Roland Kirk

[sidewinder]

Mañana!

Indeed, I'll second that - and not forgetting the guest appearance by Flash Gordon !

[Guest Bill Barton]

up...

for bluenote82

The place to start is Rip, Rig & Panic or - finances allowing - the Mercury box.

And this thread.

Edited February 24, 2008 by Bill Barton

[six string]

Two years ago (on this thread), Slightly Latin took something of a beating. Without diminishing the merits of any of his other albums, I'll go on record stating that this has always been my favorite Kirk record. I think it's too easy to be turned off by it on first listen (what with a Beatles cover, a Bacharach cover, and wordless vocals), but if you keep listening to what Kirk actually puts down as far as saxophone (and kazoo) playing ... damn!

To start, check out his tenor/stritch solo on "Raouf" — that's some structure there, Jack. Then check out his baritone saxophone solo on "Juarez" — Pat Patrick watch out! And have you ever heard "Walk On By" ripped up that hard? Bacharach probably couldn't sit down for a month after that version was recorded.

The Garnett Brown arrangements and Coleridge Perkinson vocal arrangements put Kirk at ease to have fun and swing hard. It seems to me Kirk's most natural element.

Mañana!

I'll give this another listen, but I'm a big fan of Rhasan and I'm underwhelmed by Slightly Latin and there are very few albums by him that I feel that way about.

[AndrewHill]

Good point Bill.

I will repost here for the same poster mentioned, that I posted in a thread that does not have to do with RRk recommendations:

"I'd suggest that that is not the best place to start with Kirk. If you really want to hear Kirk, start with 'We Free kings' (my personal favorite-Three for the Festival for me sums up Kirk's genius), 'Rip, Rig or Panic/Now Don't You Cry beautiful Edith', Domino (it has Andrew Hill on it for Christ's sake) or The Inflated Tear. In fact, as some will surely suggest, the Roland Kirk Mercury Box is an excellent place to discover Kirk, although I don't have it due to cost restrictions, I do have a few of the Mercury's as single disks and they are just terrific stuff. Kirk's a treasure and one of the most unique jazz musicians in the canon. There's so much more to recommend (Kirk's Works, Bright Moments, etc) that you will find yourself emersed in so much great music. In other words, give him another try!"

[AndrewHill]

I'd also like to heap some praise on the Jazz Corps disk, which could be had for cheap!

[B. Clugston]

Two years ago (on this thread), Slightly Latin took something of a beating. Without diminishing the merits of any of his other albums, I'll go on record stating that this has always been my favorite Kirk record. I think it's too easy to be turned off by it on first listen (what with a Beatles cover, a Bacharach cover, and wordless vocals), but if you keep listening to what Kirk actually puts down as far as saxophone (and kazoo) playing ... damn!

To start, check out his tenor/stritch solo on "Raouf" — that's some structure there, Jack. Then check out his baritone saxophone solo on "Juarez" — Pat Patrick watch out! And have you ever heard "Walk On By" ripped up that hard? Bacharach probably couldn't sit down for a month after that version was recorded.

The Garnett Brown arrangements and Coleridge Perkinson vocal arrangements put Kirk at ease to have fun and swing hard. It seems to me Kirk's most natural element.

Mañana!

My favourite as well. A bit of kitch factor for sure (and a bit of a quiche factor) but some great playing. Love that baritone! I know there's better Kirk, but I spin this one the most.

[clifford_thornton]

I was intrigued by it nearly enough to pick up a nice vinyl copy for $30. By "nearly enough" meaning that I passed but will try to nab it again if I see it.

(And yes, I know there are CDs if all else fails!)

[Guest bluenote82]

What's an album where Kirk is playing just one saxophone....not 30 at the same time for the whole album?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

What's an album where Kirk is playing just one saxophone....not 30 at the same time for the whole album?

Les McCann at Montreux - Kirk comes on for side 4, unannounced.

MG

[sidewinder]

I was intrigued by it nearly enough to pick up a nice vinyl copy for $30. By "nearly enough" meaning that I passed but will try to nab it again if I see it.

(And yes, I know there are CDs if all else fails!)

Go for it !

[marcello]

What's an album where Kirk is playing just one saxophone....not 30 at the same time for the whole album?

He used all of his tools on every recording, that is there is not just one record under his own name where he just sticks to say, tenor. Plase correct me if I'm wrong.

Too bad you didn't see him live, but why don't you pick up that Mingus record where he jams on Perdido, up and out and over on tenor (maybe some stritch in there too).

Even George Adams was scared!

[B. Clugston]

That "Perdido" solo is incredible.

[Bright Moments]

That "Perdido" solo is incredible.

[Nate Dorward]

What's an album where Kirk is playing just one saxophone....not 30 at the same time for the whole album?

He used all of his tools on every recording, that is there is not just one record under his own name where he just sticks to say, tenor. Plase correct me if I'm wrong.

I remember that late in life, after the stroke, Kirk did play mostly just on tenor, using one hand. I caught an hour of this material on Ted O'Reilly's old show once, & it was just incredible--& incredibly moving too.

[analogak]

my favorite is return of the 5000 lb man.

i generally do not like vocals and this album has some singing but it is very nice. good players on it-persip, buster williams, etc. the version of giant steps is beautiful. was this post-stroke? rrk seems pretty laid back. which is maybe why i like it. i have the latin one people are discussing. it is fun. some of it wears pretty thin but the good parts are worth relistening to.

[Bright Moments]

my favorite is return of the 5000 lb man.

i generally do not like vocals and this album has some singing but it is very nice. good players on it-persip, buster williams, etc. the version of giant steps is beautiful. was this post-stroke? rrk seems pretty laid back. which is maybe why i like it. i have the latin one people are discussing. it is fun. some of it wears pretty thin but the good parts are worth relistening to.

this was recorded before his first stroke

Edited February 24, 2008 by Bright Moments

[marcello]

I remember that late in life, after the stroke, Kirk did play mostly just on tenor, using one hand. I caught an hour of this material on Ted O'Reilly's old show once, & it was just incredible--& incredibly moving too.

Nate, I saw him at the Vangurd post stroke where he played tenor and a bent flute with one hand. And he sang his ass of on "Make me a Pallet on the Floor".

Hiton Ruiz, Sonny Brown and Steve Turre were in the band.

Another time I saw Him at the Colonial Tavern in Toronto, which had a elevated stage, high ceiling and a balcony. The band started playing and RRK emerged from a door on ther ground floor playing (a intense circular breathing solo on tenor) and walking through the crowd for a long time, right up the stairs to the center of the stage, and then he took the energy up even higher. It was fuckin' great. Incredible even.

[John L]

What's an album where Kirk is playing just one saxophone....not 30 at the same time for the whole album?

He used all of his tools on every recording, that is there is not just one record under his own name where he just sticks to say, tenor. Plase correct me if I'm wrong.

I remember that late in life, after the stroke, Kirk did play mostly just on tenor, using one hand. I caught an hour of this material on Ted O'Reilly's old show once, & it was just incredible--& incredibly moving too.

I saw him post-stroke playing 2-3 instruments simulataneously.

[Guest Bill Barton]

bluenote82:

Regarding Rahsaan's latter days, I heard him twice in performance post-cerebral vascular incident. Both times he was still playing two horns simultaneously using a modified harness.

Marcello made a good point that the multi-saxophone and multi-instrument playing came with the territory. Why did he do it? Because he could! If you haven't closely checked out Root Strata: Natural Black Inventions that would be a good place to start to begin appreciating just how singular his muse was. No, it's not about a "horn section." The story of how dream imagery inspired Rahsaan to pick up the technique is well-documented. He called it "spherical breathing" as opposed to "circular breathing." Other players have used multiple saxophones, but Rah was unique in the fact that he could play a drone or through-bass on the tenor and separate, interlocking melodies on the stritch and manzello. But this is only part of what he was about.

He would have a secure place in the pantheon of jazz greats if he had played only tenor, or only flute. Then, of course, there's always the seemingly impossible combination of embouchures employed on "Carney and Bigard Place" from Meeting of the Times with Al Hibbler, where he pays tribute to Harry Carney and Barney Bigard of Mr. Ellington's band by playing clarinet and baritone saxophone simultaneously. Or the "saxophonium" where he played the tenor without the reed (kind of like speaking without a tongue.) Although he was panned for "gimmickry" early on, there's no question that there are musical reasons for all of these things. The man just heard things that the rest of us can only imagine, and his genius managed to let us hear those things too.

I'd also recommend John Kruth's biography of Rahsaan, Bright Moments. It's a colorfully written book that includes some great stories from friends, family and colleagues.

I Talk With The Spirits - which is included on the Rahsaan! The Complete Mercury Recordings of Roland Kirk box - is an all-flute album, by the way.

Edited February 24, 2008 by Bill Barton

[AndrewHill]

The Inflated Tear has more tenor sax than normal, but he does not stcik to a single instrument throughout.

Edited February 25, 2008 by Holy Ghost

[six string]

I really enjoyed the book Bright Moments too. If you're remotely interested in the man and his music you should pick it up.

The live album of the same title is great too and I Talk With the Spirits is one of my favorite albums by him. I wish I could have seen him in concert. I did go to a tribute show for him with Steve Turre in San Francisco several years ago and it was great, but as Steve said during the show, it takes three horn players up here on the stage to do what Rhasan did by himself!

[Guest Bill Barton]

I just came across this video tonight. It's the first one that I can recall seeing where Rah doesn't wear his dark glasses and this "Balm in Gilead" just smokes.

[Bright Moments]

I just came across this video tonight. It's the first one that I can recall seeing where Rah doesn't wear his dark glasses and this "Balm in Gilead" just smokes.