Jazz Articles about Donald Ayler

About Donald Ayler

Album Review

Albert Ayler: La Cave Live-Cleveland 1966-Revisited

Read "La Cave Live-Cleveland 1966-Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
January 24, 2022

Cleveland club La Cave, a grungy cellar which could accommodate around two hundred people, opened as a folk venue in 1962, transitioned into rock mid-decade, and closed in 1969. Along the way, in amongst such counterculture flagbearers as the Velvet Underground and The Fugs, La Cave booked a few of the bad boys of so-called “new thing" jazz, among them tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler, a Cleveland hometown hero. The 2xCD La Cave Live-Cleveland 1966-Revisited comprises just over ...

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 ...

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.