Albert Ayler's trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer 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 in 1965 (ESP-Disk' owner Bernard Stollman had waited until he had several albums ready to issue them all at once, theorizing that this tactic would garner the fledgling label more attention than a piecemeal program of releases). A decade after that, ESP-Disk' also released, as Prophecy (ESP3030), the first documentation of the group, as captured in concert by Canadian poet Paul Haines a month earlier at a 91st Street club. These Cellar Café recordings are augmented here beyond the five cuts on Prophecy by including another five tracks -- plus the brief closing theme -- 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.)
Listening to Prophecy expecting the more poised and concentrated impact of Spiritual Unity could lead to disappointment. Ayler's sound was evolving by leaps and bounds within short periods of time, plus he was breaking in a new band, so the style here is more expansive in some ways, and less focused as the trio finds its way towards the groundbreaking style heard on Spiritual Unity. (But also compare the Cellar Café tracks to his February '64 Atlantic studios recordings, Goin' Home and Witches & Devils, to hear how much farther into freedom Ayler had moved with Peacock and Murray -- also the drummer in February -- since just four months later.) Sometimes the material sounds more loosely organized, though not always; certainly "Ghosts" as heard on disc 2 progresses in acutely conscious fashion, which may be why it is just a tad less bracingly intense than it would be in July. But the work this band put in before going into the studio in July served it well as it created on the fly a new improvisation paradigm: looser structure, less regard for standard pitch, and no obligation to present a regular beat. Ayler’s sound was unprecedented, much rawer than any other jazz of the time. Sometimes it was expressed in squalls of untempered sound, sometimes in outbursts of poignant spontaneous melody. Meanwhile, under and around the leader’s unfettered self-expressions, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray reinvented the roles of their instruments.
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).
Both recording dates here document Ayler in transition, but then, he was always in transition, always moving to express himself in new formats and styles and sounds.
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