healing force - the songs of albert ayler

"through meditations, dreams, and visions, the players on this project were given the message to once again attempt to send the people of earth a message of love, peace, and spiritual understanding. we selected a representative set of tunes for this material and essentially let it play itself through us ... we hope you like this record." it doesn't feel like enough for these ears. once again, cuneiform has educated and once again they have rewarded followers with a superb free-jazz release that will hopefully pique interest in the legacy of albert ayler.




personnel:
vinny golia - reeds
aurora josephson - voice
henry kaiser - guitar
mike keneally - piano, guitar and voice
joe morris - guitar and bass
damon smith - bass
weasel walter - drums


tracklisting:
01 new new grass/message from albert (golia/morris/smith, ayler-parks) (3:21)
02 music is the healing force of the universe (ayler, m. m. parks) (20:09)
03 japan/universal indians (ayler, m. m. parks), (10:51)
04 a man is like a tree (ayler, m. m. parks) (5:21)
05 oh! love of life (ayler, m. m. parks (12:25)
06 thank god for women (ayler, m. m. parks) (5:37)
07 heart love (ayler, m. m. parks) (6:17)
08 new generation(ayler, m. m. parks (9:31)
09 new ghosts/new message (ayler-parks, golia/morris/smith) (5:20)




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get the album part 2
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albert ayler - goin' home

personnel:
albert ayler - tenor saxophone
call cobbs - piano
sunny murray - drums
henry grimes - bass


tracklisting:
01 goin` home (4:26)
02 ol’ man river (5:25)
03 down by the riverside (take 6) (4:39)
04 swing low, sweet chariot (4:30)
05 deep river (4:15)
06 when the saints go marchin’ in (4:12)
07 nobody knows the trouble i’ve seen (4:44)
08 ol’ man river (take 1) (4:58)
09 swing low, sweet chariot (take 1) (4:49)
10 down by the riverside (take 5) (4:28)



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albert ayler - spirits rejoice

live recording of ayler's large septet configuration, featuring brother donald, charles tyler, sunny murray and both henry grimes and gary peacock on bass. compared to the bare trio of spiritual unity this nearly big band of two bass players and a strong horn section allows ayler's expressive vision depth from the joyous to the agressive in ayler's 5 original compositions.

september 23, 1965 at judson hall, new york by david hancock

ultimately, however, what we have with spirits rejoice is essentially a lament on the plight and deliverance of the oppressed and downtrodden. when you’ve been pushed down and kicked in the teeth for so long, you are left with only two viable options: fight back or embrace your oppressors with love, and spirits rejoice is an emblem/tableau about choosing love in the face of pain, abuse, and hate. it’s a beacon of what could be, and what should be, no matter what the trappings of our environment are – and that, my friends, is ultimately why this precious little album means so goddamn much to me. it’s a constant reminder to choose life no matter how dire your circumstances are. i mean, i have little doubt that ayler’s life was no picnic. he was an african-american living in a volatile time. plus, he was a penniless musician, his nigh obscurity punctuated by the fact that he died at the age of 34. furthermore, suspicious circumstances surround his death. his body was found floating in the hudson river, and nobody to this day knows how his body got there or what he died of. perhaps the pain in his life finally got to him. everybody has their breaking point, and a man can only take so much wretchedness before he breaks down for good. and poor ol’ ayler was undoubtedly up to his ears in agony. but despite all his troubles, i believe ayler had a lotta love in his heart; spirits rejoice articulates this love — love for people, love for god, love for life – deeper and more eloquently than any other album i’ve ever heard in my life.



personnel:

albert ayler - tenor saxophone
donald ayler - trumpet
charles tyler - alto saxophone
sunny murray - drums
call cobbs - harpsichord
henry grimes - bass
gary peacock - bass

tracklisting:
01 spirits rejoice (11:39)
02 holy family (2:12)
03 d.c. (7:59)
04 angels (5:28)
05 prophet (5:34)


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albert ayler group - new york ear and eye control

new york eye and ear control is an album of group improvisations recorded by an augmented version of albert ayler's group to provide the soundtrack for michael snow's film of the same name.

critics have compared it with the key free jazz recordings: ornette coleman's earlier free jazz and john coltrane's subsequent ascension. john litweiler regards it favourably in comparison because of its "free motion of tempo (often slow, usually fast); of ensemble density (players enter and depart at will); of linear movement". ekkehard jost places it in the same company and comments on "extraordinarily intensive give-and-take by the musicians" and "a breadth of variation and differentiation on all musical levels".



personnel:
albert ayler - tenor saxophone
don cherry - trumpet
gary peacock - bass
sunny murray - drums
john tchicai - alto saxophone
roswell rudd - trombone

tracklisting:
01 don's dawn (0:59)
02 ay (20:17)
03 itt (22:05)


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