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February 1 2026

New Label New Ayler Releases

When Werner X. Uehlinger handed over HatHut Records to Marco von Orelli and Melanie Imhof last August. he didn’t intend to rest on his laurels and immediately made plans for a new label, ALAY, named after Albert Ayler. Later this month ALAY will release its initial albums, one a remastered combination of two early Ayler records, Spirits and Spirits Rejoice, the other containing three live performances. The Copenhagen concert from the 1966 European tour has never been released before. The single track from the Sigma Festival in Bordeaux, saved from oblivion by its inclusion in a TV documentary, has only been available as a video clip on youtube. And Ayler’s concert at the 1967 Newport Festival has only ever been released in the Holy Ghost box set, although this version is from another, better quality, source. I will add more details in the March update.

Die Zukunft der Schönheit

Aka Albert Ayler oder Die Zukunft der Schönheit (Albert Ayler or The Future of Beauty) by Friedrich Christian Delius, the German book revolving around a visit to Slugs’ Saloon when Albert Ayler was playing, has now been the subject of a live performance featuring Michael Grunert and the saxophone duo, Leptophonics. Dirk Goedeking found this, which seems to have occurred on 18th May last year, according to this site, which has the following description:

‘Slug's Salon, May 1966. On stage: free jazz musician Albert Ayler and his band.

In the audience: aspiring writer Friedrich Christian Delius.

Ingeniously unconventional playing of instruments shatters all of young Delius’s expectations and opens up spaces of freedom.

The book “The Future of Beauty,” which arose from these experiences, and Albert Ayler’s music form the basis of this staged reading. Actor Michael Grunert reads, plays, and performs excerpts from the text. The two saxophonists, Andreas Gummersbach and Andreas Kaling, quote familiar melodies such as “Oh When The Saints” or traditional gospel songs and improvise over them in the style of Albert Ayler’s wild and expressive music.’

There’s also a trailer on youtube:

Now Jazz Now

I mentioned Thurston Moore’s new book last month, but Dirk spotted another article, written by Moore’s co-writer, Byron Coley, on the Forced Exposure site, which includes the entry for Spiritual Unity:

And sticking with Spiritual Unity, Dirk found this ‘stereo’ version on youtube. The album was famously recorded in mono, due to a mistake on the engineer’s part - according to legend he thought they were just rehearsing. Dirk didn’t leave it there:

‘Curious, I took a closer look at Discogs, finding STEREO printed on a BASE label. Is this a misprint, official stereo, duophonic or whatever people try to do with mono recordings?’

I took a look at Discogs and found another ‘stereo’ version, this time from ESP:

I then checked my own copies of Spiritual Unity, an early ESP version, mono, and the Fontana reissue, labelled stereo, but it’s not. Although. I should confess, I’m not the man to check all this, only having one working ear and that now sporting an electronic aid. However, I suspect that all the versions are mono and it’s just a printing error, or maybe a marketing ploy.

‘Current Trends in Right-Wing Music Appreciation: Claiming Ornette Coleman’

is the subject of the January edition of Pierre Crépon’s ‘Acoustical Swing’ and should be read.

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Charles Tyler

There’s another review of that Charles Tyler re-released album, Voyage From Jericho, mentioned last month, on the Spectrum Culture site.

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Two bands which play ‘Ghosts’

1. QOW Trio

The QOW Trio, featuring Riley Stone-Lonergan on tenor saxophone, Eddie Myer on bass and British jazz legend Spike Wells on drums, have a new album out, entitled The Rule of Three. It includes a version of ‘Ghosts’ as well as the theme from High Noon; understandable since they were originally inspired by the Sonny Rollins LP, Way Out West. The album is available on bandcamp, and is reviewed on the UK Jazz News site. There’s also a review of a recent Bristol gig and here’s ‘Ghosts’:

2. Mete Erker Trio + 1

Mete Erker is a Dutch tenor saxophonist who has released a double vinyl album, both of which feature versions of ‘Ghosts’.

More information on Mete’s site, and here’s the live version of ‘Ghosts’:

And there’s a live broadcast of the band on Bimhuis TV on 1st February at 19.30 Amsterdam time.

A couple more from youtube

I’ve had a look and I don’t think I’ve posted this before. It’s ML Lieber and the Magic Poetry Band, featuring Faruq Z. Bey performing his poem about Albert Ayler, from a Detroit concert on 14th September, 2001;

And finally, here’s the Ghost Band playing Ghost Venues (including Slugs’ Saloon) on 21st December, 2025:

January 1 2026

Happy New Year!

Actual News

Richard Koloda sent me the following:

‘Hi Patrick : this might be of a side interest, but it might bring international attention. As you know I used to interview people like Donald Ayler, Mutawaf Shaheed, Jimmy Landers, Bobby Few. Larry Hancock and others associated with Ayler. So in essence but for WCSB Holy Ghost would never have come into existence:

WCSB College Radio’s Shutdown Is a Profound Loss for Cleveland’s Creative Communities

Inside the Backlash Against CSU and Ideastream After Unceremonious Killing of WCSB

Cleveland State University Kills WCSB, Transfers Management of Station to Ideastream to Broadcast Jazz

What went down at WCSB 89.3FM: a voice from inside Cleveland State’s axed student radio station

CSU shuts down student-led WCSB, hands control to Ideastream

The Rock and Roll Capital Killed Its College Radio Station for Smooth Jazz and the Students Are Fighting Back

El Mantis

I mention this with some trepidation. On 13th December, El Mantis (a band which features some Ayler tunes among its repertoire) played the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center. I must admit I was surprised by the Center’s website - I was expecting a vision in gold with pictures of Boss Trump on every page, but there was just a discreet renaming of the Center in the top left-hand corner. Anyway, here is the video:

Charles Tyler

Charles Tyler’s 1975 album, Voyage From Jericho, has received a 50th Anniversary Reissue. There’s a review by S. Victor Aaron on the Something Else! site and full details are available on bandcamp.

Book Corner

1. Everything Is Now: The 1960s New York Avant-Garde—Primal Happenings, Underground Movies, Radical Pop by J. Hoberman

I was sure I’d mentioned this book before, but I can’t find it. It’s an overview of the ‘scene’ in New York in the 1960s, and there’s an interview with the author on the Reverse Shot site.

2. “Thurston Moore documents his obsession with free jazz in a new book” is an article in the Los Angeles Times:

‘For the last six years, Moore has been pouring this passion into a new book: “Now Jazz Now: 100 Essential Free Jazz and Improvisation Recordings 1960-80,” co-written by Byron Coley and Mats Gustafsson and published by Ecstatic Peace Library, the publishing imprint he runs with Eva Moore. The book also features words from Neneh Cherry and Joe McPhee.’

3. And Cisco Bradley announces his new book on Instagram:

My next book, I Hear Freedom: The Great Migration, Free Jazz, and Black Power, will be released on Columbia University Press on March 17, 2026. It is dedicated to Imam Mutawaf Shaheed of Cleveland who was instrumental in it coming together. The cover painting of saxophonist Albert Ayler is by R.A. Washington (@clevelandtapes) and Gabriel Vanlandingham-Dunn (@djibrilanddjazz) wrote a brilliant foreword. This is the result of 5 years of research and writing and it formed a baseline for the work I’m doing at the Music and Migration Lab. Thanks to everyone I interviewed and to the staff at various archives who assisted with the process.

Sail away

That last one was spotted by Dirk Goedeking (Happy New Year!) and he also found this on reddit, which relates to the second. Dirk introduces it thus:

‘The end of the year is always a time to think about the really important questions: What would you take to a desert island? I don't know, but help is on the way.’

There are several lists of the top six indispensable jazz records to mull over and Dirk also uncovered this picture among them.

Dirk ends with this:

To which I will add the following items from youtube. From ‘rock’s back pages’, two Ayler-related interviews, with Richard Williams and Val Wilmer:

Val Wilmer

And finally ...

What’s New October to December 2025 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: