Albert Ayler - Live in Greenwich Village (1965)

Live in Greenwich Village was Albert Ayler's first recording for Impulse, and is arguably his finest moment, not only for the label, but ever. This double-CD reissue combines both of the Village concerts -- documented only partially on previously released LPs -- recorded in 1965 and 1966 with two very different groups. The Village gigs reveal the mature Ayler whose music embodied bold contradictions: There are the sweet, childlike, singalong melodies contrasted with violent screaming peals of emotion, contrasted with the gospel and R&B shouts of jubilation, all moving into and through one another. On the 1965 date, which featured Ayler, his brother Donald on trumpet, Joel Freedman on cello, bassist Lewis Worrell, and the great Sunny Murray on drums, the sound is one of great urgency. Opening with "Holy Ghost," the Aylers come out stomping and Murray double times them to bring the bass and cello to ground level in order to anchor musical proceedings to their respective generated sounds. "Truth Is Marching In" casts a bleating, gospelized swirl against a backdrop of three- and four-note "sung" phrases that are constantly repeated, à la a carny band before kicking down all the doors and letting it rip for almost 13 minutes. On the 1967 date of the second disc, the Aylers are augmented with drummer Beaver Harris, violinist Michel Sampson, Bill Folwell and Alan Silva on basses, and trombonist George Steele on the closer, "Universal Thoughts." "For John Coltrane" opens the set with a sweltering abstraction of tonalities in the strings and horns. On "Change Has Come," the abstraction remains but the field of language is deeper, denser, more urgent. Only with "Spiritual Rebirth," which opens with a four-note theme, does one get the feeling that the band has been pacing itself for this moment, and that the concert has become an actual treatise on the emotion of "singing" as an ensemble in uncharted territories. Throughout the rest of the set, Ayler's band buoys him perfectly, following him up through every new cloud of unknowing into a sublime musical and emotional beyond which, at least on recordings, would never be realized again. This recording is what all the fuss is about when it comes to Ayler.

By Thom Jurek in All Music Guide

Styles:
Free-Jazz
Avant-Garde

Tracks:
CD1
01 - Holy Ghost (07:41)
02 - Truth Is Marching In (12:42)
03 - Our Prayer (04:45)
04 - Spirits Rejoice (16:22)
05 - Divine Peacemaker (12:37)
06 - Angels (09:53)

CD2
01 - For John Coltrane (13:40)
02 - Change Has Come (06:24)
03 - Light In Darkness (10:59)
04 - Heavenly Home (08:51)
05 - Spiritual Rebirth (04:26)
06 - Infinite Spirit (06:37)
07 - Omega Is The Alpha (10:46)
08 - Univeral Thoughts (08:22)

Line-up:
Albert Ayler - tenor saxophone
Don Ayler - trumpet
Michel Sampson - violin
Bill Folwell - bass
Henry Grimes - bass
Beaver Harris - drums

Albert Ayler - New Grass (1969)

If there is one word that is poison in the minds of jazz fans and critics, it's sellout. If any musician, for whatever reason, decides to change their sound in a way that could be considered commercial, they have committed the deadliest of sins. So many debate and whine over whether an artist is a sellout, but really, what the hell difference does it make? None. If a record is great, it's great.
Albert Ayler was always controversial. His ripping tenor produced sheets of articulated squeals and buzzes that helped to revolutionize a new kind of jazz. His work was always leading edge or barbarically raw, depending on your critical orientation. But his original approach and methods of delivery differed from Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, AACM and other peers. Like these players, he found his sound and ideology repeatedly scrutinized.
And so it wasn't much of a surprise when he released New Grass that critics would rip him apart. What made this record different is that his cult of fans and critics were the instigators of the attack. Why? He had sold out; he threw out his loose structures for classic R&B arrangements. What they failed to observe is that New Grass is a genius piece of work that welds his sheets of sound to classic African-American styles such as R&B, soul and gospel. How could a man who created sounds that influenced artists ranging from Sonic Youth to John Zorn to Captain Beefheart to David Murray to the Velvet Underground create a record in such a "commercial" format?
Ayler knew this record was going to upset his fans and he took time to explain himself on the opening track "Message from Albert/New Grass." Opening with a primal rant of classic soloing that could have fit anywhere on Spiritual Unity , Albert proceeds to explain his emotional playing as a gift from God and that this record is a further exploration of his sound. He states that he hopes people will like the record... and, well, it sounds like a plea. Why should any artist ever have to explain themselves or their ideas? They shouldn't have to, but Ayler took it upon himself to ask the listener to have an open mind. Yet the record overall isn't as commercial as the critics of the day would have us believe. Sure, kicking tunes such as "New Generation" and "Heart Love" have grooving R&B/soul/gospel arrangements with vocals, but his solos still rip with bloody emotion. Yet "Sun Watcher" is a ripper; though not as harsh as his earlier work, he still holds onto his ideals.
Though Impulse! has been accused by critics of pushing Ayler into making a commercial disc, it seems strange that the label would have, since much of its roster consisted of free jazz artists. They were, after all, responsible for releasing the majority of John Coltrane's riskiest and most experimental work. After many spins it seems more that Ayler was looking for a new way to explore his music than just making a record that would reach a larger audience. The solos on this record would have never gotten airplay then, nor would they get it now. His squeaks and honks may have R&B riffing, but the solos are too gritty for most to handle.
That is why it is time to re-evaluate this record and accept it for its musical merits. The chops are solid and the arrangements are tight. Sure this may be the first time you hear yourself humming an Ayler tune, but it doesn't minimize the genius he put into this record. It shows an artist at a turning point, and because of negative feedback it remains an obscure record, instead of a big seller. It is time that we as jazz fans open our minds and be willing to allow artists to try on different suits. Sure quite often the results are horrid, but often the results are like New Grass.
by Trevor McLaren in All About Jazz

