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Biography

As Serious As Your Life by Val Wilmer
London: Quartet Books, 1977, 296 pages.
(current edition - London: Serpent’s Tail, 1999, 304 pages,
ISBN 1852427302)

Journalist and photographer, Val Wilmer chronicled the Free Jazz scene as it was happening. Her book, “As Serious As Your Life” is an acknowledged classic and the chapter on Albert Ayler is the source for much of the Jeff Schwartz biography.

Albert Ayler: His Life and Music by Jeff Schwartz
Unpublished, 1993. Available online.

Jeff Schwartz credits Val WIlmer as the source for much of his own book, however he also draws on a number of other sources to compile an oral history of Albert Ayler. All recording sessions are listed and the author adds his own critical evaluation.

Spirits Rejoice: Albert Ayler und seine Botschaft
(Spirits Rejoice: Albert Ayler and His Message)
by Peter Niklas Wilson
Hofheim, Germany: Wolke Verlag, 1996, 190 pages,
ISBN 3-923997-71-X

The only published full-length biography of Albert Ayler (unfortunately unavailable in an English translation) was written by Peter Niklas Wilson. Wilson, who sadly died in October 2003, was a German musician, writer, broadcaster and academic who wrote a series of books about jazz musicians, including Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, Anthony Braxton and Albert Ayler. The Ayler book contains an extensive biography, an analysis of Ayler's style and an annotated discography. Wilson met with Edward and Donald Ayler and also interviewed many musicians associated with Albert Ayler, including Sunny Murray, Michel Sampson, Milford Graves, Steve Tintweiss, Bobby Few and Gary Peacock.

Albert Ayler Holy Ghost by various
U.S.: Revenant Records, 2004, 208 pages.
Included in the Holy Ghost box set.

Although it cannot be purchased separately and two sections of the book relate directly to the 9 CDs of music in the Holy Ghost box set, there is enough other material to make this qualify as the first ‘proper’ book about Albert Ayler published in the English language. The contents are as follows:

1. ‘Spiritual Unity’ by Val Wilmer
(An updated version of the chapter in “As Serious As Your Life”)

2. ‘You Think This Is About You?’ by Amiri Baraka
(Amiri Baraka’s memories of Ayler in his own inimitable style)

3. ‘Whence’ by Ben Young
(Ayler’s influences)

4. ‘Albert Ayler in Europe: 1959-62’ by Marc Chaloin
(A meticulously researched essay about Ayler’s first visits to Europe. This was the key period in the development of Ayler’s music and Revenant, realising the importance of this article to Ayler research have made it available online.)

5. ‘Apparitions of Albert the Great in Paris and Saint-Paul-de-Vence’
by Daniel Caux
(Ayler at the Fondation Maeght)

6. ‘Witnesses’ compiled by Ben Young
(Reminiscences of Ayler)

7. ‘Tracks’ by Ben Young
(The sleevenotes to the 9 CDs in the box)

8. ‘Sidemen’ by Ben Young, Tom Greenwood and Matti Konttinen
(Brief biographies of all the other musicians on the CDs)

9. ‘Appendix’
A. ‘Close Encounter with Holy Ghost (and Horn) by Carl Woideck
(A short article about Ayler’s saxophones)

B. ‘Sightings’ by Ben Young and Carlos Kase
(A complete Ayler sessionography)

Tous les blues d'Albert Ayler by Simon Guibert
E-Dite, France, 2005, 133 pages.
ISBN 2846081638

Based on the radio documentary by Simon Guibert and Yvon Croizier broadcast on France Musique in February 2005.

Stories, Novel(s), Poems and Essays

‘Now and Then’
First published in Tales by Leroi Jones
New York: Grove Press, 1968, 132 pages.
(currently available in
The Fiction of Leroi Jones /Amiri Baraka
Lawrence Hill Books, 2000, 462 pages,
ISBN 155652353X)

‘Now and Then’, a short story by Leroi Jones, begins:

“This musician and his brother always talked about spirits. They were good musicians, talking about spirits, and they had them, the spirits, and soared with them, when they played. The music would climb, and bombard everything, destroying whole civilizations, it seemed.”

The name ‘Ayler’ never appears, but the connection is obvious.

