henry kuntz | healing force: the songs of albert ayler
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
HEALING FORCE: THE SONGS OF ALBERT AYLER Cunieform 255
“He
Vinny Golia / reeds, Aurora Josephson / voice, Henry Kaiser / guitar (and producer), Mike Keneally / piano, guitar and voice, Joe Morris / guitar and double bass, Damon Smith / double bass, Weasel Walter / drums. Aurora Josephson / art work.
Recorded: May 3, 2006
Healing Force revisits and reclaims songs of the late Albert Ayler and lyricist/vocalist Mary Maria Parks.
The CD includes songs from Ayler’s final Impulse LPs - Love Cry, New Grass, Music is the Healing Force of the Universe - and demo tapes for New Grass that appeared on the recently released Holy Ghost box set (Revenant).
This is an inspired collection of work that references not only Ayler’s songs but the spiritual force behind them. This force drove a whole period of music. Players felt that by harnessing the transcendent power of free jazz, they (and listeners) might attain spiritual union and oneness with the Divine and All That Is.
This association of free jazz with spiritual awakening gained wide acceptance with the release of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme (recorded December 1964). But Ayler, with his strong religious and musical background, had made the connection earlier. In February 1964, at the same session that produced Witches and Devils (Polydor) he recorded a number of “free” spirituals. The titles of his tunes on Witches and Devils had broadly spiritual overtones as well.
The recently released New Grass demo material suggests that, whatever one thinks about the music of late-period Albert Ayler (and the behind-the-scenes record company machinations that produced it), that material was a logical outgrowth of Ayler’s evolving musical aesthetic. The demo material suggests Ayler’s attempt to return to the roots of the spiritual with an end toward creating something new.
“Let the Spirit move you through the path of life.
“Don’t forget the Holy Ghost.”
