Music is the healing force of the universe

I picked up “Lorrach, Paris 1966” in a local CD shop during the spring of 2006 (which I now realize was lucky given that it is apparently out-of-print).  By early summer I was getting anxious to explore more of the man’s music.  I was particularly excited to sink my ears into some of the work he did with Don Cherry.  I had picked up a copy of Don Cherry’s “Symphony for Improvisers” when I lived in Madison, but after a few listens it just didn’t hold my interest; however, early that summer I gave it another try.  Perhaps my brain chemistry had been permanently altered by all the free jazz I had been listening to for the past couple years, but this time the album really resonated with me.  The disc remained in the player for much of the summer, oftentimes in rotation with "Lorrach, Paris," and even made several road trips with me.

But Don Cherry would have to wait.  My wife and I went to Borders bookstore one weekend, and I checked to see whether they happened to be carrying any Ayler.  Expecting to find nothing in such a mainstream place, I was surprised to find that they had a copy of “Music is the healing force of the universe.”   Given that I was holding this in my hands, I figured Albert's work with Don Cherry could wait.  I had some idea what I was getting into (I did own the Holy Ghost box set which contains several late-period Ayler selections).

Albert Ayler, Music is the Healing Force of the Universe

Impulse!, 1969

Albert Ayler:  tenor saxophone, vocals, bagpipes

Bobby Few:  piano

Stafford James:  bass

Bill Folwell:  bass, bass guitar

Muhammad Ali:  drums

Mary Maria Parks:  vocals

Henry Vestine:  electric guitar

Recorded in late August of 1969, “Music is the healing force of the universe” is quite a mixed bag.  Gone are the march-like themes and the oscillating energy of “Love Cry” and the staggering live work of 1966-67.  The first song on the album is the title track, and the music itself is fantastic.  Bobby Few’s distinctive style provides waves of tinkling piano and Albert’s playing is emotionally moving and at times raw.  He takes several trips into the upper register.  Muhammad Ali provides a spectacular underpinning for the music.  However, that said, Mary Maria’s vocals nearly ruin the piece.  What was Albert thinking?  Blinded by love?  I just can’t find anything enjoyable about her singing.

Some singers are really good at taking relatively shallow lyrics and make them sound important.  Take for example, the somewhat vacuous lyrics of “Tupelo Honey” by Van Morrison: “You can take all the tea in China.  Put it in a big brown bag for me.  Sail it right around the seven oceans.  Drop it smack dab in the middle of the deep blue sea.  Because she's as sweet as Tupelo honey.  She's an angel of the first degree.  She's as sweet as Tupelo honey.  Just like honey from the bee.”  Just like honey from the bee?  Seriously?  Yet when Van Morrison sings this stuff, he somehow makes it seem profound.  Mary Maria on the other hand, manages to take relatively shallow lyrics and make them even more empty.

Of the songs where Mary Maria sings, the title track is actually the most appealing; in fact, I can enjoy it if I tune her out (which is hard at first, but gets easier after repeated listening).  The two other tracks she sings on, “A man is like a tree,” and “Island Harvest” are downright awful.  On “Oh! Love of Life” Albert himself provides the vocals, and although I don’t find his undulating, wide vibrato, saxophone-like vocals offensive, I don’t find this song interesting or compelling either. 

The second track, “Masonic Inborn Part 1” is perhaps the reason that this album is worth owning.  “Masonic Inborn” finds Albert Ayler on bagpipe (!) (actually two bagpipes, overdubbed) with the ethereal accompaniment of Bobby Few’s piano and the free drumming of Muhammad Ali.  This is fantastic stuff – I would have been happy with a whole album of free-jazz bagpipe songs!!

The final track on the album, “Drudgery” features a straight-ahead blues chord progression and a steady rock beat.   Although it is fun to hear Albert play in this context, and he is quite competent in this setting and even stretches it out a bit toward the end of piece, I can’t get very excited about the music.  Coming after three miserable tracks, the piece doesn’t have to be very good to exceed expectations – and it does manage this.  However, after repeated listening it becomes increasingly tiresome.

Buy it at amazon

Lorrach, Paris 1966

“Red-dee…settt….go,” shouts my daughter as she leaps off the headboard above our bed and face-plants on the bed.  Good parenting, eh?  Watching her do this repeatedly, I am in awe of her fearlessness.  She could easily keep doing this for an hour, or at least until she makes a less-than-soft landing and needs kisses.  Each time she climbs back up on the headboard I tell her to be careful, and she repeats “ca-fulll” several times.  I can only assume she is mocking me, because she is anything but careful. 

