Spiritual Unity

spiritual unity is a group formed by guitarist marc ribot dedicated to re-creating and re-imagining the music of the great saxophonist albert ayler, one of the pillars of modern jazz. ribot on guitar of course with roy campbell on trumpet, chad taylor on drums and the remarkable and 're-discovered' henry grimes on bass.spiritual unity features one original by ribot and four compositions by ayler. ribots invocation opens the album and immediately conjures aylers spirit. this is followed by spirits, one of aylers catchiest and instantly recognizable tunes. truth is marching in, another of aylers signature tracks, featuring a long, mournful intro that suddenly breaks into a warped march. the spacious saints bridges to the album closer bells, a 15 minute tour-de-force recorded live at tonic the night before the studio session. spiritual unity could easily be overshadowed by comparisons to aylers original work, but the intentions far exceed a straightforward canonization of aylers music. using aylers vocabulary as raw material, ribot, grimes, taylor and campbell combine their disparate influences to fashion their own distinct work of art.