Posted in Shows on Nov 3rd, 2008
The jazz pioneers of the 1960s–artists such as Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, and others–all came up in the entertainment world of the 1940s and 50s, when what we know now as the Great American Songbook was taking hold in the musical canon. Although we think of these musicians today as groundbreaking innovators who abandoned traditional song form, they all knew it, respected it, and in many cases genuinely liked it.
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Posted in Jazz Notes on Aug 22nd, 2007
…gotcher Brooklyn right here. My colleague Joe Bourne received a box full of ESP disks the other day, including gems from Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and much, much more. Evidently he’s been living right, and I’ve been… well, erm, coming up short in the jazz karma department or something. But it’s good news…
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Posted in Shows on Nov 18th, 2006
The jazz pioneers of the 1960s–artists such as Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, and others–all came up in the entertainment world of the 1940s and 50s, when what we know now as the Great American Songbook was taking hold in the musical canon. Although we think of these musicians today as groundbreaking [...]
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Posted in Shows on May 27th, 2006
This Memorial Day weekend on Night Lights we present a sequel to last May’s program, “Turn Out the Stars,” with more jazz elegies written or performed for musicians who passed away. This year’s broadcast includes Albert Ayler’s appearance at John Coltrane’s 1967 funeral, a teenaged Lee Morgan’s recording…
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Posted in Shows on Dec 10th, 2005
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Bassist Henry Grimes played with everybody from Benny Goodman to Albert Ayler and appeared on some of the 1960s’ most significant jazz recordings before vanishing for more than 30 years. Long rumored to be dead, he was discovered living in Los Angeles in 2002. William Parker, a bassist who’d been strongly influenced by Grimes’ work, donated an instrument to Grimes, who began to play again…
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Posted in Shows on Dec 25th, 2004
Jazz writer Dan Morgenstern once compared the sound of tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler’s 1960s avant-garde groups to “a Salvation Army marching band on LSD.” Holy Ghost, a new 9-CD collection of previously-unreleased live and studio recordings from Albert Ayler, is the…
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