Pharoah Sanders joined the Arkestra after waitressing at a Playhouse Café gig

Evidence

For a year or so the Arkestra played regularly at the Playhouse Café, located in a row house on MacDougal Street and owned by jazz pianist Gene Harris. Ferrell Sanders, a young saxophone player up from Little Rock by way of Oakland, took a job as a waiter at the Playhouse to follow the band. (Given the new first name “Pharoah,” he soon joined the ensemble.) — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 892

Categorization

• CANDY: A waiter-turned-saxophonist origin for Pharoah Sanders is a shareable scene anecdote.