''My Name Is Albert Ayler'' is an album by American free jazz saxophonist

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Howev ...

recorded in Copenhagen in 1963 and first released on the Dutch Debut label.Albert Ayler discography
accessed October 28, 2014 The album, on which Ayler is accompanied by Niels Brosted (piano),

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (, 27 May 1946 – 19 April 2005), also known by his abbreviated nickname NHØP, was a Danish jazz double bassist. Biography Pedersen was born in Osted, near Roskilde, on the Danish island of Zealand, the son of ...

(bass), and Ronnie Gardiner (drums), features a spoken introduction by Ayler, followed by five musical tracks, mostly standards. "C.T.", the only Ayler original, is dedicated to

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...

, whom Ayler had met and performed with several months prior. (Ayler had hoped to record the album with Taylor's group, but ended up playing with Brosted, Pedersen, and Gardiner due to scheduling conflicts.) "Bye Bye Blackbird" represents one of Ayler's few recordings on soprano saxophone.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 3 stars, stating "This is a strange record, like a soloist mismatched with the recording of another band", and noting that "the rhythm section refuses to give Ayler the room he needs: they play straight bop no matter what, as if they couldn't play anything else." However, he praised Ayler's "singular tenor voice", and called "Summertime" "unfathomably beautiful", commenting: "he connect(s) with the inner voices of his emotions and lets loose in what would become his trademark wail. Born equally of gospel, R&B, and early jazz phrasing, Ayler lets loose a torrent of emotion on the tune, making everything -- and everyone on the bandstand -- else seem nonexistent in comparison."Jurek, T.
Allmusic Review
accessed October 28, 2014

Val Wilmer Valerie Sybil Wilmer (born 7 December 1941) is a British photographer and writer specialising in jazz, gospel, blues, and British African-Caribbean music and culture. Her notable books include ''Jazz People'' (1970) and ''As Serious As Your Lif ...

called Ayler's playing on "Summertime" "a passionate expression of almost unbelievable pathos. His dramatic swoops and masterly shading recall the sweeping ''glissandi'' of Johnny Hodges, while the completeness of his statement gives the lie to the notion that he was going through an 'experimental' period."

Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous bo ...

commented: "Ayler plays with a surprisingly good rhythm section made up of two Danes and an American (Gardiner) who's been playing around the Scandinavian countries for a few years. Albert's work on soprano is almost as valuable as his work on tenor (dig 'Summertime' and 'Green Dolphin Street'). The bassist, Orsted Pedersen, shows up very well on this album... his playing on 'C.T.' is very fine (Ayler's fantastic)." Writing for SoundBlab, Rich Morris called the album "A true lost classic... ''My Name Is...'' may not be viewed as Albert Ayler's definitive work... but it is a classic recording made by a true visionary at the top of his game and contains transcendental majesty and searing beauty, in amongst a whole lot of sronking, grooving, astondingly improvised be-bop... Ayler's playing is just beyond anything that could be called mere musicianship. He's wildly expressive without wasting a note, never putting a food wrong even as he disregards conventional notions of melody and structure." He concluded: "people younger and cooler than me must hear this album. We must wrestle their piddling false icons from them, make a bonfire of the Gagas, Coldplays and whatever skinny-jeaned bore-fest is on the cover of this week's NME, and play them ''My Name is Albert Ayler'' on repeat, until they are also brave enough to put their name to music as wild, free and elemental. And we must do so quickly before the spark which created such music recedes forever to out-of-print albums and half-forgotten history." Bassist and Ayler biographer Jeff Schwartz noted that ''My Name is Albert Ayler'' exhibits some of the same flaws found on its predecessor, '' Something Different!!!!!'' in that, for example, his use of the pick-up musicians limited him to playing mostly standards, and commented that the presence of a pianist "seems to prevent Ayler from breaking free of them to follow his imagination." However, Schwartz noted that the album demonstrates that, by this point in time, Ayler had established "a consistent, unique musical style. In his playing on this session, he presents most of the elements that his later work would be built from."

Track listing

# ''Introduction by Albert Ayler'' - 1:15 # "

Bye Bye Blackbird "Bye Bye Blackbird" is a song published in 1926 by Jerome H. Remick and written by composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. It is considered a popular standard and was first recorded by Sam Lanin's Dance Orchestra in March 1926. Song in ...

" (

Mort Dixon Mort Dixon (March 20, 1892 – March 23, 1956) was an American lyricist. Biography Born in New York City, United States, Dixon began writing songs in the early 1920s, and was active into the 1930s. He achieved success with his first published ef ...

Ray Henderson Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Buffalo, New York, United States, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was o ...

) - 7:19 # "

Billie's Bounce "Billie's Bounce" (also known as "Bill's Bounce") is a jazz composition written in 1945 by Charlie Parker in the form of a 12 bar F blues. Some sources claim that the song was dedicated to Dizzy Gillespie's agent, Billy Shaw, although according ...

" (

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

) - 5:59 # " Summertime" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

, DuBose Heyward) - 8:46 # " On Green Dolphin Street" (

Bronisław Kaper Bronisław Kaper (; February 5, 1902 – April 26, 1983) was a Polish film composer who scored films and musical theater in Germany, France, and the USA. The American immigration authorities misspelled his name as Bronislau Kaper. He was also var ...

Ned Washington Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Life and career Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Bes ...

) - 9:05 # "C.T." (Albert Ayler) - 12:01

Personnel

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

(tracks 3-6),

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

(track 2),

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

(track 1) *Niels Brosted -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(tracks 2-5) *

- bass (tracks 2-6) *Ronnie Gardiner -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(tracks 2-6)

References

{{Authority control 1964 albums Albert Ayler albums Freedom Records albums Black Lion Records albums