ABSTRACT
Ayler, born in Cleveland, Ohio, became one of the most radical practitioners of the free jazz movement of the 1960s. His father, a tenor saxophonist, began giving him lessons on the alto sax when he was seven. He played the alto in R&B groups while in his teens and switched to tenor during his service with an army band from 1958 to 1961. Ayler spent his most productive years from 1962 to 1968 travelling back and forth from Europe to New York.
