albert ayler quartet - the copenhagen tapes

albert ayler with don cherry, gary peacock and sunny murray recorded at cafe montmartre, copenhagen on september 3, 1964 (6 tracks) plus danish radio sessions dated september 10, 1964 (4 tracks). formerly unissued sessions licensed from the albert ayler estate. digipak. 2002.



personnel:
albert ayler - tenor saxophone
don cherry - trumpet
gary peacock - bass
sunny murray - drums

tracklisting:
01 spirits (9:40)
02 vibrations (8:14)
03 saints (9:09)
04 mothers (7:53)
05 children (8:39)
06 spirits (1:24)
07 introduction by borje roger hansen (3:24)
08 vibrations (7:42)
09 saints (7:09)
10 spirits (4:55)

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albert ayler - live at slug's saloon

this cd release features the full may 1, 1966 slug's saloon performance. due to the fact that the original concert recording was made by an audience member on a small portable tape recorder, the sound quality is not up to today's standards.



personnel:
albert ayler - tenor saxophone
donald ayler - trumpet
michel sampson - violin
lewis worrell - bass
ronald shannon jackson - drums

tracklisting:
01 truth is marching in (8:53)
02 our prayer (14:57)
03 bells (18:14)
04 ghosts (23:24)
05 initiation (16:34)

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albert ayler & don cherry - vibrations

though billed as a duet, really this is the third "major" album albert ayler recorded... as well as his third in 1964, a banner year that also included witches and devils and the amazing, sadly out of print spiritual unity. but vibrations is its own album, and ayler is the key

as with spiritual unity, vibrations includes two versions of ayler's theme song, "ghosts", which is never played the same way twice. the first is an off tempo statement of the theme, while the second is a more complete excursion... especially spotlighting cherry and bassist gary peacock and drummer sonny murray. all of the band, like ayler, is into playing things more for emotion than continuity, but there's more to this music than just passionate cacophony...

that was ayler's key, you see. he had the ability to come up with very straightforward new orleans-sounding sonny rollins styled tunes... then put them through the ringer. by the time the song was played, ayler was vibrating like the holy ghost, and the rest of the band rattled on in the same tune-bending style. the result is a catchy song unlike anything you've ever heard, and an overall mesh of feeling that makes tracks like "mother" and "children" feel personal... you can hear sex, religion, anger, everything behind this saxophone. but you can also hear great tunes. thiry four years later this album has still not received the recognition it deserves. help be one that makes that forthcoming!



personnel:
albert ayler - tenor saxophone
don cherry - trumpet
gary peacock - bass
sunny murray - drums

tracklisting:
01 ghosts (2:04)
02 children (6:50)
03 holy spirit (8:29)
04 ghosts (7:58)
05 vibrations (4:55)
06 mothers (7:06)


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albert ayler - lörrach / paris 1966

recording date:
nov 7, 1966 / nov 13, 1966



personnel:
albert ayler - tenor saxophone
don ayler - trumpet
michel samson - violin
william folwell - bass
beaver harris - drums

tracklisting:
01 bells (13:30)
02 prophet (7:00)
03 our prayer/spirits rejoice (6:25)
04 ghosts (3:26)
05 truth is marching in (11:24)
06 ghosts (7:43)
07 spiritual rebirth/light in darkness/infinite spirit (11:05)
08 all/our prayer/holy family (4:45)

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albert ayler - the hilversum session

recorded on november 9, 1964, hilversum, the netherlands. recording engineer: jan schelling. session originally produced by vara-radio by michel de ruyer and aad bos.



personnel:
albert ayler - tenor saxophone
don cherry - cornet
gary peacock - bass guitar
sunny murray - drums

label: esp-disk
cat. #: esp4035
format: cd
release date: 2007

tracklisting:
01 - angels (06:54)
02 - c.a.c. (05:00)
03 - ghosts (07:30)
04 - infant happiness (06:06)
05 - spirits (09:10)
06 - no name (05:42)

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albert ayler - nuits de la fondation maeght 1970

the two albums that comprise this cd were originally issued in 1970 on shandar records (france).

this cd includes albert ayler's last recordings before he was found dead in the east river (new york city) in november, 1970.

recorded live at the foundation maeght, st. paul de vence, france, july 25 & 27, 1970.

this disc reissues two albums from '70, originally released on the french shandar label, and consists of perhaps the last music ayler ever recorded. nuits de la fondation maeght captures him, paradoxically, at his most uncompromisingly intense and his most accessible. whereas some '60s free playing was driven by anger, joy was at the heart of ayler's music. the madly catchy "holy family" features inspired, euphoric, limber r&b-accented playing over a grooving rhythm that's half-gospel, half-mutant mariachi. "spirits rejoice" features a panorama of gospel and traditional folk tunes (including "amazing grace") woven into an ebullient solo. fans of the man will need this, and it's also a good starting place for those needing an entry point to the ayler experience.

this cd reissue features two classic, late albert ayler albums, both originally released on the french shandar label, and recorded live in france at the fondation maeght in st. paul de vence (july 25th & 27th, 1970).


personnel: albert ayler (saxophone); mary maria (vocals); call cobbs (piano); steve tintweiss (bass), allen blairman (drums).

personnel: albert ayler (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); mary parks (vocals, soprano saxophone); call cobbs (piano); steve tintweiss (double bass); allen blairman (drums).

tracklisting:
01 - in heart only (5:16)
02 - spirits (new ghosts) (15:05)
03 - holy family (11:44)
04 - spirits rejoice (7:26)
05 - truth is marching in (8:10)
06 - universal message (8:17)
07 - spiritual reunion (7:57)
08 - music is the healing force of the universe (10:00)

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