more from
ESP-Disk'
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Albert Ayler: Bells & Prophecy: Expanded Edition (2 Disc)

by Albert Ayler

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $11.99 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Digipak with liner notes
    Digital download included

    Includes unlimited streaming of Albert Ayler: Bells & Prophecy: Expanded Edition (2 Disc) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15.99 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 10 Albert Ayler releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Albert Ayler: Bells & Prophecy: Expanded Edition (2 Disc), The Albert Ayler Story, Live On The Riviera, Slugs' Saloon, Bells, Spiritual Unity, Prophecy, Spirits Rejoice, and 2 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $61.69 USD or more (35% OFF)

     

1.
Bells 19:54
2.
Spirits 07:53
3.
Wizard 08:24
4.
5.
Prophecy 07:13
6.
7.
Spirits 06:40
8.
Saints 10:34
9.
Ghosts 10:55
10.
The Wizard 06:36
11.
Children 09:04
12.

about

Albert Ayler's trio with Gary Peacock and Sonny Murray is best known for the July 10, 1964 recording of Spiritual Unity, the album that made both Albert and ESP-Disk' famous when it was released. A decade after that, ESP-Disk' also released, as Prophecy (ESP3030), the first documentation of the group, as recorded a month earlier by Canadian poet Paul Haines at a concert at a 91st Street club. These Cellar Café recordings are augmented here beyond the five cuts on the original Prophecy by including another six tracks from the same gig. (We use the more accurate titles found in their release in the Holy Ghost box set on Revenant rather than the fanciful titles on their first issue, as Albert Smiles with Sunny on the German label In Respect. Note also that "Wizard" on CD 1 and "The Wizard" on CD 2 are different compositions.)
1965 yielded Ayler treasures as well as his style shifted. The transitional Bells was just under 20 minutes, released originally as one side of a clear vinyl LP with the other side empty of music. It was recorded at a May 1 Town Hall concert of ESP artists, displaying Ayler's new group. Murray remained, Albert's brother Donald joined on trumpet, and Lewis Worrell held down the bass slot. The denser sound of "Bells" shows Ayler moving towards the bigger sonic statement made on Spirits Rejoice, his September 23, 1965 Judson Hall session. By the way, "Bells" as heard here is not, in fact, a single composition; rather, it is a medley moving from "Holy Ghost" to an unnamed theme and then into "Bells" proper. Bernard was so excited by "Bells" that it was released on one side of an LP without delaying to record additional music to fill the other side. "Bells" also happens to be the recorded debut of saxophonist Charles Tyler, who would go on to record for ESP as a leader (ESP1029, Charles Tyler Ensemble, and ESP1059, Eastern Man Alone).

credits

released January 1, 2015

Personnel

1:1: Albert Ayler, tenor saxophone; Donald Ayler, trumpet; Charles Tyler, alto saxophone; Lewis Worrell, bass; Sunny Murray, drums. Recorded live at Town Hall, New York City, May 1, 1965.
1:2-6, 2:1-6: Albert Ayler, tenor saxophone; Gary Peacock, bass; Sunny Murray, percussion. Recorded live at Cellar Café, New York City, June 14, 1964. All compositions by Albert Ayler (Syndicore Music BMI).

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Albert Ayler Brooklyn, New York

Tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler, one of the most controversial and polarizing musicians in the history of jazz, pioneered a new style of playing and became an icon of "free jazz." The playing of both Ayler and his band mates was of such great spontaneity and imagination that no two performances are remotely the same beyond their themes -- and their emotional intensity. ... more

contact / help

Contact Albert Ayler

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Albert Ayler, you may also like: