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Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe The Inconsistency of |
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“One day, everything will be, as it should be.” home |
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March 1 2025
Articles The Wire has a nice article by David Grundy about the sudden appearance of Ayler videos on youtube, courtesy of Jay Korber. ‘Eye and Ear Control: Watching Albert Ayler’ has a link to the Munich TV studio footage. Dirk Goedeking spotted that and, with videos still in mind, sent me the following from X (apologies): ‘On 31. January Kasper Collin wrote on X: “this day 20 years ago my feature documentary My Name Is Albert Ayler premiered at Göteborg International Film Festival. If all goes well a restored and properly upscaled version will be rereleased later this year.” I’m not sure, it's a kind of custom by him announcing this on twitter (2022, 2021, 2020, ...) . But at least he is still working on the film or already on the release. We will see.’ My Name Is Albert Ayler currently on youtube with the Swedish subtitles removed. Axel Van Looy let me know about an article by Bret Primack on the Syncopated Justice site. ‘Albert Ayler and the Sound of Revolution’ has a link to the Berlin concert footage. Sean Murphy reposts his poem ‘Albert Ayler’s Vision’ for Black History Month and adds some thoughts about Albert Ayler and his music, prompted by that great Larry Fink photo of Albert in a vest. And Steve Tintweiss got in touch to say the following: ‘JazzTimes has been resurrected under new ownership and is now headquartered in England. It is only online until print issues can be resumed in the near future. Originally, this “Overdue Ovation” column was scheduled for May 2023 publication, but was cut in the turmoil that resulted after the prior sale to the Bebop Channel, and subsequent shutdown of the iconic jazz magazine. Finally, this article by Mike Shanley has been updated and released on Feb. 17. Best Wishes, Steve Tintweiss My next INKY DoT MEDIA indie CD release, mentioned in the article, is the 1967 recording of The Purple Why in Tompkins Square Park in New York City’s East Village. The band playing my originals included Jacques Coursil and James DuBoise - trumpets, Perry Robinson - clarinet, Joel Peskin - tenor sax and bass clarinet, Randy Kaye - drums and piano, Laurence Cook - drums, and myself slated for Spring 2025 release. Recordings available.’ |
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I clipped this bit from the article: ‘As he remembers Ayler, Tintweiss says recordings never fully captured the saxophonist’s sound. “You could feel the room vibrate, the sound was so huge,” he says. “His sound was bigger than anyone I’ve ever heard. Not just in jazz. I’d have to compare it to the power of large symphony orchestras.”’ Moving on, there are also a couple of ‘essays’ on youtube which can be mentioned. ‘Discover the Untold Story of Albert Ayler ‘ is one of those generic pieces, no photos or video, which also get the pronunciation of Ayler wrong. ‘Jazz and the Avant Garde’, a two part documentary by Neil Turner is more interesting, but suffers from a similar style of narration (is it AI?). However there are photos and video clips, including an interview with the parents of Eric Dolphy (around the 37:50 mark). The accompanying blurb states that the film is ‘based on the book written by Conny Murray, the younger brother of free jazz drummer Sunny Murray, who witnessed the movement first-hand and provides an in-depth account’. However I can’t find any mention of the book elsewhere - has it been published? At the moment only the first part is on youtube. Albert Ayler is due to appear in the second.
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Records A couple of odd Ayler items spotted by Dirk: ‘Free’, from Something Different!!!!! (aka The First Recordings) is included in a new 3 CD compilation, Return To Tomorrow: In the Ascendancy - The Jazz Avant-Garde, which includes Ornette Coleman’s The Shape Of Jazz To Come, Jimmy Giuffre’s Thesis, John Coltrane’s Live at the Village Vanguard, Cecil Taylor’s Jazz Advance, 4 tracks from Joe Harriott’s Free Form, an Eric Dolphy compilation and an odd early track from Sun Ra. Although I welcome the inclusion of Jimmy Giuffre, and especially, Joe Harriott, I do think that this package is a bit pricey for what you get. |
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The other odd Ayler reissue is a cassette version of Something Different!!!!! (aka The First Recordings) on the French label, Full Pleasure, which was released on 17th February. |
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Deconstructing Ayler In The Universe is the title of a new Albert Ayler tribute album from the duo of Giancarlo Schiaffini (trombone) and Sergio Armaroli (vibraphone, synthesizer, chromatics balafon, percussion). Here’s the exceedingly minimalist cover: |
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And this is the tracklist: ‘Spirits Rejoice’ (4:13) And it’s on youtube.