Leroi Jones, now known as Amiri Baraka, is one of the most important writers of his generation. A respected poet, playwright, essayist and political activist, he was heavily involved in the 'free jazz' scene of the 1960s and was responsible for the recording session which resulted in Sonny’s Time Now. The LP was originally released on his own Jihad label and his performance of his poem Black Art with the group gave rise to a great debate (in England at least, in the pages of ‘Jazz Monthly’) about whether Albert Ayler’s music was politically motivated, or even, given the extreme imagery of Black Art, racist. Ayler's strange 'essay', 'To Mr. Jones - I Had a Vision' was published in Baraka's magazine, 'The Cricket' in 1969 and Baraka also recorded an album by Don Ayler for Jihad which has never been released. Baraka's relationship with the Ayler brothers raises a number of questions, none of which are answered in his contribution to the ‘Holy Ghost’ book (see above). It would have been nice if he'd removed his poet's hat for a while and followed the advice of Joe Friday, but it was not to be.

Albert Ayler Disappeared by F.A. Nettelbeck.
U.S.: Small Pr Distribution, 1989 - out of print

35 short poems, from the 'rare experimentalist who refuses to lose touch with the common American.’

La Marseillaise by Marc-Edouard Nabe
France: La Dilettante, 1989, 38 pages - out of print

An essay on the French national anthem (no English translation), published in a limited edition (666 copies) on the bicentenary of the French Revolution. According to Paul Jimenes (who first let me know about the book):
“The author says that the Marseillaise he prefers is that of Ayler, and that the official french national hymn bothers him. He says why he loves Ayler. It's not a historical book. I have the impression that Nabe made variations on a theme, that he tries to write as Ayler played ... and I reckon that the author reached his aim (we can feel the beginning of the songs, with Ayler and his brother calling people on a slow rhythm, then the frantic choruses, we can feel the rage of the drums, and then the sort of decreasing of the tension...). I think this book is a good description of Ayler's sound and music.”

Les Treize Morts d’Albert Ayler
(The Thirteen Deaths of Albert Ayler)
de Collectif
France: Gallimard (Série noire), 1996, 284 pages - out of print

A collection of 13 short stories published in France. There is no English translation. The preface is by the jazz critic, Michel Contat and the book features 13 stories - plus one - on Ayler. The authors are: Michael Guinzburg, Gilles Anquetil, Patrick Bard, Yves Buin, Jean-Claude Charles, Jerome Charyn, Max Geneve, Jean-Claude Izzo, Thierry Jonquet, Bernard Meyet, Jean-Bernard Pouy, Herve Pruson, Michel Le Bris and Jon A. Jackson.

Mélopée for Albert Ayler the Magnificent
(Recitative for Albert Ayler the Magnificent)
Text by André Verdet. Illustrations by Jean Miotte.
Edited By Dorothea Keeser
Germany: Edition und Verlag Hamburg, 1996, 44 pages,
32 color reproductions
(ISBN 3-928090-04-6) $30.

Dr. Dorothea Keeser provided the following description of this book:

“The book was first published in 1996. The idea came from André Verdet who had known Albert Ayler well (Ayler had visited him in St. Paul de Vence). André Verdet created a poem around Ayler which is half in English and half in French and is printed in the book. It is illustrated by paintings of the artist Jean Miotte. The designer who made the lay-out was inspired by a jazz concert with crescendo and decrescendo, reproducing the painting smaller, bigger etc. During that year it won a prize for the best designed book in Germany. It was published for the opening of the new studio of Jean Miotte in the South of France, where André Verdet gave a concert with his group 'Betelgeuse' for the opening, reciting his song/poem about Ayler as one of the main pieces.”

Although the book is difficult to get hold of through the normal channels, Dr. Keeser does have several copies which can be purchased directly from her at doro@chelseaartmuseum.org. For further information about the artist Jean Miotte visit the website of the Chelsea Art Museum.

Suite pour Albert Ayler
by Zéno Bianu
France: Les Faunes, 2002

French poems. Further information about Zéno Bianu is available here.

Ghosts by Albert Ayler,Ghosts by Albert Ayler
by Merry Fortune
U.S.: Futurepoem Books, 2004, 128 pages,
ISBN 0971680035

Poems. A selection of reviews are available on the Futurepoem site.

