'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - A Standing Eight (1975&76&77)

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - A Standing Eight (1975&76&77)

jazz | 3lp on 2cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 950MB

32Jazz

Allaboutjazz:
These two CD's include the last three albums recorded by this most extraordinary of extraordinary musicians: The Return of the 5000 lb. Man, Kirkatron, and Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real. They're particularly poignant because of the circumstances in which they appeared: 5000 lb. Man landed in the can only a short time before Kirk's debilitating stroke; Kirkatron was assembled from outtakes and soundchecks during his recovery; and Boogie-Woogie was heroically recorded by a half-paralyzed Kirk who was determined to go out unbowed. Under these circumstances it's difficult at times to evaluate the music: the last two records are not vintage Kirk, (although they both have their moments), but they can't be separated from the way they came to be. And certainly second-line Kirk is head and shoulders above a good deal of first-line material being put out these days.
So 5000 lb. Man is the strongest of these three LP's, and it's as heavy as its title. Kirk plays his reeds roughly throughout, leaning lovingly toward his r&b roots and adding in heaping helpings of declamatory archness and sidelong romanticism. Like the LP's collected on 32's previous collection, Aces Back to Back, this one starts off with spoken (somewhat hectoring) introduction, this one by a woman explaining that a "Eulipion" is a "journey agent." If Rahsaan Roland Kirk can be called anything, "journey agent" is apt, for this record and the other two take us on his characteristic well-plotted and far-reaching journeys: into genres forgotten and familiar songs transmuted. On this "Theme for the Eulipions" and throughout this album his playing is brawny, with a soft center: on "I'll Be Seeing You" he achieves an aching tenderness. He towers so high over his sidemen that it's as if he's playing in a different galaxy. But this album can't be classified as essential Kirk for the cloying, dated vocals on "There Will Never Be Another You" and, appallingly, John Coltrane's "Giant Steps." "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," which also gets a vocal treatment, is a bit better, but on the whole the vocals on this album show the hazard of Kirk's famous eclecticism: who but a Lawrence Welk or Hi-Lo's fan would appreciate this stuff, and how many Welkians jam to Rahsaan?
Kirkatron is, by its very nature, even more of a mixed bag. There are some unqualified gems: on "J. Griff's Blues" the master circular-breathes over a standard blues form before an enthusiastic crowd. His technique is all the more astonishing for his high level of lyricism and architectonic coherence: this is a track for the All-Time Best-Of-The-Best. Otherwise the album suffers from too many anonymous Seventies funk arrangements; probably if Rahsaan had been able to get this one exactly the way he wanted it it might have been been more exploratory; still, we get a "Bagpipe Melody" (but no bagpipes, just a few horns at once!), a funky "Night in Tunisia" ably played by the Man, and a cloying-vocal "Bright Moments" (probably left over from the 5000 lb. sessions. All in all it's a bit uneven, with some highs as high as anyone could want, and some lows to match.
Then comes the stricken Kirk's last effort. Where he once towered over his backgrounds, now he shares center-stage with others. But there is nothing pathetic here. His playing is more understated than it had been, (with just a bit of a flutter on "I Loves You Porgy" only), but he displays a Milesian keenness of placement and keeps the mood high throughout. As befits the title, most of this album is blues and boogie-woogie (the title track is just what it says: a boogie-woogie performed with strings), with Kirk investing old forms with new vitality just like in the old days. Knowing that he was playing with just one hand makes this one of the most extraordinary efforts by a man for whom the extraordinary was commonplace, but it holds up well on its own merits also. On "In a Mellow Tone" his solo murmurs and ruminates; he sings "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor" with delightful verve; his judgment is peremptory on "Watergate Blues."
Three last masterworks: if it's not the best Kirk, at least it's some of the best music. We have 32 Jazz and Joel Dorn to thank that this music can still be heard. Hear it.

Tracks
cd1
-01. "Theme for the Eulipions" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk / Betty Neals - 9:22
-02. "Sweet Georgia Brown" - Ben Bernie / Kenneth Casey / Maceo Pinkard" - 5:07
-03. "I'll Be Seeing You" - Sammy Fain / Irving Kahal" - 6:07
-04. "Loving You" - Minnie Riperton / Richard Rudolph" - 4:42
-05. "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk / Charles Mingus" - 6:17
-06. "There Will Never Be Another You" - Mack Gordon / Harry Warren" - 5:08
-07. "Giant Steps" - John Coltrane" - 6:11
-08. "Serenade to a Cuckoo" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk" - 3:40
-09. "This Masquerade" - Leon Russell" - 5:31
-10. "Sugar" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk / Stanley Turrentine" - 3:27
-11. "Los Angeles Negro Chorus" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk - 0:26
-12. "Steppin' into Beauty" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk" - 6:42
-13. "The Christmas Song" - Mel Tormé / Robert Wells" - 3:34

