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)
passings
Sunny Murray, drummer, September 21, 1936-December 7, 2017
Sunny Murray Trio (SM, drums; Tony Bevan, saxophones; John Edwards, bass), live, London, 2010
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langiappe
musical thoughts
I wanted to get more from the beat than just the beat.
Happy (75th) Birthday, Albert!
Albert Ayler, tenor saxophonist, July 13, 1936-November 25, 1970
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Albert Ayler Trio (Albert Ayler, ts; Gary Peacock, bass; Sunny Murray, drums), Spiritual Unity (ESP), 1964
“Ghosts: First Variation”
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“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.
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radio
Today, from noon to 9 p.m. (EST), WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University) is all Albert Ayler.
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