''New Grass'' is a 1968 album by 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 ...

released on

Impulse! Records Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positi ...

. The album mixed Ayler's familiar tenor saxophone playing with elements from R&B and other genres, including a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

horn section, backing singers, and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

. There are even some tracks where Ayler sings. The album was remastered and re-released by

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—with ...

in 2020.

Reception

It met a hostile reception from fans and critics alike on its release, with many accusing Ayler of "

selling out "Selling out", or "sold out" in the past tense, is a common expression for the compromising of a person's integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles by forgoing the long-term benefits of the collective or group in exchange for personal gai ...

Larry Neal Larry Neal or Lawrence Neal (September 5, 1937 – January 6, 1981) was a scholar of African-American theatre. He is well known for his contributions to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He was a major influence in pushing for black ...

wrote: "lately Albert's music seems to be motivated by forces that are not at all compatible with his genius. There is even a strong hint that the brother is being manipulated by Impulse records. Or is it merely the selfish desire for popularity in the american sense?... At any rate, this album is a failure... the direct confrontation with experience as ''lived'' by the artist himself is not there."

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 ...

Guide's Al Campbell nevertheless calls the album "misunderstood", speculating that Impulse had encouraged Ayler to go in a more commercial direction, and he had willingly acquiesced. However, according to

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986 Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented concerts using a j ...

, "In interviews, Ayler left no doubt about who was responsible for ''New Grass'': 'They told me to do this. Bob Thiele. You think I would do that? He said, "Look Albert, you gotta get with the young generation now."'" Ayler was hurt by the negative reaction to the album. He responded: "You have to make changes in life just like dying and being born again, artistically speaking. You become very young again through this process, then you grow up, and listen and grow young again." Recent reviews have been more sympathetic. The authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' wrote: "this isn't the ghastly sell-out some Albert fans would love you to think... Albert's sound here... isn't so very different from that of the revered ''Spiritual Unity''... Ayler made an apparently radical stylistic switch in order to maintain the integrity of his vision." They conclude that the album is "not a masterpiece, but not the monster that's been painted. ''New Grass'' has had to wait a long time for reassessment. It stands up gratifyingly well." Fred Thomas, writing for

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

, attempted to place the album in perspective, commenting: "This certainly wasn't jazz of any kind, but was too overstimulated and confused to pass for the Woodstock-generation rock'n'roll it was trying to emulate. What ''was'' this?... ''New Grass'' signaled the beginning of a descent into darkness for Ayler, one that saw him grasping at ideals of redemption and healing all the way down... Ayler's spiritual message... grew weirder and more intimate as he struggled to deliver it in a way that could be universally understood... Ayler's notion of popular music was so distanced from reality that it became its own self-contained universe." In an article for Glide Magazine, Jim Hynes stated: "As edgy and far-out that Ayler was for many, ''New Grass'' in some respects was his most accessible album. Yet, even though it was misunderstood and virtually hated by critics and fans alike, it has ironically stood the test time and become a landmark album of sorts... Jazz and even avant-garde was well accepted and established while soul music was viewed by many as primitive. Ayler challenged these norms by melding the two in this adventurous outing, filled with joyous grooves, unbridled passionate vocals, and surprising arrangements. Nothing existed like this before, and nothing has since... ''New Grass''... stands as a landmark that influenced generations of jazz, R&B, funk, hip-hop, post punk and other forms... Misunderstood, hated, experimental... Today ''New Grass'' would be hailed as nothing short of brilliant – a huge, uplifting, healing dose of joy."

Track listing

#"Message From Albert/New Grass" (

, Bert de Coteaux) – 3:53 #"New Generation" (Ayler,

Rose Marie McCoy Rose Marie McCoy (April 19, 1922 – January 20, 2015) was an American songwriter. She began her career as an aspiring singer before becoming a prolific songwriter during the 1950s and 1960s. Many artists have recorded some of the over 800 so ...

, Mary Maria Parks) – 5:06 #"Sun Watcher" (Ayler, Robin Syler) – 7:29 #"New Ghosts" (Ayler, Parks) – 4:10 #"Heart Love" (Ayler, Parks) – 5:32 #"Everybody's Movin'" (Ayler, McCoy, Parks) – 3:43 #"Free At Last" (Ayler, McCoy, Parks) – 3:08

Personnel

Performance

–

recitation A recitation in a general sense is the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse or other writing before an audience. Public recitation is the act of reciting a work of writing before an audience. Academic recitation In a ...

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 ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

whistling Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...

Garnett Brown Garnett Brown (January 31, 1936 – October 9, 2021) was a jazz trombonist who worked with The Crusaders, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, Earth Wind and Fire and others. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he graduated from the University of Arkans ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

Call Cobbs Harvey Call Cobbs Jr. (January 30, 1911 – September 21, 1971)''U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007'' was an American jazz pianist, electric harpsichordist, and organist. He is remembered for his work with saxophonist ...

–

electric harpsichord An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

, organ,

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 ...

Burt Collins Burton L. Collins (March 27, 1931, New York City – February 23, 2007, Philadelphia) was an American jazz trumpeter. Collins was born in New York but raised in Philadelphia. He worked in the 1950s with Dizzy Gillespie, Urbie Green, Neal Hefti, ...

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*Bill Folwell – bass,

* Buddy Lucas – bass,

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

– vocals * Joe Newman – trumpet *

Seldon Powell Seldon Powell (15 November 1928 – 25 January 1997) was an American soul jazz, swing, and R&B tenor saxophonist and flautist born in Lawrenceville, Virginia. He worked with Tab Smith (1949), Lucky Millinder (1949–51), Neal Hefti, and Louis Be ...

–

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, tenor sax *

Bernard "Pretty" Purdie Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical time keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the "Purdie ...

–

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 ...

*Soul Singers – vocals

Production

*Bert de Coteaux –

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, conductor *Ken Druker –

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

*Henry Epstein –

cover design Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

, liner design *Byron Goto – cover design *Bob Irwin – reissue mastering *

Gary Kellgren Gary Kellgren (April 7, 1939 – July 20, 1977) was an American audio engineer and co-founder of The Record Plant recording studios, along with businessman Chris Stone. Career Engineering Kellgren was a successful and well respected audio en ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Hollis King – reissue art director *Bryan Koniarz – reissue producer * Elliott Landy – cover photo,

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

*Shigeo Miyamoto – mastering engineer *Mary Maria Parks –

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

*Jayme Pieruzzi – reissue mastering *Robin Syler – composer *John F. Szwed –

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

Bob Thiele Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

– engineer, producer

References

{{Authority control Albert Ayler albums 1968 albums Impulse! Records albums Albums produced by Bob Thiele MCA Records albums