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May 1 2026

A double dose of Spirits

As promised last February, AlAy’s new release is a combination of the two Ayler albums, Spirits and Spirits Rejoice.

The sleevenotes for the release are available here. I have added the details to the relevant pages in the Discography. Perhaps it is merely the similarity of the two titles which is behind their twinning here, since they are two fairly distinct groups recording a few years apart. Spirits was Ayler’s first LP to be recorded in America, albeit by a Danish record company - Debut. The group for that session consisted of Ayler on tenor sax, Norman Howard on trumpet, Henry Grimes (3 tracks) or Earle Henderson (2 tracks) on bass and Sunny Murray on drums. As well as the four tracks recorded for Spirits, the same session, held at New York’s Atlantic Studios on 24th February 1964, also produced the album of fairly straight, quartet (Howard and Henderson were replaced by Call Cobbs on piano) versions of spirituals which was posthumously released as Swing Low, Sweet Spiritual. For some reason, the title of Spirits was changed to Witches & Devils, and that was the title I always knew it as since it was one of the first Ayler records I bought. As a result, because I am an idiot, I never bought Spirits Rejoice until I started doing this site, because I’d got it into my head that any Ayler record with ‘Spirits’ in the title was just ‘Witches & Devils’ in disguise. Nineteen months after Spirits, Ayler recorded Spirits Rejoice, this time for ESP. Henry Grimes and Sunny Murray were still there, but now Don Ayler was on trumpet and there was a second saxophone - the alto of Charles Tyler. Gary Peacock was an additional bass (although, since he’d been playing with Albert and Sunny in the trio which had made Spiritual Unity, it’s probably better to consider Henry Grimes as the addition). Call Cobbs also appeared on one track, playing harpsichord. The session was recorded at Judson Hall, New York on 23rd September, 1965, and that venue has led to some people (including the current ESP website) believing it to be a live recording. The photos of the late Guy Kopelowicz (one of which is featured on the cover of the new AlAy CD) attest to the fact that there was no audience. Both albums, now combined, have been remastered by Michael Brändli.

I should also add that the AlAy website has details of the labels other releases, including an excellent compilation of Marion Brown albums.

I just went on the AlAy site to find the Marion Brown link and found this message:

‘In Memory of Mike Westbrook

Mike Westbrook contacted me in April/May 2025, when I was still Hat Hut Records owner and recommended that I issue his piano blues solo recording.

After listening to the music, I agreed. At the end of May, I sold the name of Hat Hut Records and its contents of ezz-thetics productions. The recordings then passed to the new owners of Hat Hut Records, who had no interest in releasing them. Since I had promised Mike Westbrook a CD release, I began working on the release despite a non-compete agreement.

The contact with Mike was very intense in the following weeks to achieve his wish that the CD be released before his 90th birthday in March 2026. I succeeded. He received the CD after mid-February 2026. Mike was very happy and very grateful. Mike’s email on February 23, 2026:

The CDs have arrived!
Now the music is able to speak for itself.
Thanks for your support and commitment in making it happen.

Unfortunately, his illness caught up with him and led to his recent death on April 11, 2026.

The Piano In The Room And The Blues has now become a memorial edition.

– Werner X. Uehlinger, curator for AlAy Ltd.’

I had no idea. I’d only mentioned him in last month’s update, and added a link to his site. Although I don’t live in the internet and only tend to keep up with what’s going on in the ‘jazz world’ on a monthly basis, I do watch the news on various TV channels every day and I would have thought the passing of Mike Westbrook would have caused some kind of ripple in the zeitgeist, if only in a national sense, since he was a major figure in British jazz. Maybe I was spending too much time dancing with the daffodils and that’s why I missed it. Still, a great shame, and here’s the obituary in The Guardian.

Part two of The Cortege.

Japanese Jazz Cafes

Well this is odd, the youtube items are usually left till the end, but I was taken by this item from Taro Cross. Maybe it’s the fact he’s the same age as me, maybe I like to find out how other people get hooked by jazz, maybe it’s the fact he has 4 copies of Bells, or maybe it’s his description of the Jazz Cafes of Japan, particularly those where you weren’t allowed to talk, you just had to listen to the music and it was PLAYED LOUD. (“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive. But to be young was very heaven!”)

He’s also got a couple of videos of an original copy of Something Different!!!!! (Bird Notes BNLP1) (aka The First Recordings) playing: Side 1 and Side 2.

Jerry Jazz Musician

Dirk Goedeking spotted a couple of things on the jerryjazzmusician site:

Peter Valente contributes an essay: Albert Ayler’s Spiritual Unity A Classic of Our Time, and for All Time.

And there’s a poem from Stephen C. Middleton: ‘Albert Ayler: Flying Home’.

Amiri Baraka

Dirk also spotted this on bandcamp, the release of Amiri Baraka’s 1968 recording of Black & Beautiful, Soul & Madness by The Spirit House Movers. It’s available on bandcamp which carries the following description:

‘Originally released in New York in 1968 on Baraka's own Jihad label, "Black and Beautiful Soul and Madness" is a fiery document of the 1960s. It could be mistaken for a lost ESP-DISK release, sitting well between Sun Ra / the Fugs / and Albert Ayler. The group was vocal in all the ways; sometimes singing, Doo-wop & Soul, sometimes rapping in a Last Poets-style, often doing both at the same time. Emotionally compelling and extremely powerful, we are proud to have it back in print on vinyl for the first time.

"Calling all black people
calling all black people, man woman child
Wherever you are, calling you, urgent, come in
Black people, come in, wherever you are, urgent, calling
you, calling all black people
calling all black people, come in, black people, come
on in."

—Amiri Baraka, S.O.S

“Black & Beautiful, Soul & Madness was the first word-music record I did completely devoted to this form. One piece on a New York Art Quartet side earlier (on ESP-Disk), but Black & Beautiful was recorded at my home and in the small theater my wife, Amina, and I built there The Spirit House (33 Stirling St.) shortly after I had returned home to Newark, NJ, after the implosion of the Harlem based Blacks Arts Repertory Theater-School. Spirit House, like the Black Arts, was created to present Black theater, poetry, music and political dialogue. B&B was not the only side done on those premises, under the record label we created, Jihad A Black Mass with Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra was another. Sonny’s Time Now with Sonny Murray and Donald Ayler the third. B&B featured Yusef Iman, an actor I met at the Black Arts who began to come to the Spirit House after the Arts folded. Yusef was a member of the Spirit House Movers & Players which we shortened to The Spirit House Movers (inspired by the dudes in a bar we went to who worked for a moving company). The singing group B&B, the Jihad Singers, was an R&B singing group that Yusef was a member of, the lead singer Freddie Johnson, who I never saw again after the record date. All the musicians were local. Singer Aireen Eternal was Yusef's wife. In our mind we wanted to create world-music that reflected the Motown vibe so popular in the late-’60s. ‘Beautiful Black Women’ used Smokey Robinson's ‘OOOH Baby, Baby’ as a model. ‘Black And Beautiful’ was created by Yusef & Freddie and seemed a classic R&B du-wop send-up. But we also had a clear vision of what we wanted to say regarding the Afro-American struggle for equal rights and self-determination, at least we thought of ourselves as cultural workers, revolutionary artists ‘pushing the program’ as some of our cultural nationalist comrades were wont to say. I think you can feel our excitement and commitment.” --Amiri Baraka, September, 2009

releases May 30, 2026

Amiri Baraka - Spoken Word
Freddie Johnson - Lead and Tenor
Leonard Cathcart - Tenor
Aireen Eternal - 2nd Tenor
Gilbert Monk - Baritone
Yusef Iman - Bass
Russell Lyle - Alto and Flute
Bobby Lyle - Bass’

And, another reminder of the 60s - here’s a review of The New Wave In Jazz, the Impulse album of a concert organised by Amiri Baraka (back when he was LeRoi Jones), by Graham Boatfield in the March, 1966 edition of Jazz Journal.

Youtube roundup

Back where it belongs. Dirk spotted a couple of versions:

‘Ghosts’ from Giorgio Buratti’s LP, Talk To Me, released in Italy in 1984.

‘Spirits’ from Dr Dingo’s album, Relaxin’ At Kartong Inn, released in Sweden in 2000.

Noël Akchoté’s complete album of Ayler transcriptions is now available on youtube.

Marco Werner suggests his “Top 5 Free Jazz Albums That Will Instantly Make You a Free Jazz Fan! (or at least maybe...”. They are:

Pharoah Sanders – Karma

Albert Ayler – Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 1

John Coltrane – Ascension

Ornette Coleman – Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation

Sun Ra – It’s After the End of the World

Discuss.

And, since friend Clive objected to the last two guitar versions of ‘Ghosts’ here’s another one, complete with a weather report.

And finally ...

A last word from Dirk, and, yes, we both agree the cat is emulating Pharoah Sanders, not Albert. Although, I’m more bothered by its spelling.

April 1 2026

Well that’s just cheating

I know. The first section of April’s update may seem familiar since I added it to the site on 15th March, but since a lot of people just check the site out on the first of the month I thought I’d just alter the date so that it didn’t disappear down the page. It is, after all, the first new Ayler release since the Revelations Complete Fondation Maeght set from 2022, and there can’t be many more out there.

Reference: Albert Ayler Quintet Copenhagen, Bordeaux 1966 & Newport 1967 Live First Release

To give it its full title, is the new Albert Ayler album from Werner X. Uehlinger’s new AlAy record label.

The sleevenotes for the release are available here. I have added the details to the Discography, but rather than giving it a separate page, I’ve added it to the ‘Lost Performances’ page, thus linking it to the two albums released on Werner’s previous label, HatHut Records, which gathered various unreleased material, mostly from the European Tour of 1966. On this release we have, for the first time, the Copenhagen concert from 11th November, 1966. This is the final concert from the tour to get an official release on CD - for some reason it was never included in the Holy Ghost box set. Also new to CD is the track from the Sigma Festival in Bordeaux, recorded on 14th November, the night after the band had played in Paris and the night before they flew to London for that controversial BBC concert at the London School of Economics. This track was only saved for posterity by being included in a TV documentary, and is currently available on youtube. The third session is Albert Ayler’s only performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. This has been released before, first in the Holy Ghost box, then on the 2023 release of More Lost Performances Revisited on Hat Hut Records. However, the important thing with this new release is that a different, much clearer, version of the Newport session was discovered and the tracks are presented here in their original running order. I think it goes without saying now that Michael Brändli has worked his usual magic in the remastering department - the Newport session, for me, was a particular revelation.

The AlAy website carries this note at the start:

‘AlAy Ltd. is subject to a non-competition agreement starting June 2025 with a term of three years in Switzerland. During this period, AlAy Ltd. may not accept or release recordings by living composers/musicians. Our releases during this period will therefore focus on historic recordings from the past. Exceptions are unreleased recordings from the archive of the former Hat Hut Records Ltd. 4106 Therwil, which changed its name to AlAy Ltd. in June 2025.

- Werner X. Uehlinger’

I thought I should mention that because the new Ayler CD (and it’s so gratifying to write that phrase) is accompanied by two other titles: Reference: Louis Armstrong Hot Five & Hot Seven At 100, remastered (beautifully) by Michael Brändli, and a solo piano recording from Mike Westbrook, Reference: Mike Westbrook The Piano In The Room And The Blues, who will celebrate his 90th birthday on the date of the album’s release, 21st March - more information on his website.

At the moment the Ayler CD is available at a number of independent retailers such as Presto Music (which gives the release date as 26th March), Squidco, Soundohm and Jazz Messengers. It hasn’t turned up on the regular sites, although HMV Japan (not UK) has it listed as due for release on 30th April.

Acoustical Swing

A couple of interesting entries in Pierre Crépon’s ‘Acoustical Swing’ for March:

On Max Roach and the Effectiveness of Political Art

and, perhaps more relevant to Albert Ayler,

Out There: Magnus Nygren’s Don Cherry Book Project

And Pierre has also got an article in the latest issue of We Jazz magazine, entitled ‘On the Historicity of the Term “Free Jazz”’.

*

Listening Session: William Parker Talks Classic Free Jazz Recordings, Part II

I’ve placed here because of the Don Cherry mention above because Cherry’s Blue Note LP, Where Is Brooklyn? is among the albums chosen by William Parker, and it’s always been one of my favourites. The list also includes Albert’s recording of ‘Summertime’ on My Name Is Albert Ayler, of which Mr. Parker has this to say:

‘Quite a contrast to what Paul Bley did a year later in 1964 when he recorded Barrage. This was on the money — the connection of the phrases, the laid-backness of the rhythm section, the simplicity against his starkness, his sort of preaching, but using his tone and attack of the sound.

