Albert Ayler Music

In ways sometimes difficult to appreciate, Albert Ayler had John Coltrane's number because, for all the commitment present in Coltrane's variant of free jazz (and all the fact that, technically speaking, Coltrane before going completely off his nut could play Ayler right under the table), Ayler was far the less self-conscious of the two. If you can imagine an obvious music experimenter who had no pretense about being one, who just kept a foot planted firmly on the earth (not for nothing did some critics make a point of finding the core of the blues in Ayler's signature work with greater readiness) and never let it get loose, at least in his earlier years, Albert Ayler was he. He was also probably the only one of his peers and elders who didn't give a damn who figured out he had a sense of humour in his playing, either, and for all that the free jazzers prattled about how their stuff was 200 percent melody, Ayler was one of the few players who actually sounded as though he lived it as gospel. That's a major part of what keeps "Spiritual Unity" one of the few pure free jazz albums from the height of that movement's thrust that actually sounds like anything but a brain-bending period piece.

Then again, when you've got a pair of partners as unrattlable as bassist Gary Peacock and drum colourist Sunny Murray, you'd damn well better keep a foot planted on the earth, because if you try going too far over the line between experimentation and nutsh@t for its own sake, about the only thing you're going to get for your trouble is nowhere fast. Not that Ayler was exactly accessible, but his refreshing lack of self-consciousness is precisely what put him several cuts beyond the 1960s jazz deconstructionists - and still keeps him there, pretty much. Practically his entire catalogue is worth hearing, but "Spiritual Unity," his jarring enough debut, sustains a kinetic surety level in its own league. He never exactly lacked for that, but neither did he ever again make it sound quite as though his existence depended entirely on it.

1. Ghosts (First Variation) 5:16
2. The Wizard 7:24
3. Spirits 6:50
4. Ghosts (Second Variation) 10:01

Albert Ayler, tenor sax
Gary Peacock, bass
Sunny Murray, drums


This is an incredible album. It's amazing in its abundance of pure, sacred sound energy, as are all of Ayler's recordings, especially with this group (Gary Peacock, bass, Sunny Murray, drums). This is stream-of-consciousness meditative music. If you are into that kind of thing, then look no further.

A point of interest is how early this recording is in relation to a lot of other free-jazz: July 1964. There was a huge underground free jazz thing happening at that time, but a lot of people weren't aware of it.

I think that this was Ayler's best group. Gary Peacock was very young at the time, I believe only 19 or 20. He was one of a handful of bass players who were using the "new" technique, which was to play with all four fingers instead of the usual one or two. This technique is probably most well-known by those familiar with Scott LaFaro, as he was one of the first to use it. However, most of the free-jazz bass players had studied it, too: Cecil McBee, Richard Davis, Art Davis, Henry Grimes, Peacock, and others.

Sunny Murray was a very significant figure at the time as well. He was the first "free" drummer; that is, the first drummer to play regardless of time constraints. Although all the other avant-garde drummers caught on to this very quickly, Murray was for sure the first. Other notable drummers who played in this style are Rashied Ali (probably the greatest), Beaver Harris, Andrew Cyrille, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Milford Graves, most of whom played with Ayler at some point.

Ayler's music changed a lot in 1965 and especially 1966. I love all the 1964 recordings because they are wild and free, while still possessing a certain casualness that makes you want to listen to them over and over again. It's sort of like he's saying "Yeah, I'm doing this! Why don't you get with it?" This is amazing stuff!

Spiritual Unity is just under 30 minutes long. Thirty minutes of tremendous, emotional, delirious intensity. The theme of "Ghosts" is like a folk-song, immediately arresting in its naïve simplicity. Ayler uses the child-like motif of its theme as a vehicle to express both disintegration and liberation.

His anguished, restless quest for sonic sensations beyond the saxophone's conventional realm of sound is underpinned by the pointillistic plucking of Gary Peacock's phenomenally voluminous bass and Sunny Murray's ethereal percussive sprinkling cymbals.

An unmeasured response to this recording might lead one to judge it broken and dishevelled - but the depth of attention from Peacock and Murray to the nuances and subtle shifts in Ayler's delivery on "Spirits" reveals an intimacy that puts this trio right at the forefront of the free jazz movement, and the record a seminal one in the jazz of the 1960s.