Night Work
by Steve Hamilton
U.S.: St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover (Sept 18, 2007)
ISBN: 9780312353612
U.K.: Orion hardcover (March 6, 2008)
ISBN: 9780752873978
Orion trade paperback (March 6, 2008)
ISBN: 9780752885940

A novel by the award-winning author of the acclaimed Alex McKnight series, Night Work features a new character, probation officer, Joe Trumbull - and he's an Albert Ayler fan.

Magazine articles

The Jeff Schwartz website includes a fairly extensive bibliography, citing all the sources used for his biography of Ayler, including magazine articles. The following list includes the most significant items (some of which are available in the Archives section of this site).

Interviews

Val Wilmer: “Musicians Talking: Albert & Don Ayler talk to Valerie Wilmer.” Jazz Monthly (UK), Vol. 12, No. 10, December 1966, p. 11-13. A revised and extended version of this interview entitled, “Spirits Rejoice: Albert & Don Ayler”, was also published in Coda Magazine (Canada), No. 272, March/April 1997, p.4-7. A French version was published in Jazz Magazine (France), September 1996. Extracts from the interview were first published in the article, “Ayler: Mystic Tenor With a Direct Hotline to Heaven?” in Melody Maker (UK), October 15, 1966, p. 6. The interview was recorded by Val Wilmer in September 1966 at 61 Horatio St., New York. The original tape no longer exists.

Nat Hentoff: “The Truth is Marching In.” Downbeat (US), 17 November 1966, p. 16-18, 40. (available offsite)

Frank Kofsky: “An interview with Albert and Don Ayler.” Jazz & Pop (US), September 1968.

Kiyoshi Koyama: "Interview with Albert Ayler." Swing Journal (Japan) October 1970. The interview was recorded on July 25, 1970 in St. Paul-de-Vence, France and was subsequently issued in 2004 on Disc 9 of Revenant’s Holy Ghost box set.

Daniel Caux and Jacqueline Caux: "My Name is Albert Ayler." L'Art Vivant (France), No. 17, February 1971. An English translation of the interview entitled, “The road to freedom”, was first published in The Wire (UK), No. 227, January 2003, p. 38-41. The interview was recorded on July 27, 1970 in St. Paul-de-Vence, France for the France Culture radio station. In 2004 the recording was issued on Disc 8 of Revenant’s Holy Ghost box set.

Bob Rusch: "Donald Ayler: Interview." Cadence (US), February 1979, p. 14-17.

Articles by Albert Ayler

“Untitled” International Times (UK), No. 10, March 13-26, 1967, p. 9.

“To Mr. Jones - I Had A Vision” The Cricket (US), 1969, p. 27-30.

Articles about Ayler

Francois Postif: "Albert Ayler, le Magicien." Jazz Hot (France), No. 213, October, 1965, p. 20-22.

Frank Smith: "His Name is Albert Ayler." Jazz (US), 11 November 1965, p. 11-14.

John Norris: "Three Notes with Albert Ayler." Coda (Canada), April./May 1966, p. 9-11.

Erik Raben: “I Dischi Di Albert Ayler.” Musica Jazz (Italy), August/September 1966, p. 36-39. (Revised version in Orkester Journalen (Sweden) May/June 1967.)

Michel Le Bris: "l'artiste volé par son art." Jazz Hot (France), No. 229, March 1967, p. 16-19.

P. Charles & J. L. Comolli: "Les secrets d'Albert le Grand." Jazz Magazine (France), No. 142, May 1967, p. 34-39.

W. A. Baldwin: “Albert Ayler—Conservative Revolution?” Jazz Monthly (UK), No. 151, September, 1967, p. 15-19, No. 152, October, 1967, p. 15-16, 31, No. 153, November, 1967, p. 9-13, No. 155, January, 1968, p. 10-13, No. 156, February, 1968, p.12-17.

Peter Smids: “A.A.” Gandalf (Netherlands), No. 24, December/January 1967-68.

Martin Schouten: “Albert Ayler En De Tranen Van Stan Laurel” Algemeen Handelsblad (Netherlands) 11 January 1969

Rudy Koopmans: “Albert Ayler: New Grass.” Jazz Wereld (Netherlands), No. 24, June/July 1969, p. 12-18.

Philippe Carles: “La Bataille d’Ayler n’est pas finie.” Jazz Magazine (France), No. 185, January 1971.

John Litweiler: "The Legacy of Albert Ayler." Downbeat (US) 1 April, 1971, p. 14-15, 29.

Ted Joans: "Spiritual Unity—Albert Ayler—Mister AA of Grade Double A Sounds." Coda (Canada), August, 1971, p. 2-4

Philippe Carles, Patrice Blanc-Francard, Steve Lacy, Yasmina Khassani, Jean-Louis Comolli, Pierre Lattès, Daniel Caux, Delfeil de Ton, Jacques Réda: “Un Soir Autour d’Ayler.” Jazz Magazine (France), No. 192, September 1971, p. 26-31, 48-50.

Alain Tercinet, Chris Flicker & Gerard Noel: “Albert Ayler.” Jazz Hot (France), 1971, p. 22-25.

Han Schulte: “De Schreeuw Van Albert Ayler.” Jazz Nu (Netherlands), November 1980, p. 56-73.

Mike Hames: "The Death of Albert Ayler." The Wire (UK), No. 6, Spring 1984, p. 27-28.

Richard Williams: “Blowing In The Wind.” The Guardian (UK), 24 November 2000. (available offsite)

Partworks

“IL JAZZ: 67 - Albert Ayler”, Fratelli Fabri Editori (Italy), 1969.
Text by Franco Fayenz. Music guide by Bruno Schiozzi. 17 page booklet with an EP of three tracks from Love Cry: Ghosts, Love Flower and Zion Hill.

"Jazz. Gli uomini, gli strumenti, gli stili: 82 - Albert Ayler" Fabbri Editori (Italy), 1987.
Text by Franco Fayenz, Bruno Schiozzi and Giacomo Battistella. 28 page booklet with the complete album, Ghosts, on cassette.

“Let’s Jazz: 29 - Albert Ayler” Público (Portugal), 2005.
Text by Pedro Costa, José Duarte and Jorge Lima Barreto. 60 page hardback book, with a compilation CD featuring 9 tracks from the Ayler Impulse catalog: Holy Ghost, Spirits Rejoice and For John Coltrane from Live In Greenwich Village: The Complete Impulse Recordings, New Grass / Message From Albert, Heart Love and New Ghosts from New Grass, Drudgery, Masonic Inborn and Island Harvest from Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe.

Filmography

1. “New York Eye And Ear Control” (US) 1964. 34 mins. Directed by Michael Snow.

“New York Eye and Ear Control prefigures the experiments with perspective and duration that Michael Snow would develop more fully in his later work. Its two-part structure reflects the theme of duality which runs throughout the film both structurally and visually. In the first part, cut-out figures from his Walking Woman Works series of painting and sculptures are placed in various landscapes whose depths contrast with the flat figures. In the second, numerous people pose in a loft with the same figures. The overall calmness of the imagery finds its opposite in the free jazz soundtrack that accompanies it. New York Eye and Ear Control brings together the worlds of jazz and visual art that fed Snow's creativity, but its bluntly obvious structure seems primitive when compared to the more complex structural variations of Wavelength and Back and Forth.” ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide.

Although Ayler was in the group which provided the soundtrack, and also appears in the film (presumably as one of the people posing in the loft), there is no footage of him playing. The film is not available on video or dvd.

2. “Albert Ayler: Le Dernier Concert” (France) 1970. 48 mins. Directed by Jean-Michel Meurice.

A documentary of Ayler’s final concert at the Fondation Maeght. Shot in colour, the film consists of excerpts from the performance intercut with an interview with Albert Ayler conducted by Daniel Caux. The film has been shown at various jazz and film festivals but has never been televised or made available in any commercial form. The film is kept in the archives of the Fondation Maeght in St. Paul-de-Vence and can be viewed on the premises.

3. “My Name Is Albert Ayler” (Sweden) 2005. 79 mins. Directed by Kasper Collin.

