At the time, Little Rock was part of the touring route through Memphis, Tennessee, and Hot Springs for R&B and jazz musicians. When Cannon left, Sanders, although still a student, took over as the band director until a permanent director could be found.ĭuring the late 1950s, Sanders would often sneak into African-American clubs in downtown Little Rock to play with acts that were passing through. The band director, Jimmy Cannon, was also a saxophone player and introduced Sanders to jazz. His initial artistic accomplishments were in the visual arts, but when he was at Scipio Jones High School in North Little Rock, Sanders began playing the tenor saxophone.
An only child, Sanders began his musical career accompanying church hymns on clarinet. His mother worked as a cook in a school cafeteria, and his father worked for the City of Little Rock. Pharoah Sanders was born on October 13, 1940, in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States.
