Recorded live at New York's
Judson Hall
in 1965,
Spirits Rejoice
is one of
Albert Ayler
's wildest, noisiest albums, partly because it's one of the very few that teams him with another saxophonist, altoist
Charles Tyler
. It's also one of the earliest recordings to feature
Ayler
's brother
Don
playing an amateurish but expressive trumpet, and the ensemble is further expanded by using bassists
Henry Grimes
and
Gary Peacock
together on three of the five tracks; plus, the rubato
"Angels"
finds
interacting with
Call Cobbs
' harpsichord in an odd, twinkling evocation of the spiritual spheres. Aside from that more spacious reflection, most of the album is given over to furious ensemble interaction and hard-blowing solos that always place in-the-moment passion above standard
jazz
technique. Freed up by the presence of the trumpet and alto,
's playing concentrates on the rich lower register of his horn and all the honks and growls that go with it; his already thick, huge tone has rarely seemed more monolithic.
also provides an opportunity to hear the sources of
's simple,
traditional
melodies becoming more eclectic. The nearly 12-minute title track has a pronounced
New Orleans marching band
feel, switching between two themes reminiscent of a
hymn
and a hunting bugle call, and the brief
"Holy Family"
is downright
R&B
-flavored.
"Prophet"
touches on a different side of
's old-time
march
influence, with machine-gun cracks and militaristic cadences from drummer
Sunny Murray
driving the raggedly energetic ensemble themes. For all its apparent chaos,
is often surprisingly pre-arranged -- witness all the careening harmony passages that accompany the theme statements, and the seamless transitions of the title track.
is proof that there was an underlying logic even to
's most extreme moments, and that's why it remains a tremendously inspiring recording. ~ Steve Huey