Downbeat June 2016

Historical / BY CARLO WOLFF The ’60s, Inside & Out That pianist Bill Evans and saxophonist Albert native Cleveland, was a school of one, a Ayler were contemporaries in the 1960s attests player of singular vision and expressive- to the creativity of that turbulent decade. The ness. two were at opposite ends of the jazz spectrum, to While much of the Ayler set has gone put it mildly. in and out of release, Some Other Time is Evans was decidedly more mainstream; paradoxically a fresher matter. Not only still, the eclectic Some Other Time: The does it showcase Evans treating classics like Lost Session From The Black Forest “Baubles, Bangles & Beads,” “What Kind Of (Resonance Records 2019; 97:50 HH✍ Fool Am I?” and “You’re Gonna Hear From HHH) speaks to his ability to infuse stan- Me” twice each with no leveling off of in- dards with a fresh approach. The two- GERMAN HASENFRATZ (COURTESY OF ANDREAS BRUNNER-SCHWER) disc set, featuring sides from a 1968 session at MPS Stu- dios in Germany, are the only studio recordings of Ev- ans with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack De- Johnette. The CDs are cause for cel- ebration, not just because they’ve fi- nally come to light, Bill Evans but also because of their consistently high quality. ventiveness, it also reveals a pianist equally Ordering info: resonancerecords.org at home in relaxed, casual swing and plush, Ayler was less a paradigm than a clue driving bop. The album’s range from a to a new direction. Recorded more than 50 jaunty “I’ll Remember April” to the pensive, years ago, the newly released Bells/Proph- autumnal title track is astonishing, and Ev- ecy—Expanded Edition (ESP-Disk 4076; ans’ touch and tone may even be fuller here 61:39/44:30 HHHH) continues to startle. than on his more introspective Riverside re- A bristling quintet with Ayler on tenor cordings. saxophone, Charles Tyler on alto, Lewis Wor- This music documents a trio that lasted rell on bass, Sunny Murray on drums and for only six months in 1968. More impres- Ayler’s younger brother, Donald, on trumpet sive, however, is the method in which Reso- launches the first disc with “Bells,” original- nance Records came into possession of these ly recorded at Town Hall in New York City in tapes. The set’s 40-page booklet goes into 1965. It’s easily the most developed tune of fascinating detail, including interviews with this package. The balance of that disc con- DeJohnette, Gomez and Resonance Records’ sists of Ayler with Gary Peacock on bass and jazz forensics specialist Zev Feldman. Murray on drums. All are live recordings. The set’s 21 tracks are astonishingly The second disc consists of six more fresh, and the musical conversation among tracks recorded in 1964 at the Cellar Café Evans, Gomez and DeJohnette is lively. Like in New York City, tracks that are the basis of the music itself, the sound hasn’t dated, the original ESP records Bells and Prophecy. and the packaging is appropriately upscale. What’s rare on the first disc are other Cellar The ESP set, by contrast, deserved a Café tracks, a few of them previously only historical booklet, not just expressive, oc- available on the stunningly comprehensive casionally bewildering liner notes and the Holy Ghost (Revenant), a seminal Ayler box reprint of a cool Dan Morgenstern review set from 2004. from back in the day. Ayler, still polarizing The music, alternating otherworldly after all these years, was nevertheless a ti- skronks and squeals with passages evok- tan of modern jazz saxophone. Giving the ing street-corner Salvation Army bands, is man the deluxe treatment he’s due would exhausting, panoramic and unique. Ayler, have been a nice gesture. DB who became known as “Little Bird” in his Ordering info: espdisk.com 76 DOWNBEAT JUNE 2016.

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