“To make Albert Ayler live again is a daunting task for a filmmaker, because little archival footage exists of Ayler’s life and career. But through an inspired assemblage of photos, rare films, music, audio interviews with Ayler and extensive recent filmed interviews with family members, friends and fellow artists, Ayler is indeed made flesh. The interviews with Ayler’s 89-year-old father, his brother/sideman Donald Ayler (who now struggles with mental illness) and drummer Sunny Murray rivet the viewer’s imagination and haunt it when the film is over. Director Collin achieves the almost impossible: He creates a portrait of artistic sainthood that is persuasive and unsentimental. My Name Is Albert Ayler is one of the most starkly beautiful and moving documentaries ever made about a jazz musician.” ~ Thomas Conrad, Jazz Times Magazine.

“My Name Is Albert Ayler” has been shown in Sweden and at various film festivals, including its U.S. premiere at the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle in October 2005. It contains footage of an Ayler TV broadcast from his 1966 European tour, but, as yet, is not available on video or dvd. Try the film’s own website for further information.

***

Ayler Soundtracks

Ayler’s music is used in the following films:

1. “Drømme støjer ikke når de dør” (“Dreams Make No Noise When They Die“) (Denmark) 1979. Directed by Christian Braad Thomsen.
Track: ‘Truth Is Marching In’.

2. “L'Homme Blessé” (“The Wounded Man”) (France) 1983. Directed by Patrice Chéreau.
Track: 'Heart Love' from New Grass.

3. “Who Needs a Heart” (UK/Germany) 1991. Directed by John Akomfrah.
Track: ‘Vibrations’.

4. “Eureka” (Japan) 2000. Directed by Shinji Aoyama.
Track: ‘Ghosts, first variation’, from Prophecy.

5. “Inside Out in the Open” (US) 2001. Directed by Alan Roth. (Documentary)
Track: ‘Spirits Rejoice’.

***

TV Appearances

Ayler made several appearances on TV during his career. Unfortunately this was in the days before video recorders and most of the TV companies involved did not preserve the original tapes, so most of the footage has been lost. Kasper Collin’s documentary, “My Name Is Albert Ayler”, does include some TV footage from Ayler’s 1966 tour but, as yet, I have no details of its origin, although the presence of Ralf Schulte-Bahrenberg’s name in the end credits does suggest it’s from the Berlin concert.

1. 1962 (poss. 16/11) TV-Byen: Copenhagen, Denmark. Cecil Taylor Quartet. Soundtrack survives and is included on Holy Ghost.

2. 1966 (3/11) Berlin Jazz Festival. Albert Ayler Quintet. Soundtrack survives and is included on Holy Ghost.

3. 1966 (prob. 4,5 or 6/11) SWF Television Studio, Munich, Germany. Albert Ayler Quintet.

4. 1966 (10/11) Koncerthus, Stockholm, Sweden. Albert Ayler Quintet. Soundtrack survives but has not been officially released. I have seen this listed as a TV broadcast, but the ‘Sightings’ section in the Holy Ghost book does not confirm this, referring to it as a ‘location broadcast recording’, so it could just have been a radio broadcast.

5. 1966 (15/11) BBC, UK. Recorded at the London School of Economics for BBC2’s “Jazz Goes To College” series, the concert was never broadcast and the tapes were later wiped.

[According to the Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv Frankfurt, material from the 1966 recordings were broadcast on German TV as follows:

“Studio III - Jazz-Tage Berlin 1966”. Date of transmission: 11/11/66. TV company: SFB (Sender Freies Berlin). “Proszenium - Eröffnungskonzert der Berliner Jazztage 1966”. Date of transmission: 27/1/67.TV Company: WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk).
“Jazz und Folklore - Aufnahmen von den Berliner Jazztagen 1966/67”.Date of transmission: 29/9/68. WDR.
“Musik ‘Zur Nacht’ - Das Albert Ayler Quintett”. Date of transmission: ?/11/66. WDR.
“Musik ‘Zur Nacht’ - Das Albert Ayler Quintett”. Date of transmission: 9/8/67. WDR.

The only other sighting of Ayler video footage, presumably from the German broadcasts, occurred in a discussion programme about the state of jazz entitled "Jazz is niet dood", broadcast in the Netherlands on 15th July 1970, by ‘AVRO-tv via Nederland 2’.]


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