An Ayler Xmas Vol. 5 – Mars Williams’ Avant-Garde Jazz Holiday Project Featuring all Chicago ensemble

Mars WILLIAMS

"Mars Williams Presents An Ayler Xmas Vol. 5"

Released: December 2021 CD + Digital

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TRACK 1 CONTAINS MUSIC WRITTEN BY ALBERT AYLER (BMI) “Divine Peacemaker” (Railroad Town Music / BMI) Additional Songs: “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” By Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne © Imagem Music /Cahn Music and Chappell and Co. / Producers Music Publishing Co.

TRACK 2 CONTAINS MUSIC WRITTEN BY ALBERT AYLER (BMI) “Ghosts” (Railroad Town Music / BMI) “New Ghosts” © Spurt Music (BMI); Railroad Town Music / BMI) Additional Songs: “Feliz Navidad” By: José Feliciano © BMG Gold Songs / J&H Publishing

TRACK 3 CONTAINS MUSIC WRITTEN BY ALBERT AYLER (BMI) “Light In Darkness” (Railroad Town Music / BMI) Additional Songs: “Do You hear what I Hear” By: Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker (Jewel Music Publishing Co. Inc.)

Personnel

Mars Williams – Sax, Suona, Toy Instruments
Josh Berman – Cornet
Jim Baker – Piano, Viola, Arp Synth
Brian Sandstrom – Bass, Guitar, Trumpet
Steve Hunt – Drums
Peter Maunu – Violin
Kent Kessler – Bass (Tracks 1 & 2)
Krzysztof Pablan – Bass (Track 3)

Reviews

“Almost all the music reviewed at this location is shifted toward the extraterrestrial end of the spectrum. Even when the instruments and notes are perfectly ordinary, the music is exploring some dimension of sound and texture that would be entirely alien to fans of more popular genres. To put it mildly, the first time I listened to Albert Ayler’s Spiritual Unity, I really felt like I wondered into the ghost realm.”

“Many of Ayler’s compositions were derived from African-American and European folk tunes, and one holiday season, Williams got the idea to combine them with Christmas and Hannukah favorites. The idea resonated so strongly that it’s grown from a single annual concert in Chicago to a traveling event staged with local musicians throughout the U.S. and Europe, as well as a series of albums compiled from live recordings. In 2020, the pandemic made travel impossible, but Williams convened the Chicago band to stream a couple shows from the Constellation club.”
“Williams does more than just adapt traditional music in the style of Ayler – he also incorporates Ayler’s own compositions and fluidly switches between the two while leaving room for group improvisation. In a fashion, the result is more free than much of Ayler’s catalog.”
“I’m here to tell you that jazz, in the form of a man from Mars, has come to save Christmas…”