Editing Albert Ayler (section)

===Early recording career===
In 1963, Ayler returned to the US and settled in New York City, where he continued to develop his personal style and occasionally played alongside free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor.<ref name=Claghorn />
1964 was the most well-documented year of Ayler's career, during which he recorded many albums, the first of which was ''[[Spirits (Albert Ayler album)|Spirits]]'' (re-released later as ''Witches and Devils'') in March of that year.<ref>Litweiler, 1984, p. 154.</ref> Ayler also began his rich relationship with [[ESP-Disk]] Records in 1964, recording his breakthrough album (and ESP's very first jazz album) ''[[Spiritual Unity]]'' for the then-fledgling record label. ESP-Disk came to play an integral role in recording and disseminating free jazz. ''Spiritual Unity'' featured the trio that Ayler had just assembled that summer, including bassist [[Gary Peacock]] and drummer [[Sunny Murray]]. The liner notes of ''Spiritual Unity'' include a brief description of the musicians on that day, July 10, 1964, in the Variety Arts Recording Studio:<ref name=ESP>ESP-Disk' Discography.</ref> 
::Just before 1 PM, Sunny Murray arrived, a large, genial walrus....Gary Peacock was next, tall, thin, ascetic looking, and soft spoken....Albert Ayler was last, small, wary, and laconic.<ref name=ESP />

On July 17, 1964, the members of this trio, along with trumpet player [[Don Cherry (trumpeter)|Don Cherry]], alto saxophonist [[John Tchicai]], and trombonist [[Roswell Rudd]], collaborated in recording ''[[New York Eye and Ear Control]]'', a freely improvised soundtrack to Canadian artist and filmmaker [[Michael Snow]]'s film of the same name.<ref name=ESP />
During this time, Ayler began to garner some attention from critics, although he was not able to foster much of a fan following. However, later in 1964, Ayler, Peacock, Murray, and Cherry were invited to travel to Europe for a brief Scandinavian tour, which too yielded some new recordings, including ''[[The Copenhagen Tapes]]'', ''[[Ghosts (Albert Ayler album)|Ghosts]]'' (re-released later as ''Vibrations''), and ''[[The Hilversum Session]]''.

Ayler recorded ''[[Bells (album)|Bells]]'' on May 1, 1965. It is a ferociously-paced 20-minute improvisation featuring his signature military-march influenced melodies. ''[[Spirits Rejoice]]'' was recorded on September 23, 1965, at Judson Hall in New York City, and features a much larger band than the sparse trio of his earlier album ''Spiritual Unity''. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' describes ''Spirits Rejoice'' as a "riotous, hugely emotional and astonishingly creative celebration of the urge to make noise."<ref>''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', 2006.</ref> Both albums feature Albert's brother, trumpet player [[Donald Ayler]], who translated his brother's expansive approach to improvisation to the trumpet. Donald played with Albert until he experienced a debilitating nervous breakdown in 1967.<ref>Wilmer, ''The Guardian'', 2001.</ref>

In 1966 Ayler was signed to [[Impulse Records]] at the urging of Coltrane, the label's star attraction at that time.<ref name=Jenkins26>Jenkins, 2004, p. 26.</ref> But even on Impulse, Ayler's radically different music never found a sizable audience. Ayler's first set for Impulse was recorded a few weeks before Christmas in 1966, entitled ''[[Albert Ayler in Greenwich Village]]''. Ayler performed with his brother, Michel Samson, [[Beaver Harris]], [[Henry Grimes]], and Bill Folwell, while Coltrane was in attendance. For a tune titled "For John Coltrane", Ayler returned to the alto saxophone for the first time in years.<ref name=Jenkins26 />

Ayler first sang on a recording in a version of "Ghosts" performed in Paris in 1966, in which his vocal style was similar to that of his saxophone, with an eerie disregard for pitch.<ref>Jost, 1975, p. 121.</ref> Ayler continued to experiment with vocals for the rest of his career (see, for example, the wordless vocalising near the end of "Love Cry" from the [[Love Cry|album of the same name]]); however, his singing on later albums such as ''[[New Grass]]'' and ''[[Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe]]'' has been the subject of some derision. [[Val Wilmer]] referred to his singing as "tortuous",<ref>{{cite book | last=Wilmer |first=Val |author-link=Val Wilmer | title=As Serious As Your Life | publisher=[[Serpent's Tail]] | year=2018 | pages=143 }}</ref> and critics have stated that "his words and vocal delivery are truly frightening",<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/music-is-the-healing-force-of-the-universe-mw0000021647 |title=Albert Ayler: Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe |last=Campbell |first=Al |website=allmusic.com |access-date=August 17, 2020}}</ref> describing him as having "a bellowing, untrained voice that was wavering at its most controlled,"<ref name="pitchfork_newgrass">{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/albert-ayler-new-grass |title=Albert Ayler: New Grass |last=Thomas |first=Fred |date=June 30, 2020 |website=pitchfork.com |access-date=August 17, 2020}}</ref> and delivering lyrics in "a manic wail".<ref name="pitchfork_newgrass" />

In 1967, John Coltrane died of liver cancer, and Ayler was asked to perform at his funeral.<ref>Lewis, ''The Guardian'', 2011.</ref> (One of Coltrane's last wishes was that Ayler and Ornette Coleman should play at his funeral.<ref name="Wilmer 2018 142">{{cite book | last=Wilmer |first=Val |author-link=Val Wilmer | title=As Serious As Your Life | publisher=[[Serpent's Tail]] | year=2018 | pages=142 }}</ref>) It is said that during his performance, Ayler ripped his saxophone from his mouth at two points: once, to emit a cry of anguish, the other a cry of joy to symbolize his friend and mentor's ascension into heaven.<ref name=Jenkins26 /> Ayler later recalled: "John was like a visitor to this planet. He came in peace and he left in peace; but during his time here, he kept trying to reach new levels of awareness, of peace, of spirituality. That's why I regard the music he played as spiritual music - John's way of getting closer and closer to the Creator."<ref>{{cite book | last=Wilmer |first=Val |author-link=Val Wilmer | title=As Serious As Your Life | publisher=[[Serpent's Tail]] | year=2018 | pages=33 }}</ref> In the liner notes for Ayler's album ''[[Love Cry]]'', [[Frank Kofsky]] wrote that Ayler said the following concerning Coltrane's album ''[[Meditations (John Coltrane album)|Meditations]]'': "The father, son, and holy ghost. What Coltrane was talking about there - maybe it was a biblical term: he was the father, [[Pharoah Sanders|Pharoah]] was the son, and I was the holy ghost. And only he could tell me things like that."<ref name="lovecry">{{cite AV media notes |title=Love Cry |others=Albert Ayler |type=liner notes |year=1968 |last=Kofsky |first=Frank |publisher=[[Impulse! Records]] |id=AS-9165}}</ref>