My Name Is Albert Ayler

Review

The brilliant saxophonist Albert Ayler never won as much attention as other forward-thinking mid-century players like John Coltrane, but his influence has been profound. Kasper Collin’s documentary puts a human face on Ayler’s legacy, detailing his often financially precarious existence spent traveling from his hometown of Cleveland to Sweden and then New York, baffling people with atemporal bursts of sound. It also illuminates Ayler’s aesthetic of pure sense experience, which has inspired free-jazz exponents generations later. As Ayler once said, “If people don’t like it now, they will.” — Tayt Harlin