Here’s a very cool collaboration: Floating Points, the electronic wiz who’s also a genuinely good jazz bandleader, has teamed for an album with spiritual jazz legend Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra. The album — which will be Pharoah Sanders’ first in over a decade — is called Promises and due March 26 via Luaka Bop (pre-order). Along with the announcement, they shared 26 seconds of music, and this:
Sam Shepherd (Floating Points): Pharoah…
Pharoah Sanders: Huh…?
Sam: Were you asleep? I’m sorry…
Pharoah: No no… I was listening… and dreaming… and listening to music in my head…
Sam: Oh wow… sorry.
Pharoah: Many times, people think I might be asleep… but in fact, I am just listening to music in my head. I’m always listening… to the sounds around me… and playing, in my mind… and sometimes I dream.
Sam: What were you dreaming about?
Pharoah: I’m on a ship. In the ocean. Bears coming around smoking cigars. The bears are singing, ‘We have the music. We have what you’re looking for.’
* * *
Pharoah: How you like that take, Sam?Sam: It’s cool. I think the bit in the middle, where it stops again…I think you can hear…We were both kind of confused. I like it as well because it sounds like two musicians that are trying to guide each other.
Pharoah: I think that’s it right there. It came out different. It came out good though.
Sam: You happy?
Pharoah: Yeah, I’m cool with it.
Sam: Okay. Yeah, I think your playing is beautiful.
Stay tuned for more, and check out the new teaser video below…