Albert Ayler at the LSE, Nov 1966 ...50 years ago.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Fascinating piece I've just discovered on the London Jazz News website on Ayler etc legendary London BBC tape erase gig. By George Foster who was THERE throughout the entire explosive "drama"!


"The band were scheduled for a brief rehearsal and sound check but arrived late, tired, hungry and angry at their treatment at the airport. During the sound check Donald Ayler had a major confrontation (bordering on violence) with a BBC technician who walked on stage and moved the microphone near the bell of his trumpet while he was playing. Ayler's reaction to this may sound petty until you realise that any collision between the mic and the trumpet could have produced a painful split lip and rendered the trumpeter unable to play. However, it is clear that Donald could be a very difficult person. Valerie Wilmer (Jazzwise Nov 2016) mentions Donald's "increasingly erratic behaviour" and he was to spend many years in psychiatric institutions.

They demanded a meal-break and were directed to the student self service canteen, where Donald caused chaos by standing on his head in the queue and blocking everyone's way. The security staff were about to escort the musicians out of the college buildings when a member of the production team came down and managed to calm things down - temporarily.

There were arguments over money: Albert was increasingly worried about the money for the gig and complained constantly that they were not getting the agreed fee. Arguments over money may well be behind the "We go crazy!" incident described by Humph when at the end of the concert the producer asked for a short ensemble piece, which Albert refused to play..."

Well worth Googling for the remainder on the LJN site. Really puts it in context, Humph's rage and all!

BN.

[Serial_Apologist]

Amazing to learn that.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Amazing to learn that.

What's also "amusing" in that account is that the front row was stuffed with British "modernists", an openly spectical Stan Tracey, Ronnie Scott shouting out when there were BBC apologies for tech problems with the recording, " Why apologise!", and Gordon Beck, hopefully jokingly, offering to go get some rotting fruit. So, it was not just another Jazz Club with Danny Moss etc!

BN.

[Jazzrook]

Fascinating piece I've just discovered on the London Jazz News website on Ayler etc legendary London BBC tape erase gig. By George Foster who was THERE throughout the entire explosive "drama"!


"The band were scheduled for a brief rehearsal and sound check but arrived late, tired, hungry and angry at their treatment at the airport. During the sound check Donald Ayler had a major confrontation (bordering on violence) with a BBC technician who walked on stage and moved the microphone near the bell of his trumpet while he was playing. Ayler's reaction to this may sound petty until you realise that any collision between the mic and the trumpet could have produced a painful split lip and rendered the trumpeter unable to play. However, it is clear that Donald could be a very difficult person. Valerie Wilmer (Jazzwise Nov 2016) mentions Donald's "increasingly erratic behaviour" and he was to spend many years in psychiatric institutions.

They demanded a meal-break and were directed to the student self service canteen, where Donald caused chaos by standing on his head in the queue and blocking everyone's way. The security staff were about to escort the musicians out of the college buildings when a member of the production team came down and managed to calm things down - temporarily.

There were arguments over money: Albert was increasingly worried about the money for the gig and complained constantly that they were not getting the agreed fee. Arguments over money may well be behind the "We go crazy!" incident described by Humph when at the end of the concert the producer asked for a short ensemble piece, which Albert refused to play..."

Well worth Goggling for the remainder on the LJN site. Really puts it in context, Humph's rage and all!

BN.

Many thanks, BN. Absolutely fascinating.
Here's a taste of what that November, 1966 LSE gig might have sounded like from the same band in Europe:

http://matsgus.com/archives/2744

JR

[Serial_Apologist]

What's also "amusing" in that account is that the front row was stuffed with British "modernists", an openly spectical Stan Tracey, Ronnie Scott shouting out when there were BBC apologies for tech problems with the recording, " Why apologise!", and Gordon Beck, hopefully jokingly, offering to go get some rotting fruit. So, it was not just another Jazz Club with Danny Moss etc!

BN.

They wouldn't have been the only ones, quite honestly - though it might be argued that as musicians they had less of an excuse. Many of the older generation had difficulties coming to terms with Ornette, even, and not just critics. Charlie Fox was an honorable exception in this country, as also was Barry McRae, critic and reviewer in the otherwise backward looking Jazz Journal. I'm not sure how Richard Williams positioned himself at that stage.

[Ian Thumwood]

Bluesnik

I think that Donald Alyer's behavior was probably a little bit more serious than being "erratic" and seem to recall reading an article on "All about jazz" which hinted at the gravity of matters. A search on Google hasn't been able to corroborate my recollections of the article but it did spoil my enjoyable of his playing.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

They wouldn't have been the only ones, quite honestly - though it might be argued that as musicians they had less of an excuse. Many of the older generation had difficulties coming to terms with Ornette, even, and not just critics. Charlie Fox was an honorable exception in this country, as also was Barry McRae, critic and reviewer in the otherwise backward looking Jazz Journal. I'm not sure how Richard Williams positioned himself at that stage.

I think Williams was favourable...
RW..."My own experience of Dobell’s began in 1963, on a day trip to London, and it was not an entirely happy one. I was in search of two recent releases from members of the early-60s avant-garde: My Name is Albert Ayler (including an incomparable version of “Summertime”, which you can hear here) and Ken McIntyre’s Year of the Iron Sheep . The rather intimidating bearded man behind the counter was able to put his hands on both albums, but while taking the money from his schoolboy customer he couldn’t resist adding a word of appraisal: “McIntyre’s all right,” he said, “but that bloke Ayler can’t play at all.”
I’m afraid it coloured my view of the place a little, and in the years that followed I was more likely to be found a few minutes away buying records from Ray Smith at Collett’s..." 2013

BN

[Ian Thumwood]

I must admit that when I first started buying jazz records no one made an attempt to put me off pursuing the work of any artists. It was quite interesting looking at album sleeves and knowing nothing about the artists in question but trying to conjure up what the music within the sleeve might look like. The biggest "pull" of any album cover has to have been Gil Evans' "Out of the cool" which promised so much and had a sense of being iconic even before I knew anything about his music. It was when I was a teenager that my tastes really started to evolve really quickly and I went from listening to obscure American big bands like Andy Kirk through to the then contemporary scene within a matter of years. I used toorder records from Orpheus Records in Southsea and the owner, Geoff Ward, always seemed to expect me to order more and more increasingly adventurous music and he seemed to expect to arrive at the avant garde pretty quickly. There was never a sense of being discouraged from ordered anything but there was almost an expectation from him that I would request something more outlandish each month.

The problem I had was that I often needed very little encouragement to explore different musicians and there was always a sense that "if you like x, then you need to check out y." It is funny but I still like chancing my arm with records by people I have never heard of or know little about. I like the idea of hearing something original and the anticipation of hearing an artist for the first time is accentuated for me if they are more "progressive." I like the idea of understanding something that might be considered challenging or eventually "getting" a particularly artist whose appeal might have eluded me. It is easy to appreciate why Ayler might have been decisive and, fifty years later, the music just sounds of it's time and much of the "shock value" has been incorporated in to the vocabulary of the following generation of players. For me, the big problem today is that it is increasingly difficult for a musician to produce such a shock and the younger generation of players seem to be of an ilk where technique is all important and the use of technology is more of an attraction to an onslaught of extended techniques. I can't imagine any record shop owner (assuming there are any left!) advising a prospective purchaser not to buy a particular record as the artist "can't play at all." These are criticisms that flew in the face of the likes of Monk and Ornette as well as Ayler but I can think of few players who this might apply to today safe for one disgruntled reviewer on YouTube who commented that Josh Berman was a faker and couldn't actually play. Needless to say, I find him one of the most interesting musicians around om the current scene!!

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

He (Don) died in 2007 from a heart attack. That late. He was living in a care home. From Val W's Guardian Obit and some of the Cleveland comment, he certainly had "troubles" and periods of mental illness. Although he did try to return to playing in the '80s with an Italian concert (Clip/interview on You tube). Listening again to Don's "Our Prayer" recorded with Albert, and which they played at Coltrane's funeral, its strange how melodic it now seems.

BN.

[Ian Thumwood]

Bluesnik

Odd that the few articles about Don Ayler seem to be either variations of the Guardian and Cleveland articles and I am unable to find the piece to which I was alluding. I am pretty sure that I am not imagining this as it coloured my perception of him afterwards.

The Coltrane funeral music is described in Jimmy Heath's book and he was clearly not a fan and apparently upset that this music was seen as a homage to his friend. I agree that it does sound melodic but it also sounds rather archaic. It is an interesting phenomena to see that , for all the music's original shock value, it is those avant garde musicians like Cecil Taylor who seem more "progressive" whereas the visceral quality of Albert Ayler's music seems like a slightly twisted sibling of those veteran New Orleans players like George Lewis and his ilk who were rediscovered in the 1940s performing jazz in a style that reflected the pre-recording origins of the music.

[Quarky]

. It is easy to appreciate why Ayler might have been decisive and, fifty years later, the music just sounds of it's time and much of the "shock value" has been incorporated in to the vocabulary of the following generation of players. For me, the big problem today is that it is increasingly difficult for a musician to produce such a shock and the younger generation of players seem to be of an ilk where technique is all important and the use of technology is more of an attraction to an onslaught of extended techniques.

......work in progress.....
Is it possible to say now, where free jazz has progressed to?? According to Wikipedia, its legacy:

the freer aspects of jazz, at least, have reduced the freedom acquired in the sixties. Most successful recording artists today construct their works in this way: beginning with a strain with which listeners can relate, following with an entirely free portion, and then returning to the recognizable strain. The pattern may occur several times in a long selection, giving listeners pivotal points to cling to. At this time, listeners accept this – they can recognize the selection while also appreciating the freedom of the player in other portions. Players, meanwhile, are tending toward retaining a key center for the seemingly free parts. It is as if the musician has learned that entire freedom is not an answer to expression, that the player needs boundaries, bases, from which to explore.

Shock, for its own sake, seems a waste of time - but in order to shake listeners out of habits of listening is acceptable.

[Jazzrook]

Discussion of Jay Korber’s recent Albert Ayler footage(sadly, now taken down) from The Wire:

https://www.thewire.co.uk/video/eye-and-ear-control-watching-albert-ayler-73783

Albert Ayler footage from 1966 can now be seen here:

https://www.ayler.co.uk/html/what_s_new.html

(Scroll down to January 1, 2025).

JR