Holy Ghost: The Life and Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler

Review by Ken Waxman

He was and is arguably the most enigmatic figures among the many star-crossed avatars who from the beginning have been part of the history of Jazz, probably the world’s most romantic music. But few consistent details have surfaced about the life, sudden fame and equally mysterious death of saxophonist Albert Ayler (1936-1970).

Brought up in a religious household in Cleveland and finding his way as a journeyman player in the US and Europe, Ayler turned the Jazz world on its proverbial ear in 1964 when Spiritual Unity, ESP-Disk’s first release, cemented his reputation as the farthest out of all the far-out musical explorers group, whose Free Jazz experiments were labelled The New Thing.

Yet in subsequent interviews, the saxophonist whose public statements could be as gnostic and enigmatic as those  of his contemporary Bob Dylan, suggested what others thought were revolutionary sounds were in fact a continuum of the Jazz, Blues and Gospel traditions that had nurtured his life and Jazz from its beginning. Unearthed European recording found him playing a mixture of standards and ecclesiastical material and nearly every one of his compositions was titled with religious or biblical references. While he fronted bands of various sizes, many featuring his trumpet playing brother Donald, and was gaining some Jazz acceptance, by 1967 the saxophonist made another volte face. The highpoint of hippies, psychedelics and during the Summer of Love, a new contract with Impulse records found him recording shorter, more simplified versions of his compositions, adding electric instruments, and vocals, including his own, and with the results sweetened by overdubbed horn sections. His unexpected suicide by drowning in 1970 gave rise to multiple theories about his death and added to his mythical status, which if anything has grown in the past 50 plus years. Today Rock and Metal musicians are as likely to cite him as an influence as younger Jazz players.

In his first book attorney Richard Koloda attempts to put Ayler’s life and work in perspective, and to do so has painstakingly combing through the archives and collected as much material as possible from published sources and personal interviews. He also cites without comment many contemporary and present-day reviews of Ayler’s music to give an idea of its reception. Importantly the author reconstructs Ayler’s journey through those who knew him intimately, especially local Cleveland improvisers like retired bassist Mutawaf Shaheed, and Bill Folwell, a member of the saxophonist’s final working band. He’s also one of the first commentators to follow the entire star-crossed saga of Ayler’s relationship with Donald Ayler (1942-2007). Sadly the trumpeter descended deeper and deeper into metal illness after leaving the Ayler band and returning to his home town. However Koloda, who had developed a rapport with Donald following a radio interview, maintained contact over the years, and makes original use of the trumpeter’s first-hand insights on his brother’s life  and clues to the saxophonist’s spiritual mystique. Touching on details of Ayler’s personnel  life as it evolved, Koloda’s book also puts into context how changes in the saxophonist’s intimate relationships, use of drugs, religious upbringing and the general perception of exploratory Black Jazz musicians in what to him was a hostile US context  affected his musical ideas, concepts and development.

Although the tenor saxophonist projected a street-smart persona and dressed the part, Ayer actually had a middle-class upbringing with music and church services twin fascinations. A committed bebopper before his US Army stint, he appears to have developed his unique style on his own, and its non-acceptance by locals led him back to Europe, In Scandinavia he recorded for the eccentric Frippe Nordström and talked his way into joining pianist Cecil Taylor’ group with drummer Sunny Marray. These contacts encouraged his subsequent move to New York. Launching Bernard Stollman’s ESP Disk as a Jazz label,  the saxophonist quickly recorded more sessions for it and was featured in important concerts in the city in the company of accepted Jazz stars like John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy.

It was at this point that Donald Ayler joined his brother’s band. With critical and musicians views divided as to whether the younger Ayler added a unique dimension to the Ayler group or that Albert was merely babysitting his brother, the first question about the saxophonist’s musical direction surfaced. Later when tastemakers like Amiri Baraka and Frank Kofsky were insisting on the linkage between The New Thing and Black Nationalism, the saxophonist remained mostly apolitical, declaring that his sound was universal and not limited to one race. Adding white string players to his band at different times, including a European tour further reinforced this view and alienated some of his more strident followers.

Despite European and some American acclaim Ayler was still struggling to make a living from music in 1968 and it was at this time he began simplifying his themes. His relationship with Mary Parks began at that time as well. Described as a rock’n’roller who was initially handling his business affairs, her hippie era songs, poems and vocalizing soon became  the main focus of Ayler’s music. He also experimented with Jazz-Rock Fusion at the time, recording and playing with Rock guitarist Henry Vestine and others. It was also around this time that due to his increasingly erratic behavior and disputes with his brother that Donald Ayler was fired from the band, a situation that would eventually cause more problems for the saxophonist.

Despite his attempts at fusion Ayler still hadn’t made the breakthrough other jazz musicians had,  although a headlining Japanese tour was in the offing. Eventually his demeanor changed and his daily behavior became dangerous unpredictable according to friends. After he argued with Parks and was missing for a few days,  his corpse, with his passport still in his back pocket, was found floating in New York’s East River. Gossip linked his death to an organized crime vendetta or heavy drug use. However it retrospect it appears that the stresses of the music business, his fraying relationship with Parks and pressure from his own family, which blamed him for Donald Ayler’s problems, led him to take the ultimate step.

As well as offering opinions on Ayler’s influence and legacy, Holy Ghost is particularly valuable because rather than presenting suppositions, Koloda has done the research to itemize exactly why such opinions were formed and how true or false they may be. The book also includes 28 pages of end notes and bibliography, though an index would have been helpful as well. In spite of that Holy Ghost stands as a shining example of musical scholarship that can also be read by the non-specialist for insights into Ayler and the birth of the American Free Jazz scene in general. In short it undoubtedly will become a defining reference source for years to come.