Mars Williams leads Chicago-based jazz sextet Witches & Devils, whose debut, At the Empty Bottle, is a live tribute to Albert Ayler at his most ecstatic. The three covers of Ayler tunes are spectacular: the group shifts effortlessly among folk tunes and blasts of free noise, and Williams and fellow saxophonist Ken Vandermark lock each other in a howl that would do Ayler and his sideman, Charles Tyler, proud. The one Witches & Devils original, "Sax Duet/Piano Interlude," is even better, especially at its exhilarating beginning, where Williams and Vandermark circle around each other until their swarming, high-register lines collapse in a hopeless tangle. Horrible production deadens the album's impact a little, however: keyboardist Jim Baker, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, and bassist Kent Kessler are all way too low in the mix. Still, Witches & Devils deliver a powerful blast of energy, and fans of Ayler's work will surely appreciate At the Empty Bottle.