It has been a very busy and stressful month, and the next few months don’t look like they will be much better.  It is only March (in a few hours) and my summer schedule is already rapidly filling up with commitments as well, which is rather depressing.  

Even though it has been busy,  I have managed to listen to some music over the past few weeks and this next album has been a real highlight.  “Lorrach, Paris” beautifully captures “the dynamite sound” of 1966, a time when Albert and his companions were literally exploding with creativity and passion.

Albert Ayler, Lorrach,Paris 1966

Hat Hut, 1966 

Albert Ayler:  tenor saxophone

Donald Ayler :  trumpet

Michel Sampson:  violin

Bill Folwell:  bass

Beaver Harris:  drums

"Lorrach, Paris 1966" represents selections from two concerts in November 1966 (Lorrach, Germany and Paris, France).  The music is similar to "Slug's" and "Greenwich Village."  It is oscillating, screaming, melodious, and fearless.  I really like the percussion of Beaver Harris; in my opinion he successfully drives this music forward in a very different way than Sunny Murray.  There are even some nice drum solos on this album, something I don't recall on the other 1966-67 releases.  I can't really say much more about this; the music speaks for itself.  This is a must-have disc for Ayler fans, and as good a place as any for an introduction.  

As I listen to this, I can't help but wonder what it would have been like to witness these shows in person, and particularly how I would have reacted if I had no experience with this sort of music (and I imagine that at least some in the audience were completely unaware of what they were getting into).  I like to to think I would have been like my daughter, jumping off the headboard and hoping for a soft landing.  More likely I would have been like her father, shocked by the craziness.  "Ca-full."     

I guess this might be out of print, which if true is a real travesty.  Looks like a few very pricey used CDs are available through amazon.

Slugs' Saloon

Most of my “deep” music listening occurs in the evening or during the few days a week that I work from home.  Although I often play music in my office at work, I am rarely brave enough to expose my colleagues to the energy-rich goodness of free jazz sensu Ayler.   Typically I don’t push things much past Eric Dolphy, mid-period Coltrane, early Cecil Taylor, etc.  For my more energy-intensive material I have a room in the finished basement of our very tiny house where these activities can take place.  However, given the thin walls and my wife’s sensitive ears, listening to any music loud is typically not good for overall family morale, so if I want to really listen to something at high volume I typically use headphones.  This next album benefits greatly from headphones, primarily because the sound quality is rather sub par, likely because it was essentially a bootleg recording.

I listened to “Slug’s Saloon” several times after I first downloaded it from emusic, but a couple weeks later I stumbled into a copy of Lörrach, Paris 1966, and it soon replaced this one in the player primarily because of the better sound quality.  So although this album has regularly rotated through my listening queue I honestly didn’t listen to it very deeply until this past week.  However, I have listened to this album at least a dozen times this week; in fact, it is essentially the only music I have listened to, except for a Pete Seeger album that my wife and 19 month old daughter have been playing upstairs.   I am traveling today, and the frantic preparation for this trip and lack of sleep during the past few nights have left me feeling rather exhausted and a bit down.  I just listened to this album again on the airplane, and as I sit here awash with the lingering jubilance it has created, staring out on the awe-inspiring mountains of Colorado, I am feeling incredibly uplifted.  

Albert Ayler, Slugs' Saloon

1966, ESP

Albert Ayler:  tenor saxophone

Don Ayler:  trumpet

Michel Sampson:  violin

Lewis Worrell: bass

Ronald Shannon Jackson: drums

Recorded live at Slugs' Saloon on May 1st, 1966 the album is similar in feel and delivery to "Greenwich Village" as well as "Lörrach" which I will discuss more in my next entry.  In my opinion, it is a little more frenetic in feel than these other two releases, and the most striking difference is that imparted by Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums.  Stylistically his drumming is quite a contrast to Sunny Murray’s and somewhat different from Beaver Harris’s as well.  Often Jackson seems to drum “with” the melody, and his drumming is in some ways more “march-like” which obviously suits these pieces well.  He doesn’t really keep a strong beat per se but the drums are certainly more aggressive.  I think I prefer the sorts of things that Sunny Murray brought to the mix, as well as the template that Beaver Harris would provide later in 1966, but this is still a very enjoyable album.  Albert and company were really at the height of their powers during this time period.  If you can get past the sound quality, which really isn't hard, this is wonderful stuff.   

Below is a relevant audio clip, again taken from the radio show that ESP put together.  Bernard Stollman talks about the album and how he acquired the tape of the show.

Buy it directly from ESP

Buy it from amazon