Albert Ayler compositions have been in
Marc Ribot's book for many years, so it shouldn't really be a surprise that he put together a band to play
Ayler tunes. However, when
Ribot started playing
Ayler songs he couldn't have dreamed that he'd be playing them with
Henry Grimes, the original bass player on a number of
Ayler's seminal mid-'60s recordings (
Grimes walked away from music in 1967 and remained out of sight until 2002). Rounding out the group are
Roy Campbell on trumpet and
Chad Taylor on drums and percussion.
The album is called Spiritual Unity, but it's not a direct cover of
Ayler's Spiritual Unity album. In fact,
Ribot's band only tackles one song from that particular album, "Spirits." Actually, although they do play
Ayler's music, the band's mission statement says it's not about performing the tunes by rote, it's about seeking "a ritual process, through improvisation." To that end, although it sounds remarkably like an
Ayler tune, "Invocation" is actually a group improvisation offered before the
Ayler material. When they do get to that material, they work much like
Ayler's quartets did, moving quickly from the head into fiery collective improvisation. This is free jazz to be sure, but
Ayler's free jazz was grounded in marches and gospel music and those elements can come to the surface even during the roiling improvisations.
Henry Grimes is remarkable. His ideas never seem to slow down and it's nearly incomprehensible that he didn't touch a bass for three decades.
Chad Taylor has long been known as a supportive drummer and
Ribot and
Campbell's work probably needs no introduction. They operate here as a unit, not a collection of soloists, and they honor
Ayler's musical process as much as the man or his compositions.
Ayler's time on earth was far too short, but
Ribot and company show that this music still lives on in the present moment, not simply as a relic of the past. Spiritual Unity isn't for the timid, but
Ayler fans will find a lot to enjoy. ~ Sean Westergaard