Albert Ayler C/D

As someone who wasn't alive, much less even close to being a twinkle in my dad's eye (sorry to be so gauche), when Ayler was an alive, active musician, I enjoy even his flawed recordings if only because they point to what major potential was there, if not always audible (although some of the titles listed here as sub-par deserve a re-listen, methinks).

There's a copy of "Live in Greenwich Village: The Complete Impulse Sessions" in a shop here which I've been wondering about as I don;t see too much in the racks otherwise. The evidence above seems to be mixed on it but AMG rates it very highly (for what its worth).

in some ways it is a shoo-in for "worst piece of music that mark s owns", tho naturally its dreadfulness exerts a fascination on me, and i haf several times tried to construct an argt for its greatness

so far i haf failed tho

I occasionally get annoyed with Ayler. The melodies are, I dunno, maybe sort of maudlin and the playing is histrionic to begin with, so he ends up sounding like the Tom Waits of free jazz, or maybe even the Special Olympics of free jazz. It's totally emotional and powerful and beautiful, but at the same time it feels manipulative. The words "tear-jerker" come to mind.

But in sum, totally classic.

Found a copy of Witches & Devils a couple weeks back. I keep playing it, have found it very satisfying. It's very good, I think I like Alyer best when there's a another horn going on, too. Don't know how to describe it too well, but it those weird, haunting, cascading squeals that sound like the two horns are having a drunken conversation.

Maybe 2 years ago, I was back home in Cleveland listening to Case Western Reserve U.'s student radio in my car, which played some stuff I was absolutely sure was Ayler, and what I know think was the title track off this album. Anybody know of other Ayler stuff that sounds like the title track on here? I've got Spiritual Unity, which is great, but I really like how Ayler interacts with another horn in the band.

On the original question, btw, total classic for free stuff, complete dud for the jazz-soul-rock stuff.

sorry for the messed up grammar in various places.

I've never heard the 'pop' alb where AA sings!

It's pretty foul apart from the track with the bagpipes, that's awesome

Maybe 2 years ago, I was back home in Cleveland listening to Case Western Reserve U.'s student radio in my car, which played some stuff I was absolutely sure was Ayler, and what I know think was the title track off this album. Anybody know of other Ayler stuff that sounds like the title track on here? I've got Spiritual Unity, which is great, but I really like how Ayler interacts with another horn in the band.

the aylers are from shaker heights, so it probably was albert on the radio.

maybe even the Special Olympics of free jazz

― vahid, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 09:06 (7 years ago) Bookmark

I'm listening to the Stockholm, Berlin 1966 disc for the first time and I swear my heart skipped a beat. Magnificent, jaw-dropping stuff.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/317459_248276075316783_1641440343_n.jpg

its like the post-skronk equiv of dylan visiting kerouac's grave

That's a cool photo.

Won't lie, that got me a little choked up.

Haino really should play a duo with Milford Graves, now that I think about it.

Milford Graves should put out more records

That, and he should reissue his 60s/70s self-releases.

^^ fucking A he should!

Haino really should play a duo with Milford Graves, now that I think about it.

I just don't.

What self-releases? More Milford is always a good idea.

- Live at Yale University, 1966 (duo w/ Don Pullen)
- Nommo - Live at Yale University, volume 2, 1966 (duo w/ Don Pullen)
- Dialogue of the Drums, 1974 (duo w/ Andrew Cyrille)
- Babi, 1976 (trio w/ Hugh Glover and Arthur Doyle)

The first two were released on Milford and Don's SRP (Self-Reliance Project) label; the other two were on Milford's IPS (Institute of Percussive Studies) label. All are out of print.

Dialogue is the easiest, and cheapest, of these to find (that is, cheapest = around $50). Yale Vol. 1, which had individually hand-painted covers, is impossible to find; I've seen copies go for over $2000. Nommo was actually reissued by Milford on IPS in the 70s, but still goes for $70+ (and the original issue goes for a lot more). I've never seen Babi go for less than $100.

Incidentally, Babi is hands-down the absolute definitive energy-music record.

(many/most of these were posted on various blogs at one time or another)

Yeah, I've got Babi in my iPod, so the files are locatable even if a physical copy isn't.

A Blue Moment response to the news of the death of Gary Peacock, one of the great jazz bassists: https://t.co/7Kvy4ujFHO

— Richard Williams (@rwilliams1947) September 5, 2020

damn rip to a real one

you'd think Richard Williams would probably the best person to write a knowledgeable and moving Gary Peacock obit and yes he is.

