ALBERT AYLER QUINTET - Truth Is Marching In (1966-1990) Unofficial Release | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

1    Truth Is Marching In 8'57
Written-By – Albert Ayler
2    Our Prayer 14'55
Written-By – Donald Ayler
Credits :
Bass [String] – Lewis Worrell
Percussion – Ron Jackson
Tenor Saxophone, Written-By – Albert Ayler
Trumpet – Donald Ayler
Violin – Michel Sampson

ALBERT AYLER QUINTET - Black Revolt (1966-1990) Unofficial Release | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Bells    18:18
2    Ghosts    23:24
Credits :
Bass [String] – Lewis Worrell
Percussion – Ron Jackson
Tenor Saxophone, Written-By – Albert Ayler
Trumpet – Donald Ayler
Violin – Michel Sampson

ALBERT AYLER - Bells + Prophecy (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Combining two of his best ESP recordings on one CD, the 1998 compilation of 1965's Bells and 1964's Prophecy is the tenor saxophonist at the peak of his powers. Bells, originally released as an idiosyncratic one-sided LP, is a live set featuring Albert Ayler, his trumpeter brother Donald Ayler (this was their first recording together), alto saxophonist and ESP labelmate Charles Tyler, bassist Lewis Worrell, and drummer Sunny Murray, recorded live at New York's Town Hall. Although banded as a single track (and confusingly given the same title as an unrelated Ayler composition), Bells actually consists of a 20-minute medley of three Ayler compositions, the incantatory "Spiritual Bells," "Holy Ghost," and the brief coda "No Name," with the middle piece the primary focus. The playing is positively ferocious, with all three reed and horn players swinging from wild solos to some even more out ensemble playing. In comparison, the trio date Prophecy sounds almost normal. The four tracks (plus a second variation of Ayler's early signature piece, "Ghosts") are, oddly, the same that appeared on Ayler's ESP debut, Spiritual Unity. (Prophecy was, in fact, recorded a month prior to Spiritual Unity, although it came out much later.) Though both albums were recorded with the same sidemen, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray, Ayler's relentlessly questing solo style means that these performances differ greatly from the previous album, so thoroughly that other than the initial themes, they might as well be completely different songs. Stewart Mason  
Tracklist :
1    Bells    19:55
2    Ghosts (First Variation)    11:21
3    Wizard    8:21
4    Spirits    7:55
5    Prophecy    7:12
6    Ghosts (Second Variation)    7:06
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Charles Tyler (pistas: 1)
Bass – Gary Peacock (pistas: 2 to 6), Lewis Worrell (pistas: 1)
Drums, Percussion – Sunny Murray
Tenor Saxophone, Composed By – Albert Ayler
Trumpet – Donald Ayler (pistas: 1)

ALBERT AYLER - Bells (1965-2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Albert Ayler's short but definitive album Bells covers about 20 minutes of music from his legendary Town Hall/N.Y.C. concert on May Day of 1965. It is not surprising to hear the angst and anguish in their music, considering it was made about five weeks after Black nationalist leader Malcolm X was assassinated. Ayler and his quintet blow their own horns in alert of the "new thing" in jazz coming on strong, with no apologies as to its fierce intent or audacious stance. Brother/trumpeter Donald Ayler and alto saxophonist Charles Tyler join with the tenor saxophonist in a united front of sound and steel forged reserve in making free jazz a reality. The back cover has a reprint of Dan Morgenstern's Down Beat Magazine review of the performance, which is insightful, fair, accurate, and to the point, a good read for anyone who might dismiss Ayler's concept as something other than serious. The first of the two spontaneous compositions contains an outburst by the whole ensemble, followed by trumpet and tenor sax solos that bend notes and shapes in the extreme abstract. A free bop-based mid-section shows recording flaws, as drummer Sunny Murray and bassist Lewis Worrell are barely audible. Tyler's alto is drenched in the loud and abrasive tone the Ayler's dictated, but shows he has his own voice. The overtone-soaked music is tempered by a low-level bass solo from Worrell, with Murray's spare, splashy cymbal inserts, ending with a bouncy but eventual whirling dervish coda. The second, much longer improvisation, is based on Ayler's "Holy Ghost" theme, as a soulful, singing, vibrato-driven Ayler ignites Worrell via Murray's signature triple and quadruple flam accents. There's a clarion march theme repeated before and after congealed chaos, followed by deconstructed but distinct melodies, albeit brave and uncompromising. When all three of these horn players blow hard and strong together, it brings to mind Amiri Baraka's comment about "a terrible wholeness," as this purposefully saturated music stands alone as the most singularly unique early creative statement in modern music. As Albert Ayler recorded several definitive recordings before or after this one, and due to the very short length of Bells, it cannot be considered a magnum opus. But it does contain music played by his most powerful unit, a small window into the mind and heart of the most iconic maverick in the free jazz movement, and a magnet for discussion that lingers on well past his death. Michael G. Nastos  
Tracklist :
1     Bells 20'03
Albert Ayler
Credits :
Bass – Lewis Worrell
Percussion – Sonny Murray
Saxophone [Sax] – Albert Ayler, Charles Tyler
Trumpet – Donald Ayler

