Hearing the soft-spoken voice of Albert Ayler at the beginning of this
1963 recording is spooky. Not because he's gone, but because he's so
calm, so young, and so hesitantly articulate: Nothing like the voice of
his saxophone playing at all. This session is a reissue of a Fantasy
recording, and one which pairs Ayler up with a Scandinavian rhythm
section that includes the 16-year-old Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on
bass. After the weirdly wonderful spoken intro, Ayler goes for the
throat on soprano in "Bye Bye Blackbird." It's difficult to tell if
Ayler's tonality on the horn is intentional or the rhythm section is
just so stick-in-the-butt rigid that he sounds more out of tune than he
is. Ayler plays tenor on the rest of the program, which includes
"Summertime," "Billie's Bounce," "On Green Dolphin Street," and "C.T."
The session becomes irritating in that the rhythm section refuses to
give Ayler the room he needs: they play straight bop no matter what, as
if they couldn't play anything else. Only on "Summertime" does he
connect with the inner voices of his emotions and lets loose in what
would be come his trademark wail. Born equally of gospel, R&B, and
early jazz phrasing, Ayler lets loose a torrent of emotion on the tune,
making everything -- and everyone on the bandstand -- else seem
nonexistent in comparison. This is a strange record, like a soloist
mismatched with the recording of another band, but nonetheless there is
that singular tenor voice to contend with, and, on "Summertime," it is
unfathomably beautiful.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1 Introduction By Albert Ayler 1:15
2 Bye Bye Blackbird 7:30
Written-By – Dixon, Henderson
3 Billie's Bounce 5:59
Written-By – Parker
4 Summertime 8:47
Written-By – Gershwin
5 On Green Dolphin Street 9:05
Written-By – Caper, Washington
6 C.T. 12:02
Written-By – Ayler
Credits :
Bass – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
Drums – Ronnie Gardiner
Piano – Niels Brønsted
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Albert Ayler 
