[albummaster]

Today's album of the day

Spiritual Unity by Albert Ayler Trio (View album | Buy this album)

Year: 1965.
Country:
Overall rank: 1,275
Average rating: 75/100 (from 214 votes).

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Tracks:
1. Ghosts: First Variation
2. The Wizard
3. Spirits
4. Ghosts: Second Variation

About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.

[DommeDamian]

I know that Scaruffi loves this, but I couldn't be bothered. This is a mess, and not a fascinating one.
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My Top 100 :
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My music:
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[Romanelli]

[Hayden]

Cacophonic squonks— fragile as harrowing,

demolishing/deconstructing/demolishing/deconstructing/demolishing/deconstructing
AND IT'S SO FULL

[AAL2014]

To me, this is a very interesting record. It definitely draws on some eerie moods that weren’t all that common in jazz of the era.
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Attention all planets of the solar federation: We have assumed control.

[Fischman]

Posting my previous entry in my jazz diary from the diaries forum:

So now I swing (no pun intended) from mainstream jazz clear to the opposite end of the spectrum with full blown avant garde free jazz. This makes Coleman's "Shape of Jazz to Come" and Dolphy's "Out to Lunch" seem pretty straightforward. Not only is this music free of melodic or rhythmic structure, it is intense... really intense. I have listened to this ablum in the past and thought no, it's not totally incomprehensible, but at the same time, the supposed genius of it eludes me. So for this listen, I thought it would be fun to try do pick a side; is this one of the greatest musical expressions of all time, or is this a naked emperor making random noises while the progressive music elite wannabes line up to proclaim it the finest musical threads?

Here's what I heard this time around. First, this music is not devoid of melody. That's actually quite obvious right from the start with the first variation of "Ghosts." In fact, it starts with a very hummable and actually fun and pleasant melody before wandering off into free land. The middle is indeed free in every sense of the word, but then for the conclusion it returns to the original melody just as a traditional bop tune would reprise the head to close the piece. The effect is really quite remarkable, like starting a day in normal rhythm, having everything go awry, and then somehow being able to get centered again before turning in.

Now for the second cut, "The Wizard," things seem pretty much off the rails right from the get-go. Lots of random sounding goose honking noises from Ayler's reed here. Scales so fast they're just a blur. Is he astonishingly technologically accomplished or just sloppy and reckless? No, he does have control of his instrument and he actually means to do this!

What I found most apparent by this time is the incredible relationship between the musicians. They are so attuned to each other. This isn't just three wankers doing thier own thing, but rather three focused individuals coming together, listening to each other, and playing to each other in detailed, if sometimes esoteric conversation. At some point, whether or not the sound is pleasing to the ear becomes less important than trying to get inside the conversation. What impressed me the most was the way bassist Gary Peacock grounds, steers, and keeps the conversations at least somewhat comprehensible and his solo time is exceptionally well placed and executed. Massive kudos to Peacock! Sunny Murray's fleet and free drumming, especially his cymbal work, gives much of the album a scintillating quality that contrasts nicely with Ayler's more aggressive stylings.

The third cut, "Spirits" is aptly named. It has a slighltly eerie feeling right from the start, and the mood, eerie thought it may be, helps keep the more challenging elements of the free aprroach at bay. If you look at my avatar, what you see is my son and I playing bass and guitar at halloween while we pass out candy; our Halloween tradition. We play things like Sabbath's Paranoid, BOC's Godzilla, and Ghost Riders in the Sky. With my son/guitarist now off at college, I may just put a speaker out on the step and play Ayler's "Spirits"!

The whole album is under 30 minutes, which is probably a good thing, even for free jazz devotees. As I said, the thing is intense. It has become cliché to say of free jazz in general, and especially Ayler in particular that "you either get it or you don't." There is no middle ground. And of course, part and parcel of that cliché is the implication that if you "get it" you will like it and if you don't like it, then you obviously don't get it. I say Poppycock! to this elitist nonsense. I'm going to stand firmly in the middle ground here. One can "get it" and still decide it's not for them. One can also dig it and not really get it, oddly taking a liking to the twisted sounds but not understanding the conversation taking place. I like this, but not a whole lot. I'm glad to listen to it once in a fairly infrequent while; does that mean I kinda' get it? I'm pretty sure I understand the conversation.... it's just not one I wish to take place in often.