Swedish filmmaker Kasper Collin’s 2005 documentary My Name Is Albert Ayler is a fascinating look at one of the most enigmatic figures in modern jazz. Albert Ayler’s aggressive, raw, ecstatic free jazz took music even further out than his friend, mentor and admirer John Coltrane had. Ayler famously said “Trane was the Father, Pharoah [Sanders] was the Son, I am the Holy Ghost.”

Ayler regarded his screaming, squawking, deeply spiritual form of jazz as “the healing force of the universe,” and wanted to impart on his listeners “wisdom through music.” His wildly aggressive saxophone improvisations blew the doors off all else going on at the time, although he never attained much more than a cult following during his lifetime, or in the years since his (presumed) suicide in 1970 at the age of 34. He didn’t leave behind the easiest music to listen to—it can take years of effort before you “get” Ayler—but the effort is worth it.

My Name Is Albert Ayler contains the only known performance footage of Ayler and his group playing in Sweden and in France in the mid-60s. It also features in-depth interviews with Ayler’s father, Edward, his trumpeter brother Donald and influential free jazz drummer “Sunny” Murray.

Short parts of the film are in Swedish, but most of it is in English. In 2004, Revenant Records released the highly recommended nine CD box set, Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70)