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Jazz Articles about Ronald Shannon Jackson
Albert Ayler: At Slugs’ Saloon 1966 Revisited
by Mark Corroto
With Albert Ayler it has seemingly always been “what If." What if he had survived that plunge to his death in the East River in 1970? Setting aside the question of whether he was murdered or committed suicide, how would he have altered the course of music if he lived beyond those 34 years? At the time of his passing he had fueled a revolution both in America and Europe for free jazz. Let's not fail to remember that his ...
read moreAlbert Ayler Quintet: At Slugs’ Saloon 1966 Revisited
by Chris May
There continues to be as much discussion about Albert Ayler's personality and motivations as there is about the music he left us. Was he a religious fundamentalist? Was he bi-polar? Was he an attention seeker? Was he some sort of leather fetishist? The evidence suggests Ayler may have been borderline bi-polar, but as for the other questions, the answer is a resounding “No." A clue to where Ayler was coming from, and where he was going to, ...
read moreAlbert Ayler: La Cave Live-Cleveland 1966-Revisited
by Chris May
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 ...
read moreRonald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society: When Colors Play
by Derek Taylor
Prior to Knit Classics’ recent reissue deluge all of Ronald Shannon Jackson’s recordings as a leader were out of print. This may not seem like much of travesty to those unfamiliar with Jackson’s catalog but when you consider that he had over a dozen albums to his credit the reality of the rate of attrition begins to sink in. Fortunately for everyone involved the Knitting Factory’s new reissue imprint has chosen Jackson (along with Rashied Ali) as one of the ...
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