During 1967-69 avant-garde innovator
Albert Ayler recorded a series of albums for Impulse that started on a high level and gradually declined in quality. This LP,
Ayler's first Impulse set, was probably his best for that label. There are two selections apiece from a pair of live appearances with
Ayler having a rare outing on alto on the emotional "For John Coltrane" and the more violent "Change Has Come" while backed by cellist
Joel Friedman, both
Alan Silva and
Bill Folwell on basses and drummer
Beaver Harris. The other set (with trumpeter
Donald Ayler, violinist Michel Sampson,
Folwell and
Henry Grimes on basses and
Harris) has a strong contrast between the simple childlike melodies and the intense solos. However this LP (which was augmented later on by the two-LP set The Village Concerts) will be difficult to find. ~ Scott Yanow