Ayler, Albert

The Hilversum Session

Label: ESP Country: USA

A legendary recording by tenor saxophonist Ayler with his amazing working band, recorded in Holland for radio play, here digitally remastered with new artwork, liner notes by Russ Musto, and including a free Ayler poster.

The Hilversum session by Albert Ayler is one of those legendary recordings in free jazz. It was recorded in a Netherlands radio studio in front of a small invited audience, at the end of the Ayler Quartet's European tour on November 9, 1964 in front of a small invited audience. The band-Ayler, Don Cherry, Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray-had been playing Ayler's tunes for months and were uncanny in their ability to hear one another and improvise together at that point. It was also the last time the group would record together under Ayler's name as a quartet and then went out at a peak.

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This set is a defining moment, not just historically, but musically. The intense listening and interplay that goes on here is inspiring. Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray may have played better elsewhere, but they never played with the kind of deep communication they enjoyed together as a rhythm section and other front line players than they do here. Ayler is no longer striving to find the outer limits of spiritual expression in his music;, it's all on display here, and Cherry, the inveterate and outrageously talented listener/musician is in full bloom here, untethered as a soloist, yet, like the other three, remain an inextricable part of a BAND. These cats play together with the kind of intuition and foresight only a seasoned group can; they understand the nuances of the language they are speaking and k know how to offer those to the listener emotionally, musically, and even culturally. Finally, as for the sound of the recording, it has never been better. The remastering job is excellent, providing excellent fidelity and balance-not always true on the ESP-Disc offerings in the past. Included in the package are fine liner notes by Russ Musto, and a neat poster of Ayler. If someone would take the same care with Ayler's Lörrach, Paris 1966, recordings (owned by Hat is Switzerland) and reissue those in this fashion, we have have a definitive recorded portrait of the great saxophonist. This is a welcome issue."-Thom Jurek, All Music