Albert Ayler: Ghosts: First Variation

Albert Ayler was one of jazzs most iconoclastic figures, and Spiritual Unity was the album that announced his arrival. Ghosts: First Variation started the record in the same manner that a bomb starts a war. Ayler drew much of his inspiration from his faith, but the music he created was unnerving and at times scary. Ghosts has Ayler blowing a simple folk melody, which he slowly modifies, escapes from, and then returns to, while Gary Peacock scatters notes from his bass in seeming random fashion and Sunny Murrays stick skitters across his cymbals, neither of them ever attempting to get into a groove. Lasting just over five minutes, Ghosts: First Variation is the most beautiful chaos jazz has ever heard.