ESP-Disk label founder Bernard Stollman has died at the age of 85. He had been fighting colon cancer since 2014, according to a statement the label have issued, that had spread to his spine and he was also suffering from pneumonia and had low blood oxygen.

Stollman set up ESP-Disk in 1963 (the ESP standing for Esperanto) and it quickly became synonymous with the avant garde, artists such as Albert Ayler – free-jazz classic Spiritual Unity for instance was an early release – Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, and Cecil Taylor joining the label roster. The label ceased operations in the mid-1970s but resumed in 2005 fourteen years after Stollman’s retirement as Assistant Attorney General of the State of New York. A memorial service for Stollman is to be held in New York next month. Bernard Stollman, above. Photo: ESP