A lot of free-jazz recordings suffer from lack of listenability, usually because many of them are played by too large ensambles with individual players fighting for space rather than achieving a common goal. And though purists may disagree, listenability is every bit as relevant to the avant-garde as it is to pop. Period. I'm not opposed to noise (I love it), but noise needs context. And Aylers context is melodies. Noise + melodies = PUNK. This trio recording is a delight to listen to. Not that it's easy listening. But you can hear how much in tune with eachother these musicians were. Allthough Ayler carries the melodies, there is equal importance on Peacokcs booming bass, Murrays skitting drums and Aylers sax, hense creating a unity so rare in other ensambles. Aylers best known composition, Ghost, is so daring and beautiful and sets the tone for the rest of the record. Aylers melodies draw from old folk tunes, gospel and spirituals, but allthough the themes are religious, it does not mean YOU have to be to enjoy the spiritual feeling of this record. It jumps, it kicks, it weeps and it overcomes. Such beauty and how very, very punk.

This record is certainly not for everyone. It is for anyone who loves passionate, intense and completely free musical expression. Ayler, bass master Gary Peacock, and Sunny Murray sound here like they are on a voracious search. And the destination could be eons away, but the search is an awesome ride. An exhilarating and exhausting ride, that could leave "smooth jazzers" cringing with disgust, but so what? What do they know? Let yourself be taken away, let the power flow through your veins. This is completely uncompromising expression. This is not elevator music. It's real, you can feel the sweat, the blisters on the fingers of the musicians, the abandon with which they commit themselves. No compromise.

In early 1962, Albert Ayler relocated to Sweden, looking to find a chance to play his own music, but largely, he was supporting himself by playing in more traditional styles as a sideman. On the rare occasions he found work on his own, he did so with a trio of bassist Torbjorn Hultcrantz and drummer Sune Spangberg. In October of that year, Ayler had a gig recorded in front of a small audience, playing exclusively standards. While one volume of this (four tunes as the stunningly hard to find "The First Recordings Volume 1") was authorized for release during Ayler's lifetime, Ayler requested that the remainder of the session did not get released. Yet somehow DIW in Japan managed to get the rights to four more pieces from the session and released them on an increasingly harder to find CD.

What we have here is embryonic Ayler performances-- while he's still got that fat tone and proclivity for extremes on the instrument, neither his heavy use of overtones nor his wide vibrato is yet present on the recordings. There's still a fire to the music that is uncommon, even when engaging standards. Unfortunately, Hultcrantz and Spanberg, while they'd been playing with him for over half a year, seem by and large clueless about what to do. This leads the recordings (like all of Ayler's early work) to have a fractured quality to it. Ayler, new to recording, occasionally seems to forget he should be blowing into the microphone all the time, in particular on "Good Bait", where his volume comes and goes and the natural reverb from the hall becomes more and less prevelent contingent on where he places his horn.

But historical value and technical gripes aside, how's the music? It's... well, interesting moreso than engaging. With the rhythm section so totally mystified on how to respond, they have a habit of either understating to the point of being barely noticable (particularly Hultcrantz) or falling into a straight swing. The good news is they're rarely in opposition to Ayler as they've a tendency to drop out when he starts cutting loose, but even still, the leader's concept isn't quite there yet. He plays well on "Softly As in a Morning Sunrise", honking and grunting (and hinting very briefly at "Ghosts"), and is bluesy and detailed on "Moanin'", but all in all, it sounds like as much an exploration for him as it does for the rest. Also detracting from the music is someone whistling along somewhat in opposition to Ayler's horn (they tend to hold the theme tighter than he does)-- now I realize musicians on bandstands hum, sing, whatever, but this is jarring in opposition to Ayler's horn.

Sonically, the recordings sound ok-- you can really hear the hall, which gives them a dated live record feel, but this adds to the ambiance of the recording. The balance is a bit odd, with Ayler mixed way in front and the bass way in back (although the whistling seems pretty far up too!).

Given the high price tag and mixed value of the music itself, this recording is really for collectors. Curious folks should check out either Ayler's ESP sessions ("Spiritual Unity"), or his quartet with Don Cherry ("Vibrations") for an introduction to his early work.

If you like Ayler's free jazz blowing, this combo with Don Cherry is absolutely fantastic. They do the usual little Ayler ditty introductions of a somewhat folkish or childish melody, and then Ayler and Cherry go absolutely mad, blowing out walls of brass like layers of paint on an abstract expressionist canvas, constantly changing in texture and depth, absolutely electrifying! Sound quality is more than adequate.

For Ayler Records, a record label named after legendary saxophonist Albert Ayler, to get the rights to (courtesy of the Ayler statement) a previously unreleased and powerful recording by Albert Ayler is a huge coup. "The Cophenhagen Tapes", recorded in the weeks prior to the recording of the landmark "Vibrations", is one such recording. The record consists of two sessions with Ayler's then-working quartet-- trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray. The first is a live recording from Club Montmatre in Copenhagen on September 3, 1964, the second is three tracks recorded for Danish radio a week later.

The tracks from this album consist largely of pieces recorded for "Vibrations", the only exception being no less than three renditions of "Spirits" from Ayler's earlier album "Spirits". As such, this is essentially a live rendition of "Vibrations" (although "Ghosts" is curiously absent, which leads one to wonder if Ayler had once intended to use "Spirits" in its place). The performance are nothing short of stunning-- in particular it's notable to see the energy and interaction between the band grow in just a week, the three tracks from the the radio show a week later are unnervingly tighter and more powerful. On "Vibrations" from the 3rd, Peacock slightly tentative, playing pedal largely and echoing the horn line, but by the 10th, he's all over the place, explosive and powerful and urging on the horns-- plus his solo is jawdropping. Ditto for "Saints", which is ultimately haunted and dark on the 10th but somewhat lacking in this energy on the 3rd. Still, the earlier show is not without its merits, with stunning performances of "Spirits" (the first take is a breakneck improv that unfortunately is faded in after an announcement, the second is a brief reprise with a lovely restatement of the theme) and a positively mournful take on "Mothers".

Sonically, the album is a bit odd-- it's not upleasant, but it sort of feels like an older recording. Still, the balance is good, the instruments are clear and distinct, and certainly the broadcast portion is phenomenal.

Something stops me from giving this five stars-- probably because it's not quite as good as "Vibrations", where four days later Ayler and company had even a better feeling of unity, but it is awfully good. Highly recommended.

By turns savage, eloquent, and achingly beautiful, this document of Albert Ayler's 1964 European tour needs to be grabbed by anyone familiar with the classic recording Spiritual Unity. Joining the trio (Ayler, Sonny Murray, Gary Peacock) was Don Cherry, veteran of the cutting-edge jazz groups of Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp, among others. The early days of free playing certainly could ask for no better line-up, and it boggles the mind to consider that, had he not met an untimely demise in Germany, Eric Dolphy would have joined them. Unlike Albert's later trumpet foil Donald Ayler, whose full-throated trumpeting was conceived soley in service of his older brother's musical aims, Cherry played in a confidently realized style that provided coloristic contrast and dynamic tension when combined with Albert's hellbent preaching and crying. This is four-way playing of both great sensitivity and power that can startle a listener forty years after the fact. A great addition to Ayler's limited catalogue, and a marvelous flagship recording for the new label Ayler Records, devoted to the type of adventurous music making that can call Ayler one of its Godfathers.

Many kudos to Atavistic for re-releasing this obscure and wonderful free jazz on CD. Imagine a combination of Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman with the driving energy of rock and the sophisticated group interplay you expect of the best jazz. A few tunes are a bit samey, but standout tracks like Ornette's "Ramblin'" and the trio's own "Orinoco" and "Bananas Oas" make the album more than worthwhile. Kjell Jansson's powerful, imaginative, expressive bass work throughout is particularly impressive. Listen, also, to how "Elf" sounds startlingly like a Branford Marsalis ballad from around the time of "Bloomington."

I admit I had never heard of this band before until I picked up a copy of this, their only cd in a 2nd hand store today. I will also (readily!) admit that I bought "Waves from Albert Ayler" partly on the strength of the band name (what else to expect from a trio named after the highest elevation of the earth's crusty surface but some SERIOUSLY scorching heavy duty chthonic steelworks??) and the cover shot alone - I mean, how can one possibly NOT be charmed by a motley threesome of 70s krautrock/motorhead lookalikes recording an Albert Ayler tribute??
And lo and behold!, sure these cats rock for REAL. Kicking off with a fittingly fiery rendition of Ayler's "Spirits", this album next treats us to a terrific rendition of Ornette's "Rambling" before plunging the fuming depths of the Everest 3 songbook (they seemingly had a knack for oddball song names, with the album reachings its tempestuous apogee in the aptly prophetic "Eritrea Libre" - these tracks were recorded in 1975!) Drummer Conny Sjökvist (he's the one with the REALLY long hair) apparently hung out with the Ayler brothers in New York in the late sixties; tellingly, Albert Ayler's own debut as a leading man, Sonet Records' "The First Recordings", was recorded in Copenhagen in 1961, in the company of an equally obscure set of hard-swinging scandinavians (I still like to think of that record as Ayler's most compelling statement to date). Stockholm itself of course formed the backdrop to Ornette's landmark "Live at the Golden Circle", recorded in 1965, heralding the golden age of Europe's own brand of hi-NRG/fire music (think BYG/Actuel, Free Music Productions et al.) that effectively drew to a close in the mid-seventies, perhaps with the Mount Everest Trio's tremendous "Waves From Albert Ayler" improv behemoth. Yes, this is as good as any ESP material - and definitely makes me wonder what happened to Gilbert Holmström, Kjell Jansson and Sjökvist.
All hail Atavistic for unearthing this wonderfully gripping document. Albert Ayler never sounded so good...

