Going into any Albert Ayler offering has its immense tension. Preparing for the squall of horn and the off putting marching band thing that the sax player was able to coax his ensembles into isn’t always a thing that can be tossed on for enjoyment. In a pretty short career, Ayler was able to create some of the densest and more challenging jazz that’s been put down on record. It’s not completely void of its precursors – you can still learn about jazz’s history from listening. And while the music that Ayler created wasn’t (probably) intentioned to be so difficult, that’s just what flowed outta this guy’s mouthpiece.

This first date as a leader for the still twenty-something year old Ayler doesn’t reach the reverie of In Greenwich Village by any stretch. But it’s odd to think that this saxophonist was able to get from this ’63 recording to what’s represented on that live disc only three years later. Here, Ayler is joined on the appropriately titled My Name Is Albert Ayler by a variety of Norseman – including a sixteen year old bassist by the name of Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Generally though of as something akin to open minded and forward thinking, Continental players occasionally backed or performed with American jazzbos during this era of jazz yielding everything from some live Ornette Coleman discs to a Marzette Watts date or two.

My Name Is Albert Ayler, though, comes in kinda cold. It’s obviously still interesting to hear Ayler work out some standards. And even here his style has almost coalesced. Ayler’s sax doesn’t get over bearing, but it does sound markedly detached from the group that he’s performing with. The rhythm section isn’t void of groove, they just weren’t exactly prepared for what was going to transpire. Complicating matters, though, is the fact that it seems that the track listing was at least in part compiled to sate some record label honchos.

Again, Ayler’s work “Billie’s Bounce” gets to a place that fans might be familiar with, but in working within the confines of such a well known standard, the ability – or even the conception -of Ayler’s group to get free doesn’t seem as if its been proffered. Even the low key, piano sections of “Billie’s Bounce” comes off as a bit awkward with Ayler occasionally interjecting his ideas into the conversation. It’s not a poor effort, but it becomes clear that not everyone is thinking exactly the same thing.

This is not full formed Ayler, though. Even in ’63 this musta been shocking. But there would be more to come. Spirits would come out during the following calendar year, which could be considered the beginning of Ayler’s true ascent to glory – no matter how brief. My Name Is Albert Ayler, while not included in his indispensible works, does surely grant some insight into how difficult it was for this man to find a workable situation by which to ply his tunes. No one got it in ’63 and only a few more folks would get it before 1970.