Holy Ghost: The Life and Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler by Koloda, Richard

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

Regular price$24.95
/
Shipping calculated at checkout.

Format
Holy Ghost is the first extended study of free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler, who is seen today as one of the most important innovators in the history of jazz.

Ayler synthesized children's songs, La Marseillaise, American march music, and gospel hymns, turning them into powerful, rambunctious, squalling free-jazz improvisations. Some critics considered him a charlatan, others a heretic for unhinging the traditions of jazz. Some simply considered him insane. However, like most geniuses, Ayler was misunderstood in his time. His divine messages of peace and love, apocalyptic visions of flying saucers, and the strange account of the days leading up to his being found floating in New York's East River are central to his mystique, but, as Koloda points out, they are a distraction, overshadowing his profound impact on the direction of jazz as one of the most visible avant-garde players of the 1960s and a major influence on others, including John Coltrane.

A musicologist and friend of Don Ayler, Albert's troubled trumpet-playing brother, Richard Koloda has spent over two decades researching this book. He follows Ayler from his beginnings in his native Cleveland to France, where he received his greatest acclaim, to his untimely death on November 25, 1970, at age thirty-four, and puts to rest speculation concerning his mysterious death.

A feat of biography and a major addition to jazz scholarship, Holy Ghost offers a new appreciation of one of the most important and controversial figures in twentieth-century music.




Author: Richard Koloda
Publisher: Jawbone Press
Published: 11/15/2022
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.80w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781911036937


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 10/15/2022 pg. 17
Library Journal 11/01/2022 pg. 110

We offer worldwide shipping.

All baymarbookgroup.ca orders over $100
(before taxes) are eligible for FREE standard shipping within Canada and
the United States.

Estimated Delivery Times Outside the USA

Area / Country Standard International Shipping
(Not Trackable)
International Courier Trackable 
Asia 10-14 days 4-6 days
Australia 18-20 days 4-6 days
Canada 10-14 days 4-6 days
Caribbean 14-18 days 4-6 days
Europe 10-14 days 4-6 days
India 16-20 days 4-6 days
Latin America 10-14 days 4-6 days
Middle East 16-20 days 4-6 days

Recently viewed