Albert Ayler (born July 13th, 1936 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio – New York Ci… Read Full Bio ↴Albert Ayler (born July 13th, 1936 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio – New York City, November 1970) was the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s. He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved by using the stiffest plastic reeds he could find on his tenor saxophone—and a broad, pathos-filled vibrato that came right out of church music. His trio and quartet records of 1964, like 'Spiritual Unity' and 'The Hilversum Sessions', show him advancing the improvisational notions of John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman into abstract realms where timbre, not harmony and melody, is the music's backbone. His ecstatic music of 1965 and 1966, like "Spirits Rejoice" and "Truth is Marching In" has been compared by critics to the sound of a Salvation Army brass band, and involved simple, march-like themes which alternated with wild group improvisations and took jazz back to its pre-Louis Armstrong roots.

Ayler remains something of a cult artist. "Ghosts"—with its bouncy, sing-song melody (rather reminiscent of a nursery rhyme)—is probably his best known tune, and is something of a free jazz standard, having been covered by Lester Bowie, Gary Windo, Eugene Chadbourne, Joe McPhee, John Tchicai and Ken Vandermark, among others.

Saxophonist Mars Williams led a group called Witches and Devils, which was not only named after an Ayler song, but which covered several of his songs.

Peter Brötzmann's Die Like A Dog Quartet is a group loosely dedicated to Ayler. A record called 'Little Birds Have Fast Hearts' references Ayler's youthful nickname.

In 2005, guitarist Marc Ribot (who has occasionally performed Ayler's songs for some years) released an album dedicated to the ethic of collective improvisation, entitled 'Spiritual Unity' in honor of Ayler's 1964 album of the same name. Ribot's Spiritual Unity Quartet, dedicated to music by and for Albert Ayler, has toured and played more than 50 concerts in 15 countries in the past few years. The quartet includes Ayler bassist Henry Grimes, who played, toured, and recorded with Albert Ayler (1964-66), trumpeter Roy Campbell, Jr., and drummer Chad Taylor.

On his 1969 album 'Folkjokeopus', English guitarist/singer Roy Harper dedicated the song "One for All" ("One for Al") to Albert Ayler "who I knew and loved during my time in Copenhagen". Harper considered Ayler to be "one of the leading jazzmen of the age". Within the Folkejokeopus liner notes Harper states, "In many ways he (Ayler) was the king".

The Albert Ayler Trio's album Spiritual Unity is well known to have been a major influence on Paul McCartney during the recording of The Beatles' celebrated album 'Revolver'.

Our Prayer
Albert Ayler Lyrics

We have lyrics for 'Our Prayer' by these artists:

Boskasie (This is a story, about a young girl Who is…
Cynthia Erivo Hey, sista, whacha gon' do Goin' down by the river Gonna pla…
Cynthia Erivo Joaquina Kalukango Isaiah Johnson & Kevyn Morrow Hey, sista, whacha gon' do Goin' down by the river Gonna pla…
Dream Spoken: Melissa: Dear heavenly father: I come to you today …
Rend Collective Let blessings flow again Where fear too long has reigned Lor…
The Beach Boys Acapella, no lyrics…

We have lyrics for these tracks by Albert Ayler:

Bye Bye Blackbird No one here can love or understand me Oh, what hard…

Heart Love Heart love Heart love Heart love Heart that is full of love …
Introduction By Albert Ayler Cómo tú te llama yo no sé Cómo tú te llama…
Island Harvest If you work all day and your heart ain't in…
New Generation It's a new generation Telling it the way they feel (new gene…
On Green Dolphin Street It seems like a dream, yet I know it happened A…
Spirits ...Occhi socchiusi e mani quasi troppo fredde Si uniscono so…

Universal Indians vocalizations…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS