What's New

Sonny Rollins died on Monday, 25th May, 2026 at the age of 95 (coincidentally the day before what would have been the 100th birthday of Miles Davis). I always thought that musically, he was the clearest influence on Albert Ayler, especially on his earliest recordings, and so I thought I should note his passing despite having no evidence that they ever performed together. They certainly never recorded together, although their paths seemed to cross several times. Albert’s first meeting with Don Cherry was in Scandinavia in 1962, when Cherry was a member of Sonny Rollins’ band. They both performed at Coltrane’s ‘Titans of the Tenor’ concert at Lincoln Center on 19th February, 1966, although not together. And Sonny Rollins was also part of the ‘Newport Jazz Festival in Europe 1966’ tour. Here are the obituaries in The Guardian, the New York Times and The Washington Post.

What’s New in December 1970

This was going to be the opening item before I heard the news above:

I’ve been sorting out stuff (it comes to us all) and came across a couple of clippings from Melody Maker of 12th December, 1970 and realised that this was how I got the news of Albert Ayler’s death. I’ve had a look through the site and can’t find them anywhere (although the site search function is pretty ropey) so I thought I might as well scan them (possibly again) and put them here:

Albert Ayler around the world

Dirk Goedeking takes us on a tour:

still no statue, Albert Ayler Museum or whatever in sight, but ...

what Cleveland can't get done, Middelburg does it. The Dutch town has a new street named "Albert Aylerstraat". Located in the county of Zeeland, in the town's De Mortiere quarter, there's even a holiday accommodation already waiting for you.

Another "Ghosts" cover from youtube. This one is somehow special because it comes from Hangzhou, China.

Prague's Café Husovka used Blue Note's (and Eric Dolphy’s) "Out to Lunch" cover to promote an "* Albert Ayler & Don Cherry *" tribute concert that took place on 4th May.

Tony Wilson will celebrate "Flowers For Albert" at Granville Island Jazz, Vancouver's Jazz Festival, on 3rd July, 2026.

Germany's "SWR Kultur" radio station takes a closer look at the Lörrach concert. SWR recorded it back then, when their name was still SWF. It will be broadcast nationwide on all German "Kulturradios" on 25.05.26.

Sorry, missed that one, I was hoping it would still be available, but I can’t find it. However, here’s the blurb which accompanied it.

‘The legendary Albert Ayler and his quintet performed at the Lörrach Town Hall in 1966.

This Whit Monday broadcast (in the biblical calendar, the day after the Holy Spirit descended upon humanity) is dedicated to the music of Albert Ayler. The saxophonist is not only often quoted as describing himself as the Holy Spirit of jazz (“Trane was the father. Pharoah was the son. I was the Holy Ghost”) – one of his most famous compositions is also called “Holy Ghost.” And he performed it live many times – for example, at a deeply spiritual concert by his quintet on November 7, 1966, in the southern German border town of Lörrach.’

And Dirk signs off with another cassette version of The Village Concerts, this one on the MCA label.

Steve Tintweiss

A couple of things from Steve Tintweiss. First, a photo of the line-up for the Spacelight Band, performing at the ‘Albert Ayler 60th Birthday Tribute’ concert in 1996 at the Forest Park Bandshell, as part of the New York Free Music series. The musicians are: Herb Robertson, Perry Robinson, Ric Frank, Lou Grassi and Steve Tintweiss..

And there’s a review of Live In Tompkins Square Park 1967 by Steve Tintweiss And The Purple Why on Michael Doherty’s Music Log.

Spiritual Jazz: Music On A Higher Plane

is an article on the uDiscoverMusic site which mentions Albert Ayler, and highlights Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe as follows:

‘Albert Ayler was another saxophonist who graduated from the school of John Coltrane. Skipping right past bebop and other modern jazz styles, he personified the explosive sound of “fire jazz,” turning his instrument into an amplifier for unfettered sounds that represented the other side of the astral jazz spectrum. His source material was not imported but the homegrown sound of Southern blues and spirituals, as he declared on Music is the Healing Force of the Universe in 1969.’

“fire jazz” - not come across that one before - maybe they mean ‘Fire Music’ from the Archie Shepp album and Tom Surgal’s 2021 documentary. However there’s a link on the site to a new release of one of my favourite Miles Davis albums, the soundtrack for Louis Malle’s Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud (Lift to the Scaffold). I do have a previous special edition of the album, plus a curious Fontana LP where it took up one side, with the other being the soundtrack for Des Femmes Disparaissent by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

Youtube roundup

Dave Taylor sent me a couple of clips of the alto sax player, Carlos Ward, who died in January of this year. He was someone I always meant to look out for after first hearing him on Don Cherry’s Relativity Suite, but never seemed to run into him again - I think the only other album I’ve got is Coltrane’s A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle. So here he is in all his glory with the Rashied Ali Quartet in 1972:

And Dave sent another one of the Don Cherry Quartet from 1994

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This is a virtually unwatchable ‘documentary’ about Albert Ayler, which I was going to ignore but it originally had this picture at its start. It’s since been re-edited, but I thought this A.I. Albert worth preserving.

And finally ...

In the line of great British Prime Ministers I hate Maggie Thatcher first, closely followed by Tony Blair, who has just written an ‘essay’ on the parlous state of the country and the world (for which he is more than a little to blame) which has been criticised by Jason Walsh on TechCentral.ie. His riposte includes the following:

‘But the essay, the thing-in-itself is extraordinary, a kind of verbal free jazz, demonstrating Albert Ayler-like levels of skill in relating together hitherto unconnected things.’

What’s New January to May 2026 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: