Fruit Tree comes up with the second complete reissue in two years of
Albert Ayler's seminal Slug's Saloon performance from May 1, 1966 which was originally released by Italy's BASE label. Two separate volumes have been released many times over the years, but this set faithfully reassembles the Slug's Saloon concert that featured
Ayler on tenor, brother Donald on trumpet, drummer
Ronald Shannon Jackson, violinist Michel Sampson, and bassist Lewis Worrell. These recordings helped to establish
Ayler's reputation as an original voice on the tenor in the vanguard of the music. There are five tracks here, and the long, freewheeling versions of favorites like "Truth Is Marching In," "Ghosts," and "Bells" are among the finest on tape, offering fine evidence of
Ayler's union of folk music, gospel, R&B, and marches as they collided with his iconoclastic sense of harmony and melody. Sound quality is a bit dodgy at times, but it draws nothing from the performance. While
Ayler fans no doubt possess this music in some form, the uninitiated would be indeed gratified as well as educated by investigating them. Energetically and dynamically, there is simply nothing like them. ~ Thom Jurek