Re: (TV) Re: Albert Ayler

["blueweb@access4less.net" <blueweb@access4less.net>]

Also in this magazine appeared the longest piece of writing
by Albert Ayler. It is in the form of an open letter/sermon
and follows, in its entirety, without modification.



To Mr. Jones-I Had a Vision

Brothers and Sisters,

Listen. A few weeks ago I beared witness to my last Miracle;
Here it is: Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of
his judgment is come. Worship him that made the heaven and
earth and the sea and the fountains of waters. Babylon is
fallen, that great city because he made all nations drink of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication. If any men worship
the beast an his image an receive his mark in his forehead
or in his hand the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath
of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of
his indignation. Revelation 14:7:10


Let every soul be subjected unto the higher power for there
is no power but of God. Romans 13:1

They have healed also the hurt of the daughter people
slightly, say peace, peace, peace when there is no peace.
Jeremiah 6:14


I HAD A VISION

It was at night when I had this vision. In this vision there
was a large object flying around with bright colors in a
disc form. Immediately I thought of the flying scorpion that
I had read about in the chapter of Revelation from the Holy
Bible, but when the object started turning I saw that first
it was flat then it turned sideways and started to shoot
radiant colors at first then it would turn back to the same
position. I was running with my brother when it aimed at us
but it didn't touch us at all. I guess this is what they are
calling the flying saucers. Anyway it was revealed to me
that we had the right seal of God almighty in our forehead.


One morning I was awakened by all the kids upstairs running
to the window because of a sound outside that was so
piercing it was paralyzing. It was revealed to me a few
weeks later that it was Gabriel sounding the warning. This
was the angel of Jesus standing on his right side, and that
Gabriel is the spirit of sound and strength. The sound
lasted for five minutes. Every thing will happen fast so be
ready.


I dreamed of a man starting to make war with a lamb, the man
suddenly looked around and there was a man standing there
with large swords on a disc throwing with perfection. It
seemed to me like the magic of the creator. The swords had a
bright color too then clear as a crystal. I remembered again
the book of Revelations about how Jesus would come with a
very sharp sword.


In a night vision I saw a very dark sky and I looked up and
saw a large star falling as fast as it could move. Brothers
and Sisters you see there is only Heaven and Earth. There
are no other planets. The planet that they call Venus is
Zion Hill, the home of God Almighty. That's why it is
written he created the Heaven and Earth, the Sea and the
Fountains of Waters and all the things therein. On the
seventh day he rested. The seventh day he rested on is the
Sabbath day, of which is the fourth commandment. Now we must
follow the tenth commandment. This is the spiritual law of
God Almighty. Now you see all the talk about other planets
has only been an illusion. I say unto you that whosoever
breaketh the tenth commandment is servants of sin. Brothers,
watch the sex acts because your blood is your strength.

Elijah Mohammed is the true Prophet.

Cleanliness is Godliness. Don't forget that arguing with
each other is bad because if you do the devil angel is
laughing in the closet, so be careful. You see if you argue
the Holy angels leave you because they are of oneness of
harmony, so don't bring on the devil. The devil angel
thrives off of uncleanliness, curse words, blasphemy, and
discord.


In the forehead of Satan written across his forehead the
word blasphemy is there. That is his name also so be very
careful and respect God's laws, so you won't receive the
devil's mark in your forehead or your right hand. I have
seen a few people with the mark already so be very careful
and God's angels will be with you even unto the end. Eat
only the green things and no meat at all if possible. And
pray always from your heart and God Almighty will hear you.
If you do you won't be afraid of the terror by night nor for
the arrow that flieth by day because he will always be at
your side. Remember that contention and discord quench the
spirit of prayer. Many grieve the spirit and drive Christ
form their homes by giving way to impatience and passions.
Thus saith the Lord...If thou turn away thy foot from the
Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My behalf on My Holy day
and call the Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord,
honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou
delight thyself in the Lord; and I shall cause thee to ride
upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the
heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it." Read my friend.


I saw in a vision the new Earth built by God coming out of
Heaven. Years ago they called it New Jerusalem. It was a
solid foundation built by God himself. It is not like the
foundation we have now where men seek to kill each other's
spirit.


The vision I had of Jesus coming again, it was at night
again; large clouds forming in the east and something said
to me this is the way Jesus is coming. The Son of God would
be coming in his father's name, God Almighty. So be ready
when that time comes, because it could happen in the wink of
an eye. Remember he said you know not the minute or the
hour, so let's be obedient children to God's laws. We live
in darkness now; God Almighty is the God of lights. You see
there are mighty angels from Heaven and they are very large.
Bright as the sun. Another way to describe it is like the
color of lightning magnified ten times. So you'd better get
ready for the bright lights that will appear in the sky. It
has been written on the wall of the universe by God Almighty
for me to see and give you this message. So don't transgress
any of God's Laws. The time is at hand. Make up leaflets and
pass out to all people Revelation 14, verse 7 to 10. This is
very important that everybody should know this will save
your soul and you will see a beautiful eternity. I'll have
more to say next time. We must move this by chain letters
and get it in the papers in as many parts of the U.S.A. as
possible. This is very important. The time is now.


