Albert Ayler's 1969 Game-Changer New Grass is Back in Vinyl After 40 Years

We're big fans of Albert Ayler at Tower, so the news that one of his most groundbreaking albums is being reissued after 40 years is big news to us.

When New Grass was released in 1969, critics immediately highlighted the controversial changes in song writing and sound that Ayler was making and caused a media storm about it. He brought together his R&B roots from playing alongside greats like Little Walter with more free form, experimental Jazz that was developing at the time.

Now Third Man Records is bringing out the record in late July and in "limited edition Coke bottle clear vinyl with opaque green wisps" which will be available at Third Man storefronts and select indie shops throughout the US, pre-orderable here.

The album also features vocals by Rose Marie McCoy, The Soul Singers, and Ayler.

Third Man Records says:

"New Grass deserves reconsideration, if not for the heavy grooves and surprising arrangements, then for its bravery in challenging norms of the time; by the ‘60s, jazz was well-accepted as a uniquely American art form, while soul as a genre was very much still seen as primitive. Ayler melds them together and creates something novel, adventurous, and completely his own."

Third Man also rightly notes that the album has gone on to influence generations of Jazz, R&B, Funk, Hip Hop, Post Punk, and more. Musicians like Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, and Funkadelic cite this album as a game-changer.