ALBERT AYLER QUARTET – Ghosts

Description

This 1965 album by free jazz master Albert Ayler and his quartet is one of the classics of their style and fetches up to 150,00 Euros for a very good copy among collectors. I have to admit that this record contains some of the most intriguing and wicked music I ever experienced. And I say that from the point of view of a John Coltrane aficionado. Well, Ayler and his mates Don Cherry on trumpet, Sonny Murray on drums and Gary Peacock on bass guitar are definitely on par with the before mentioned god of free jazz and others like Ornette Coleman. If you listen to this album from the pop music perspective you may find only screeching and overblown saxes and some non structured fiddling on drums and bass so that it’s far different than the average mainstream. But if you have a fondness for soundscapes, improvisations and music that creates more of an atmosphere rather than fluffy melodies, this is just yours. We talk about a 1964 live session in a Copenhagen studio. From time to time Ayler and his band start with straight melody lines and soon let it all run free before partly returning to recognizable and memorable melodies. In this case I speak about the title track and at least Ayler returning to play some sweet and swinging sax harmonies while drums and bass still rumble and blast completely improvised lines in the back. The composition named „Vibrations“ is another of these outbursts of insanity. Ayler and Cherry duel each other who might be the most free and twisted player. Murray pounds the kettles and cymbals like a maniac and Peacock joins in on standing bass. It is an ongoing rumbling and definitely strange but if you let it take you away, you will be completely enchanted. Free jazz fanatics will surely love this to deaf. For fans of Coltrane and Coleman a must have.