Ayler Records | |
---|---|
Founded | 2000 |
Founder | Jan Ström and Åke Bjurhamn |
Genre | Jazz, free jazz, improvised music |
Country of origin | France |
Location | Limours |
Official website | ayler |
Slogan | "Never for money, always for love." |
Ayler Records is an independent record label that focuses on jazz, free jazz, and improvised music.
Named after saxophonist Albert Ayler, the label was founded in Sweden in 2000 by Jan Ström and Åke Bjurhamn. [1] [2] [3] The majority of Ayler's early releases were live recordings of European and American free jazz groups, many of them taped at the Glenn Miller Café in Stockholm, where Ström helped to book musicians. [2] [4] In 2009, Ayler relocated to France, where it is managed by Stéphane Berland, who had joined the label in 2005, and who is now the sole overseer. [3] [5] [6] Recent releases are, according to writer Nick Ostrum, "not really jazz or free jazz, though they all lay somewhere on the musical fringes," suggesting "interesting and unpredictable things to come," [7] and reflecting a broadening of the label's catalogue. [3]
Ayler Records releases have been noted for their unique cover art and design. [4] From 2000 to 2008, covers featured a beige background and reproductions of paintings by co-founder Åke Bjurhamn, while releases from 2009 on have cover art designed by Stéphane Berland, who earns a living as a graphic designer and writer in the advertising field. [8]
Writer Krištof Budke called the label's catalogue "brilliant, forward-thinking, progressive and extremely creative," [8] while reviewer Rex Butters praised Ayler for "[doing] its part to retrieve deserving free records from obscurity." [9] Ayler Records releases have received praise from Jazzwise , [10] JazzTimes , [11] Tom Hull, [12] Point of Departure, [13] Paris Transatlantic, [14] Dusted Magazine, [15] and The Times . [16]
Entries beginning with "aylCD" are CD releases; those beginning with "aylDL" are download-only releases.
Tim Berne is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones.
Marilyn Crispell is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote: "Hearing Marilyn Crispell play solo piano is like monitoring an active volcano... She is one of a very few pianists who rise to the challenge of free jazz." In addition to her own extensive work as a soloist or bandleader, Crispell is also known as a longtime member of saxophonist Anthony Braxton's quartet in the 1980s and '90s.
Irène Schweizer is a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. She was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
Carlos Zíngaro is a Portuguese violinist and electronic musician active in free improvisation.
Joëlle Léandre is a French double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation.
Dominique Pifarély is a French jazz violinist. He works in avant-garde jazz, but he has also worked in post-bop and other contexts.
Kevin Norton is an American percussionist and composer active in the New York City jazz and contemporary music scenes. He has performed and recorded with a diverse group of musicians, including Anthony Braxton, Paul Dunmall, Milt Hinton, Fred Frith, David Krakauer, Joëlle Léandre, Frode Gjerstad, Wilber Morris, James Emery, Bern Nix, and many others. In 1999, he founded Barking Hoop Recordings, a record label dedicated to releasing new and original music. Kevin Norton has also spent summers at camp Encore/Coda in Maine teaching music theory classes and private percussion classes. The label has released 11 CDs to date, which feature Norton's own groups as well as artists such as Anthony Braxton, Kevin O'Neil, Billy Stein, and the String Trio of New York.
Marc Ducret is a contemporary avant-garde jazz guitarist who frequently collaborates with saxophonist Tim Berne.
Roman Stolyar is a Russian composer, piano improviser and educator.
Live at the Glenn Miller Café is the third album by the AALY Trio + Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in Stockholm in 1999 and released on Wobbly Rail, a short-lived imprint started by Merge Records/Superchunk principal Mac McCaughan. AALY Trio is a Swedish free jazz band led by saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. Originally just a guest, Vandermark became a full member of the group.
Live at Glenn Miller Café Vol 1 is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, which was recorded in Stockholm and released on Ayler Records, a Swedish label founded by Jan Ström and Åke Bjurhamn. Moondoc leads a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake. The rhythm section had recorded the studio album ...and William Danced a few hours earlier with local saxophonist Anders Gahnold.
Les Victoires du jazz is a program of annual French jazz awards which grew out of the larger Victoires de la Musique. The prizes were then awarded within the Victoires de la musique classique from 1994-2001. In 2002, a ceremony dedicated specifically to jazz was created.
Raymond Strid is a Swedish drummer in the genre of free jazz and the new European improvised music.
Michael Griener is a German jazz percussionist.
Vincent Courtois is a French jazz cellist.
Sophia Domancich is a French pianist and jazz composer.
Yves Robert is a French trombone player of modern creative jazz, who has appeared and recorded internationally. He is the trombonist of the Yves Robert Trio founded in 2014.
Live at Glenn Miller Café is a live album by saxophonist Arthur Doyle and drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in March 2000 at the Glenn Miller Café in Stockholm, Sweden, and was released in 2001 by Ayler Records. Although the album is credited to Doyle and Murray, the first three tracks are a duet between Murray and saxophonist Bengt Frippe Nordström, who died several months after the concert.
Live at Vision Festival is a live album by the Stone Quartet: bassist Joëlle Léandre, trumpeter Roy Campbell, pianist Marilyn Crispell, and violist Mat Maneri. It was recorded in June 2010 at the Vision Festival held at the Abrons Arts Center in New York City, and was released in 2011 by Ayler Records.
NoBusiness Records is an independent record label, based in Vilnius, Lithuania.