Bells (album)

This article is about the album by Albert Ayler. For similarly titled albums, see The Bells (disambiguation).

1965 live album by Albert Ayler

Bells

Live album by

Albert Ayler

Released| 1965
Recorded| May 1, 1965
Venue| The Town Hall, NYC
Genre| Free jazz
Length| 20:03
Label| ESP-Disk 1010
Producer| Richard L. Alderson
Albert Ayler chronology
| The Hilversum Session
(1964)  | Bells
(1965)  | Spirits Rejoice
(1965)

|
|

Bells is a live album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded at The Town Hall in New York City in 1965 and first released as a single sided LP on the ESP-Disk label.[1][2] The album was released in many variations including clear and coloured vinyl and with a variety of colored covers and also on CD combined with Ayler’s live Prophecy album.[3][4]

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [5]
Down Beat| [6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide| [7]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz| [8]

A critical contemporary review in the magazine Down Beat declined to award any stars to the album.[6]

The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos states: "As Albert Ayler recorded several definitive recordings before or after this one, and due to the very short length of Bells, it cannot be considered a magnum opus. But it does contain music played by his most powerful unit, a small window into the mind and heart of the most iconic maverick in the free jazz movement, and a magnet for discussion that lingers on well past his death".[5]

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3 stars, stating that it was "a token that here was music so powerful you'd probably only manage 20 minutes of it before switching off the hi-fi and taking deep gulps of air."[8]

All About Jazz commented: "Part of the lasting brilliance of Bells is that the group is much more roughshod at this early stage, the ensemble not yet formed into a cohesive, balanced whole but a rickety patchwork, its seams (and therefore process) showing proudly through".[9]

## Track listing

[edit]

All compositions by Albert Ayler

1. "Bells" - 20:03

## Personnel

[edit]

* Albert Ayler \- tenor saxophone
* Donald Ayler \- trumpet
* Charles Tyler \- alto saxophone
* Lewis Worrell \- bass
* Sonny Murray \- drums

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Albert Ayler discography accessed October 29, 2014
2. ^ Albert Ayler sessionography, accessed October 29, 2014
3. ^ ESP-Disk catalog, accessed October 29, 2014
4. ^ Ayler.com album entry, accessed October 29, 2014
5. ^ a b Nastos, M. G., Allmusic Review accessed October 28, 2014
6. ^ a b Down Beat: September 23, 1965 vol. 32, no. 20
7. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 15\. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
8. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 54.
9. ^ Allen, C., Albert Ayler: Prophecy/Bells Review, July 14, 2005

* v
* t
* e

Albert Ayler

Years given are for the recording(s), not first release,
unless stated otherwise.

As leader
or co-leader|

* Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70)
* Something Different!!!!! (1962)
* My Name Is Albert Ayler (1963)
* Ghosts (1964)
* New York Eye and Ear Control (1964)
* Prophecy (1964)
* Spirits (1964)
* Swing Low Sweet Spiritual (1964)
* Spiritual Unity (1964)
* The Hilversum Session (1964)
* Bells (1965)
* Spirits Rejoice (1965)
* Live at Slug's Saloon (1966)
* Stockholm, Berlin 1966 (1966)
* Lörrach / Paris 1966 (1966)
* Albert Ayler in Greenwich Village (1966–67)
* Love Cry (1967–68)
* New Grass (1968)
* Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe (1969)
* The Last Album (1969)
* Live on the Riviera (1970)
* Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (1970)

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