Live Cuts 1981-1983 - Primitive Art Group |
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Not an Ayler tribute album as such, but there are two long versions of ‘Ghosts’ (14:40) and ‘Bells’ (12:25). Both were recorded in Wellington, New Zealand, the first in October, 1981, the second in March, 1982. Full details on bandcamp, and here’s a fragment of ‘Ghosts’.
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Nuits de la Fondation Maeght - Sun Ra is one of the highlights of this year’s Record Store Day: ‘Originally released across two edited volumes by Shandar in 1971, the concerts are now being reissued by Strut in a stunning expanded 6 LP vinyl box set for Record Store Day 2025. The set is housed in a hardboard box and features a reprint of the original festival programme, a 12-page over-sized booklet featuring liner notes by Daniel Caux, Jacqueline Caux and Paul Griffiths and stunning restored photos of the festival by Philippe Gras.’ |
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The complete list of RSD25 releases is available here.
Apple Cores by James Brandon Lewis Even further removed from Albert Ayler than the above, this new album from James Brandon Lewis (with Josh Werner and Chad Taylor) is inspired by the origins of the free jazz movement, especially Don Cherry, and titled after the series of columns Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) wrote for DownBeat. Baraka’s ‘Apple Cores’ were reprinted in Black Music, which can be borrowed from the Internet Archive. There’s a review of the album on qobuz and it’s available on youtube and bandcamp. |
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Dean Westerfield: "Playing with some new Albert Ayler images." |
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Marc Ribot From The Berkshire Edge: In his new quartet, Ribot reunites with drummer Chad Taylor to explore the Albert Ayler-inspired path they forged with Spiritual Unity and the Grimes Taylor Ribot Trio. Joining them are bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing) and fearless guitarist/improviser Ava Mendoza (Unnatural Ways, The Violent Femmes, tUnE-yArDs.)
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Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre Just came across this as I was putting this update to bed, so haven’t actually watched it yet, but I thought it deserved a mention. I only know Maurice McIntyre from the Roscoe Mitchell LP, Sound, which was my introduction to the Chicago school of free jazz, and for my sins I never followed up on his later career. He died in 2013 and this is a short film by Danilo Parra,
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Covers Dirk found this on Instagram: |
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An alternate cover for Spiritual Unity by Mr. Tom Froese, accompanied by this comment: ‘This is my take on Albert Ayler’s Spiritual Unity, 1964. I’ve always loved jazz, and wondered why people say they don’t get it. But when I listen to Ayler, I think this is what they mean. I could do free jazz when I’m in a certain creative mind. But it is like sandpaper on a sunburn at other times.’ Which led Dirk to a couple of other sites of record covers. The Fontana set designed by Marte Röling, I’ve mentioned several times, but it’s an excuse to post (repost?) this photo by Nico van der Stam of Ms. Röling with John Tchicai: |
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Dirk wondered: “Can nobody get Albert's cover sharp and coloured? Maybe an art class in school or university?” Sounds to me like a job for Mr. A.I. |
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Then there’s this Instagram page of Bells alternates, which reminded me of a great site of ESP covers from years ago, which I couldn’t find, so had to make do with this, which just has the jazz covers, and this one which has them all, but neither has the full range of Bells variants. * Our Prayer A version of Don Ayler’s ‘Our Prayer’ by Tsukasa, Sato and Nozawa, accompanied by this message: ‘A prayer for those who pray: Do not harm others for any reason. For a peaceful world without plunder, exploitation, violence, abuse, discrimination, or murder. For a world where peace is the norm!
