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Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe The Inconsistency of |
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Bands
Albert et sa Fanfare Poliorcétique (Following a meeting with Albert Ayler at the Fondation Maeght, Denis Benoliel named his band after Albert. They released one LP in 1971 - La malédiction des rockers (Riviera 521194). The full story of the meeting is on the Ayler Remembered page. The band is also featured in this 1972 programme from French TV.))
Spirits Rejoice (A South African band formed in the mid-seventies by drummer Gilbert Matthews. They released two albums, African Spaces in 1977 and Spirits Rejoice in 1978.) |
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The Belgian Waffles (Based in Louisville Kentucky, The Belgian Waffles have quite a few songs directly related to the Aylers or influenced by them. Specifically the tunes, "Flat Black Huey" which uses "Universal Indians" as a refrain and "Too Many Dustballs" which refers heavily to Donald Ayler.)
(As Aylers Angels:
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The Oddyssey Quartet (featuring Bill Folwell) |
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Featuring Pasquale Innarella on tenor and soprano sax, Danilo Gallo on bass and Ermanno Baron on drums. |
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Featuring: Hiromichi Ishiai on tenor and soprano sax, Ax Ono on bass and Tsuneo Takei on drums. |
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Record Labels
Swedish record label, founded by Jan Ström and Åke Bjurhamn in 2000, specialising in free jazz, and responsible for The Copenhagen Tapes. In 2009 Ayler Records moved to France.
Albert Ayler’s Jukebox Beyond the name (a reference to one of the many rumours surrounding Albert’s death), no connection to Ayler or jazz, and now seemingly defunct. A list of releases is available on the Discogs site. |
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Douglas Wright New Zealand’s leading contemporary dancer/choreographer, Douglas Wright used a track from the Relyable LP, The Berlin Concerts - 1966 in a dance called "Hey Paris”, the subject of a short film in 1987, directed by Gregor Nicholas.
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James Carlès ‘Opus 07’, a 55 minute dance piece by James Carlès, inspired by the music of Albert Ayler, was created in 2006. ”Opus 07 is one of those marvelous solos that belong to an autobiographical work, an intimate prayer. Superbly danced, James Carlès shows moving sincerity and inspiration by his African roots and his years as a “modern dancer” to reach a universal truth. On stage, the musical dimension is essential. It is born out of collaboration between James Carlès and Vs_Price. The dialogue between the two artists is prolonged on stage because the music is played live. Two other partners play a preponderant role in this solo: scenography and lights. They enable the choreographer and dancer to confront new constraints, to elaborate new forms, to construct and deconstruct space” - Sonia Schoonejans, ballet 2000, March 26, 2006
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Adenike Sharpley The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost: Albert Ayler - performed at Oberlin College on 12th and 13th October, 2012. *
Visual Arts
Hors-champs A 1992 video installation by Stan Douglas featuring Ayler’s ‘Spirits Rejoice’ performed by a quartet of musicians (Douglas Ewart (ts), George Lewis (tb), Kent Carter (b) and Oliver Johnson (d)) on two screens. More information (and a brief video clip) is available on the New Media Encyclopedia site. Click the picture below for a larger image. |
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Riverboat Lovesongs for the Ghost Whale Regatta An installation by Michael Jones McKean, it was shown at Grand Arts in Kansas City, Missouri from September 1st to October 21st 2006: “Michael McKean's Riverboat Lovesongs for the Ghost Whale Regatta steers a meandering course between the objective facts of navigation and poetic possibilities of exploration. Like many of his installations, it slips between varied levels of reference, in this instance from Twain’s pilot house to Ahab's foredeck to the abandoned shell of Donald Crowhurst's Teignmouth Electron. Stagecraft and artifice are balanced by the concrete presence of clay, wind, and rain, while Albert Ayler's saxophone provides a sporadic and elegiac soundtrack. Casting a shadow over the installation as a whole is the implication that adventure and aspiration may very well end in death by water.
From The General Intellect: My name is Albert Ayler Performance art by The Y Liver from FRASQ 2011 at Le Générateur, Paris. Video on vimeo. More information on The Y Liver site. *
Concerts, Seminars, etc.
