May 11, 2007: Muziki—on ESPeranto disk
In 1964, Bernard Stollman, a NYC lawyer and music fan, started the independent record label ESP (short for Esperanto Disc; the original idea was to also promote the universal language Esperanto–“muziki” is Esperanto for “making music”). The label was responsible for recording important albums by major artists like Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, et. al., and was one of the early public outlets for music that was otherwise being ignored by most record companies. It folded in the 1970s but has recently been restarted. Today we listen to some of the great music released on the ESP label, including Ayler, Milford Graves, Paul Bley, and more!