albert ayler - the last album

and now for something completely different. singing along to gary bartz? getting your strata-east groove on? let's end the weekend with some freaky sh*t and put all that to bed.

i think this was not actually ayler's last recording but it may have been his last for impulse, and was released after his death in 1970. i believe it was recorded at the same time as "music is the healing force of the universe." now i'm not always down with ayler... and i claim to be no expert. like many impulse sessions, this is not a record i would play every day, but when it hits right, it hits perfect.

the opening duet between ayler on bagpipe and canned heat's henry vestine on psychedelic fuzz guitar is just about perfect. ayler's own yoko ono/linda mccartney, mary maria, recites or half-sings some poetry, which just about sums up the haunting nature of this record, and of ayler himself. there's a whole lot of shrieking, and some blues, some really nice bass playing, and some more singing, including by ayler himself. as gato barbieri once said, "i sing sometimes, not because i like to sing but because the music needs singing. and when I scream with my horn, it's because the music needs screaming (from blog http://ileoxumare.blogspot.com/2008/03/albert-ayler-last-album-1971.html)


produced by ed michel
recorded august 1969




personnel:
albert ayler
mary maria (parks)
bobby few
henry vestine
bill folwell
stafford james
muhammad ali

tracklisting:
01 - untitled duet (1:28)
02 - again comes the rising of the sun (2:21)
03 - all love (9:02)
04 - toiling (5:08)
05 - desert blood (5:39)
06 - the birth of mirth (5:22)
07 - water music (6:18)

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get the album
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albert ayler - live at the riviera

albert ayler's beautiful 1970 set on his first day at the maeght foundation in france. liners include bass player steve tintweiss' comments on the performance. available commercially for the first time, and recorded during ayler's final concert series, this release shows ayler at "...the peak of his creative powers" and is a stunning testament to his genius and addition to his legacy. "one of the most advanced music minds on the planet" - wire magazine, nov 2004

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 in france at the fondation maeght in st. paul de vence (july 25th 1970).






personnel:
albert ayler: tenor saxophone, soprano, museme, vocal;
steve tintweiss: double bass;
allen blairman: drums;
mary maria: vocal, soprano saxophone.

tracklisting:
01 - music is the healing force of the universe (7:47)
02 - birth of mirth (10:38)
03 - masonic inborn (7:18)
04 - oh! love of life (9:31)
05 - island harvest (5:01)
06 - heart love (5:24)
07 - ghosts (10:53)

// taken down on the request of the label //