Recorded during Albert Ayler's 1964 European tour with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums, perhaps Ayler's best band and most creative period, well captured at Hilversum in The Netherlands and for Danish Radio Copenhagen, Denmark.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2016 Country: Switzerland Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels Tracks 1 - 6 recorded on November 9th, 1964, Hilversum, The Netherlands.
Tracks 7 - 9 recorded on September 10th, 1964 by Danish Radio Copenhagen, Denmark. CD Master by Peter Pfister on March 8, 2016.
"Albert Ayler (1936-1970) was a jazz genius. His story has the status of tragic myth - myth which, as often happens, is informed by truth. He pioneered free jazz on tenor saxophone, creating generations of disciples, beginning with John Coltrane. In his ecstatic jazz, he forged connections between the furthest reaches of 60s avantgardism, and the music's beginnings in New Orleans, re-igniting its creative impulses. But free jazz was never a commercially viable form: when Ayler died he had won some critical recognition, but none from the jazz public.
1964 was Ayler's annus mirabilis. The epochal Spiritual Unity, featuring a trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray, instituted his connection with ESP-Disk, consolidated by New York Eye and Ear Control, Spirits Rejoice, and Bells. In summer 1964, trumpeter Don Cherry joined Ayler's group, and his dancing faux-naïve style provided an inspired contrast to the leader. In September, the new quartet was invited for a brief Scandinavian tour which extended to the Netherlands."-Andy J. Hamilton , January 2016