Jump to content

Albert Ayler: New Grass


ep1str0phy

Recommended Posts

I haven't bought today's new reissue, because I have had for years a Japanese K2 cd that sounds pretty darned good.

I like this session, it's a lot of fun, has some incredible tenor on it, has some absolutely ridiculous material on it and some serious as your life moments. . . . I've become a fan of all the music of Ayler's I've ever heard, there's a surprising amount of difference from one end of the body of work to the other, but I find it all so very moving and stimulating. I feel and think listening to this music. . . I'm alive.

I'm interested in hearing what others think of this too. . . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know, half the time I get the impression that Trevor MacLaren doesn't know what he's doing. Sure, he's well intentioned and all...

New Grass is a new spin for me. I love Ayler madly, enough to divine the "purpose" in his missteps. That being said, the album is more or less what I expected--strange, schizophrenic, and just a little unsettling. Part of what makes Ayler so difficult is the depth of his sincerity, a force that seems to transcend whatever idiom he's playing in. There's just so much pathos--bathos?--to that sound that it's difficult not to take Ayler as serious as a heart attack. I agree with the others--this isn't his best work (my favorite is Vibrations)--but it certainly isn't dross. Every album is like a tome, and the entirety of the Ayler catalogue is some beautiful terror.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I thought it was interesting in that it's one of the few reviews I have seen which doesn't seem to imply that Impulse made Ayler go this different route. . . . I've always seen it as a response to Mary Maria's importance to his life at the time. . . .

I've been listening to this one for years. . . it grows on me more and more. . . Cobbs and Purdie and that BASS. . . and that horn playing. . . they get under my skin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I have had the LP twice and sold it twice. I love Ayler, but this to me - sincere or not - seems pretty 'off.' As Larry Neal said of this record in the Cricket: "I know what the Brother is trying to do, but his procedure is fucked up." Too true.

And stereojack: looking forward to that Scianni LP!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest akanalog

kudos to the people of verve and their families for actually beginning to reissue some more stuff a guy like me might want to hear (this ayler, the szabo, upcoming michael white, upcoming gato etc....)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...