Bells_(album)

<i>Bells</i> (album)

Bells (album)

1965 live album by Albert Ayler

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

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]

Quick Facts Bells, Live album by Albert Ayler ...

Reception

More information Review scores, Source ...

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."[7]

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".[8]

Track listing

All compositions by Albert Ayler

  1. "Bells" - 20:03

Personnel

References

  1. [1]
    Albert Ayler discography accessed October 29, 2014
  2. [2]
    Albert Ayler sessionography, accessed October 29, 2014
  3. [3]
    ESP-Disk catalog, accessed October 29, 2014
  4. [4]
    Ayler.com album entry, accessed October 29, 2014
  5. [5]
    Nastos, M. G., Allmusic Review accessed October 28, 2014
  6. [6]
    Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 15. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  7. [7]
    Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 54.
  8. [8]
    Allen, C., Albert Ayler: Prophecy/Bells Review, July 14, 2005
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