July 13th, 2011 / 6:53 pm
 I Like __ A Lot

Happy Birthday, Albert Ayler

Had he not committed suicide in 1970—and not died of old age in the last few years—he’d be 75 today. If you don’t own Spirits Rejoice, there is a hole in your record collection.

Go here for a 55-track Youtube mix of Ayler‘s music.

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10 Comments

  1. July 13th, 2011 / 11:16 pm M. Kitchell—

      albert ayler fucking rules i recommend the boxset HOLY GHOST

  2. July 13th, 2011 / 11:25 pm Matthew Simmons—
  3. July 14th, 2011 / 4:06 am Lou Collins—

      Thanks for posting this.  I only got into Ayler earlier this year and am kicking myself for not doing so 20 yrs ago when I got into Ornette.  That said, maybe I needed to come to a spiritual place in my own development before I heard Ayler.  Suffice it to say, Spirits Rejoice is not just a record, nor a musical work, but a practical plan of spiritual action.  It is something that should not only be heard, but done.

  4. July 14th, 2011 / 1:00 pm Tonyoneill—

      hey Matthew (or anyone else who might be able to answer this…)

      Have you had a chance to see the documentary, “My name is Albert Ayler”?

      I missed the NY screening a year ago, and it still hasn’t surfaced on DVD…  haven’t heard very much about it, but Im dying to see it being a bit of an Ayler freak.  If you’ve seen it, what did you think?

  5. July 14th, 2011 / 1:20 pm M. Kitchell—

      there are copies circulating online sourced from Norwegian television, so it’s uh possible to get, hehe.

      I haven’t seen it yet, nor did I know that it existed, but now that I do, I look forward to seeing it!

  6. July 14th, 2011 / 3:39 pm Tonyoneill—

      ah. i have looked, but couldnt track it down myself.  if you find it, could you email me a link to tony at tonyoneill dot net? still cant find any firm news of a dvd release… seems like one has been in the pipeline for ages.

  7. July 14th, 2011 / 4:24 pm Matthew Simmons—

      Mike knows secret places in the internet.

      I haven’t seen it, either, but would really like to. We must somehow convince Kasper Collin to release a DVD.

  8. July 14th, 2011 / 4:36 pm Matthew Simmons—

      Starting at about minute 3 of this video, Beefheartian Gary Lucas  performs a bit of his version of “Ghosts.”

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3MSilYZZUM

      If you can find Live from the Knitting Factory, Volume 2, you can hear it louder and without the Arthur Russell interlude.

  9. July 15th, 2011 / 6:05 am alan—

      Free Jazz: Still too expensive.

  10. July 15th, 2011 / 3:26 pm M. Kitchell—

      this is why god (read: man) created mp3s & file-sharing ;)