Albert Ayler Memorial Concert, Karamu House, Cleveland, 11 April 1971
Albert Ayler Festival On 20th September, 1996 a festival celebrating Albert Ayler’s 60th birthday was held at the Washington Square Church in Greenwich Village, New York. |
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La Passion selon Albert Ayler In November 2002 a series of concerts was held in Brussels under the collective title, La Passion selon Albert Ayler. The following information is from the press release: “Le Collectif Inaudible présente : La Passion selon Albert Ayler "je joue un cri silencieux" au Petit Théâtre Mercelis à 20h30 les 5, 7, 9 et 14 novembre Une tragédie musicale sur une mise en texte et son de Guy Strale mardi 5 novembre 20 h30 texte interprété par Nathalie Rjewsky & Frédéric Lepers jeudi 7 novembre 20h 30 samedi 9 novembre 20 h 30 jeudi 14 novembre 20h30 organisé par inaudible asbl en collaboration avec le service de la culture d'Ixelles Une tragédie musicale évoquant une personnalité mythique et injustement méconnue : le saxophoniste noir américain Albert Ayler, un des créateurs du free jazz, suicidé de la société, à 34 ans, en 1970.
Along An Eastern Shore R. A. Washington’s ‘choreopoem’ in tribute to Albert Ayler, “Along An Eastern Shore”, performed by Daniel Gray-Kontar and the Albert Ayler Awareness Orchestra, had its world premiere at Cleveland’s Ingenuity Festival on July 16th, 2006. Photos of the event by Lou Muenz are available on his website, and here’s a short video extract.
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The First Annual Albert Ayler Festival The First Annual Albert Ayler Festival took place on Saturday 10th July, 2010 on Roosevelt Island, New York. It was a free, outdoor festival running from 2 to 10 pm, featuring performances from Giuseppi Logan, Charles Gayle, Gunter Hampel, Marshall Allen and many more. The event was part-organised by ESP-Disk. |
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From the Urban Sketchers site: “Albert Ayler Festival The Flow Trio (Louie Belogenis, sax; Joe Morris, bass; Charles Downs--formerly and much better known as Rashid Bakr, drums) performing at the first annual Albert Ayler Festival, held on Roosevelt Island on Saturday July 10, 2010. |
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Sant’ Anna Arresi Jazz 2010 The Sant’ Anna Arresi Jazz Festival, which took place on Sardinia in August 2010, was inspired by the music of Albert Ayler. The programme was as follows; August 23: ZU (Special guest Peter Brotzmann) August 24: August 25: August 26: August 27: August 28: August 29: August 30: |
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London Jazz Festival 2010 As part of the 2010 London Jazz Festival, Alex Bonney presented his Tribute to Albert Ayler on Thursday, 18th November at Charlie Wrights, featuring the following line-up:
Pour Albert Ayler - Le Fondation Cartier, Paris There was a tribute concert for Albert Ayler at the Le Fondation Cartier, Paris, on 2nd December, 2010. “Pour Albert Ayler” Hypertrophic vibrato, incandescent lyricism, Dionysian improvisations, a blaring primal scream all characterized the music of Albert Ayler. Found dead in New York’s East River in 1970, he was a dominant force in the free jazz movement of the 1960s. Assembling musicians and writers, this special event celebrates Ayler’s memory and art. An evening presented by the bassist Joëlle Léandre and the writer and journalist Franck Médioni. With Jean–Jacques Avenel, Zéno Bianu, Yves Buin, Jacqueline Caux, Jean-Luc Cappozzo, Steve Dalachinsky, Simon Goubert, Raphaël Imbert, Sylvain Kassap, Joëlle Léandre, Urs Leimgruber, Didier Levallet, Ramon Lopez, Bernard Lubat, Joe McPhee, Evan Parker, Michel Portal, Barre Phillips, Steve Potts, Lucia Recio, Jacques Réda, Christian Rollet, Archie Shepp, Alan Silva, John Tchicai, Assif Tsahar, Elsa Wolliaston.”
Albert Ayler: Music, Spirituality and Freedom - Cleveland A three-day event (16-18th March, 2011) in Ayler’s home town, featuring a panel discussion, a concert by Marc Ribot’s Spiritual Unity, and a showing of My Name Is Albert Ayler. |
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GHOSTS, a tribute to Albert Ayler Performed at the Holy Trinity Church, Boar Lane, Leeds, England on 7th October, 2011: “Ghosts is a collaborative work by the artists Derek Horton and Eoin Shea, and the musicians Paul Hession (percussion) and Leon Thomas Johnson (tenor saxophone). Hession and Johnson improvise to two twin-screen film projections by Horton and Shea. The project is a tribute to the legendary musician Albert Ayler, 41 years after his death in New York at the age of 34. After falling from the Staten Island ferry in mysterious circumstances, Ayler’s body was found on 25 November 1970.”
