Sonny Murray - Sonny's Time Now (1965)

Were it not for Murray's name on the cover, Sonny's Time Now could probably be misinterpreted as an Albert Ayler record. Like Eric Dolphy before him, Ayler simply dominated sessions as a sideman. His painfully wide vibrato is instantly recognizable, but this is a much more fractured affair than most Ayler records of the time. Missing are the church-influenced spiritual heads and deep blues improvising heard on, say, Spiritual Unity or Vibrations. Instead, one is presented with some exceptionally free music that doesn't appear, on the surface anyway, to be based on any predetermined structures. Particularly of note is the Amiri Baraka (then-Leroi Jones) recitation, "Black Art." While not altogether different than "Sweet-Black Dada Nihilismus," a similar reading from the self-titled New York Art Quartet record, "Black Art" is a much more bleak and (at least potentially) upsetting piece. This session has since been reissued on both CD and LP by the Japanese label DIW. The LP reportedly included a bonus 7" record with more material. This is some very serious music by some very serious cats.