Albert Ayler C/D

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.