Bells (album)

This article is about the album by Albert Ayler. For the album by Lou Reed, see The Bells (album).
Bells
Live album by Albert Ayler
Released 1965
Recorded May 1, 1965 at The Town Hall, NYC
Genre Free jazz
Length 20:03
Label ESP-Disk 1010
Producer Richard Anderson
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 most recently on CD combined with Prophecy.[3][4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[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]

All About Jazz noted "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".[7]

Track listing

All compositions by Albert Ayler

  1. "Bells" - 20:03

Personnel

References

  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. 1 2 Nastos, M. G., Allmusic Review accessed October 28, 2014
  6. Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 15. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  7. Allen, C., Albert Ayler: Prophecy/Bells Review, July 14, 2005
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