Collection: Albert Ayler

Albert Ayler was an American tenor saxophonist whose innovations in style and technique were a major influence on free jazz. Born July 13, 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio, he studied saxophone with his father Edward, with whom he played duets in church. His upbringing in the church had a great impact on his life and music, and much of his work can be understood as an attempt to express his spirituality. After early experience playing rhythm and blues and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s.

His ecstatic music of 1965 and 1966, such as 'Spirits Rejoice' and 'Truth Is Marching In', has been compared to the sound of a brass band, featuring simple march-like themes which alternated with wild group improvisations. In 1964, he recorded his breakthrough album Spiritual Unity for ESP-Disk Records, featuring bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray. The album remains an essential record of 1960s jazz and his song 'Ghosts' became a jazz standard. His radical playing included distorted sounds, low-register honks and a wide wavery vibrato, usually played at the fastest possible tempos. He died on November 25, 1970 in New York at age 34.