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Prophecy is a live album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded in New York City on June 14, 1964 and first released in 1975 on the ESP-Disk label.[1][2]
| Prophecy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1975 | |||
| Recorded | June 14, 1964 at the Cellar Café, West 90th Street, New York City | |||
| Genre | Free jazz | |||
| Length | 41:55 | |||
| Label | ESP-Disk ESP 3030 | |||
| Albert Ayler chronology | ||||
| ||||
The album features Ayler's trio, with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray, and contains five tracks representing roughly half of that evening's concert, which was taped by Paul Haines. A recording of the entire concert, including five additional pieces, was released by the German label In Respect as Albert Smiles With Sunny.[3] According to Sunny Murray, Bernard Stollman, founder of ESP-Disk, "released Prophecy after Albert died, without Albert's signature, but because I also had a copy of the same tape I released mine through a company in Germany... as a correct move for me and Al... [M]y tape was better quality than his and also at the correct speed, so mine sounds better."[4] (According to Val Wilmer, Ayler's recordings for ESP-Disk were made "against the advice of Cecil Taylor and other musicians who thought that artists should hold out for a price commensurate with their talent."[5] Ayler justified his decision, stating: "I felt my art was so important that I had to get it out. At that time I was musically out of this world. I knew I had to play this music for the people."[6])
The additional tracks from Albert Smiles with Sunny were reissued by Revenant Records on Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70). In addition, all of the June 14, 1964 tracks, plus the single May 1, 1965 track from the album Bells, were reissued by ESP-Disk as Bells & Prophecy: Expanded Edition.[7]
The Ayler trio would go on to record Spiritual Unity less than a month later.[2]
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [8] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [9] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz |  [10] |
The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars stating: "Ayler alternated the simple march-like themes with wild and very free improvisations which owe little if anything to the bop tradition, or even his contemporaries in the avant-garde. Ayler always had his own individual message, and his ESP sessions find him in consistently explorative form".[8]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3½ stars, and stated that the album "was an important session in laying down some of the basic language of the saxophonist's career."[10]
All About Jazz commented: "Though the trio had honed a group sound and method comprising slow and loping or extremely fast themes; Murray's constant percussive chatter and vocal wailing providing an alternate pure-sound springboard; Peacock's constant harmonic filigree creating yet another aural web, these are presented in Prophecy as a much looser framework".[11]
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All compositions by Albert Ayler
- "Spirits" - 7:15
- "Wizard" - 8:00
- "Ghosts (First Variation)" - 10:00
- "Prophecy" - 6:35
- "Ghosts (Second Variation)" - 7:40
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