My favorite Ayler's album. So inspired ! And never "heavy" as in so many poor free jazz recording.

After a mediocre debut recording, Albert Ayler's sophomore effort "Witches & Devils" finds the iconoclastic tenor saxophonist truly hitting his stride and forging his signature avant-garde meets gospel style. Joining Ayler on this February 24, 1964 session are trumpeter Norman Howard, bassists Henry Grimes and Earle Henderson, and drummer Sunny Murray. The four tunes featured here would all become Ayler staples, and in some cases, variations on these themes would become the building blocks for other Ayler compositions. In three short months, Ayler would blow the roof off the house that jazz built with the classic "Spiritual Unity," but "Witches & Devils" is where the seeds of the new jazz revolution were planted.

This is pure class, Ayler was a true tortured innovator. His music should not be allowed to die: this conjures up the magic of spirituality with the hungry tone of a true artist.

In 1964, Albert Ayler returned to the United States after some time in the Scandanavian countries and found himself in a recording studio in New York City. Ayler recorded two albums that day, "Goin' Home" and "Spirits" (sometimes released as "Witches and Devils")-- the former all traditionals and spirituals, the latter all originals. Both have their merits, and make for interesting listens together. They both benefit from actually having a band that is sympathetic to Ayler's vision. And certainly, these two albums set the stage for the rest of his career.

"Witches & Devils" as its referred to on this release, is really something altogether shocking. Ayler, performing exclusively on tenor, is accompanied by trumpeter Norman Howard, bassists Henry Grimes and Earl Henderson, and drummer Sunny Murray. The quartet performs by and large in the forms that Ayler would embrace for the next several years-- spiritual/march infused theme statements composed by Ayler with free associative backgrounds and strong melody statements. Improv is powerful and at times seemingly chaotic. Ayler for his part has embraced his sound fully, with a wide vibrato and aggressive approach, playing in his horn's upper register. Howard emulates this, playing with an equally wide vibrato. The rhythm section (only the cut "Witches and Devils" features both bassists, Henderson plays "Holy Holy" and Grimes "Spirits" and "Saints") is all over the place-- Murray frames everything in his inimitable fashion, playing even further away from a timekeeping role than he did with Cecil Taylor, and both Grimes and Henderson are exploratory underneath the horns.

The pieces cover a lot of moods-- "Witches and Devils" is morose, almos funereal, with an extended and unnervingly patient improv led largely by Howard. This spills into the galloping "Spirits", where the horns furiously push out notes in a frantic improv glued together by Sunny Murray's magnificent drumming. Oddly enough, Henderson seems more or less at a loss for what to do with so little space to fill until his own frantic solo comes forth. "Holy Holy" continues this thread, with Ayler stating the theme and consuming about half the piece with his solo. Curiously, at the end of his solo (around the five minute mark), Ayler states part of the theme to his composition "Ghosts" and Howard takes over the soloing voice. The record pretty much fizzles out curiously enough on "Saints", where it seems as if Howard really has no idea how he should be responding to Ayler's playing. Even his own solo seems tentative and incomplete.

Still, three of four tracks are quite good, and while the recording isn't essential in Ayler's catalog, it certainly is a good one.

This two-CD collection of live recordings from the late 60s should be essential music in anyone's jazz collection. Not just for historical reasons but because it is such exceptional, moving music. I believe it was Nat Hentoff who described them as 'speaking in tongues." The description is accurate. In the solo sections, the Ayler brothers --especially Albert on tenor and alto saxophones-- sound like voices shrieking in ecstasy. And the background is phenomenal --cello and (one or two) bass together, most of the time violin as well, with either Sunny Murray or Beaver Harris thrashing away in irregular cadence on drums. Names aren't terribly important in Ayler compositions, nor for that matter are the heads. It's when they break into preaching --solo voices, occasional intertwining duets-- that Albert and Don take us to another place. This is not immediately pleasant music, but, hey, neither was john Coltrane's Ascension, the recording that most seems to me to be have an affinity with this one.

I listened to recordings of Ayler when they first came out and hated them. More fool me!

This along with spiritual unity and vibrations are some of the best recordings in the history of jazz. Live in Greenwich is the best example of this phase his development and has the perfect ballance between orchestrated themes and ferocious avant jazz interplay. This is trully a masterpiece of american music.

This is the most spiritual free jazz I've ever heard. It's almost free jazz infused with gospel. The titles of the songs are almost all spiritual in nature (Holy Ghost, Our Prayer, Divine Peacemaker), and when Albert Ayler blows his horn, you feel he's touched by the divine, that the music is coming straight from Albert's soul to our souls. Ayler is as good as Coltrane, Coleman, or Brotzmann, but he goes to a level that they don't, as he finds a deeper, more profound music than those immensely talented gentlemen do. Coltrane's free jazz period was magnificent, and there was a spiritual element in his work (like Ascension), but Ayler seems to really feeling it more.

The tracks Truth is Marching In and Our Prayer are exceptionally moving, and the invention of the musicians on all tracks is nothing short of amazing. Anyone free jazz aficiando has to put this album in their collection, or their title of free jazz aficiando will be revoked. Ayler doesn't get as much name recognition as the above musicians (especially Coltrane and Coleman), but he deserves to. His contributions to jazz are just as astounding as anyone's. If he only had lived a little longer. Ayler's story is a tragic one. He ended up killing himself at a ridiculously young 34 years old. Such a pity, but the music here lives on, and it's astonishing nearly 40 years after it was recorded.

I know nothing about this guy(that's why why i love listmania-the discoverys),but in listening to these clips,me thinks many of the reviews here describing this as a revoloution & the second coming are missig the fun of whats going on here.this is some of the funniest flatulent sounds i've heard in along time,i'm laughing almost to wetting my self.Innovation for the sake of innovation-Blow Me.Humor is a rare gift in any field.i could see firing this up to cure my self of The big C.

Astonishing 2-CD set, excellent value, good packaging (except for ugly cover) and outstanding booklet with notes from Nat Hentoff and Robert Palmer. Impulse! usually equals quality and this offering is no exception. Combining the live dates was a particularly good, and customer-friendly, idea.

It's been said of Coltrane that he didn't so much play the music as "play through it" in order to reach a higher spiritual goal. One can also hear this in the playing of Eric Dolphy who, though quite technical at times, appeared to be constantly exploring, looking for that pure place. Pharaoh Sanders reveals the same struggle. But in the playing of Albert Ayler one finds the apotheosis of this approach.

Listening to Ayler is akin to witnessing old-testament revelation, he plays with the inspired intoxication and sanctified fury of a man who has not only been to the mountaintop and seen the Promised Land but already has one foot in it. You will never hear this music in an elevator for the simple reason that it would cause businessmen to rip off their ties, weep like infants, get on their knees and pray, and confess their countless sins of mediocrity and cowardice.

While Ayler certainly deserves center stage for his euphoric and completely original contribution to jazz, the other players fan the flames expertly. Brother Don, on trumpet, shares the vision and is no slouch. Both drummers featured, Beaver Harris and Sunny Murray, understand that Ayler generates such intense rhythm that timekeeping is not an issue; they are free to maneuver around the beat expressively.

Most intriguing of all is the use of strings. Ayler went with two bass players on both sets, also using a cellist and violin player on some tracks. This adds an unearthly and highly unexpected texture to the playing that works marvelously well. The stunning Michel Samson violin solo on Truth Is Marching In demonstrates that Ayler has surrounded himself with fellow musicians who completely understand his style and ambition. The result is a kind of rapture, this is what it sounds like when a soul catches a glimpse of heaven and starts its voyage home. Truly righteous music.

"Live on the Riviera", recorded the same day as "Nuits de la Fondation Maeght", is a very different record from that album-- whereas "Nuits" had a sound closer to Ayler's earlier recording, this one sounds more like his later work. No doubt this is due to the absence of pianist Call Cobbs and the more consistent presence of Mary Maria (vocals, soprano sax). The set consists entirely of material from "New Grass" (2 cuts), "Music is the Healing Force of the Universe" (4 cuts) and one from "The Last Album" (at that point unreleased).

Its probably fair to say if you don't care for Ayler's music of this period, you're unlikely to care for this material.

Mind you, this isn't quite a direct reading of that material, its quite a bit looser than the studio records, no doubt due to the sparser accompaniment, and Ayler puts forth some great playing, mostly linear and without the polytonal attacks he was once known for. Overall though, I don't think he found the material particularly inspiring as his playing isn't particularly engaging, although the stripped down arrangement of "Heart Love" and "Ghosts" are both full of fire from Ayler.

Sonically, its a bit quiet, but the show is crisp, clean, and all instruments are well balanced. Its an interesting show, and I'm glad I have it, but I rarely listen to it. For completionists and fans.