Black Unity

by Pharoah Sanders

Black Unity cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: December 8, 1971
  • Label: Impulse!, ABC
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 37:21
  • Community rating: 4.5/5 from 6 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Pharoah Sanders' 'Black Unity' is a single, continuous 37-minute composition built upon a sustained, three-chord harmonic groove. [6] The piece weaves a dense, polyrhythmic tapestry featuring dual bassists and drummers, Pan-African percussion like the balafon, and Sanders' signature saxophone wails, drawing from African, Latin, and indigenous musical traditions. [1, 6] Through its extended, improvisational form, the work serves as a powerful and raw exploration of collective cultural identity and Pan-African artistic vision.

Genres

Descriptors: spirituality, suite, avant-garde, ritualistic, profound

Tracklist

  1. Black Unity (37:21)

Credits

  • Pharoah Sanders - soprano and tenor saxophone, balafon
  • Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson - trumpet
  • Carlos Garnett - flute, tenor saxophone
  • Joe Bonner - piano
  • Stanley Clarke - bass
  • Cecil McBee - bass
  • Norman Connors - drums
  • Billy Hart - drums
  • Lawrence Killian - conga, balafon, talking drum, percussion
  • Lee Young - producer
  • Tony May - engineer
  • Michael Cuscuna - reissue producer
  • Erick Labson - remastering
  • Hollis King - art direction
  • Christine Lee - graphic design
  • Chuck Stewart - photography

More from Pharoah Sanders: full discography