In 1968, in a valiant attempt to promote his forthcoming ‘music is the healing force of the universe’ message to the world, avant­garde tenor saxophone player Albert Ayler decided to reach out to a more youthful 1960s audience. For this new direction he was joined by a group made up of mostly unknown studio session players, together with new partner Mary ‘Maria’ Parks on vocals and singing group The Soul Singers.

Third Man's reproduction of Albert Ayler's New Grass album on 180g vinyl gets close to the original Impulse! release with a solid card cover and period labels, the ideal way to rediscover one of Ayler's strangest recordings – a mixed bag of rock, gospel and soul styles, overlaid with flurries of Ayler's furiously fanned fire music technique. At the time it was torn apart by jazz fans and critics alike, but in the cold light of the 21st century New Grass now comes across like a breath of fresh air. Nothing else really sounded like it at the time and nothing sounds like it today, an oddly angled collection of spoken word fragments, Motown groove and raw skronk that shouldn't make sense but weirdly does. Both ‘Message From Albert’ and ‘New Ghosts’ (a return to his ‘Ghosts’ tune) are pure Ayler in fine form, but as New Grass progresses other, less immediately identifiable musical elements are allowed to dominate.

This is best played out on ‘Heart Love’, a chant for peace-and-love that is briefly illuminated with Call Cobbs' intricate harpsichord playing. The album culminates with the raw soul celebration pieces ‘Everybody's Movin’ and ‘Free At Last’, with Ayler blowing hard over Parks and The Soul Singers' strident vocalising. Neither free jazz nor Woodstock rock, New Grass remains a unique, somewhat baffling, but highly enjoyable entry in Albert Ayler's discography.