One's first instinct on reading this article is to call it
insane and to try to psychoanalyze Albert. This is highly
reductive, and unfair to Ayler, who was well educated and
articulate. While this letter does seem like the sort of
thing one might be handed by a street person, it is also, in
its language if not content, within the religious discourses
that Albert had been exposed to as a child. 

Another easy reaction would be to dismiss these visions as
products of psychedelic drugs, which were very common at
this time, especially in the East Village where Ayler lived,
which had become a hippie center. While Ayler spoke against
drugs, he smoked marijuana at least occasionally (the
"smoke" of Sunny Murray, Val Wilmer, and Beaver Harris' tour
anecdotes). John Coltrane tried LSD at least once, during
the recording of the album Om,[225] and it is possible that
Ayler did as well, maybe on Coltrane's recommendation.

"To Mr. Jones..." is a pastiche of the biblical book of
Revelations, with elements of Black Muslim teaching, other
current spiritual ideas, and Ayler's own opinions. The fact
that Elijah Muhammed is mentioned is quite odd, given
Ayler's seeming embrace of a Coltrane-like polymysticism
with a strong Christian flavor, but the NOI has often been a
topic of conversation among radical musicians (Wilmer 1997).
The theories of vegetarianism andself-discipline had been
circulating in the progressive black musical community and
were shared to some degree by Coltrane, Marion Brown,
Pharaoh Sanders, Eric Dolphy and others. As for the visions
themselves, Ayler's conversation had always had an
apocalyptic tone. His religious upbringing combined with the
political and cultural events of the late 1960's, especially
for African-Americans, makes such a belief fully
understandable. The deaths of Dr. King, Malcolm X, the
Kennedys, the Vietnam war, the repression of the Black Power
movement, including the intense persecution of LeRoi Jones,
among others, the death of John Coltrane, the widespread
violent rejection of the new jazz, increasing police attacks
against blacks and members of the counter-culture, all these
things and more could easily lead one to expect, and even
hope for apocalypse.

http://www.geocities.com/jeff_l_schwartz/chpt4.html


Albert Ayler: His Life and Music
by Jeff Schwartz
http://www.geocities.com/jeff_l_schwartz/ayler.html

_________________________________________________


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <secretX@webtv.net>
To: <tv@obbard.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 2:28 AM
Subject: (TV) Re: Albert Ayler


| Albert Ayler was still inspiring Tom's songs in 1996. I
asked Tom about
| one unreleased song he played on June 12, 1996 and he said
it was called
| "Bells". I knew "Bells" was also the title of one of his
favorite Ayler
| songs. I wondered if Aylers' songs "Ascension" and "Our
Prayer" inspired
| Tom's titles "Horizontal Ascensions" and "Prayer." Ayler's
titles
| usually had religious themes. He had a strict religious
upringing. His
| brother Donald, trumpet player, had mental problems
similar to Albert's.
| Donald was institutionalized after months of standing on
his head for
| six hours a day. He explained that he'd gotten too deep
into yoga, but
| the alcohol and drugs probably were a factor. Albert
claimed to see
| visions similar to those in the Book of Revelation. He
heard the angel
| Gabriel warning him with the horn. He said spirits spoke
to him and
| that's when he knew he'd die soon. He said he had to
sacrifice himself.
| His girlfriend Mary Maria kept him interested in his music
for awhile
| but things fell apart. I read his biography. "We can get a
divine
| harmony which is beyond what they used to call harmony.
It's not about
| notes anymore. It's about feelings." When Tom was about 25
he read old
| interviews of Ayler's and he took what Ayler said quite
seriously,
| stories of omens and prophecies. For example when Ayler
was in Europe a
| woman he met warned him not to take a certain ship home.
So he took a
| train, and he said he heard that everyone on the ship
died. I told Tom
| to put the story in context, because Ayler also said that
in Europe he
| was being poisoned by strangers following him to every
town, strangers
| who'd go into the bathroom and change clothes so he
wouldn't recognize
| them. An essay Ayler wrote called "To Mr. Jones"
illustrates his
| Apocalyptic frame of mind. But if he weren't of that frame
of mind maybe
| his music wouldn't be as great as it is. If Tom didn't
believe in UFOs
| his music might not be as great as it is. Does Tom really
believe in
| UFOs, or does he just like the idea of it? That's still a
mystery.
| --------------
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