''With a Heartbeat'' is an album by saxophonist

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

and cornetist

Graham Haynes Graham Haynes (born September 16, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer. The son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes, Graham is known for his work in nu jazz, fusing jazz with elements of hip hop and electronic mus ...

. It was recorded in West Orange, New Jersey, in 2003, and was released later that year by Evolver, a sub-label of

Instinct Records Instinct Records is a New York City electronic-music record label that first gained prominence in 1989. It is best known for releasing much of Moby's early work. Moby produced a number of tracks under various monikers so that in the early days, t ...

. On the album, which is based on heartbeat sounds recorded by Dr. Jean-Louis Zink, Sanders and Haynes are joined by guitarist

Nicky Skopelitis Nicky Skopelitis (born January 19, 1960) is an American guitarist and composer of Greek descent. He also has performed on banjo, oud, lute, keyboards and other instruments. Although Skopelitis has recorded few albums as a bandleader, he has appea ...

, keyboardist

Jeff Bova Jeff Bova (born Jeffrey Bova in 1953) is an American musician. He has been active in the music industry since the mid-1970s, contributing to recordings by significant mainstream artists like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Blondie, Eric Clapton, ...

, and tabla player

Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul, M ...

. The album was produced by

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

, who also plays bass, keyboards, and flute, and is Sanders' third recording to be produced by Laswell.

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Sean Westergaard wrote that the heartbeat-based music "comes off far better in execution than one might expect," and noted: "Pharoah Sanders' playing is excellent, and the album is enjoyable, but one gets the sense that this is Laswell's project, and Pharoah just plays on it." The authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' stated that Graham Haynes "impresses," and commented: "As a side-project for a cardiologist, it must have been a gas; as a jazz record it falls pretty short." Brian Gilmore of ''

Jazz Times ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'' remarked: "On ''With a Heartbeat'', Sanders has probably gone to some of the places that Trane would go now were he still around. But he has also gone some places that weren't even imaginable when Trane was recording late in his life."

Track listing

# "Across Time" – 17:06 # "Morning Tala" – 7:45 # "Alankara (Beats of the Heart)" – 8:58 # "Gamaka" – 15:52

Personnel

– tenor saxophone, flute *

– cornet, electronics *

– guitar, electric sitar *

– keyboards *

– bass, keyboards, flute *

– tabla, voice * Dr. Jean-Louis Zink – recorded heartbeats

References

{{Reflist 2003 albums Pharoah Sanders albums Albums produced by Bill Laswell