given a publicity leg up by this year’s Record Store
Day, when the remastered vinyl was on sale for silly money.
There
are only three tracks on the album with the opener, Prince of Peace, a second cousin to The Creator Has A Masterplan. It’s a mellow groover with Thomas’
vocals occasionally straying into borderline yodelling.
Balance belies its name. Driven, funky, free-jazz anchored by some heavy weight tuba that provides a foundation for some wild ecstatic blowing into which the tuba is conscripted as part of a growing storm. The leads push and prod and rage and the full supporting cast develops a maelstrom behind them. It finally breaks into a section from that point where psychedelic soul meets its rock equivalent before the aforementioned maelstrom overwhelms all again. Genuinely exciting music.
The title track opens with some nocturnal African jungle call and response from the creatures of the night underpinned by some forceful bass. There is caution and uncertainty in its pacing as if none of the instruments are willing to step forward and take the lead until a solid groove establishes itself behind Thomas’ meditative ululations and wailings. As with its predecessor, it swings like the best of hard bop but has a firm foot in the sounds of 1969 when it was recorded; Billy Hart takes the driver’s seat and his solo develops into a more solid beat which is surrounded, sonically, by waves of percussion.
Sharrock
takes the lead on a repeated guitar motif, playing through all the rattling
going on before Sanders’ sax rises out and above all and a horn and brass
melody line that sounds like it could come from a classic Blue Note album; even
Sanders’ solo stays in that landscape. By now the tune has reached a rolling
boil* with the whole ensemble either fighting for prominence or filling in the
gaps with whatever can be shaken or hit. As the horns fall away another wave of
percussion rolls in, different grooves develop with different sounds and
emphasis; music for the shuffling feet and the nodding head. Another furious,
shrieking crescendo; a battle amongst the leads usurps the groove which rolls
on in turn challenging the leads for dominance. An uneasy alliance breaks out
into the most powerful part of the album where this conflict is like a battle
in the skies, far above the more earthbound rhythms. In the last few moments
harmony is re-established with a fluid solo from Sanders over the never ending
groove. You can almost see him holding up his hand and counting down to the
close.
I do
like this album. It shows Sanders in transition and brings out an Afro-centric
view that many would follow. I suspect that the record company didn’t know what
to do with as it took them 4 years from recording to release. If you like
Pharoah Sanders (beyond the Floating Points album) you’ll like this and if you
don’t you probably won’t be putting this title in your letter to Santa.
*Hi to all jam makers out there. Dave Sayer
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