New York Eye & Ear Control

Although his recording career was comparatively brief, tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler had a profound impact on avant garde jazz, offering an alternative approach to the tenor at a time when John Coltrane was generally considered the first and last word. Indeed, Ayler was a welcome relief to a generation of saxophonists in need of a way back into the music after Coltrane had set the bar at a height of technical proficiency nearly impossible to achieve. Ayler, a primitive, was possessed of a massive vibrato and robust attack, and he used them to mount breathtaking assaults on the simplest melodies and harmonies. His tonal and melodic legacy can be heard in a wide range of disciples, most notably David Murray. New York Eye and Ear Control is an unusual and not particularly indicative date for Ayler. Many of his best recordings were done in trio and quartet--particularly the landmark Spiritual Unity--and the expanded band here, while an experimental who's-who with Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd, Sonny Murray, John Tchicai, and Gary Peacock, proves comparatively muddled. Still, serious students of the underground will want to check it out. --Fred Goodman