Albert Ayler

Tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler was one of the most mysterious and powerful forces in the free jazz movement of the ‘60s, once summing up his place in the scene by stating "Trane was the father, Pharoah was the son, and I am the Holy Ghost." Ayler's tone was raw and his compositions were eruptive; in just a few short years, he moved from relatively restrained playing to albums of chaotic emotional upheaval. This style crested with albums on ESP-Disk and Impulse!, like 1965's Spirits Rejoice or 1967's blistering live set In Greenwich Village, documents that showcased Ayler's str...