"They were the children of Jimmy Blanton, Oscar Pettiford, Charles Mingus and Paul Chambers, and they were legion: Reggie Workman, Richard Davis, Jimmy Garrison, Scott LaFaro, Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Henry Grimes, Chuck Israels, Steve Swallow… and Gary Peacock..."

well in the UK at least!

Now it appears the reports on Gary's death may be a hoax, which indeed would be good news!

— Annette Peacock (@_AnnettePeacock) September 5, 2020

???

Hope it's so, but either way, I'm reminded of this, from ECM: C/D, S&D

Oho, just unearthed a 1994 Downbeat, incl. appealing review of Gary Peacock & Ralph Towner's Oracle-ECM 78118-21490-2 (50:12) Personnel: Peacock, double bass, Towner, classical and 12-string guitars:
...Versatility is essential if one works with both Bill Evans and Albert Ayler, as Peacock did in the mid-60s...
Oracle reinforces the perception that Peacock is a guitarist at heart, who happens to play bass violin. He is recorded beautifully and prominently. "Inside Inside" tricks your ear...as Peacock and Towner reverse roles and registers. The filigrees and pensive moods of "Flutter Step" and "Empty Carousel" fit Tower's strengths and mannerisms so closely, it's a surprise to discover that Peacock wrote those tunes. Towner('s)...interplay with Peacock recalls collaborations with John Abercrombie and Glen Moore. It's hard to recall a bassist other than Moore who's shown such empathy for the guitarist. Working with Peacock reinvigorates Towner, and a reunion with Towner on piano would be intriguing.
Reviewer Jon Anderson also says that (despite the light touch, intricacy and sensitivity that pervades the session), it "isn't a stretch for either of them," then gives it
4 1/2 stars---any of y'all heard it??

― dow, Monday, April 20, 2020 6:09 PM (four months ago)

@AnnettePeacock
Gary, i was 19 when we met and married, which gave me cart blanche to listen to the greatest improvising musicians of the time: Miles, Albert, Evans, Bley, Jarrett, Rollins. I’m always grateful for the privilege of having had all those inspiring, extraordinary experiences.
5:19 PM · Sep 7, 2020

He told NPR in 2015 that his studies of the Japanese language, with its lack of emphasis of personal pronouns, opened his mind to a sense of selflessness. He resumed playing in the early '70s and began releasing stellar music under his own name,recordings that conveyed his philosophy of striving to "get out of the way of myself," and creating collaborative scenarios in service of whichever bandmate was taking a solo — facilitating his bandmates to play the best they've ever played.
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/07/910054995/gary-peacock-a-jazz-bassist-always-ahead-of-his-time-dies-at-85

RIP

this gets mentioned in the richard williams obit. i hadn't heard of it but found it to be excellent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBvEGkjQCYA
Hōzan Yamamoto’s Silver World

shakuhachi always reminds me of "music for zen meditation" by tony scott. such a great little instrument, it sounds so natural, free like the wind.

wow never heard Silver World before, sounds great

aye it's good stuff. I can't remember which other thread this popped up on but it's always good to be reminded of it.

I've not listened to this in ages. Glorious, strange album.

Anthology Film Archives in NYC is showing a complete retrospective of Michael Snow's films starting tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 3). He's one of the most important avant-garde artists and filmmakers still with us. (92 years old! He won't be attending but did send a nice message to Anthology.)

Many of these films are rarely screened, one of which is New York Eye and Ear Control:

NEW YORK EYE AND EAR CONTROL
(1964, 34 min, 16mm)
“Conceived, shot and edited by myself in 1964. I selected a group of musicians: Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Roswell Rudd, Gary Peacock, Sonny Murray. It is one of the greatest ‘jazz’ groups ever. The music used on the soundtrack and other takes from the recording sessions have recently (1966) been issued on record (ESP-DISK 1016). Paul Haines wrote the prologue which appears in the film. Walking Woman Works (1960-67). The Eternal. The Spectrum. The Glissando. The Alarm Clock. Black and White. Thirty-four Minutes. Forty Dollars.” –Michael Snow

It's screening at 9pm on opening night, paired with this film:

REVERBERLIN
(2006, 55 min, digital)
“In REVERBERLIN, Snow takes the audio of a 2002 performance by CCMC (featuring Snow on piano, John Oswald on saxophone and Paul Dutton on vocals) and marries it with a visual collage of performance footage by manipulating the imagery through various digital techniques to emulate and counterpoint the improvisational spirit of the performance.” –Chris Kennedy

There's another chance to see New York Eye and Ear Control on Sunday, Dec 12, at 6:15pm - co-presented by Artists Space, that screening will be followed by a panel discussion exploring Snow’s relationship to Milford Graves and his ties to the 1960s Free Jazz movement.

I saw New York Eye and Ear Control in 1993, when the Art Gallery of Ontario had a Snow retrospective; it depicts his Walking Woman sculpture on the street in various New York locations. Snow himself used to play free shows weekly with an improvisational music group around that time, but I never made it out to see him play.

So great to know about this! I've passed the word, thanks.

Essential-sounding 4CD set of 1970 live stuff about to drop, some of it previously unreleased. Also available as a 5LP vinyl box set for RSD but that seems to have sold out already:

https://elementalmusicrecords.bandcamp.com/album/albert-ayler-revelations

I interviewed bassist Steve Tintweiss about that set, but really we talked mostly about Ayler as a person - what kind of guy he was, etc. It’ll be up on Bandcamp Daily soon, I think.

post the link here when it's up!

yeah! also there's a review on Pfork.

yeah, don't post that lmao

Ha, no (tho I might link it if hadn't already done that on RJ---no more duplicate posts maybe)

I interviewed bassist Steve Tintweiss about that set, but really we talked mostly about Ayler as a person - what kind of guy he was, etc. It’ll be up on Bandcamp Daily soon, I think

Any news on that interview, unperson? It's not up on Bandcamp Daily yet. Really enjoying the Revelations set & would love to read the interview.

It's supposed to run this week - possibly today.

Here's the piece...

Great read, thanks for that.

Listening for a second time to the July 25 concert (the one without Call Cobbs) and I would give my immortal soul to have been at that concert. Just listening to it fifty years later is and I can feel how everyone there, band and audience, must have felt like they touched God that night. It stirs unnameable emotions in me. Something superhuman really did happen that night.

What's the name of the record?

https://elementalmusicrecords.bandcamp.com/album/albert-ayler-revelations

I'm just reading the biography Holy Ghost about the 1966 European tour. Koloda confirms the destruction of the footage shot for the BBC presumably before it was aired. His narrative is not as sensational as the version I came across a few decades ago where a higher up sees the footage decclares it evil and has it destroyed, though could see something close to that being possible from the description. Major shame anyway would have loved to see that.
He does mention footage having been shot elsewhere on the tour though some of it may not have survived to now it appears to have been seen at the time. He does say there is a full set from Germany that is used in the documentary quite a bit. I don't seem to be able to find anything on youtube. I think I missed a chance to see the documentary sometime last year because i was doing something else at the time and meant to get back to it.

I'm a bit surprised to hear that the band recorded and wiped by the BBC is the one from that time. Had assumed it was a couple of years earlier, not sure what details were in the original description I read years ago. So this was the band with the European violinist and white bassist and Beaver Harris on drums. I really want to see some footage.

I always thought it just had to do with BBC policy of the tapes being wiped so they could reuse them again (early Dr. Who for inst, I'm sure loads of other stuff), the Jazz Goes to College series had a bunch of cool guests (Monk, Rollins & Roach, etc) that are all lost

Was listening to the "Revelations" box again last night, it might be my favorite thing from 2022

Yes, tons of stuff got wiped, nothing sinister about it.

this is the version of the the story I'm aware of. I don't think this is the source I got it from. I think it is widely known but I'm not really surprised that guy is unaware of it. Did think wiping a show pre transmission was a bit underhanded, hope they got paid for it at least.
https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,3605,401760,00.html
"Not that it had ever been easy to hear, since the squeals, honks and yelps emitted by Ayler's saxophone constituted unquestionably the most confrontational sound of the 1960s jazz avant-garde, disturbing enough to have prompted the BBC to destroy the only piece of film ever made of him in live performance, without first having taken the risk of transmitting it."

also an audience member's reminiscence here
https://www.sandybrownjazz.co.uk/Features/AlbertAylerLSE.html

Which Koloda's description would appear to partially support though it does look like other European countries taped him on this tour and broadcast at tbe time. So hoping some of that does turn up where I can see it.
& it appears that it was filmed at one of the colleges in London,
I missed the documentary when it was in art cinemas a few years ago and haven't come across it being distributed since, outside of a link I didn't use in time. Think it may have been in one cinema when I was in London and it wasn't convenient to get to a screening.

