like nobody else
Albert Ayler Quintet (AA [1938-1970], tenor saxophone; Donald Ayler, trumpet; Michel Samson, violin; Bill Folwell, bass; Beaver Harris, drums), “Our Prayer” (A. Ayler), live (TV), Germany (Munich), 1966
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago), Day of the Dead exhibit
sounds of Chicago
Saturday I posted the first of these two (wonderful) performances; here’s the second.
Mars Williams presents: An Ayler Xmas Vol. 4 (Night 2) (Mars Williams, tenor saxophone, toy instruments; Josh Berman, cornet; Jim Baker, piano, viola, ARP synthesizer; Krzysztof Pabian, bass; Brian Sandstrom, bass, guitar, trumpet; Steve Hunt, drums; Peter Maunu, violin), live (performance begins at 5:15), Chicago (Constellation), 12/19/20
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
An empty day without events.
And that is why
it grew immense
as space. And suddenly
happiness of being
entered me.I heard
in my heartbeat
the birth of time
and each instant of life
one after the other
came rushing in
like priceless gifts.—Anna Swir (1909-1984), “Priceless Gifts” (translated from Polish by Czesław Miłosz and Leonard Nathan)
like-nobody-else x 2
Cecil Taylor Trio (CT, 1929-2018, piano; Jimmy Lyons, alto saxophone; Sunny Murray, drums) with Albert Ayler (1936-1970, tenor saxophone), “Four,” excerpt (C. Taylor), live, Copenhagen, 1962
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lagniappe
reading table
A Bomb upon the Ceiling
Is an improving thing –
It keeps the nerves progressive
Conjecture flourishing –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), from 1150 (Franklin)
what’s new
Mavis Staples with Ben Harper, “We Get By” (B. Harper), published 5/15/19
***
Another take.
Live (TV show), published 5/21/19
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe
—album title, saxophonist Albert Ayler, 1969
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
timeless
Albert Ayler (tenor saxophone, 1936-1970) with Donald Tyler (trumpet), et al., “Our Prayer” (A. Ayler), Live in Greenwich Village (Village Vanguard), 1967
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
wake up!
Albert Ayler (1936-1970), live, Europe, 1966
four takes
“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
Isaiah, live, Chicago, 2014
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Albert Ayler, recording, 1964
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Parliament Funkadelic (“Swing Down, Sweet Chariot”), live Houston, 1976
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Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, recording, 1909
two takes
“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen”
Bessie Griffin (with Charles Barnett, piano), live, Switzerland (Montreux Jazz Festival), 1981
*****
Albert Ayler (AA, saxophone; Call Cobbs, piano; Henry Grimes, bass; Sunny Murray, drums), recording, 1964
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lagniappe
reading table
To live is to lose ground.
—E. M. Cioran (1911-1995; translated from French by Richard Howard)
Happy (75th) Birthday, Albert!
Albert Ayler, tenor saxophonist, July 13, 1936-November 25, 1970
*****
Albert Ayler Trio (Albert Ayler, ts; Gary Peacock, bass; Sunny Murray, drums), Spiritual Unity (ESP), 1964
“Ghosts: First Variation”
***
“The Wizard”
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“Spirits”
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“Ghosts: Second Variation”
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lagniappe
random thoughts
OK, let’s talk physics. One problem with the term “free jazz” is that it suggests a sound world in which there’s no center of gravity—a world where everything pushes outward, where centrifugal force rules. But the reality, with many of the greatest artists, is different. Centripetal, not centrifugal, force is king. The musicians push inward, not outward, toward a center none ever inhabits individually but, collectively, they are always moving toward.
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The contributions of Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray are hard to overstate. Sidemen? There are none.
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Like Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler is at heart a blues musician—one who, like Ornette, expanded the blues vocabulary.
*****
radio
Today, from noon to 9 p.m. (EST), WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University) is all Albert Ayler.
listening to history
The sound quality may be pretty raggedy, but that hardly matters—this is history.
Albert Ayler, tenor saxophone (“Love Cry,” “Truth Is Marching In,” “Our Prayer”), live, John Coltrane’s funeral, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, New York, July 21, 1967
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lagniappe
Click for a clearer image.
*****
Pinelawn Memorial Park, Farmingdale, New York
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Trane was the father. Pharoah was the son. I was the holy ghost.—Albert Ayler
music clip of the day 