Albert Ayler Impulse Story CD

While neither as technically adept as John Coltrane nor as conceptually outré as Sun-Ra, saxophonist Albert Ayler shared a similar belief in the spiritually liberating power of free jazz. The 10 tracks on the Ayler installment of Impulse's excellent IMPULSE STORY series showcase Ayler's fervent, unhinged joy for playing music. The collection, naturally, doesn't contain any of Ayler's groundbreaking work for ESP, but compositions like "Holy Ghost" and "Bells" are just about as out and skronky as jazz gets, and the raw passion of Ayler's playing makes it impossible not to be swept up in the musical flow. Ayler played in R&B groups and Army marching bands growing up, and his jazz works weren't about noise alone, as evidenced by vocals from the Soul Singers on "Music is the Healing Force of the Universe" and the soul/R&B groove of "New Grass." Joined at various points by a variety of serious avant-garde heads like Alan Silva, Milford Graves, and Sunny Murray, to name a few, IMPULSE STORY is a first-rate introduction to not only the singular style of Albert Ayler but the 1960s free-jazz movement at its fiercest and most inspired.

Personnel: Albert Ayler (spoken vocals, tenor saxophone); The Soul Singers (vocals); Michael Samson (violin); Joel Freedman (cello); Buddy Lucas (baritone saxophone); Donald Ayler, Joe Newman , Burt Collins (trumpet); Call Cobbs (piano); Henry Grimes, Alan Silva, Lewis Worrell, Bill Folwell (acoustic bass); Milford Graves, Sunny Murray, Beaver Harris, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (drums).