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen was a prodigy. He studied with Oscar Pettiford. He traveled from Scandinavia to Paris, where Oscar was living, and he was like 12, 13, 14 years old. Oscar Pettiford would be giving him a bass lesson, and Niels-Henning could play the same way. I think he was a teenager when he recorded this. What makes this is that the piano player is just playing straight. I’m seeing colors coming out of the music — purples and yellows. Trees.’

The full list is available at JazzTimes.

Spiritual Unity

A couple of things relating to what is Albert Ayler’s most famous album. First, an item from youtube about

Top 10 Most Expensive Vinyl Records Sold on eBay – February 2026

A copy of Spiritual Unity makes the list at No. 7, going for $4,100.

And Dirk Goedeking came across this: the 1992 German ZYX/ESP CD of Spiritual Unity on youtube, accompanied by the extensive sleevenotes. So you can listen as you read, or, since Dirk took the time to capture the images (as he says, “In a fine resolution, much better than on discogs”) you can find them on the Spiritual Unity Covers page.

American Football

At which point friend Clive leaves the room . . . Richard Koloda sent me some links to videos of Albert Ayler’s grandson, Melvin Fellows, who is, apparently good at it. If anyone’s interested, here they are:

Melvin Fellows - Garfield Heights - Football Highlights

Melvin Fellows Stats | The Football Database

Future Buckeye Melvin Fellows Answers Your Questions

OK Clive, safe to come back now.

What’s Available No Longer Available

Ever since this site has been online there has been a page called ‘What’s Available’. I’d link to it there, but I can’t because I’ve dropped it from the site. When the site began it was a means of showing what Ayler albums were available in ‘the shops’ - originally just a few internet stores, because, back then, there were only a few. Occasionally I’d try to keep it up to date, but as things changed, and the streaming sites appeared, it became a bit, well, useless. So I’ve finally got rid of it. However, the link may linger, since it’s on every page and it won’t disappear until I upload every page, so I may miss a few. If you get nostalgic and want to have a look at it, you can click this link:

The no longer available What’s Available page.

Youtube roundup

Ghostly guitars:

1. HalleluYahmamoto

2. Madamdata

And a cartoon - Albert appears at 1:26.

And finally ...

I’ve been on the British Library Newspaper Archive again, delving into the wonderful world of Robert Buchanan, but, for a lark, I tried ‘Albert Ayler’ again and it dredged up this:

Now, ordinarily, I would have just added it to the Record Reviews section of the site, but I was intrigued by the name of the reviewer - John Wain. Now, John Wain was a noted novelist and poet who was born in my neck of the woods, Stoke-on-Trent, and achieved a modicum of fame as one of the ‘Angry Young Men’ of the 1950s. The review was printed in Queen (2/2/66, p.28), a glossy magazine which wikipedia describes as:

‘a British society magazine established by Samuel Beeton in 1861 as The Queen. In 1958 the magazine was sold to Jocelyn Stevens and became one of the top publications of the "swinging sixties".’

Now, is this ‘my’ John Wain, or another. The google AI thing was no help, suggesting I meant Philip Larkin, who was a noted reviewer of jazz. I resent the fact that the AI thing always questions my intelligence and assumes I’ve got it wrong. I know very well who Philip Larkin was and I also know what kind of review he would have given to an Albert Ayler record if he had ever deigned to play one on his victrola. John Wain was a jazz fan and his fifth novel, Strike the Father Dead (which I mean to read now) had a jazz setting. So, until I have evidence to the contrary, I will assume this jolly review of Albert Ayler’s Spirits, aka Witches and Devils, was written by an angry young man.

***

March 1 2026

I was intending to follow-up on last month’s announcement about Werner X. Uehlinger’s new record label, ALAY with more details about the two new Ayler releases. which were due towards the end of February. If they appear shortly I will add the information immediately, rather than wait for the April update.

Les Tracances (‘Workation’)

Not sure about that translation, but the original may seem as bad to a Frenchman. This is a short film which Dirk Goedeking spotted. Here’s his summary:

‘There’s a new film titled “Les Tracances” (eng. “Workation”) by Victor Boyer. “Ivan - a young rock critic - leaves Paris to write an article about Albert Ayler.” Then the film develops its own plot. But short snippets of Albert’s music are used in the sparse soundtrack. E.g. “Summertime” can be heard at 24:37, “when the living is easy”. (“Fish aren’t jumping”, although the river scene is quite idyllic). “The Wizard” at 37:53, developing article at 34:49.’

It’s available on youtube (with English subtitles) and it’s worth a watch, although I think I missed a lot by not having watched any of Eric Rohmer’s films. This is wholly due to Gene Hackman’s comment in Night Moves that it’s like watching paint dry. On the Ayler front, he doesn’t figure that much, but there is the bit where‘Ivan is working on his article, and the music clips. The problem with films like this (and I don’t just mean French) you can spend much more than the 46 minute running time trying to work out what it’s all about. Why is there a rendition (in English) of the traditional folk song, ‘The Three Ravens’? Ivan meets a single mother and her baby down by the riverside, and when he asks about the father, she jokes it was a virgin birth, and then at the end, when she leaves, she says she’s going to Marseilles to see the Heavenly Spirit. So, coming at it from an Aylercentric view of the universe, where Albert was famously the Holy Ghost, are we supposed to interpret things in a more supernatural vein. And why does Ivan finally light his cigarette? Anyway, take a look, it’s a nice piece of work and, for once, the baby was ridiculously cute.

Summertime

Dirk followed up the film with this article about ‘Summertime’ by John Edward Hasse: ‘Summertime - A Young Mother’s Transcendent Lullaby’.

‘More about different “Summertime” versions can be read on Steven Serra’s site. John Edward Hasse writes: “No baby will be lulled to sleep by Albert Ayler’s sax shrieks and moans, which repeatedly move inside and outside of the chord changes and bend the notes until they are torn off the staff lines.” I love this metaphor.

There’s also a nod for one of my favourite versions of the song by the Modern Jazz Quartet - one of the first jazz records I ever bought.

The Old Fellers again

You can tell I’m relying a lot on Dirk this month, that’s because ’tis Spring and an old woman’s fancy turns to decorating, so I’m currently doing the bedroom. Dirk writes:

New albums by old superstars:

- Roscoe Mitchell released “IN 2” with Michele Rabbia on 13.10.2025.

- Wadada Leo Smith released “Duologues 5” with Ivo Perelman on 02.01.2026. Also on youtube.

- Archie Shepp, not playing, but still singing with Marion Rampal. Their single "Remember The People" was released on 30.10.2025. You can see them on youtube.

- Marshall Allen, still unbelievably productive, released “The Omniverse Oriki” on 12.09.2025.

Art and Artificial

Dirk’s final finds are two Ayler-related artworks:

- Two paintings by bdpnt, inspired by the film “New York Eye And Ear Control”.

- AI is conquering the arts with “Albert Ayler”, a poem and a youtube video. Lyrics by Marquesi + ChatGPT + Gemini. Music, voice and composition by suno.com/create and producer.ai.

Soft Jazz, all notes on the staff lines. The cherry on top of this melange is a Chet Baker voice singing.

No further comment.

Youtube roundup

Marc Ribot Quartet: Hurry Red Telephone playing ‘Bells’ at the Dakota, Minneapolis on 23rd February, 2026:

Back in August 2021 I marked the passing of bass player Juini Booth with the following:

‘Arthur Edward Booth, bass player with several notable bands, including the Sun Ra Arkestra and Tony Williams’ Lifetime, has died aged 73. A man of several names, one of which was in these pages for one performance with Albert Ayler, a performance which was filmed by the famous documentarians, D. A. Pennebaker and Richard Leacock, at the Albright-Knox Auditorium in Buffalo, N.Y. on 9th March, 1968. It was filmed for a television documentary, ‘Who’s Afraid of the Avant-Garde?’ which was broadcast on 21st April, 1968, but, unfortunately, the Ayler footage did not make the cut. ... He was born in Buffalo, which perhaps explains why he was part of the Ayler group on that one occasion.’

There’s now an extensive (2:42:43) interview with Juini Booth from August 2017, on youtube. I haven’t listened to it yet, and Albert isn’t listed in the rundown, so he may not be mentioned at all, but it’s sure to be fascinating, nevertheless.

And how’s this for a venue? If you get bored you can always just watch the cars passing by. This is Mete Erker and his group, which I mentioned last month, at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam.

February 1 2026

New Label New Ayler Releases

When Werner X. Uehlinger handed over HatHut Records to Marco von Orelli and Melanie Imhof last August. he didn’t intend to rest on his laurels and immediately made plans for a new label, ALAY, named after Albert Ayler. Later this month ALAY will release its initial albums, one a remastered combination of two early Ayler records, Spirits and Spirits Rejoice, the other containing three live performances. The Copenhagen concert from the 1966 European tour has never been released before. The single track from the Sigma Festival in Bordeaux, saved from oblivion by its inclusion in a TV documentary, has only been available as a video clip on youtube. And Ayler’s concert at the 1967 Newport Festival has only ever been released in the Holy Ghost box set, although this version is from another, better quality, source. I will add more details in the March update.

Die Zukunft der Schönheit

Aka Albert Ayler oder Die Zukunft der Schönheit (Albert Ayler or The Future of Beauty) by Friedrich Christian Delius, the German book revolving around a visit to Slugs’ Saloon when Albert Ayler was playing, has now been the subject of a live performance featuring Michael Grunert and the saxophone duo, Leptophonics. Dirk Goedeking found this, which seems to have occurred on 18th May last year, according to this site, which has the following description:

‘Slug's Salon, May 1966. On stage: free jazz musician Albert Ayler and his band.

In the audience: aspiring writer Friedrich Christian Delius.

Ingeniously unconventional playing of instruments shatters all of young Delius’s expectations and opens up spaces of freedom.

The book “The Future of Beauty,” which arose from these experiences, and Albert Ayler’s music form the basis of this staged reading. Actor Michael Grunert reads, plays, and performs excerpts from the text. The two saxophonists, Andreas Gummersbach and Andreas Kaling, quote familiar melodies such as “Oh When The Saints” or traditional gospel songs and improvise over them in the style of Albert Ayler’s wild and expressive music.’

There’s also a trailer on youtube:

Now Jazz Now

I mentioned Thurston Moore’s new book last month, but Dirk spotted another article, written by Moore’s co-writer, Byron Coley, on the Forced Exposure site, which includes the entry for Spiritual Unity:

And sticking with Spiritual Unity, Dirk found this ‘stereo’ version on youtube. The album was famously recorded in mono, due to a mistake on the engineer’s part - according to legend he thought they were just rehearsing. Dirk didn’t leave it there:

‘Curious, I took a closer look at Discogs, finding STEREO printed on a BASE label. Is this a misprint, official stereo, duophonic or whatever people try to do with mono recordings?’

I took a look at Discogs and found another ‘stereo’ version, this time from ESP:

I then checked my own copies of Spiritual Unity, an early ESP version, mono, and the Fontana reissue, labelled stereo, but it’s not. Although. I should confess, I’m not the man to check all this, only having one working ear and that now sporting an electronic aid. However, I suspect that all the versions are mono and it’s just a printing error, or maybe a marketing ploy.

‘Current Trends in Right-Wing Music Appreciation: Claiming Ornette Coleman’

is the subject of the January edition of Pierre Crépon’s ‘Acoustical Swing’ and should be read.

*

Charles Tyler

There’s another review of that Charles Tyler re-released album, Voyage From Jericho, mentioned last month, on the Spectrum Culture site.

*

Two bands which play ‘Ghosts’

1. QOW Trio

The QOW Trio, featuring Riley Stone-Lonergan on tenor saxophone, Eddie Myer on bass and British jazz legend Spike Wells on drums, have a new album out, entitled The Rule of Three. It includes a version of ‘Ghosts’ as well as the theme from High Noon; understandable since they were originally inspired by the Sonny Rollins LP, Way Out West. The album is available on bandcamp, and is reviewed on the UK Jazz News site. There’s also a review of a recent Bristol gig and here’s ‘Ghosts’:

2. Mete Erker Trio + 1

Mete Erker is a Dutch tenor saxophonist who has released a double vinyl album, both of which feature versions of ‘Ghosts’.

More information on Mete’s site, and here’s the live version of ‘Ghosts’:

And there’s a live broadcast of the band on Bimhuis TV on 1st February at 19.30 Amsterdam time.

A couple more from youtube

I’ve had a look and I don’t think I’ve posted this before. It’s ML Lieber and the Magic Poetry Band, featuring Faruq Z. Bey performing his poem about Albert Ayler, from a Detroit concert on 14th September, 2001;

And finally, here’s the Ghost Band playing Ghost Venues (including Slugs’ Saloon) on 21st December, 2025:

January 1 2026

Happy New Year!

Actual News

Richard Koloda sent me the following:

‘Hi Patrick : this might be of a side interest, but it might bring international attention. As you know I used to interview people like Donald Ayler, Mutawaf Shaheed, Jimmy Landers, Bobby Few. Larry Hancock and others associated with Ayler. So in essence but for WCSB Holy Ghost would never have come into existence:

WCSB College Radio’s Shutdown Is a Profound Loss for Cleveland’s Creative Communities

Inside the Backlash Against CSU and Ideastream After Unceremonious Killing of WCSB

Cleveland State University Kills WCSB, Transfers Management of Station to Ideastream to Broadcast Jazz

What went down at WCSB 89.3FM: a voice from inside Cleveland State’s axed student radio station

CSU shuts down student-led WCSB, hands control to Ideastream

The Rock and Roll Capital Killed Its College Radio Station for Smooth Jazz and the Students Are Fighting Back

El Mantis

I mention this with some trepidation. On 13th December, El Mantis (a band which features some Ayler tunes among its repertoire) played the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center. I must admit I was surprised by the Center’s website - I was expecting a vision in gold with pictures of Boss Trump on every page, but there was just a discreet renaming of the Center in the top left-hand corner. Anyway, here is the video:

Charles Tyler

Charles Tyler’s 1975 album, Voyage From Jericho, has received a 50th Anniversary Reissue. There’s a review by S. Victor Aaron on the Something Else! site and full details are available on bandcamp.

Book Corner

1. Everything Is Now: The 1960s New York Avant-Garde—Primal Happenings, Underground Movies, Radical Pop by J. Hoberman

I was sure I’d mentioned this book before, but I can’t find it. It’s an overview of the ‘scene’ in New York in the 1960s, and there’s an interview with the author on the Reverse Shot site.

2. “Thurston Moore documents his obsession with free jazz in a new book” is an article in the Los Angeles Times:

‘For the last six years, Moore has been pouring this passion into a new book: “Now Jazz Now: 100 Essential Free Jazz and Improvisation Recordings 1960-80,” co-written by Byron Coley and Mats Gustafsson and published by Ecstatic Peace Library, the publishing imprint he runs with Eva Moore. The book also features words from Neneh Cherry and Joe McPhee.’

3. And Cisco Bradley announces his new book on Instagram:

My next book, I Hear Freedom: The Great Migration, Free Jazz, and Black Power, will be released on Columbia University Press on March 17, 2026. It is dedicated to Imam Mutawaf Shaheed of Cleveland who was instrumental in it coming together. The cover painting of saxophonist Albert Ayler is by R.A. Washington (@clevelandtapes) and Gabriel Vanlandingham-Dunn (@djibrilanddjazz) wrote a brilliant foreword. This is the result of 5 years of research and writing and it formed a baseline for the work I’m doing at the Music and Migration Lab. Thanks to everyone I interviewed and to the staff at various archives who assisted with the process.

Sail away

That last one was spotted by Dirk Goedeking (Happy New Year!) and he also found this on reddit, which relates to the second. Dirk introduces it thus:

‘The end of the year is always a time to think about the really important questions: What would you take to a desert island? I don't know, but help is on the way.’

There are several lists of the top six indispensable jazz records to mull over and Dirk also uncovered this picture among them.

Dirk ends with this:

To which I will add the following items from youtube. From ‘rock’s back pages’, two Ayler-related interviews, with Richard Williams and Val Wilmer:

Val Wilmer

And finally ...

What’s New October to December 2025 has been sent to the vaults.

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This site went online in June 2000. All the previous ‘What’s New’ pages are available below: