Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.
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."
New York Eye and Ear Control is an album of group improvisations recorded in July 1964 by an augmented version of Albert Ayler's group to provide the soundtrack for Michael Snow's film of the same name.
Changes is a jazz album recorded by Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock in January 1983 during the same sessions that produced the two albums Standards, Vol. 1 and Standards, Vol. 2; the albums together started a long performing and recording career for what became known as the Standards Trio. Changes was released by ECM Records in September 1984.
Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70) is a compilation album by avant-garde saxophonist Albert Ayler released by Revenant Records in 2004.
Old and New Dreams is the debut album by the jazz quartet Old and New Dreams. The record features trumpeter Don Cherry, saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Ed Blackwell and was recorded in 1976 for the Italian Black Saint label. It is not to be confused with their 1979 album of the same name for ECM.
Playing is a live album by jazz quartet Old and New Dreams. It features trumpeter Don Cherry, saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Ed Blackwell and was recorded in 1980 for the ECM label.
Art Deco is an album by jazz trumpeter Don Cherry recorded in 1988 and released on the A&M label. His quartet played at the Village Vanguard before recording the album.
Spirits is an album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded in New York City in 1964 and first released on the Danish Debut label then later released on the Freedom label as Witches & Devils.
Bells is a live album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded at The Town Hall in New York City in 1965 and first released as a single sided LP on the ESP-Disk label. The album was released in many variations including clear and coloured vinyl and with a variety of colored covers and most recently on CD combined with Prophecy.
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.
Visitation is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee, recorded in 1983 and first released on the Canadian Sackville label, it was rereleased on CD in 2003.
Lörrach / Paris 1966 is a live album by saxophonist and composer Albert Ayler, recorded in Europe in 1966 and first released on the Swiss hat MUSICS label in 1982. The album was remastered and rereleased on CD in 2002 with corrected track titles. The music was also reissued on a 2021 Hat Hut release titled Albert Ayler Quintet 1966: Berlin, Lörrach, Paris & Stockholm. Revisited.
The Hilversum Session is an album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded at a radio studio in Hilversum, The Netherlands on November 9, 1964 and first released in 1980 on the now-defunct Dutch Osmosis label. It was later re-released on DIW, Coppens, ESP, and Modern Silence. In 2016, the tracks that appeared on The Hilversum Session were re-released by hatOLOGY on the European Radio Studio Recordings 1964.
Sonny's Time Now is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray, his first as a leader. It was recorded in New York City on November 17, 1965 and first released on LeRoi Jones' Jihad label. It was later reissued on the DIW and Skokiaan labels.
Lewis Worrell is a jazz double bassist best known for his work during the 1960s with Albert Ayler, the New York Art Quartet, Roswell Rudd, and Archie Shepp.
The Copenhagen Tapes is an album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler consisting of six tracks recorded live at the Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 3, 1964 plus three tracks recorded in a studio by Danish Radio in Copenhagen on September 10 of the same year. The album was released in 2002 by Ayler Records. The live tracks were also included on disc two of the 2004 compilation album Holy Ghost released by Revenant Records, and were also reissued in 2017 on Copenhagen Live 1964, released by hatOLOGY. In 2016, the three studio tracks were included in the album European Radio Studio Recordings 1964 released by hatOLOGY.
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).
