Emerging from the fertile Chicago avant-jazz scene of the late '60s, the Pharoahs were an afro-influenced jazz-funk conglomeration consisting of veteran session players for the Chess label, as well as future members of world-beating R&B stars Earth, Wind & Fire. Initially formed around the core members of the Jazzmen, one of several active bands centered on Chicago’s community-oriented Afro Arts Theater, they combined forces with the Artistic Heritage Ensemble, led by Phil Cohran, a cornetist and former associate of the AACM and Sun Ra’s Arkestra. By 1971, the group recorded their sole studio album, Awakening, followed by a live document, In the Basement (1972), both of which were reissued by the Luv N’ Haight label in the late '90s, much to the delight of rare groove collectors. ~ Dave Shim