Arkansas Native Jazz Player Day

Legendary jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, a Little Rock native, will be honored this Friday March 8, 2013 at 12:30 pm in Salon A upstairs in the Grand Ballroom at The Peabody Hotel with an membership into The Society for American Music. In addition, Governor Beebe and Mayor Stodola will also be on hand to present proclamations and declare Friday March 8 as "PHAROAH SANDERS DAY". Society For American Music Honorary Member. This year, SAM is excited to name Pharoah Sanders as the Honorary Member for the 2013 conference.

The ceremony will take place Friday, March 8 at 12:30 pm at the Peabody Hotel (Salon A)in the Grand Ballroom.

Born in Little Rock in 1940, Pharoah Sanders is a tenor saxophonist known worldwide not just for the significance of his early work with some of jazz's most celebrated artists (especially John Coltrane) but for the continued relevance of his performances and compositions today. After making a name for himself on the West Coast, Sanders moved to New York in 1962, where he worked with founding members of the city's avant-garde scene, including Ornette Coleman (who once called him "probably the best tenor player in the world"), Don Cherry and Billy Higgins. He worked and recorded with Coltrane from 1965 until the latter's death in 1967. Recordings made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, especially those with vocalist Leon Thomas, became widely known, particularly "The Creator Has a Master Plan" from the album Karma (1969). Like many of his contemporaries, much of Sanders's music was influenced by non-Western traditions, especially those of Morocco: 1994's The Trance Of Seven Colors was recorded there and documented a meeting between Sanders and master Gnawa musician Maleem Mahmoud Ghania. Now a resident of Los Angeles, Sanders remains a potent force on the current jazz scene, touring internationally with his quartet. Additional information and video clips may be found at http://www.pharoahsanders.net<http://www.pharoahsanders.net/>.

John Miller

Arkansas Sounds Music Coordinator

Butler Center for Arkansas Studies

Central Arkansas Library System

jmiller@cals.org<mailto:jmiller@cals.org>

501-351-4140

www.ArkansasSounds.org<http://www.arkansassounds.org/>

Mailing Address:

100 S. Rock Street

Little Rock, Arkansas 72201

Physical Address:

401 President Clinton Avenue

Arkansas Studies Institute

located in Little Rock's downtown River Market District