Out of Africa May 18, 2008
It's not much of a step, for example, from the cosmic jazz of Sun Ra to the mysterious sounds of Mulatu Astatke, or from the primal free jazz saxophone of Albert Ayler to the visceral warrior wails of Getatchew Mekurya. After all, in the era when Addis briefly flourished, black America was turning increasingly to the 'motherland' for inspiration, sporting Afro haircuts and dashikis, its jazz champions cutting records called 'Black Nile' or 'Home is Africa. (Guardian Unlimited -- World)
Sax man likes to go with the flow May 16, 2008
He credits several of his teachers, particularly guitarist Joe Morris, with opening his ears at that point to the great "out" players like Albert Ayler and Cecil Taylor, showing him that alternate routes were available and that his rebellion was nothing new. At the same time, Robbins was studying toward a philosophy degree at Tufts and getting into the likes of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. (Boston Globe)
Travis Sullivan's idea: jazz meets Bjork Apr 18, 2008
"The first jazz I got into was Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman," Sullivan recalls. "I can't say I understood that music then, but I know it hit me in a certain way." He discovered jazz largely on his own. (Boston Globe)
Banjo legend Tony Trischka is still out there Mar 18, 2008
"We were sort of fearless in terms of combinations, some of which worked and some of which probably didn't work as well as we thought at the time. We'd go into the studio and Statman would play mandolin like Bill Monroe, or in Middle Eastern style, and saxophone like Albert Ayler, or honk like an R&B player.". Trischka's solo albums also took the banjo into uncharted territory, sessions that inspired young musicians just discovering bluegrass to formulate their own hybrids. (Boston Globe)
Acts vie for attention at SXSW Mar 15, 2008
Slaraffenland, a quintet from Denmark that was one of my pleasant surprises last year, continues to dazzle as they sharpen a musical style that fits the broad term of noise pop. They operate off the aesthetics of Brian Eno and Albert Ayler, displaying remarkable control and precision within guitar-plus-electronics soundscapes until they reach a very specific point at which time free improvisation takes over. Despite having only five members, they play like a 10-piece as musicians double on sax,... (Variety)
The 10 best rock bands ever Feb 29, 2008
$7 online stock trades. A purely subjective list of the groups that changed music forever. (MSNBC -- Music)
Scientist Of Sound Feb 18, 2008
In the Army, he says, he started "functioning 24 hours a day as a musician." While stationed in Orleans, France, Mitchell first saw a performance by another Army player, tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler. "He had an enormous sound on his instrument. And though I didn't quite understand what it was that he was doing ... he made a big impression on me - but not enough to deter me from studying a more straight-ahead form. "It wasn't until I got out of the Army and I heard Coltrane's record 'Coltrane,'... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Thanks for the ceremonies Nov 26, 2007
I have just done an annual stock-take, which offered up: Eastern Promises, My Name is Albert Ayler, Days of Glory (Indigenes), Blades of Glory, This Is England, Zodiac, Hairspray, Breach, The Bourne Ultimatum and Blame it on Fidel. And if that jogs a hovering pen in the direction of any of those films, then wonderful; if not, like Harry Shearer says, I hope it's an honour being mentioned. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
Weekend Calendar Nov 9, 2007
Friday, November 09, 2007 Last Update: 08:40 AM EST. DRAWING ON FEAR A panel including cartoonists from The New Yorker, a MacArthur Foundation award-winning graphic novelist and a tattoo artist discuss the sublimation of war and how tense. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Andrew Hill: Change Jul 25, 2007
While his introverted persona was overshadowed in an era of iconoclasts like Cecil Taylor, John Coltrane, and Albert Ayler, time has justified his greatness. Even after his passing from lung cancer this spring at the age of 69, the copious, searching music he recorded for Blue Note continues to stream forth. (City Pages)
NASHVILLE SKYLINE: Summer Reading: The Guy Who First Yelled "Freebird" Jun 30, 2007
Others ponder the wonders of the music of such genuine musical heroes as Duke Ellington, Albert Ayler, Doug Sahm and Aretha Franklin. Others wonder about the earthly influence of such true musical question marks as Johnny Thunders, Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa. (VHI.com -- CMT.com Music News)
The 'angular momentum' of Cecil Taylor May 30, 2007
You might simply enumerate the musicians he has collaborated with or inspired, connecting a skein of influence that stretches from such seminal figures as John Coltrane and Albert Ayler to younger lions such as Frank Lowe, David S. Ware and William Parker. Or you could condense decades of critical acclaim into a few pithy paragraphs, in hopes that that might shed some light on the luminescence of his long and celebrated career. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
In his prose as in his politics, a passion for radical expression May 9, 2007
And though Baraka is most closely associated with the "fire music" of "out" players like Archie Shepp and Albert Ayler , the musician most closely evoked in "Tales" may be Thelonious Monk. Not just because Baraka runs into the pianist's undead doppelganger in a cryptic vignette entitled "A Monk Story," but because Monk's compositions are grounded in the narrative formalism of bebop, and shot through with defiantly difficult but homespun ideas that seemed to shred and then rebuild the songs as... (Boston Globe -- Living)
This trio's motto could be all for one and one for all Feb 9, 2007
At 71, Peacock is a venerable figure on the bass, not unlike his contemporary Charlie Haden, and with a similarly broad discography, having worked with figures as far-out as the 1960s iconoclast Albert Ayler. Unlike Haden, however, Peacock did not emerge as a leader; in the past two decades, he has been best known as the bassist in Keith Jarrett's working group. (Boston Globe)
The holy ghost of jazz Jan 31, 2007
Now a new film sheds light on the genius of Albert Ayler ... Maybe that's why Albert Ayler is such an elusive presence in a new film where you'd expect him to loom large: My Name Is Albert Ayler, from the Swedish director Kasper Collin ... Acid-jazz hero Pharoah Sanders resembles him; sax-improv virtuoso Evan Parker has adapted some of his technical innovations; even the late popular postbop and funk saxist Michael Brecker played tributes to Albert Ayler. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
