Albert Ayler - 1966 - New York Eye And Ear Control

Albert Ayler

1966

New York Eye And Ear Control

01. Don's Dawn 1:03
02. A Y 21:21
03. ITT 23:23

Albert Ayler — Sax (Tenor)
John Tchicai — Saxophone, Sax (Alto)
Don Cherry — Trumpet, Cornet
Roswell Rudd — Trombone
Gary Peacock — Bass
Sunny Murray — Drums

Recorded in NYC, on July 17, 1964 by Michael Snow for use as the soundtrack to his film "Walking Woman" (aka New York Eye and Ear Control). Original cover design by Michael Snow. Production Manager: Tom Abbs. Analog to digital transfer by Michael D. Anderson. Digital remastering by Douglas McGregor. Design & Layout by Miles Bachman & Michael Sanzone.

Press Quotes

"Something of a missing link between Ornette Coleman’s “Free Jazz” and John Coltrane’s “Ascension,” this recording is superior to those performances in its freer, truly group-oriented format, with no specified soloists and accompanists. Joined by the trumpeter and cornetist Don Cherry, the saxophonist John Tchicai, and the trombonist Roswell Rudd, as well as by Peacock and Murray, Ayler guides the group through the powerful authority of his playing; the riotous revelry joins the joy of New Orleans traditions to the urbane furies of the day." - Richard Brody, The New Yorker

"Ayler's wide-vibrato wail, gutbucket honks and folksy abstractions are all here, but they're constantly goading and commented on by Tchicai's slinky repetition, Rudd's braying tailgate and Cherry's darting bebop shards." - Clifford Allen, All About Jazz

AMG:

"This is a very interesting set, music that was freely improvised and used as the soundtrack for the 34-minute short film New York Eye and Ear Control. Tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler leads the all-star sextet (which also includes trumpeter Don Cherry, altoist John Tchicai, trombonist Roswell Rudd, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray) on two lengthy jams. The music is fiery but with enough colorful moments to hold one's interest throughout. "

It isn't strictly an Albert Ayler album but a very interesting collaborative freely improvised soundtrack project for Michael Snow's film of the same name. Recorded in July 1964 by Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd, John Tchicai, Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray. Liner notes, photos and more... digitally remastered from the original tapes.

Michael Snow, the Toronto based film maker and pianist and catalyst for free improvisational performers everywhere; painter, sculptor and record producer, and the pride of Canada, used the image of pianist-composer Carla Bley as the inspiration for ah art film, NY EYE & EAR CONTROL. For his sound track, he assembled a group of ESP artists in his loft, and recorded them on July 17, 1964.

One disc,45 min. approximately. Remastered sound. A portion of this music was used for an experimental film in the sixties. Without seeing the film itself,its difficult to determine the music's effectiveness in that context. What we're left with is avant-garde music which sounds very much of it's time and place. New York in the sixties was where a lot of these sounds eminated,and this is no exception.

The first track is short(1:05)and serves as an introduction for whats to come. The second track is a bit over twenty minutes,which gives the players time to explore the tension and release,the quiet and harsher passages and the combined sound of their instruments. The final track,also over twenty minutes,is a bit more disjointed sounding(even for this music),with portions holding together over longer stretches of atonal dissonance.

All compositions are by Albert Ayler and if you're familiar with his style of writing,these will come as no surprise. A look at the list of players tells a lot about what to expect-everyone is well-known as an "outside" player. However,Ayler doesn't play so much as a soloist,more an ensemble player. As with a lot of this music,repeated listenings are rewarded with an understanding and appreciation of totally "free" music. There is a constant intermingling of instruments as they weave in and out,slow down,and then accelerate through the compositions. If you're appreciation of music runs in this area,this is something you should pick up. Ayler,Cherry,Tchicai,Rudd,Peacock,and the great drummer Sunny Murray have recorded these fine tracks which,at the time,and in the present,should be much more well-known.

In this day and age of cookie-cutter,bland music,its nice to see a label like ESP re-release this and other albums in their catalogue,as a presciption for some of what passes for jazz and music in general. This music needs to be heard and paid attention to,if for no other reason than to keep us from sinking under the weight of bland,short attention span listening. Also look for NEW YORK ART QUARTET on ESP RECORDS for more good music of this type.