Live In Greenwich Village: The Complete Impulse Recordings

Unlike the trio emanations of *Spiritual Unity*, *Live in Greenwich Village* finds Albert Ayler enlarging his lineup on these classic live recordings from three Greenwich Village venues. But the subtitle *The Complete Impulse Recordings* is misleading, as this package doesn’t collect all of Ayler’s output for Impulse. It does, however, compile everything from *Albert Ayler in Greenwich Village* and *The Village Concerts*. Ayler’s robust, fearless tenor sax is out in front, but so is the trumpet of his brother Donald Ayler, a sadly obscure figure but a dynamic presence, punctuating the fanfares of pieces like “Spirits Rejoice” and “Divine Peacemaker.” Along with drums there’s also cello, violin, and two bassists—the purpose of which, Ayler told historian Nat Hentoff, “is that thereby you can go in two different harmonic directions which are, however, integrally connected so that you remain in organic unity.” The resulting group sound occupies a mystical space between free jazz (or “energy music,” as some came to call it), extraterrestrial chamber music, and New Orleans parade ritual. The opener, “Holy Ghost,” is from March 1965 at The Village Gate; the remainder of the first set is from December 1966 at the Village Vanguard, including the riveting tenor sax/piano duet “Angels,” which allows us to savor Ayler’s vibrato-rich sound, somewhat Sonny Rollins-like in its testifying exuberance. (The pianist, per the liner notes, is identified as “probably” Call Cobbs, Jr.) Set Two is made up of eight performances from February 1967 at The Village Theatre, including the opener, “For John Coltrane,” recorded six months before Coltrane’s untimely death, with Ayler switching to alto sax.

Live in Greenwich Village was Albert Ayler's first recording for Impulse, and is arguably his finest moment, not only for the label, but ever.