Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Albert Ayler: At Slugs’ Saloon 1966 Revisited
Albert Ayler: At Slugs’ Saloon 1966 Revisited
ByThe question remains, where was he going? The answer may come both from his contemporaries and the subsequent free jazz generation. Ayler, like his confrères Peter Brötzmann, Pharoah Sanders, Bengt Nordstrom, Marion Brown,Joe McPhee, Archie Shepp, and Marion Brown, pushed the traditions of creative music into new territories. Those domains have been expanded further today by artists such as Mats Gustafsson, Paul Flaherty, Ivo Perelman (search for his out-of-print recording Live (Zero In, 1997) with William Parker and Rashied Ali), and the Ayler disciples Mars Williams and Jeff Lederer.
With Ayler's quintet date at Slugs Saloon we have the source material that most free jazz musicians reference today. This Ayler reissue is the eighth from the ezz-thetics label. It continues the work Werner X. Uehlinger began with his various labels hat ART, Hat Hut, and hatOLGY, preserving Ayler's music and licensing it from the Ayler estate.
This live recording from 1966 reunited Ayler with his brother Donald Ayler (trumpet) and added bassist Lewis Worrell, drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, and violinist Michel Sampson, who would travel to Europe with the saxophonist and brother Donald for a brief tour. Although the music has been released several times in the past, this remastered version is quite vibrant. The energy is palpable and ultimately undeniable. These might be the definitive versions of "Truth is Marching In," "Our Prayer," "Bells," and "Ghosts," but let us leave that argument to his loyal fans. We may never know where Albert Ayler was ultimately going, but this recording points us in the general direction.
Track Listing
Truth Is Marching In; Our Prayer; Bells; Ghost; Initiation.
Personnel
Albert Ayler
saxophone, tenorDonald Ayler
trumpetMichel Samson
violinLewis Worrell
bass, acousticRonald Shannon Jackson
drumsAlbum information
Title: At Slugs’ Saloon 1966 Revisited | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Ezz-thetics
Comments
Tags
Albert Ayler
Album Review
Mark Corroto
At Slugs’ Saloon 1966 Revisited
Ezz-Thetics
Peter Brotzmann
Pharoah Sanders
Bengt Nordstrom
Marion Brown
Joe McPhee
archie shepp
Mats Gustafsson
Paul Flaherty
Ivo Perelman
William Parker
Rashied Ali
Mars Williams
Jeff Lederer
Lewis Worrell
Ronald Shannon Jackson
Michel Sampson