Free Spirits

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Without exception, no other singer of non-ethnic material but Chris Connor has the fire and imagination to create a mood of pathos with such intensity. According to prominent composer Gunther Schuller, "Chris, at her best, is one of the most unique (and under-rated) singers, and I am especially fascinated...by the emotional intensity with which she delivers a song." On this long out-of-print Atlantic album, Ms. Connor is backed by an all-star band including Oliver Nelson, Phil Woods, Joe Newman, Clark Terry and George Duvivier.

Tracks:

Don't Look Now (But Your Head Is Turned Around)
I'm Gonna Be Free
LBOD
Sunday Telephone
Blue Water Mother
Girl Of The Mountain
Cosmic Daddy Dancer
Bad News Cat
Storm
Early Mornin' Fear
Angels Can't Be True
Tattoo Man
I Feel A Song (Bonus track)

Customer Reviews:

Free Spirit.......2007-05-02

This is such an important recording, here you have a group of young players who never gave it a second thought just to do something they just did it. It was a carefree time this group features Larry Coryell on guitar, Jim Pepper on sax, Bob Moses on drums, Chris Hill on bass and Columbus Baker on 2nd guitar. Produced by Bob Thiele who must have held on for dear life. Flashes of psych sounds are found on this album. Larry plays sitar on I'm gonna be free. But this is not a pop album nor is it mainstream. It really provided the basis for fusion found in the early 1970's , Bitch Brew and Nucleus from the UK kind of music. The cd reissue features detailed notes and photos. I was pretty surprised they could dig that much material up on this group. The remastering sounds very good given the age of the material. Fans of late sixties music will enjoy this music as well as folks into early fusion music.

Average customer rating:

Another triumph for Mary Lou Williams

Free Spirits
Mary Lou Williams
Manufacturer: Steeplechase
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Zoning
My Mama Pinned a Rose on Me
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Memories of Duke

ASIN: B000027UMP
Release Date: 1994-07-27

Tracks:

Dat Dere
Baby Man, No.2 [#]
Baby Man
All Blues
Tempatation
Pale Blue
Free Spirits #2 [#]
Free Spirits
Blues for Timme
Ode to Saint Cecile [#]
Surrey With the Fringe on Top [#]
Gloria [#]

Customer Reviews:

Another triumph for Mary Lou Williams.......2005-10-02

Hard to believe that somebody could add something to Miles Davis' and Gil Evans' "All Blues" but Mary Lou Williams does it. This woman is one of the unsung geniuses of modern jazz. Why she has not received the same acclaim as people like Coltrane and Monk is beyond me. Sexism? Probably. Do yourself a favour and pick up one of her albums. If you love jazz, you will love Mary Lou Williams.

Average customer rating:

Artesian Spirits
Lauren Newton , Patrick Scheyder , and Vladimir Tarasov
Manufacturer: Leo Records UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0007XTO0C
Release Date: 2005-06-21

Tracks:

Drum's Voice
Artesian Spirits
Joy Of Repetition
Song For Borjomi
Sulfurous Nights
Water Walking
Mtkvari River
Phosphorous Nights

Average customer rating:

Burning Spirits
Sonny Simmons
Manufacturer: Contemporary
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00009KUAA
Release Date: 2003-06-03

Tracks:

Burning Spirits No.1
New Newk
Healing Rays
Burning Spirits No.2
Things And Beings
E=mc2

Average customer rating:

Alfred Deller - Portrait of a Legend

Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0001L1B7Y
Release Date: 2004-06-08

Average customer rating:

A powerful recording.

Spirits Rejoice
Albert Ayler
Manufacturer: Esp Disk Ltd.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000CNF4FQ
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Tracks:

Spirits Rejoice
Holy Family
D. C.
Angels
Prophet

Album Description

"Spirits Rejoice is proof that there was an underlying logic even to Ayler's most extreme moments, and that's why it remains a tremendously inspiring recording." - ALL MUSIC GUIDE

Judson Hall (now Cami Hall), on West 57th Street in New York, was chosen by engineer David Hancock for its acoustics. On the afternoon of September 23, 1965, this private session was recorded at 30 IPS, rather than the customary 15 IPS, to achieve the highest possible fidelity.

Customer Reviews:

A powerful recording........2006-04-20

Albert Ayler's "Spirits Rejoice" represents the first real codification of the sound which he would work in for the next several years-- while "Bells", recorded three months prior began introducing this sound, "Spirits Rejoice", from September of 1965 fully embraces it. Relying on multiple horns and march-like (or gospel-like) melodies, the music is deceptively simple, serving as a launching point for improvisation. The thing that's intriguing is that for pieces that are by-and-large considered difficult, Ayler's melodies are catchy and get stuck in your head, and by and large this is the pinnacle of the direction his career has been heading.

Performing exclusively on tenor sax, Ayler is joined by two other horns-- his brother Don on trumpet and alto saxophonist Charles Tyler. Don provides an interesting foil for Albert-- whereas Cherry provided a foil in delicacy to Ayler's aggressiveness and Cherry's predecessor Norman Howard adopted Ayler's wide vibrato, Don pursues an aggressive mode that avoids emulating his brother's vibrato. Tyler, for his part, seems to stick a bit closer to Ayler, providing an additional horn voice, particularly when Ayler cuts loose, holding down the melody. The remainder of the band is bassists Henry Grimes and Gary Peacock (the latter recording with Ayler for the last time) and drummer Sunny Murray. The bassists maintain a dialog with each other, providing a foundation, a countermelody, and almost a pillow to work on-- this role had previously been filled by Murray, who seems now concerned largely will accent and space and almost a direct beat statement rather than pure implication.

The pieces are by and large ecstatic-- generally avoiding the lyricism found on earlier records for excited call and response pieces ("Spirits Rejoice", which is almost a carefully constructed variant on "Bells" and the gospel-like theme "Holy Family") or aggressive explosivenes ("D.C" and "Prophet"). On the latter two, Don Ayler in particular solos powerfully and aggressively, managing to step out of the shadow of his brother, even if only briefly. The only cut that breaks this sound is titled on here "Angels" (although previously referred to as "Prophecy"). Featuring Call Cobbs on poorly recorded harpsichord (and with Don Ayler and Charles Tyler laying out), Albert digs in deep in a ballad form and expresses himself in a lyrical manner that belies the usual suspicions that he's incapable of straight playing as he stays pretty far inside on his beautiful soloing.

This reissue is newly remastered from the original tapes courtesy of the newly reborn ESP-Disk record label. The new transfer brings out subtlety and detail, particularly in the three part horn harmonies-- on previous issues, Tyler was hard to distinguish in the mix, being able to better hear and understand his role is enormously valuable.

Ayler's music is exciting and this is really quite a good example of it, it's not quite the masterpiece some of his earlier work (free jazz summit "Vibrations") is, or quite as good or essential an example as "Live in Greenwich Village", but its really quite a good record. Recommended.