pics: Pharoah Sanders, Jailbait, and Graham Massey @ Baby's All Right (late show)

Photos by Greg Cristman

Pharoah Sanders @ Baby’s All Right (5/6/2015, late show)

From the feeling in the room, you’d think that this gig was very special or that Mr. Sanders rarely plays in New York. Neither was the case. He played in January at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola and at the Blue Note last September. And he wasn’t with his regular first-call New York band; aside from William Henderson, his usual pianist, he had the bassist Juini Booth and the drummer Greg Bandy, veteran New York musicians who have worked with Mr. Sanders off and on over the decades. (Mr. Booth played with him on Larry Young’s “Lawrence of Newark” (1973); Mr. Bandy played regularly with Mr. Sanders in the late ’70s and ’80s.)

So it was a casual gig with expected repertory — a slowly simmering, gospel-like opening into some Coltrane (a bit of “Welcome”) some standards (including “Body and Soul,” with the singer Tony Hewitt as a guest); and some vamp-based Sanders originals, including the singalong “Save Our Children,” with Mr. Sanders leading the chorus and enacting a slow, arm-swinging dance. The band carried out the mood of the music in the right way but by general standards kept the proceedings low-key. It wasn’t out to startle. – [New York Times]

Pharoah Sanders‘ second of two shows at Baby’s All Right last Wednesday (5/6) was a little more like something you’d see at the club on a regular night, as the jazz legend was part of an ecclectic lineup in celebration of Johan Kugelberg‘s birthday. Kugelberg currated the bill which also featured Endless Boogie, a reunited Jailbait and a DJ set from Graham Massey of 808 State. Pictures from the early show are here, and more pics from the late show (we had to leave before Endless Boogie went on) are below…

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Pharoah Sanders Quartet

Graham Massey

Jailbait