Jazz Articles about Albert Ayler

About Albert Ayler

Album Review

Albert Ayler: New York Eye And Ear Control Revisited

Read "New York Eye And Ear Control Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
July 30, 2021

The development of so-called free jazz in New York during the first half of the 1960s was topped and tailed by three landmark recordings: Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz (Atlantic, 1961), John Coltrane's Ascension (Impulse, 1966) and Albert Ayler's New York Eye And Ear Control (ESP, 1966). Of the three discs, only New York Eye And Ear Control broke away completely from jazz's normative structure of theme/solos/theme. Commissioned as an art-film soundtrack, Ayler's recording was also the product of an altogether ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler Quartet with Don Cherry: European Recordings Autumn 1964 Revisited

Read "European Recordings Autumn 1964 Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
June 30, 2021

Many attempts have been made to locate the source of tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler's muse in American history and culture. Among the less outlandish suggestions are the field hollers of slaves toiling on Southern plantations and the Pentecostal church's tradition of talking in tongues. Given the importance Ayler's parents placed on him attending church as a child, and his own abiding interest in spiritual matters, talking in tongues could well figure. The most likely source, however, yet the one most ...

Multiple Reviews

Albert Ayler & New York Contemporary Five: Revisited, Remastered, Resplendent

by Chris May
May 27, 2021

The Swiss-based ezz-thetics label was launched in 2019 by Hat Hut Records' founder, Werner X. Uehlinger, and its Revisited strand is a jazz aficionado's dream. The series is devoted to landmark avant-garde recordings from the 1960s, and ezz-thetics does more than simply reissue them. Peter Pfister, Uehlinger's longtime mastering Jedi, improves the audio quality of the discs so substantially that listening to them is, at times, almost like hearing the music anew. Among the albums in the Revisited catalogue are ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler Quintet: 1966: Berlin, Lörrach, Paris & Stockholm. Revisited

Read "1966: Berlin, Lörrach, Paris & Stockholm. Revisited" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 24, 2021

It may sound odd to describe the music that Albert Ayler's quintet performs here as the musical equivalent of comfort food, but these sounds can be associated with security and nostalgia. They are a reminder of the spark ignited by this tenor saxophonist from Cleveland. Ayler, maybe more than any artist of his day, paved the way for free jazz by linking it to the music of New Orleans, African-American spirituals, marching bands, and national anthems. If no Ayler, then ...

Profile

Albert Ayler. Un ardito sogno futuristico

by Giuseppe Segala
February 12, 2021

Come una meteora, Albert Ayler ha attraversato il firmamento della musica neroamericana, dal 1962 al 1970. E ha lasciato il segno. Una traccia presente e attiva tutt'oggi, nell'operato di numerosi musicisti che dedicano il proprio lavoro all'improvvisazione e alla ricerca di un'autenticità dell'espressione artistica. L'apparizione del sassofonista nel mondo del jazz, una vera epifania, impressionò molti, tra cui John Coltrane, che lo supportò anche in senso finanziario. Trane fu profondamente colpito dal carattere, dal suono di Ayler, dalla ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler: Albert Ayler 1965: Spirits Rejoice & Bells Revisited

Read "Albert Ayler 1965: Spirits Rejoice & Bells Revisited" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
November 28, 2020

Being that 2020 is more than half a century since Albert Ayler (1936-70) recorded this music, the best way to approach might be through what the Zen Buddhists call Shoshin. Roughly translated as “beginner's mind," or the ability to experience things as if for the first time. Since we cannot transport ourselves back to 1965, taking a posture of readiness and being open to experience the revelatory nature of this music might be the best plan of attack.

Album Review

Albert Ayler Trio: 1964: Prophecy Revisited

Read "1964: Prophecy Revisited" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 7, 2020

Albert Ayler is often quoted as saying “Trane was the Father, Pharoah was the Son, I am the Holy Ghost," referring to John Coltrane, “Pharoah Sanders," and himself. It might be better said that Ayler was John The Baptist, the musical prophet that proclaimed the coming of free jazz. Like many a prophet, his end was agonizing. Ayler drowned in the East River in 1970, after a very brief eight year recording career. Coltrane knew then what many ...