Jazz Articles about Albert Ayler

About Albert Ayler

Radio & Podcasts

The Jazz Avant-Garde in the 1960s (1960 - 1966)

by Russell Perry
February 25, 2020

Nurtured in the seminal recordings of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor in the mid to late 1950s, the jazz avant—garde came into its own in the 1960s with their continuing creations, those of John Coltrane already featured in this program and those of next generation players, Joe Harriott and Albert Ayler. Defining statements of the free jazz movement in the early 1960s by Coleman, Taylor, Harriott and Ayler in this hour of Jazz at 100. Playlist Host Intro ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler: Quartets 1964: Spirits To Ghosts Revisited

Read "Quartets 1964: Spirits To Ghosts Revisited" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
October 25, 2019

When did you first encounter saxophonist Albert Ayler's music? Not 'hear' because hearing was just part of the experience. Call it the shock of the new or just the discovery of a totally original sound, Ayler's music was a revelation. That first encounter will probably always be one of those “where were you when you first heard Ayler" stories to share with friends. Enter Werner X. Uehlinger's Hat Hut Records and its new ezz-thetics label which, with permission ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler: Quartets 1964: Spirits To Ghosts Revisited

Read "Quartets 1964: Spirits To Ghosts Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
August 12, 2019

Before considering the music on this disc, something else has to be celebrated—the resurrection of Werner X. Uehlinger's Hat Hut label (see past profiles). Founded in 1975, the Swiss-based company's hatOLOGY series championed European and American outer-limits jazz, producing a large catalogue of newly recorded and legacy material. Sadly, in 2016, financial pressures obliged Uehlinger to sell the back catalogue and the hatOLOGY name to Outhere Music. But just three years later, Uehlinger and Hat Hut are back, with hatOLOGY ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler: Copenhagen Live 1964

Read "Copenhagen Live 1964" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala

by Giuseppe Segala
September 17, 2018

Il 1964 fu un anno cruciale nella vicenda artistica di Albert Ayler: l'abbondante pubblicazione di suoi lavori, tra cui Spiritual Unity e New York Eye and Ear Control, focalizzò l'attenzione sul sassofonista, sulla sua musica abrasiva e tenera, tellurica e spirituale. Epica. Fu anche l'anno in cui Ayler venne in Europa per la seconda volta, lasciando tracce indelebili del suo passaggio. Copenhagen Live, registrato al celebre Club Montmartre, intreccia le proprie gesta con l'altro CD pubblicato in precedenza dalla stessa ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler: Copenhagen Live 1964

Read "Copenhagen Live 1964" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
December 15, 2017

Even more than 50 years on, there's still never been anyone quite like Albert Ayler. Or for that matter like this 1964 Quartet, which was one of the few ensembles during his career to match the tenor saxophonist against equally forward thinking peers. Bassist Gary Peacock was fresh from pianist Bill Evans' Trio, cornetist Don Cherry was based in Europe having worked with both Ornette Coleman and Sonny Rollins, while Sunny Murray had held the drum stool in pianist Cecil ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler Quartet: Copenhagen Live 1964

Read "Copenhagen Live 1964" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
May 30, 2017

It's almost as if the phenomenon that was saxophonist Albert Ayler was just a dream. Nearly fifty years after his death, listeners (and musicians, for that matter) are still catching up to him, and realizing his gift. His life, like that of Charlie Parker, ended at age 34. But where Parker (an originator of bebop) developed in the musical world of Kansas City, Ayler seemingly stepped off a spaceship to deliver his provocative free jazz. Ayler's early career, ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler Quartet: European Radio Studio Recordings 1964

Read "European Radio Studio Recordings 1964" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala

by Giuseppe Segala
November 28, 2016

Cosa si può aggiungere alle precise, esaustive note discografiche stilate nel gennaio 2016 da Andy Hamilton per questa splendida edizione delle registrazioni radiofoniche di Albert Ayler effettuate in studio e in concerto nel 1964? Certo, aggiungiamo qualche nostra considerazione a questo ascolto tuttora straordinario di materiali già in precedenza pubblicati, scelti ora dalla svizzera hatOLOGY per European Radio Studio Recordings 1964, ma ribadiamo prima alcuni concetti e informazioni delle note di copertina di questo imperdibile CD. In ...