Holy Ghost is a really good read.

LSE in fact, did get to some rock gigs there in the mid 80s

It’s true that it was apparently BBC policy to wipe/re-use tape whenever possible. Seemingly every episode of the History Of Rock Music In 500 Songs podcast that deals with UK acts mentions a TV appearance erased by the BBC (including popular things like shows featuring stars of The Goon Show).

I believe it was Val Wilmer in As Serious As Your Life who started the myth about Ayler’s performance “horrifying” those at the BBC. No mention was made in her book about his European TV appearances. My Name Is Albert Ayler occasionally pops up on YouTube, usually just for a couple of days at a time before it’s taken down. It’s a very well-done film, and its only downside (at least, on the download I found years ago) is that there aren’t subtitles for the Swedish- and Danish-speakers, but that’s not a huge part of the film. It does include footage of Dutch and/or German TV appearances, and at one point in the late ‘00s these performances appeared in full on YouTube for about a week.

Yeah wondered if it might be As Serious As Your life or teh Freedom Principle both of which I read in the mid 80s that I heard it from . Or a music weekly or something. Did think I had it as a grail item for decades, so not sure why I didn't hear about the European footage until now.
But it was wiped pre transmission which is the big shame. The German footage in the documentary does look pretty frenzied and the lack of subtitles in Swedish is a pain. Seems to still be streaming in some Asian territories. My Name Is Albert Ayler.

It's a mystery why it's never appeared on DVD or any streaming services. I have a bad feeling -- and this is pure conjecture on my part -- that the Bernard Stollman estate is somehow preventing it from getting wider distribution (Stollman sued Revenant Records into near-bankruptcy over the Holy Ghost box). Filmmaker Kasper Collin's other (great) documentary, I Called Him Morgan, is widely available.

Finished teh book and saw most of the do0cumentary though do wish I had subtitles for Swedish.
So have seen some clips of Ayler playing finally. Do wish there was more of it available both complete live footage sets and the documentary in full form.
Doc includes some 66 footage and some from the Fondation Maeght in 1970. They do sound noisier than a traditional jazz band though do use themes from there and elsewhere.

Have been listening to the cd I have of Bells and Prophecy which captures Ayler at 2 slightly different points . One with brother Donald just jpined and the other with just bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray. Murray turns up in the documentary too.
I know I have the 2cd Greenwich Village set and Love Cry definitely. Think I have New Grass and may have a few other titles. Think I may have had Slug's saloon in the mid 90s but not sure if I still do.
& have been listening through a few tracks of what Spotify have of his material which isn't quite the same thing.
Need to immerse myself in full lps I think.
I see there si a cheap collection of a lot of his early stuff including the Scandinavian dates and about half of the ESP stuff. Which I might grab.

My biggest regret as a Discogs seller is letting go of my Holy Ghost box set a few years ago. What the hell was I thinking in that moment of weakness?

still very reasonable $150 on Discogs, but yeah I feel ya, I still have mine

You can watch the entire documentary on the bilibili app, which is kind of like a Chinese YouTube. I downloaded the iPhone version of the app. The documentary is fantastic, but yes, there are only a couple of isolated live clips in it. There’s also a short video that just shows him looking into the camera and smiling mysteriously; the clip lasts for just a few seconds and they loop it throughout the film—it gives a haunting glimpse of his charisma. There are numerous interviews with his brother and fellow musicians, a clip of his dad trying to find Albert’s grave, neat photos of Cleveland from his youth, info about where his kids and grandkids ended up.

I forgot to mention that Albert himself provides much of the voiceover from a couple of surviving recorded interviews. Gives me the chills to hear him speaking.

Working on getting through the new book in the last few days, it’s great to have the information and the record straight in certain cases but the writing itself leaves a bit to be desired.

I’ve been to Ayler’s grave — it’s actually pretty easy to find within the cemetery, and well-maintained, especially compared to other graves that are almost completely obscured by overgrowth. One thing about it that struck me as a little odd is that under his military rank — “PFC US Army” — it says “Vietnam.” I guess it’s because that was the conflict happening during Ayler’s service, even though he never went there.