Description
I’m not religious, atheistic actually, & yet I’m drawn to the energy & adventure of spiritual jazz. Sanders was unique, unforgettable for how he was totally THE music, letting go of jagged skeletal concerns, almost immaterial, rarely speaking on stage, few interviews, his emotional playing filling the space between yr ears, immersing, luring us along on his deep dives into uncharted territories where his modest self was beholden to how sound could take us away from the stupid daily self & offer us glimpses of ecstasy into his harmonic, multiphonic sheets of sound. I saw him 2x at Rotterdam’s North Sea Jazz Festival hobbling on stage like a sax gnome, spoke few words, held our minds & hearts captive before freeing us – what I mean is, it’s the kind of festival where people come & go, wander to different tents, tasting snatches & samples of jazz. But in this hall, everyone remained seated, mesmerized until the end. & then we were free to go. Freer than we may have realized.