ALBERT AYLER - At Slug's Saloon, Vol. 1 & 2 (2005) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The Slug's Saloon dates are among the recordings that established Albert Ayler's reputation as the iconoclastic legend he was. This May Day performance featured Albert on tenor saxophone, brother Donald on trumpet, Lewis Worrell on bass, Michael Sampson on violin, and a very young Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums. While the recording quality may not be up to some modern-day stereo fascist's standards, there's plenty of fidelity here for most listeners. This is Ayler at his most beguiling and powerful. The set opens with "Truth Is Marching In," which begins with the refrain line from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and turns it inside out into a gospel chant before Ayler just turns his saxophone on the audience like he's some Old Testament prophet, screaming and screeching through the middle as Jackson sticks with him every step of the way, triple timing his bull-roaring wail. The theme is one note played in various cadences; each member begins his solo in turn and soon the entire process of music-making has been reversed -- speaking in tongues has been realized, although everyone on the bandstand and in the audience realizes what's happening. Next up is Donald Ayler's "Our Prayer," which begins with a beer polka theme crossed with a carnival song and turns into marching band music, before becoming unglued in an atonal fury of pure gospel shouting and blues hollering to the heavens. Vol. 1 (the stronger of the two) closes with the truly astonishing "Bells." It's true that Ayler only had a few compositions to his name, but it didn't matter since they were all so open they could be reinterpreted a thousand ways. "Bells" is Ayler's masterpiece, beginning with a mournful violin line that's doubled by Donald and then harmonically amended by Worrell and Albert. This is an offering, a funeral march about to happen. The end of the world has already come and the dead are being mourned. The one phrase is repeated over and again, changed little by little, until at five minutes it is a song of joy. And at nine minutes it's a free jazz blowout that is so thunderous there are dropouts in the mikes. By 16 minutes the cover has melted from your skull and the sun is shining from within and without and you have been transformed forever. Yeah, you need this that bad...what are you waiting for?
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist Disc 1 :
1    Truth Is Marching In    10:10
2    Our Prayer    12:19
3    Bells    18:00
The second of two CDs from the Albert Ayler Quintet's engagement at Slug's on May 1, 1966 has long versions of "Ghosts" (over 23 minutes) and "Initiation" performed by the tenor/leader/ trumpeter Donald Ayler, violinist Michel Sampson, bassist Lewis Worrell, and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. The music is both futuristic (with extroverted emotions expressed in free improvisations) and ancient (New Orleans marching band rhythms, group riffing, and folkish melodies). Although Vol. 1 gets the edge, most avant-garde collectors will want both releases. Scott Yanow
Tracklist Disc 2 :
1    Ghosts    23:08
2    Initiation    16:32
Credits :    
Double Bass [String] – Lewis Worrell
Percussion – Ron Jackson
Tenor Saxophone – Albert Ayler
Trumpet – Donald Ayler
Violin – Michel Samson