The Hilversum Session is an album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded at a radio studio in Hilversum, The Netherlands on November 9, 1964 and first released in 1980 on the now-defunct Dutch Osmosis label. It was later re-released on DIW, Coppens, ESP, and Modern Silence. In 2016, the tracks that appeared on The Hilversum Session were re-released by hatOLOGY on the European Radio Studio Recordings 1964. Background In August 1964, the Cafe Montmartre in Copenhagen, where Ayler had previously played with Cecil Taylor, invited Ayler and his trio, which included bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray, to return for an extended engagement. Despite having been offered only a one-way ticket, Ayler accepted the terms with the goal of exposing his music to a wider audience, given the bleak prospects and lack of interest in the United States. (According to Val Wilmer, "Peacock had been without food for fifteen days when Ayler dragged him from his bed to make the trip.") Don Cherry was already in Europe when the trio arrived, and joined them when they arrived. During the tour, which included Holland, Sweden, and Denmark, the group recorded material that would later be released on The Copenhagen Tapes (recorded September 3 at the Cafe Montmartre and September 10 at a Danish Radio studio), Ghosts (later released as Vibrations, recorded September 14 in Copenhagen), and The Hilversum Session, which consists of performances of familiar Ayler tunes such as "Ghosts" and "Spirits" ("C.A.C." is nearly identical to "The Wizard", which appeared on Spiritual Unity) plus one by Cherry ("Infant Happiness"), as well as one new Ayler tune ("No Name"). Reception The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4.5 stars stating: "The band... had been playing Ayler's tunes for months and were uncanny in their ability to hear one another and improvise together at that point... This set is a defining moment, not just historically, but musically. The intense listening and interplay that goes on here is inspiring... These cats play together with the kind of intuition and foresight only a seasoned group can; they understand the nuances of the language they are speaking and know how to offer those to the listener emotionally, musically, and even culturally." Concerning the contributions of Peacock and Murray, Jurek wrote that they "may have played better elsewhere, but they never played with the kind of deep communication they enjoyed together