Listen in one sitting, don't whatever you do shuffle in and out because Promises is long form. At just over three quarters of an hour the suite, more a symphony, you know from the first stirrings of its nine movements is intent on taking its time. Pharoah Sanders practically levitates on top of the Floating Points (Sam Shepherd) sound painstakingly put together over half a decade, the London Symphony Orchestra adding heavyweight orchestral input as well. For the fullest effect of what they do go to the 9th movement. The second movement becomes even more serene and there is a lot of textural subtlety in the wash that builds up shaped around an elongated 7-note motif that lifts and separates throughout. In a sense the whole album is a variation, a modality and launch pad for improvisation, on this phrase. More detailed fills heap up to offer a variety of delights from squealy Hammond organ swells to the dinkiness of a xylophone chime or the unearthliness of electronic construction. Sanders is particularly magisterial at the beginning of the fifth movement and makes a journey back to a masterwork of his such as Karma an immediate priority. Overall a very respectful project full of an elegant joy and moving flashes of a remarkable spirit. Out today on Luaka Bop

Floating Points (above left) and Pharoah Sanders

photo: Eric Welles-Nyström