The social and political upheavals of the 1960s have been cited as a major factor in the emergence of a new stylistic trend in jazz, with a very different emphasis to the forms of the music which emerged earlier. Many of the artists involved in the making of this new music, variously called "free jazz", "the new thing", or "energy music", recorded for the Impulse! label. Ashley Kahn writes that several musicians, often those who had either played with or been influenced by John Coltrane, such as his widow Alice Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, and Leon Thomas, began exploring new thematic and musical ideas, often associated with non-western religious and musical traditions. Although the ideological strain was much more obvious in Shepp's music than Sanders', the musical influence was just as pronounced: virtually all of his recordings as a leader from this late 1960s/early 1970s period contain some kind of African percussion, and other non-western features such as Leon Thomas' distinctive yodelling, apparently learnt from African pygmies.
Album information
Karma is Sanders' third recording as a leader, and is among a number of spiritually-themed albums released on the Impulse! record label in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Although it is followed by the brief "Colors", the album's 32-minute-long "The Creator Has a Master Plan", co-composed by Sanders with vocalist Leon Thomas. Some see this piece as a kind of sequel to Sanders' mentor John Coltrane's legendary 1964 recording A Love Supreme. It features Sanders on tenor sax, along with two of his most important collaborators, the aforementioned Leon Thomas and pianist Lonnie Liston Smith, as well as a supporting cast of musicians who were major musicians in their own right: flautist James Spaulding; French-horn player Julius Watkins; bassist Reggie Workman, who had played with Coltrane earlier in the 1960s; second bassist Richard Davis; drummer Billy Hart, and percussionist Nathaniel Bettis. While later recorded versions of the tune, some of which featured Sanders and Thomas, became shorter and more lyrical, this original contains extended free instrumental sections, particularly the third section, where the saxophonist demonstrates some of the techniques which build his distinctive sound, including a split-reed technique, overblowing, and multiphonics, which give a screeching sound. On the whole, however, this was quite laid-back and accessible for a free-jazz record, with its mantra-like chant/melody, accessible, loping groove and optimistic, spiritually-themed lyrics. The unusual textures also give an impression of the exotic, with the employment of a French horn and flute, adding an almost orchestral tinge not often found in jazz, as well as Leon Thomas' characteristic yodelling and a variety of percussion instruments. Despite its length, it actually achieved mainstream FM radio airplay, surely the closest the avant-garde movement came to a "hit", apart from the cult classicA Love Supreme, and its popularity with acid jazz and hip-hop artists attests to its continuing popular status. The influence of the "spiritual jazz" movement, and Sanders' involvement in particular, can be seen in Sarah Webster Fabio's 1976 lyrics to "Jujus: Alchemy of the Blues":
You prophesied the return of mandolins and tambourines and tinkling bells, and triangles and cymbals, and they sided in on beams from Pharoah Sanders as I slept taking me unaware, tripping, blowing my mind.
