Late last year, we told you about a new book, Holy Ghost: The Life and Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler, written about avant-garde jazz legend Ayler, whose mystique has only grown since his death in 1970 at the age of 30. The book is the first full-length study of the musician, written by Richard Koloda, a NE Ohio lawyer who has a master’s degree in musicology from Cleveland State University and who was a friend of Ayler’s brother Don. Koloda contributed to previous Ayler projects, including a Swedish documentary and a ten-CD retrospective of his work.
The book has now been shortlisted for the prestigious Jazz Journalists Association Book Award, in the biography/autobiography category, presented by the Jazz Journalists Association in its 28th awards season. It’s competing against biographies of Sonny Rollins and Bill Frisell and Michael Wolfe’s autobiography.
The final award will be voted on by JJA professional members, with results announced in early May.
Sax player, vocalist and composer Albert Ayler grew up in Cleveland where he graduated from John Adams High School in the mid ’50s. After a stint in the army and some peripatetic years, he settled in New York City where he became a legend in the then-thriving avant-garde jazz community, although he never found a large audience. That was due in large part to the fact that even most serious jazz listeners didn’t know what to make of him. He worked on the fringes of free jazz, but never quite fit that mold either. His music was highly experimental and radically unique, often (apparently) formless, often reflecting a deeply personal and unorthodox form of spirituality. His death in 1970 at the age of 34 — he was found floating in NYC’s East River, an apparent suicide — only enhanced his legend.
Learn more about the awards here.
One Response to “Bio About Cleveland Sax Pioneer Albert Ayler Shortlisted for Jazz Journalists Prize”
Colmo
John Adams HS in CLE should honor Ayler!