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ALBERT AYLER RETURNS TO THE ESP CATALOGUE
Revenant Records and ESP-DISK' to Jointly Market Grammy-Nominated Box Set
New York City, July 21st, 2007 - Revenant Records has granted ESP-DISK' exclusive distribution rights to its Grammy nominated Albert Ayler 9-CD box set entitled Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962-70) (RVN 213). Ayler, an internationally recognized jazz saxophonist, and protege of John Coltrane, whose untimely death has been the subject of many conspiracy theories, returns to the ESP catalogue, for which he recorded four groundbreaking albums in the mid-60s. Commenting upon the alliance, Bernard Stollman, ESP's founder said that "ESP provided an unique environment that helped incubate artistically ambitious projects. The Ayler material in the box set draws heavily on Ayler's most productive period on ESP. Revenant's empathetic treatment of the material, and our partnership with them has allowed for an exciting exchange of resources between two fiercely independent labels."
Founded in 1964, ESP-DISK's first musical release was Ayler's Spiritual Unity (ESPDISK' 1002), which The Penguin Guide to Jazz cited as "one of the essential recordings of the new jazz [that] should be in every serious collection." Artists who made their debuts as leaders on ESP include Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Gato Barbieri, Bob James, Marion Brown, Roswell Rudd, Burton Greene, Patty Waters, Henry Grimes, Charles Tyler, Sunny Murray, Milford Graves, Sonny Simmons, Ronnie Boykins and Frank Wright.
Revenant Records was founded in 1996 by guitarist John Fahey and music obsessive Dean Blackwood. The Grammy Award-winning label specializes in "raw musics" — the work of great, uncompromising artists, undiluted by commercial meddling — housed in deluxe, expertly-researched packages. According to Blackwood, ESP "recorded some of the most astonishing, wildly created and outre sounds in the 60s and 70s, and those recordings remain as avant garde today. I am delighted about our partnership, and very proud of the Ayler project. Like ESP, Revenant is committed to bringing to the fore artists of great integrity who do not necessarily fit the mold."
For more information about ESP-DISK' see www.espdisk.com or contact info@espdisk.com or call 212 731 2048.
For more information about Revenant Records see www.revenantrecords.com or contact info@revenantrecords.com.
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Hold your horses, Revenant gets two Grammy 2005 nominations for Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost!
Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package
Best Historical Album
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On October 4, 2005, Revenant Records Presents
American Primitive, Vol II
This is an extraordinary release from a company that specializes in the extraordinary. One of the most engaging collections of early American music I've encountered in a very long time. The sound quality is, of course, superb, the reseach impeccable, the thematic ties that bind these performances have been well thought out, full discographical detail is provided and the presentation is superb in a low-key and artful manner that echos the original Harry Smith vinyl box from 1952. -Folkroots(UK)
This marvelous stuff is like the reflection of the mirror image of the underbelly of a parallel universe -- supremely weird, supremely unsettling, supremely joyful and supremely great by most any standards. It's made a believer out of me. -No Depression
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On October 5, 2004, Revenant Records Presents
Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost
"Best of 2005
Jazz Box Sets
#1 Albert Ayler--Holy Ghost"
"The Everest of all jazz boxed sets in 2004. A major event. Holy Ghost represents a long overdue restoration of Ayler's art to a listening public that has had scant chance to hear it. -Chicago Tribune
"Eye-popping and mind-boggling, the Holy Ghost box treats Ayler with religious devotion. It's a requilary replete with replicas of a childhood photo, a handwritten note, a real pressed flower, and a weighty hardbound book of photos, timelines and essays. A beautiful object, a trove of rare music and a triumph of jazz scholarship, it's a bargain at under $100." -NPR's "Fresh Air (Kevin Whitehead)
"Holy Ghost is one of the most lovingly produced archival packages ever dedicated to a jazz musician. More than that, it's such a spectacularly thorough, beautifully thought-out object that it, by its own existence, pays suitable homage to an artist as deserving as Ayler. ...With an astonishing array of photographs and clippings meticulously reproduced and designed, Holy Ghost sets a new, elegant standard for the presentation of historical materials."
-Downbeat, October, 2004
"Everything about this release is remarkable." -Cadence
"To all the worshippers in the Church of Albert Ayler, the holy rollers and the bug-eyed acolytes; to all the neophytes and skeptics, the critical naysayers and money lenders, listen up: the tablets just came down from the mountain. Ayler's music still sounds utterly unique, utterly compelling, simultaneously familiar and alien. This Pandora's box of previously unheard recordings unleashes the unseen forces that shaped his free spiritual music." -The Wire
"A remarkable collection ... beautifully packaged into a deluxe onyx 'spirit box.' The father of free jazz finally receives his due." -Billboard
"Housed in a gorgeous replica of a hand-carved spirit box, along with a definitive 208 page book on Ayler, Holy Ghost is a vast compilation--you hear the full arc of Ayler's brief but intense career. Ayler and Coltrane both believed in a path to 'spiritual unity.' There is a similar sense of devotion in Holy Ghost itself." -New Yorker
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Revenant grabs 3 Grammys for
Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues:
The Worlds of Charley Patton
* Best Boxed Or
Special Limited Edition Package
* Best Album Notes
* Best Historical Album
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To mark the release of his latest album, 'Real Gone', Tom Waits shares with Amazon customers some of his favorite albums.
Tom Waits's List of Music You Should Hear:
Item #9:???'Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton', Charley Patton
"Beautiful retrospective on one of the pillars of the Delta Blues. Clearly not only a blues man but a songster as well and a teacher to all who would follow." |
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"Revenant: The Weirdest, Coolest Reissue Label in the World." - Rolling Stone, 1998
"John Fahey's Revenant Label Bestows the Breath of Life." - Spin, 1998
"Best Record Label in America." - GQ Magazine, 2002
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