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.
Comment
03/13/08
My Name Is Albert Ayler (2007)
94 %
Reviews Counted: 16 Fresh: 15 Rotten:1 Average Rating: 7.2/10
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 79 mins
Theatrical Release: Mar 7, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: This documentary from Sweden resurrects jazz musician Albert Ayler. The avant-garde saxophone player only lived for 34 years, but his innovative approach still affects musicians today. MY NAME IS ALBERT AYLER explores his short life and mysterious death and features rare film of the... [More]
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Director: Kasper Collin
Reviews
1 - 16 (sorted by date)
well-researched documentary is an impressionistic portrait of a man whose ecstatic braying tenor sax still sounds fresh.
03/13/08
Top Critic
Brings a sense of logic and humanity to a man whose music was as unsettling as it was untethered to the tenets of jazz.
03/05/08
Top Critic
An affectionate and compassionate screen poem, incorporating reminiscences with Ayler's music and his musings gleaned from interviews, and also an excursion into the past to connect to a sense of the times that informed his existence.
03/01/08
Top Critic Top Critic
You don't have to like or even appreciate Ayler's striking brand of music to be moved by this heartfelt tribute.
11/28/07
The Ohio-born tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler probably would have gotten a kick out of Kasper Collin’s documentary about his life.
11/08/07
Top Critic
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.
11/08/07
Top Critic
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.
11/07/07
Top Critic
A loving and elegantly crafted documentary that charts the saxophonist's commitment to his art, often in the face of dire poverty, family illness, and neglect by American audiences.
02/09/07
Working wonders with limited source material, Collin's moving tribute proves the power of simple storytelling and understatement while helping us hear Ayler's extraordinary music with fresh ears.
02/09/07
An interesting history of a leading figure in an important American artform.
02/09/07
A tender and slightly unsettling love letter to iconic avant-garde saxophonist Albert Ayler.
02/09/07
1 - 16 (sorted by date)
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