Styles:
Free-Jazz
Soul
Avant-Garde

Tracks:
01 - Message From Albert - New Grass (03:53)
02 - New Generation (05:06)
03 - Sun Watcher (07:29)
04 - New Ghosts (04:10)
05 - Heart Love (05:32)
06 - Everybody's Movin' (03:43)
07 - Free At Last (03:08)

Line-up:
Albert Ayler - Saxophone [Tenor], Vocals
Buddy Lucas - Bass
Bill Folwell - Bass [Electric]
Bernard Purdie - Drums
Call Cobbs - Piano, Harpsichord [Electric], Organ
Seldon Powell - Saxophone [Tenor], Flute
Garnett Brown - Trombone
Burt Collins - Trumpet
Joe Newman - Trumpet
The Soul Singers - Vocals

Albert Ayler - Love Cry/ Truth is Marching In (at John Coltrane's Funeral, 1967)

Love Cry/ Truth is Marching In (1967, Coltrane's Funeral)


Albert Ayler talking about J. Coltrane:

Albert Ayler - Music is the Healing Force of the Universe (1969)

Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe is a powerful and often ignored recording from the Albert Ayler catalog. It is a prophetic statement dealing with guilt, confusion, sorrow, and hopes of redemption. A powerful rhythm section of Bobby Few on piano, Stafford James and James Folwell on bass, (Folwell on electric fender bass), and Muhammad Ali on drums manage to take a backseat to the prominent vocals of Ayler's business associate and girlfriend Mary Parks, listed on the record as Mary Maria. Her emotional vocals are featured on "Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe," "Man Is Like a Tree," and "Island Harvest." Throughout these tracks Maria sounds as if she is pleading and reasoning not just universally, but directly with Ayler, trying to convince him of the positive aspects of life and her evangelistic shouts of "be healed" on the title track can prove uncomfortable. "Masonic Inborn" is an instrumental track finding Ayler not only overdubbing cacophonous bagpipe solos but also playing ocarina. "Oh Love Is Life" is Ayler's sole vocal performance on the album, his words and vocal delivery are truly frightening. This is a dreamlike plea to the sources haunting his soul to succumb to universal love. Following the intensity of the previous five tracks, the album closes with the hazy gutbucket blues of "Drudgery" reminiscent of the New Grass sessions, adding guitarist Henry Vestine of the blues rock band Canned Heat. Ayler's musical curtain was eerily closing the same way it started -- playing the blues of his high school summer vacations as a member of Little Walter's band. Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe, along with tracks that were released posthumously on the Last Album, were recorded at the same session. While not easy listening, they complete an important portrait of a man facing a life and death inner struggle beyond the boundaries of jazz. The inevitable outcome culminated on November 25, 1970, when Ayler's drowned body was found floating in New York's East River. Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe was reissued for the first time on CD by Verve in March 2003.

by Al Campbell in All Music Guide

Styles:
Avant-Garde
Free-Jazz

Tracks:
01 - Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe (8:41)
02 - Masonic Inborn, Pt. 1 (12:11)
03 - A Man Is Like a Tree (4:35)
04 - Oh! Love of Life (3:50)
05 - Island Harvest (5:04)
06 - Drudgery (8:08)

