Albert Ayler in Greenwich Village

Culled from 1966 performances at the Village Theatre and Village Vanguard, this album finds the saxophonist orchestrating chaotic, profoundly spiritual hymns. The inclusion of Michel Samson on violin and multiple bassists creates a massively dense, dirge-like sonic texture beneath Ayler's roaring, wide-vibrato melodies. It remains one of the most polarizing and fiercely emotional documents of the 1960s free jazz explosion.