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And finally. . . Another thing with no real Ayler connection, except it came from Richard Koloda, who sent me this version of Pharoah Sanders’ ‘The Creator Has A Master Plan’ by Dave Alvin of Blasters fame. [ I write that as if I knew - my only knowledge of The Blasters is their brief appearance in the Walter Hill classic, Streets of Fire.] Anyway this is taken from the album Dave Alvin Live at The Chapel which is available at the Internet Archive. The other reason for mentioning the above was that I seem to remember, way back in my playing days, we used to do a version of The Creator Has a Master Plan’, but luckily for us no tapes have survived. And there I would have left this month’s update except I flipped my L. S. Lowry calendar to March this morning and this came up. After yesterday’s shenanigans in the “cherished Oval Office”, it seemed remarkably apposite. |
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February 1 2025
Let’s Sing For Him Not sure whether I should be doing this, but in the new age where anything seems to go and we can do what we like, here’s something. At the Baden-Baden Free Jazz Meeting which took place on 7th December 1970, there was a tribute to Albert Ayler, who had drowned a few days before. ‘Let’s Sing For Him (March in Memory of Albert Ayler)’ has been on this site for a few years now, but a short time ago a film of what appears to be the rehearsal session appeared on youtube. It has subsequently been removed (or at least become ‘private’), so I have taken the liberty of editing the relevant section at the start of the film and it can be accessed here. By the way, the 6 disc set of the meeting, complete with all the track and personnel information is still on youtube. I would not have spotted this if David Taylor hadn’t emailed me about another video which had appeared on youtube. This was of the Sun Ra Arkestra playing in Berlin in 1970. David mentioned seeing the Arkestra in the same year at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, (“A truly mind-blowing concert”) and I happened to be there too. This video has also now disappeared. * New Ghosts Have to blame Dirk Goedeking for this one. He sent me a link to a track on bandcamp, Jamie Breiwick’s version of ‘Ghosts’ for a trio of cornet, bass and drums. Fair enough. I thought it was from an album, but it’s just a standalone track so I’m not sure what to do with it apart from mentioning it here, which I’ve now done. However, Jamie Breiwick added a note, including the lyrics to ‘New Ghosts’ from New Grass. Dirk suggested I add these to the “almost hidden collection of questionable poetry” which is the “lyrics department”. I also found this on youtube, from the Holy Ghost boxset. I haven’t heard this for a while, but it is quite fascinating.
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Around the World with Albert Ayler Dirk starts the tour in Italy with a brief article about Don Ayler, (for a change), ‘Donald Ayler, detto Don, la tromba oscurata dal sax del fratello’ which translates as ‘Donald Ayler, known as Don, his trumpet obscured by his brother's sax’. On to Japan where the Albert Ayler Tribute Unit played a concert on 25th September, last year. |
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Guatemala (which I was hoping was on the shores of the fabled Gulf of America, but it’s not, it’s on the shores of the Caribbean Sea - that Geography O Level is always letting me down - although I do wonder why Trump doesn’t take the obvious next step, go the whole hog, and change America, which, after all is named after a rather obscure Italian, who only visited the place a couple of times and was a bit of a self-publicist. I would suggest Trumpland, or possibly, Trumpton.) Sorry, I digress. Guatemala, or the music thereof, is featured on an album by the San Lucas Band, which caused a stir when it was first released in 1975. Its reissue (last January, late again) prompted this article by Christopher Laws on the culturedarm site, which is mentioned here, because it kicks off with this paragraph: “The Ayler tone is apparent and overwhelmingly so from the very first moment of La Voz de las Cumbres (Music of Guatemala) by the San Lucas Band. With its duelling trumpets and horns which in staccato fashion barely tether to the unbridled march of a military band melody, here accompanied by crashing cadences of percussion and a contrapuntal threnody of strings, the record is strikingly redolent of Albert Ayler’s peak years on ESP-Disk where he played alongside the likes of his brother Donald, Charles Tyler, Gary Peacock and Sonny Murray on the classic albums Spiritual Unity, Bells and Spirits Rejoice, a period which culminated in the clangorous rancour and cosmic affirmations of his Impulse! debut Albert Ayler in Greenwich Village as the saxophonist reached the summit on ‘Change Has Come’ and ‘Truth Is Marching In’.” Personally, I don’t really see (hear) it. But see (hear) for yourself. |
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Vietnam and the Long Waits jazz club in Hanoi, which featured Anh Bào Long and the houseband playing “whole songs from 2 great albums ‘Spiritual Unity’ and ‘My Name is Albert Ayler’.” This was at the beginning of last March, however, I did give it a mention back then, and the reason for the new nod is that there’s a video on Instagram of the performance. Here’s the tracklist: 1. Bye bye blackbird (My Name is Albert Ayler)
On to the UST and Texas for a new CD from El Mantis, a band which I’ve mentioned a few times before. |
