New York Eye & Ear Control
Albert Ayler
Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Roswell Rudd, Sunny Murray
ESP-Disk, 2008
1 CD
Catalogue #: ESP1016
EAN: 0825481010160
UPC: 825481010160
You save: 20%
Personnel: Don Cherry (trumpet); John Tchicai (alto saxophone); Albert Ayler (tenor saxophone); Roswell Rudd (trombone); Sunny Murray (drums); Gary Peacock (upright bass).
A soundtrack to a film by avant-garde artist Michael Snow, NEW YORK EYE AND EAR CONTROL is regarded as the key to the collective improvisational music of its era. Recorded only seven days after SPIRITUAL UNITY, the album features Ayler at his most unconstrained. The trio of Ayler, Gary Peacock, and Sunny Murray used on SPIRITUAL UNITY is rounded out with Don Cherry (trumpet), John Tchicai (alto sax), and Roswell Rudd (trumpet).
NEW YORK EYE AND EAR CONTROL is not the most soothing record ever made. But there are moments, when all four horns lock into a theme as the bass and drums play off each other, when the results are remarkable. One can't help but wonder what this sextet would have evolved into had it made more than one recording.
Tracklist
Albert Ayler
Like many of the radical figures of the '60s avant-garde, tenor and alto saxophonist Ayler paid his dues in R&B bands. Although he cited Lester Young and Sidney Bechet as favorites, he seems to have owed something to Sonny Rollins. One can also hear strong elements taken from New Orleans jazz, from gospel and work songs, and a number of techniques common in traditional African vocal music. He died under mysterious circumstances, his body recovered from New York City's East River on November 25, 1970.
Don Cherry
Don Cherry is perhaps the most important avant-garde trumpeter in jazz history. His career took off when he joined up with saxophonist Ornette Colemen in the late 1950s. Coleman's album THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME, on which Cherry is prominently featured, essentially invented the concept of free improvisation in jazz. Cherry would play with Coleman for many years, but also collaborated with avant-garde icons such as John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp and Steve Lacey, to name but a few. Cherry was one of jazz's most eclectic stylists and embraced a host of musical concepts from around the globe, while also guesting on albums for the likes of Lou Reed. A visionary personality with remarkable passion and heart, Don Cherry passed away in 1995. His step-daughter Neneh and son Eagle-eyed have both had successful musical careers as well.
Related links:
Albert AylerDon Cherry
John Tchicai
Roswell Rudd
Sunny Murray
Jazz Instrument
Jazz
ESP-Disk
