Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.
Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer who was best known for performing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.
Henry Grimes was an American jazz double bassist and violinist.
Herman Davis "Dave" Burrell is an American jazz pianist. He has played with many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray.
Spiritual Unity is a studio album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler. It was recorded on July 10, 1964 in New York City, and features bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray. It was the first album recorded for Bernard Stollman's ESP-Disk label, and it brought Ayler to international attention as it was so "shockingly different". At the same time, it transformed ESP-DISK into "a major source for avant-garde jazz". A 5-star review in AllMusic called it a "landmark recording that's essential to any basic understanding of free jazz", "the album that pushed Albert Ayler to the forefront of jazz's avant-garde... really the first available document of Ayler's music that matched him with a group of truly sympathetic musicians", and stated that "the results are a magnificently pure distillation of his aesthetic."
Frank Wright was an American free jazz musician, known for his frantic style of playing the tenor saxophone. Critics often compare his music to that of Albert Ayler, although Wright "offers his honks and squawks with a phraseology derived from the slower, earthier funk of R&B and gospel music." According to AllMusic biographer Chris Kelsey, Wright "never recorded even a single record under his own name for a major label; he was 'underground' his entire career." In addition to tenor saxophone, Wright also played the soprano saxophone and bass clarinet.
Albert Ayler in Greenwich Village is a 1967 live album by American saxophonist Albert Ayler. It was his first album for Impulse! Records, and is generally regarded as being his best for the label. Originally released on LP, the album has since been reissued on CD.
Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded for the MetroJazz label, later reissued on Verve Records as Sonny Rollins/Brass - Sonny Rollins/Trio.
Prophecy is a live album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded in New York City on June 14, 1964 and first released in 1975 on the ESP-Disk label.
Spirits Rejoice is a live album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded in New York City in 1965 and first released on the ESP-Disk label. The recording session took place without an audience at Judson Hall, which had been rented solely for recording purposes.
Something Different!!!!! is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded on October 25, 1962 at the Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, and originally released in very small quantities on the Swedish Bird Notes label run by saxophonist Bengt "Frippe" Nordström. Ayler plays tenor saxophone and is accompanied by Swedish musicians Torbjörn Hultcrantz (bass) and Sune Spångberg (drums).
Live at Slug's Saloon is a live album by the American jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded on May 1, 1966 at Slugs' Saloon in New York City. The music was originally released in 1982 as Albert Ayler Quintet Live at Slug's Saloon volumes 1 and 2 on Base Records (Italy), DIW Records (Japan), and ESP-Disk (U.S.), and, over the years, was reissued by a variety of small labels under different titles. A CD containing both volumes, plus an additional track recorded at the same concert, was released by ESP-Disk with the title Slugs' Saloon. On the album, Ayler plays tenor saxophone, and is accompanied by his brother Donald Ayler on trumpet, Michel Samson on violin, Lewis Worrell on bass, and Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums.
Live on the Riviera is a live album by the American jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded on July 25, 1970 at the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, and originally released in 2005 on the ESP-Disk label. The album, which was remastered and reissued by ESP-Disk in 2013, documents one of the last known performances by Ayler prior to his death in November of that year.
Your Prayer is the second album by saxophonist Frank Wright. It was recorded in May 1967 in New York City and was released by ESP-Disk later that year. On the album, Wright is joined by saxophonist Arthur Jones, trumpeter Jacques Coursil, bassist Steve Tintweiss, and drummer Muhammad Ali. The tracks were reissued in 2005 on the Frank Wright compilation The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings.
Live at Cafe Montmartre 1966, Volumes 1, 2, and 3, is a trio of live albums by trumpeter Don Cherry. The albums were recorded in March 1966 at the Cafe Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark, and were released by ESP-Disk in 2007, 2008, and 2009. On the recordings, Cherry is joined by saxophonist Gato Barbieri, vibraphonist Karl Berger, bassist Bo Stief, and drummer Aldo Romano. Volume 1 is accompanied by a bonus DVD sampler featuring a variety of the label's artists.
Unity is a live album by saxophonist Frank Wright. It was recorded at the Moers Festival in Moers, Germany on June 1, 1974, and was released in 2006 by ESP-Disk. On the album, Wright is joined by pianist Bobby Few, bassist Alan Silva, and drummer Muhammad Ali.
The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings is a two-CD compilation album by saxophonist Frank Wright. Issued by ESP-Disk in 2005, it contains two studio albums released by the label during the 1960s: Frank Wright Trio, recorded in 1965 and issued in 1966, featuring bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Tom Price, and Your Prayer, recorded and released in 1967, featuring saxophone Arthur Jones, trumpeter Jacques Coursil, bassist Steve Tintweiss, and drummer Muhammad Ali. The compilation also features a twelve-part interview with Wright, conducted by ESP-Disk founder Bernard Stollman.
Norman Howard is a free jazz trumpeter best known for his association with saxophonist Albert Ayler.
Burn Baby Burn is an album by trumpeter Norman Howard and saxophonist Joe Phillips, who are accompanied by bassist Walter Cliff and drummer Corney Millsap. It was recorded in Cleveland, Ohio, in November 1968 as part of a session that was originally intended for release by ESP-Disk as catalogue number 1073. However, the material was shelved until 1989, when some of the tracks were released by Homeboy Music, a label run by British musicologist Roy Morris, on a limited-edition cassette titled Signals. In 1993, Homeboy reissued the contents of Signals, along with additional tracks from the session, on a second cassette called Burn, Baby, Burn. In 2007, ESP-Disk issued eight of the tracks in remastered form on CD as Burn Baby Burn.
