Pharoah Sanders - Summum Bukmum Umyum

Felt the need to write about this one after a great trip away with friends in Mudgee last weekend. In some spare moments, this was one of those brief but special connections where it was all I would listen to, the two seemingly-opposing but interweaved sides of the record somehow capturing the energy of this small but buzzing town for a couple days. It’s an album I’ve been looping a lot lately for its free-flowingness and grace, in that unlike his masterpiece Karma that came two albums before it, Pharoah doesn’t seem to be evoking such a strong message. What comes out of this is something that feels spiritual without ever pushing spirituality, like the music itself is leaning back into a long arm chair, closing its eyes and taking a deep breath. There’s something in the gliding grooves of the title track and serenity of the other that really captured me over my time there. Celebratory sax runs, big block chords and unabashed percussion sprinting through my head at the street festival in this now-bustling town, drops of wine and beef brisket staining the pavement. But look up at the sky after it all and you’ll see a thousand stars gleaming, sitting on the grass in silence hearing the lake water drifting across us, everything still and infinite like the sleighbells and bowed bass that seem to last forever on Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord. I know I’m thinking back more about the trip than the music itself, but there’s something really nice about music that so vividly captures an experience, no matter how brief, where undoubtedly every time you listen to it again you’ll think about where you were and how it made you feel. Well this album was that perfect accompaniment for me last weekend, sharing memories with close friends in Mudgee I know I won’t forget, sparked back up with every new spin of this beautiful music.