Spiritual Unity

• Artist: Albert Ayler
• Rating:
• Release Date: July 10, 1964
• Total Time: 29:30
• Genre: Jazz

Review

Spiritual Unity was the album that pushed Albert Ayler to the forefront of jazz's avant-garde, and the first jazz album ever released by Bernard Stollman's seminal ESP label. It was really the first available document of Ayler's music that matched him with a group of truly sympathetic musicians, and the results are a magnificently pure distillation of his aesthetic. Bassist Gary Peacock's full-toned, free-flowing ideas and drummer Sunny Murray's shifting, stream-of-consciousness rhythms (which rely heavily on shimmering cymbal work) are crucial in throwing the constraints off of Ayler's playing. Yet as liberated and ferociously primitive as Ayler sounds, the group isn't an unhinged mess -- all the members listen to the subtler nuances in one another's playing, pushing and responding where appropriate. Their collective improvisation is remarkably unified -- and as for the other half of the album's title, Ayler conjures otherworldly visions of the spiritual realm with a gospel-derived fervor. Titles like "The Wizard," "Spirits," and "Ghosts" (his signature tune, introduced here in two versions) make it clear that Ayler's arsenal of vocal-like effects -- screams, squeals, wails, honks, and the widest vibrato ever heard on a jazz record -- were sonic expressions of a wildly intense longing for transcendence. With singable melodies based on traditional folk songs and standard scales, Ayler took the simplest musical forms and imbued them with a shockingly visceral power -- in a way, not unlike the best rock & roll, which probably accounted for the controversy his approach generated. To paraphrase one of Ayler's most famous quotes, this music was about feelings, not notes, and on Spiritual Unity that philosophy finds its most concise, concentrated expression. A landmark recording that's essential to any basic understanding of free jazz. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Ghosts: First Variation	Albert Ayler	Albert Ayler Trio	(5:16)
The Wizard	Albert Ayler	Albert Ayler Trio	(7:24)
Spirits	Albert Ayler	Albert Ayler Trio	(6:50)
Ghosts: Second Variation	Albert Ayler	Albert Ayler Trio	(10:01)

Credits

Albert Ayler (Saxophone), Albert Ayler (Sax (Tenor)), Albert Ayler (Main Performer), Albert Ayler (Group Member), Sunny Murray (Percussion), Sunny Murray (Drums), Gary Peacock (Bass), Howard Howie Bernstein (Illustrations), Howard Howie Bernstein (Cover Illustration), Jay Dillon (Art Direction), Hans Schreiber (Liner Notes), Tom "Tornado" Klatt (Liner Notes), Raymond Ross (Photography), Jordan Matthews (Cover Design), Albert Ayler Trio (Performer)