Song of the Day 5/24: Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas, “The Creator Has a Master Plan”

Guest post by Nathan Arizona

If there really is a creator, and he really does have a master plan, look around these days and you might think this is surely not it.

But the 1969 plan by jazz sax player Pharoah Sanders and vocalist Leon Thomas to write a spiritual-jazz song called “The Creator Has a Master Plan” was clearly a winner. They also had the good idea of recording a shorter, more accessible version later that year with Thomas’ vocals out front and Sanders again on sax. Thomas was a jazz singer who sometimes yodeled, but more about that later.

The song is a touchstone for the spiritual jazz style, which has little to do with gospel music or regular church things. The sometimes dreamy, stretched-out, Afro-centric style is about a more generalized transcendence and enlightenment. “The Creator Has a Master Plan” “has been known to drive hard-core atheists to cry rivers of joy,” as one writer put it. It’s associated with black culture but works for anybody seeking a higher spiritual level — or just plain good vibes, man.

Rolling Stone called it the “ultimate hippie jazz anthem.” One critic said it’s the “Stairway to Heaven” of jazz.

Spiritual jazz originated in the ‘60s with the partially “free” or abstract work of John Coltrane (late phase) and followers like Sanders, Don Cherry and Sun Ra. “The Creator Has a Master Plan” has been covered by a long list of artists including Norman Connors, India Arie, Louis Armstrong, Santana, Joey DeFrancesco, Don Cherry, John McLaughlin and Latin jazzman Bobby Matos.

The style has become an important part of the contemporary jazz and jazzy r&b scene. Pick up a recording by a young artist in this genre today and there’s a fair chance you’ll see it on the track listing.

So what is the “master plan?” Sanders and Thomas say “The creator makes but one demand, happiness thru/All the land.” Sounds like a good one, but looks like a long way to go.

Leon Thomas’ ululating style is said to derive from African pygmy and American Indian singing. He’s not to be confused with the young contemporary soul singer with the same name. Here’s his 1969 shorter version with Sanders on sax.

Organist Joey DeFrancesco was one of many established jazz instrumentalists who helped sustain the song’s popularity. Here he is in 2019 with the long-lived Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax.

Tyreek McDole is one of the popular young singers who have embraced the tune.

Roots-rocker Dave Alvin has put together a surprising psychedelic jazz-rock group called The Third Mind. Its version is found on the just-released album “Right Now!”