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El Mantis Live! is a two CD set of live performances from the last two years and features three Ayler tracks, ‘Ghosts’, ‘Change Has Come’ and ‘Truth IS Marching In’. It’s available from bandcamp. Staying in the States, a concert in Hartford, Connecticut on 15th December, 2024, featuring Darius Jones (alto), Joe Morris (g), Adam Lane (b) and Nasheet Waits (d), elicited this review from James Keepnews: “My heart is still racing from yesterday's glorious performance by this world-class quartet yesterday in Hartford. Each of these musicians is a truly singular artist and their group expressions came across as a polyglot simultaneous translation from a world ("a galaxy"?) away. And everyone had something to say deep from within their vibrational manifestations: at one point, I involuntarily put my left hand over my heart in the midst of an impossibly vigorous press roll by Nasheet, something I never do and sort of watched myself doing as it happened. Closing with a non-traditional (!) reading of Albert Ayler's "Ghosts" brought the crowd to their feet at the end, very grateful for the journey. Thanks, gentlemen — youse guys rule!!!” |
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And the last one from me. Finland, where the spirit of Albert Ayler is still going strong. I was contacted by Sami Pekkola, of the wonderfully-named band, Ho Chi Moon, They’ve just released two live albums on bandcamp, one of which includes a version of Ayler’s ‘Water Music’. ‘The concert was played on an island near Helsinki in a really cosy atmosphere and heartwarming audience and crew of the Odysseus festival. We were fortunate to play while watching the sea sparkle. I don't remember, did we plan the set or did we just end up playing Ayler's Water music.” |
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Slugs’ There’s an interesting article by Ethan Iverson in The Nation about Slugs’ Saloon. It was prompted by a Blue Note release of a live recording from 1966 of the McCoy Tyner Quartet, featuring Joe Henderson, Henry Grimes and Jack DeJohnette, called Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’. The article covers a lot of ground and includes the following statement: ‘The idioms of free jazz and fusion are perpetually controversial. The Ken Burns PBS documentary Jazz, which codified a certain narrative of jazz history in the public imagination, did what it could to ignore both. The story Burns tells suggests that jazz was in hibernation between the death of Coltrane and the eventual emergence of new traditionalists like Wynton Marsalis. The music played at Slugs’ and clubs like it goes all but unmentioned.’ Albert Ayler is only mentioned in passing, but there is a fantastic Raymond Ross photo of a Slugs’ audience from 1965, and you cannot fail to wonder which band they’re listening to. There’s also some additional information relating to the main article here. * Blowing my own trumpet I’ve mentioned before Pierre Crépon’s blog, Acoustical Swing, and now, reluctantly, I have to mention ti again since Pierre has featured this site in his latest post: Out There: ayler.co.uk / Notable jazz resources online and elsewhere. Pierre is just one of many people who have contributed to this site over the years and have kept it going when my own laziness would have let it disappear. Pierre also points out that the 25th anniversary of the site is coming up later this year, something which I hadn’t realised and which makes me feel very old. Thanks Pierre! * And finally . . . This is from another of those faithful contributors who keep the site going, Dirk Goedeking. I give him full credit for finding this, since I don’t get the attraction of tattoos and want nothing to do with it. “Albert Ayler’s current instrument”. (?!?) |
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January 1 2025
Happy New Year! Given last month’s surprise appearance on youtube of both the Munich and Berlin videos from the European Tour of 1966, I thought I should post the links again to start 2025 on a positive note. Here’s the Ayler Quintet’s appearance at the Berlin Jazz Festival on 3rd November, 1966:
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Here’s the Quintet at the SWF Television Studio, Munich, in the same month:
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And, just to complete the set, here’s the clip from the Sigma Festival in Bordeaux on 14th November, 1966:
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The date of the Munich session is unclear - there’s a three day gap in the European tour schedule, from the 4th to the 6th of November, so it’s assumed it took place on one of those dates. Also, there is still a mystery surrounding the so-called ‘Rotterdam Tape’, which is obviously taken from one of the November 1966 broadcasts and was seen in a TV programme in the Netherlands on 15th July, 1970. Not only is there no record of the video, but the remaining audio does not seem to relate to any of the recordings from the tour, which raises the question: Is there another date in the European Tour which we don’t know about? Something to mull over in the dark days ahead. The release of the three clips on youtube, and the missing film from the Fondation Maeght, prompted Dirk Goedeking to ruminate on other items from the F.M. ‘“Le dernier concert” by Jean-Michel Meurice locked up in a dark cellar in an impregnable fortress somewhere in southern France. So is the “Sun Ra” film. The third in the Maeght-row is somehow Cecil Taylor, although no movie was made and only the short but fine courtyard video exists. His two concerts, released as one endless “The Great Concert” mixture, can now be found separated in the two shows from 28th and 29th July, 1970. The courtyard video has moved to facebook. More important is this Cecil Taylor video from 1965. THE classic trio for Ayler fans with Lyons and Murray is completed by Henry Grimes who was missing in Europe. Part of “Jazz: The Experimenters” filmed at the Village Gate. Taylor’s tunes “Number One” and “Octogonal Skirt And Fancy Pants” start at 5:55. Actually that one rang a bell and checking, I mentioned it back in May, 2022. Still, well worth another view:
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Dirk also notes that there was an (unofficial) LP release of the session on the Ozone label. And continuing our drifting (on a reed) from our prime subject, He adds this short clip of Don Cherry’s “Eternal Rhythm” (complete with Sonny Sharrock and a muted Pharoah Sanders) from Berlin 1968, courtesy again of Jay Korber:
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And follows that with the following: ‘A very big thank you for your youtube link to Ornette Coleman’s unreleased Blue Note album, connected to Albert only by ESP’s 7 inch single. ... I always wondered why “Doughnut” on the ESP release is so different to all other recordings of this tune. Litweiler rightfully analyzed, that these are two different tunes. He explained the difference with the titles “Doughnut” (sg.) or “Doughnuts (pl.)”. This never satisfied me. But taking a look at the videos there was the logical solution of the problem: ESP’s title “Doughnut” is in fact “Story Teller” and all other “Doughnuts” have their correct title. I wasn’t too surprised ESP selling a mistitled tune on a legendary record for decades, remembering “Spirits” on “Spiritual Unity”, being either “Saints” or “Vibration” depending on the release. If I get it right this “Spirits” is the only mistitled Ayler track released during his lifetime. All other “Sweet Variations” came later. Dirk also included the following picture of an Ornette Coleman Trio poster “with a direct connection to Albert”: |
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Talk about obscure. Dirk found an earlier title for the Phase One album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago on the back of a Roswell Rudd LP. |
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But, we must never forget - a man is like a tree. |
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Lebert Aaly again Coincidentally, the Swedish group, dedicated to Albert Ayler, and taking its name from the Art Ensemble of Chicago tribute mentioned above, the Aaly Trio, has a new album out which receives an ecstatic review on The Free Jazz Collective site which begins: ‘This one was a long time coming. It’s been almost a quarter century since the AALY Trio released an album, their last being I Wonder If I Was Screaming at the turn of the century - and that’s not counting the excellent AALY Trio/DKV Trio release Double or Nothing that came a couple of years later. Surprisingly it’s also their first release as a proper trio, with all of their previous albums including Ken Vandermark on reeds. This absence is rectified by the maestro’s comprehensive liner notes in which he charts the history of the trio and provides some valuable insights into the forces and circumstances that shaped their path. The group is famously named after the Art Ensemble of Chicago piece “Lebert Aaly…dedicated to Albert Ayler” from their album “Phase One”, which was released at the end of their European/Paris period just before they returned to their eponymous home city. The album was the first of theirs heard by a young Mats Gustafsson, and it made a hell of an impression, as did said city and its music scene when he was invited there in ’95 by John Corbett. Vandermark then notes that this trip led to the Pipeline project, and that subsequent tours and collaborations also birthed the groups The Thing and School Days, among others I’m sure. On “Sustain” we have the quintessential trio as of ’95, Gustafsson on saxophones, flute, and harmonica with bassist Peter Janson and drummer Kjell Nordeson. It’s apparent from the music that the affinity and bonds the trio forged still remain firmly intact. ... ‘ |
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Two from George Scala A couple of facebook posts from George Scala (who was very helpful to me in the very early days of this site). The first is this LP on Leroi Jones’ (Amiri Baraka’s) Jihad label (not the infamous Sonny’s Time Now, but interesting nonetheless). George introduced it thus: “Happy Black Friday Bought this record directly from Amiri Baraka when he spoke at SF State in the early 80s.” |
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And, second was this, an Albert Ayler Library. George wondered if anything was missing. Maybe that German novel/memoir about seeing the Ayler band at Slugs’ - Die Zukunft der Schönheit by Friedrich Christian Delius. Unless it’s that one third from the left. |
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What’s New October to December 2024 has been sent to the vaults. *** |
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This site went online in June 2000. All the previous ‘What’s New’ pages are available below: * If you have any information about Albert Ayler, or any questions or corrections, then please email me, Patrick Regan.
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