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Sunny Murray, Gary Peacock, Albert Ayler, Michael Sampson, Edward Ayler ... see more see more... , Donald Ayler , Bernard Stollman

With his documentary My Name Is Albert Ayler, Swedish filmmaker Kasper Collin pays unbridled homage to the titular musician, one of the most innovative and electric but least-known figures in contempo... read more read more...rary jazz. Ayler's obscurity is at least as attributable to his short lifespan as it is to his musical iconoclasm -- he died under bizarre and inexplicable circumstances in late 1970; on November 5 of that year, Manhattan police found his 34-year-old body floating in the city's East River, possibly (though not definitively) a victim of suicide. Collin approaches Ayler's life as a straightforward narrative, segueing smoothly from touchstone to touchstone. The picture thus covers the musician's upbringing in Cleveland, OH; his performances on the saxophone and oboe in a military band; his critical, shaping experiences in touring R&B groups across the U.S.; and finally, his decision to spin that R&B music off into an unprecedented form of experimental jazz on the landscapes of New York City and Stockholm, Sweden. Collin's narrative ends, of course, with speculation on Ayler's death. Collin devotes much screen time to an exploration of Ayler's friendship with the legendary John Coltrane, and to the sad reality that during the 1960s, truly groundbreaking jazz by African-American artists could only flourish in über-progressive Europe. Throughout the picture, the documentarian works in extremely rare archival footage of Ayler, and roots much of his narrative in interviews with such key figures as Ayler's Sunday school teacher father (in his nineties at the time of this production); Ayler's brother Donald, also a musician, and one with a history of severe mental disturbance; and a number of Ayler's nonfamilial musical collaborators including Sunny Murray and Gary Peacock. (Ayler's romantic partner and sometime musical collaborator, Mary Parks, declined to appear onscreen, though Collin works in extracts from a telephone interview with her.) It goes without saying that My Name Is Albert Ayler represents the only documentary portrait to date of the wondrous musician. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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65% liked it

594 ratings

Critics

94% liked it

17 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 19 min.

Directed by: Kasper Collin

Release Date: March 7, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (36)

  • decals74
    April 16, 2010
    decals74
    sad, beautiful and truly insightful. worth watching even if you think avant/free jazz is just ridiculous noise. Ayler's dedication to his vision of new expression is eerily manic but so pure and persuasive. completely inimitable and raw, r.i.p. Albert.

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Critic Reviews

March 13, 2008
Los Angeles Times

well-researched documentary is an impressionistic portrait of a man whose ecstatic braying tenor sax still sounds fresh.

Phil Gallo
March 5, 2008
Phil Gallo, Variety

Brings a sense of logic and humanity to a man whose music was as unsettling as it was untethered to the tenets of jazz. Full Review

Tayt Harlin
February 8, 2008
Tayt Harlin, New York Magazine

Illuminates Ayler's aesthetic of pure sense experience. Full Review

Richard Brody
February 7, 2008
Richard Brody, New Yorker

A cause for rejoicing. Full Review

Matt Zoller Seitz
November 8, 2007
Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times

The Ohio-born tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler probably would have gotten a kick out of Kasper Collin's documentary about his life. Full Review

Andrew O'Hehir
November 8, 2007
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

Kasper Collin's film portrays a confident but troubled man, who never doubted that posterity would discover him, and consoled himself that prominent American composer Charles Ives had to work a day job. Full Review

Aaron Hillis
November 7, 2007
Aaron Hillis, Village Voice

Collin's melancholy, beautiful feature debut does more than just chronicle this undervalued musician; it brings Ayler and his message of spiritual unity back to life. Full Review

Maitland McDonagh
September 2, 2008
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide

The story of his [subject Albert Ayler's] troubled life and premature death is engrossing without prior knowledge of his place in the history of experimental jazz. Full Review

Andy Klein
March 13, 2008
Andy Klein, Los Angeles CityBeat

Collin gives us a valuable look at the difference between the open-minded European jazz scene and an American culture that relegated artists like Ayler to second-class citizenship.

Sara Maria Vizcarrondo
March 13, 2008
Sara Maria Vizcarrondo, Boxoffice Magazine

Smart and savvy doc Full Review

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