Though Albert Ayler is widely regarded as one of the leading voices of 1960s avant-garde jazz, public sentiment regarding his oeuvre isn't without its share of discord. The appearance of harpsichord on 1967's Love Cry was egregious to some, but New Grass and Music is the Healing Force of the Universe (released in 1968 and 1969, respectively) seem to be the albums that really get people up in arms. Centerpieces of Ayler's late period, the albums feature the saxophonist embracing a more straightforward sound, incorporating tenets of r&b and religious music into his writing and playing more palpably than ever before, with plenty of vocals and a utopian, spiritual bent that, while always a part of Albert's personality, was never so prominent in his work. These albums, even after their reissue decades later, have met with indifference or disdain, even by ardent Ayler fans, though there remain some supporters who see them as overlooked and underregarded. The lady and gentlemen behind Healing Force certainly feel that way, and they've re-recorded nine tracks of late-period Ayler in order to try to reintroduce the music to a new audience, and give Ayler's positive vibes another chance to meet listeners' ears and minds.
Brought together by guitarist Henry Kaiser, the album's ensemble is largely from the West coast, with Joe Morris the only Easterner on the roster. Reedsman Vinny Golia takes the part of Ayler on the recordings, with Aurora Josephson playing the role, as it were, of Ayler's partner Mary Maria Parks, whose vocals, lyrics, and philosophy of life were such a large influence on Ayler's later work. To imply that these players aim to masquerade as Ayler and his collaborators, though, would be misleading, for while they stay generally faithful to the original material, there's a decidedly modern sound to the disc, and a new energy injected into Ayler's old tunes. What is projected most noticeably by Healing Force is not a reverence towards Ayler on the part of the album's creators, but, instead, a genuine affection for the man and the work; it's a surprise to hear Weasel Walter, for instance, speaking about universal harmony and prayer as part of a group intonation on "New New Grass/Message from Albert," but one feels nothing but a legitimate desire to do right by Ayler's work, and the group does just that. Golia is a capable reedsman, and, at times, gets Ayler's style down nearly perfectly, and Josephson, as the music's other primary voice, sings with a more gentle affect than Parks did originally, but gives up little of the soul imbued by her predecessor. The group takes a more meditative tone, for the most part, than was present on Ayler's renditions, often opting for more drawn out, slowly building introductions to the pieces, and opting for simpler, more stark arrangements during the music's funkier segments. "New Generation" loses its brassy swagger in exchange for obtuse improvisation and pared-down bass & piano rhythmics, and "Heart Love" loses its late-sixties swing, recast with an off-kilter incantation of the chorus and a solo vocal performance from Josephson. In a sense, especially in terms of the New Grass material, that Kaiser & Co have done away with much of the contemporary influence that made Ayler's later music a hard pill for many of his fans to swallow, recognizing that, more than the hippie idealism, it was sometimes the container in which it came that was distasteful to many. It is in this way that Healing Force goes furthest in its reconsidering of Ayler's later work, and by getting at the core of the music and dispensing with some of its frills, this group just might spawn some new converts to the late gospels of the church of Ayler.