Line-up:
Albert Ayler - tenor saxophone, bagpipes, vocal
Mary Maria Parks - vocal
Henry Vestine - guitar
Bobby Few - piano
Stafford James - electric fender bass
James Folwell - electric fender bass
Muhammad Ali - drums

Albert Ayler - Goin' Home (1964)

Albert Ayler was confronted with a spiritual anxiety that both plagued and comforted him throughout his life. This is frighteningly clear listening to the highly intense musical yin and yang that was present February 24, 1964, when the tracks for Goin' Home and Witches and Devils were recorded. Ayler plays tenor and soprano saxophones on "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Deep River," "Goin Home," "Down by the Riverside," "When the Saints Go Marchin In," and "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen." These traditional compositions are treated with reverence and a lack of improvisation, played in a quietly passionate but respectful manner. They reveal a sensitivity that was obscured with the emotionally charged tenor screeching of the Ayler originals that were also recorded at this session: "Witches and Devils," "Spirits," "Holy, Holy," and "Saints." Black Lion reissued Goin' Home with double takes of "Down by the Riverside," "Ol' Man River," and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." The Goin' Home rhythm section is held together by the gospel-influenced piano style of Call Cobbs. This was the first time the saxophonist had played with Cobbs, who, like Ayler, was from Cleveland and had recently moved to New York. Free jazz stalwarts Henry Grimes' bass and Sunny Murray's drums rounded out the proceedings, following Ayler and Cobbs lead, sounding more accessible than they had on previous recordings. While Goin' Home and Witches and Devils haven't been released together on one compact disc, obtaining both and playing them back to back makes for an amazing comparison in moods and styles.

by Al Campbell in All Music Guide

Styles:
Avant-Garde
Free-Jazz

Tracks:
01 - Goin` home (4:26)
02 - Ol’ man river (5:25)
03 - Down by the riverside (take 6) (4:39)
04 - Swing low, sweet chariot (4:30)
05 - Deep river (4:15)
06 - When the saints go marchin’ in (4:12)
07 - Nobody knows the trouble i’ve seen (4:44)
08 - Ol’ man river (take 1) (4:58)
09 - Swing low, sweet chariot (take 1) (4:49)
10 - Down by the riverside (take 5) (4:28)

Line-up:
Albert Ayler - tenor saxophone
Call Cobbs - piano
Sunny Murray - drums
Henry Grimes - bass

Albert Ayler Trio - Spiritual Unity (1964)

Spiritual Unity was the album that pushed Albert Ayler to the forefront of jazz's avant-garde, and the first jazz album ever released by Bernard Stollman's seminal ESP label. It was really the first available document of Ayler's music that matched him with a group of truly sympathetic musicians, and the results are a magnificently pure distillation of his aesthetic. Bassist Gary Peacock's full-toned, free-flowing ideas and drummer Sunny Murray's shifting, stream-of-consciousness rhythms (which rely heavily on shimmering cymbal work) are crucial in throwing the constraints off of Ayler's playing. Yet as liberated and ferociously primitive as Ayler sounds, the group isn't an unhinged mess -- all the members listen to the subtler nuances in one another's playing, pushing and responding where appropriate. Their collective improvisation is remarkably unified -- and as for the other half of the album's title, Ayler conjures otherworldly visions of the spiritual realm with a gospel-derived fervor. Titles like "The Wizard," "Spirits," and "Ghosts" (his signature tune, introduced here in two versions) make it clear that Ayler's arsenal of vocal-like effects -- screams, squeals, wails, honks, and the widest vibrato ever heard on a jazz record -- were sonic expressions of a wildly intense longing for transcendence. With singable melodies based on traditional folk songs and standard scales, Ayler took the simplest musical forms and imbued them with a shockingly visceral power -- in a way, not unlike the best rock & roll, which probably accounted for the controversy his approach generated. To paraphrase one of Ayler's most famous quotes, this music was about feelings, not notes, and on Spiritual Unity that philosophy finds its most concise, concentrated expression. A landmark recording that's essential to any basic understanding of free jazz.

by Steve Huey in All Music Guide

Styles:
Avant-Garde
Free-Jazz

Tracks:
01 - Ghosts: First Variation (05:16)
02 - The Wizard (07:24)
03 - Spirits (06:50)
04 - Ghosts: Second Variation (10:01)

Line-Up:
Albert Ayler - tenor saxophone
Gary Peacock - bass
Sunny Murray - percussion