Jacksonville Jazz Festival 2013 ‘Truth Is Marching In - An Albert Ayler Commemoration’ was held on 26th May, 2013, as part of the annual Jacksonville Jazz Festival in Florida. |
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Albert Ayler. Lo spirito e la rivolta To celebrate the launch of the Italian translation of Peter Niklas Wilson’s Spirits Rejoice: Albert Ayler und seine Botschaft there was an event in Pisa at the Teatro Rossi Aperto on 14th June, 2013, featuring a concert by Paolo Botti. |
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La musica e la rivolta - Albert Ayler A three day festival at the Teatro Garibaldi, Palermo, Italy, from 21st to 24th of March, 2014. Programme: -21 marzo 2014 -22 marzo 2014 -23 marzo 2014 |
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Jacksonville Jazz Festival 2014 ‘Truth Is Marching In - An Albert Ayler Commemoration’ returned for a three-night event as part of the annual Jacksonville Jazz Festival in Florida, from May 23rd to 25th, 2014, at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum. The concerts were recorded and are available at the Internet Archive. |
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Tributo Albert Ayler Trio There was a tribute concert for Albert Ayler at the Zinco Jazz Club in Mexico City on 27th August, 2014, with Remi Alvarez on saxes, Carlos Maldonado on bass and Milo Tamez on drums. |
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Albert Ayler Award The first “Albert Ayler Award” (sponsored by Steve Tintweiss) was presented to Victor Murillo at the Graduation Ceremony of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, New York on 2nd June, 2016. |
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AylerFest 2016 The New Ghosts group in Cleveland organised an AylerFest 2016 in celebration of Albert Ayler’s 80th Birthday, featuring the groups, Universal Indians (with Joe McPhee) at The Bop Stop on 16th June, and Witches & Devils, led by Mars Williams,at The Happy Dog on 18th June. |
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The Montclair Jazz Festival 2016 The Montclair Jazz Festival (which takes place in New Jersey in August) has chosen a painting by Andres Chaparro entitled, ‘Albert Ayler’s Cry’, for its posters, programmes, t-shirts and other festival merchandise. |
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Albert Ayler Awareness Orchestar 10 Year Anniversary Concert On March 26th 2017 at the Bop Stop in Cleveland, RA Washington reprised ‘Along The Eastern Shore’, a celebration of the life and music of Albert Ayler, first performed ten years ago. ‘In 2007, a group of Cleveland musicians gathered to put on what was supposed to be a one time celebration of the music and life of Cleveland’s own, Albert Ayler. The piece, entitled “Along The Eastern Shore” was premiered as part of Ingenuity Fest and featured Lawrence Daniel Caswell, Daniel Gray Kontar, Dan Wenninger, Chris Kulscar, Bill Nichols, Neil Chastain, Louis Arrocho Jr, Buddy Akita and Lamont “Bim” Thomas. Director, RA Washington, is delighted to have the opportunity to share this work with the public again on Sunday, March 26th at 7pm. There will be a “pay as you want” donation at the door because the band wants to keep the show affordable to all. Proceeds from the show will help the band record this piece to vinyl.’ |
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The People’s Forum “Jazz & Self Determination” #5: Albert Ayler On Saturday, 13th July, 2019 - Albert Ayler’s 83rd birthday - an event was held at The People’s Forum in New York in the ‘Jazz & Self Determination’ series, organised by Ras Moshe Burnett and featuring Steve Tintweiss and Joel Freedman. |
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The whole session is available on youtube. It runs for 2 hours 44 minutes, but there is some fascinating stuff in there about the early years of Free Jazz, and Joel Freedman’s account of his first meeting with Albert is classic. Around the 1:52:00 mark, Joel Freedman takes up his cello and the three men make some music.
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Where Rivers Meet: The Music of Dewey Redman and Albert Ayler A multi-dimensional event featuring the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and the Russian painter Maria Rud, streamed from 12 - 15 May, 2021. ‘Filmed in the heart of Edinburgh, 12th Century St. Giles Cathedral provides the unique canvas for a new collaboration between the SNJO and Russian painter Maria Rud, whose soulful and spiritually charged live paintings will be projected onto the magnificent stained-glass great west window and sets the music of Ornette Coleman, Dewey Redman, Anthony Braxton, and Albert Ayler arranged by Tommy Smith, Paul Towndrow, Paul Harrison, and Geoffrey Keezer in a distinct and fresh light.’ |
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The Albert Ayler Benefit Golf Outing 26th August 2023. |
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WKCR Albert Ayler Birthday Broadcast 13th July 2024. |
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