John Coltrane - Ascension (1966)

"John Coltrane began using LSD fairly regularly some time in 1965. Although it has been stated by some that he took it only when he recorded OM later that year, he actually took it far more often during the last few years of his life, according to a number of people, including a member of his quartet who would prefer, like others, not to be quoted directly on this subject." 

- Coltrane biographer Eric Nisenson

John Coltrane - Ascension (1966; Impulse! Records)

Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages (1991)

When I discovered this record I saw who played on it: Pharoah Sanders on sax, Elvin Jones on drums and Charnett Moffett on bass (son of Charles who played drums on several Ornette Coleman records in the 1960s). 

Then there's the inimitable Sonny Sharrock- his playing is fire. 

Sadly, he died a few years after this record so this stands as his final testament.
Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages (1991; Axiom Records)

Archie Shepp - Fire Music (1965)

Archie Shepp was one of the cats back in the early-60's doing that "new thing" and earned his stripes playing with Cecil Taylor's band. He would go on to play with the New York Contemporary Five alongside Don Cherry and ultimately catch the attention of some of the vanguards of the new school; most notably Ornette (Shepp would play a Coleman composition on his first "solo" record, credited alongside the Bill Dixon Quartet) and Coltrane (playing on the Love Supreme sessions but not making the final cut- he would appear on the 2002 out-takes of that record), playing on John's Ascension album as well as a split with the 'Trane titled New Thing at Newport from 1965.

Shepp's finest moment would be this record, Fire Music; cut at a time when his political consciousness and burgeoning Afrocentricity was reaching a fever pitch- Archie would include an homage to Malcolm X as well as a Duke Ellington standard and the premier bossa nova song of all-time (The Girl from Ipanema). Considered groundbreaking as well as erratic, it showcases a legend at the height of his creativity- done right after his Four for Trane sessions (revolutionary reworkings of some Coltrane tunes from earlier in the decade).

Archie Shepp - Fire Music (1965; Impulse! Records)

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra - The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (1968)

This might be one of the great unknown jazz records (even to free jazz aficionados), the mere mention of it to record store clerks has brought me such mixed reactions from the raised eyebrows and "you know about this?" to confused bewilderment to downright derision. Just by the names on the cover you can see how awesome this line-up is, but there's so many more musicians on this they'd have to had a triple-LP sleeve to fit them all.

Carla Bley. Ron Carter. Andrew Cyrille. Richard Davis. Steve Swallow. Alan Silva. Randy Brecker. Charlie Haden. Reggie Workman. John Tchicai. Ed Blackwell. It reads like a who's who of late-1960s avant jazz musicians, all led by producer Michael Mantler; written specifically with Cecil Taylor in mind. Broken into two suites, loosely titled Communication, with #s 8, 9 and 10 making up suite one and the two-part #11 finishing the piece (there's a short track featuring Pharoah Sanders in between) it's really one of the unheralded music happenings within the free jazz movement.

So do yourself a favor, get on this now.

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra - The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (1968; JCOA Records)

Jimmy Giuffre - Free Fall (1963)

After Ornette Coleman had his way with jazz, tearing it down from the inside to see what it was made of (thereby creating "free" jazz); it opened the door for such greats as Cecil Taylor, Eric Dolphy, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders and Jimmy Giuffre to stretch out and do their collective "thing". On this album, recorded in 1962 by the Jimmy Giuffre 3 with Giuffre (clarinet), previously featured Out Sounds-favorite Paul Bley (piano) and Steve Swallow (bass); the trio set out to create a free jazz masterpiece, and the results are stunning and provocative, maybe even more so than any of the aforementioned performer's works.

The reason I say so is because of Giuffre's study of microtonal music; or the idea that there exists between the 12-note scale another series of "micro" tones (this idea was also being studied by Harry Partch; who later expanded his ideas by writing charts explaining these tones as well as building many instruments to play these new "notes"). The clarinet (as well as most of the woodwind family) are able to play quarter tones; and Giuffre gave his music a wider palette by playing with a non-traditional up-front weapon. He was overlooked for some ridiculous reasons- he played the clarinet, not considered a pure lead jazz instrument like the sax or trumpet; his music wasn't like the "energy" or "fire music" that Archie Shepp and Sun Ra were playing, his was more pointillistic, spatial, subdued and airy. No one was ready for this music. 

This record anticipated the Free Improvisation movement by a good five years; by combining elements of the Third Stream school, free jazz, the avant-garde as well as classical indeterminacy, Free Fall is an exciting listen to a set of a ferociously abstract and investigative tracks. This is the 1998 re-issue with bonus tracks.

Jimmy Giuffre - Free Fall (1963; Columbia Records)

Arnie Lawrence - Unobstructed Universe (1976)

I found this a few weeks ago on a blog I like to frequent (Prog Not Frog), and all I can say is that it's absolutely amazing. Funky-ass rhythms that melt away into some free jazz/space jam stuff and then back again- and that's just during the 30-minute title track.

I don't know a whole lot about this release except that it's listed under both Arnie Lawrence as leader and credited to Unobstructed Universe as the band. I read in an interview with Lawrence that it was his intention to call the band and record Unobstructed Universe but for contractual reasons it's listed under him. Go figure.

Either way, it's some funky ass fusion shit from the mid-1970's...

Arnie Lawrence - Unobstructed Universe (1976; Adamo Records)
-link opens to YouTube video-

Paul Bley - Open, to Love (1973)

This 1973 record is a collection of solo piano improv pieces from Paul Bley; it's cold and stark, spare, expansive and chilling. It's like a cross between free jazz and Erik Satie; you ever see a horror movie and just as the main character starts their descent into madness and chops up the town with an axe? Yeah, this is like that- the fragmentary piano runs scattered about in the air, sounding like someone actually losing their marbles...

Except Bley knew exactly what he was doing on this album. Enjoy!

Paul Bley - Open, to Love (1973; ECM Records)

Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964)

This album sounds like how Gumby feels. I don't mean how he feels emotionally, I mean how Gumby would feel if you touched his green skin.

The tone of Albert Ayler's saxophone has that Gumby-esque texture, it squeaks and squonks and blurts its way into your brain. If you dig free jazz, then this may be one of the crowning achievements of the genre.

...and to answer your question; yes- I used to do a lot of LSD.

Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964; ESP-Disk)

Surrender To The Air - Surrender To The Air (1996)

Surrender to the Air is the only album from free jazz ensemble Surrender To The Air - an instrumental collective organized by Trey Anastasio of Phish in early '96.

Though never explicitly stated on the record or its notes, the album was a sort of tribute to jazz composer and bandleader Sun Ra, an Anastasio favorite (several of the performers on Surrender to the Air - Allen, Choice and Ray - had performed with Sun Ra).

The album has been out of print since 2000. (from Wikipedia)

The Players:

Marshall Allen, sax

Trey Anastasio, guitar

Kofi Burbridge, flute

Oteil Burbridge, bass

Damon R. Choice, vibes

John Fishman, drums

Bob Gullotti, drums

James Harvey, trombone

John Medeski, organ

Michael Ray, trumpet

Marc Ribot, guitar

Surrender To The Air - Surrender To The Air (1996; Elektra Records)

Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures (1966)

This man can play some piano. Cecil Taylor brought something different to jazz in that he approached his instrument differently than anyone before him; his piano was almost like a drum to him- he played it like it was percussion; and in the all-encompassing realm of "free jazz", that works to great advantage here. His idea that tiny fragments of previously rehearsed songs (called "unit structures") could be improvised up into fully realized songs.

So here's Taylor's Unit Structures, a ferocious blend of high-energy and atonal "out sounds"...

Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures (1966; Blue Note Records)

Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959)

Uh oh. People are resistant to change. They don't like to be uncomfortable. They like reliability...

Considering the other "top" records from 1959; Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue, Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' Moanin' and The Dave Brubeck Quartet's Time Out; the world wasn't exactly ready for Ornette's "changes". He was giving clues (mostly hidden in plain view; the titles of his albums for one- Something Else!!!! and Tomorrow Is The Question: The New Music of Ornette Coleman are as obvious as it gets) as well as the clues in his music; abandoning structure ever so slightly, it's not as "free" as Coleman would eventually become (or as out there as Ayler, Sun Ra and eventually Coltrane) but these are the seeds being planted in the soil, right next to all those other big trees that have their roots planted firmly in the earth of hard bop; it would shake their foundation to the core and by 1964 the entire jazz community would embrace "free" jazz.

So yeah, this kind of started it all...

Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959; Atlantic Records)