cd2
-01. "Bagpipe Medley" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk" - 2:38
-02. "Mary McLeod Bethune" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk - 0:24
-03. "Bright Moments" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk" - 4:14
-04. "Lyriconon" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk" - 4:10
-05. "A Night in Tunisia" - Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli" - 4:59
-06. "J. Griff's Blues" - Traditional" - 7:41
-07. "Boogie Woogie String Along for Real" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk" - 8:52
-08. "I Loves You, Porgy" - George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward" - 1:51
-09. "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor" - Traditional" - 7:14
-10. "Hey Babebips" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk" - 5:10
-11. "In a Mellow Tone" - Duke Ellington / Milt Gabler" - :15
-12. "Summertime" - George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward" - 1:40
-13. "Dorthaan's Walk" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk" - 7:08
-14. "Watergate Blues" - Percy Heath" - 6:35

 sample & buy: Standing Eight 

 

Rahsaan Roland Kirk & Al Hibbler - A Meeting Of The Times (1972)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk & Al Hibbler - A Meeting Of The Times (1972)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 250MB

Atlantic Masters

Allmusic:
On first glance this LP combines together a pair of unlikely musical partners; the unique multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Duke Ellington's former ballad singer Al Hibbler. However Rahsaan was very well acquainted with Ellington's music and he plays respectfully behind Hibbler on many of the standards, taking the wild "Carney and Bigard Place" as an instrumental. Hibbler (who did not record much this late in his career) is in good voice and phrases as eccentrically as ever on such songs as "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "I Didn't Know About You." One leftover selection from Rahsaan's session with singer Leon Thomas ("Dream") rounds out this surprising set.

Tracks
1. "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me" (Duke Ellington, Bob Russell) – 4:38
2. "Daybreak" (Ellington, John Latouche, Billy Strayhorn) – 3:12
3. "Lover, Come Back to Me" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Sigmund Romberg) – 3:48
4. "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (Ellington, Russell) – 2:53
5. "This Love of Mine" (Sol Parker, Henry W. Sanicola, Jr., Frank Sinatra) – 4:55
6. "Carney and Bigard Place" (Roland Kirk) – 5:34
7. "I Didn't Know About You" (Ellington, Russell) – 4:01
8. "Something 'Bout Believing" (Ellington) – 6:05
9. "Dream" (Kirk) – 2:30

Personnel
*Rahsaan Roland Kirk: tenor saxophone, manzello, stritch, flute, clarinet, baritone saxophone
*Al Hibbler: vocals (tracks 1-5, 7 & 8)
*Hank Jones: piano (tracks 1-8)
*Ron Carter: bass (tracks 1-8)
*Grady Tate: drums (tracks 1-8)
*Leon Thomas: vocals (track 9)
*Lonnie Liston Smith: piano (track 9)
*Major Holley: bass (track 9)
*Charles Crosby: drums (track 9)

sample & buy: Meeting of Times

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - Brotherman in the Fatherland (1972)

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - Brotherman in the Fatherland (1972)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 510MB

Hyena

Allmusic:
It's very tempting to go off on Joel Dorn for his decision to call a Rahsaan Roland Kirk record recorded live in Germany Brotherman in the Fatherland. Dorn's had questionable taste about all kinds of things since he began running record labels that have had numerous names attached to them -- Kirk's music is not one of them. This gig, recorded in 1972, is one of those seemingly out-of-nowhere moments when Kirk, struggling to make a living, took it to the audience full-force. He was accompanied on this tour by longtime pianist Ron Burton, bassist Henry Pearson, drummer Richie Goldberg (who did a long stint with Ray Charles) and Joe Texudor on assorted percussion. The program is pure magic: from "Like Sony" to a bad-ass reworking of the insipid Bread tune "Make It with You," that Kirk turns into pure outre blues soul-jazz, and that's just the beginning. "Rahsaan's Spirit" is the place where Kirk spins off into his own universe with the band -- Burton's solo here is particularly telling as the members all solo. Kirk brings it back to a deeply soulful read of "My Girl" with a piano intro that sounds a lot like Roy Bittan's from Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road," but it was a couple of years ahead of that milestone. Kirk's nose flute hints the melody line before his flute takes over and runs the melody down to its root; he plays them simultaneously and even vocalizes, à la Charles. The swinging Ramsey Lewis-styled soul riffing gives the audience something else to hold onto before the doors come off with "Seasons/Serenade to a Cuckoo" that digs even deeper as it streams into "Pedals Up," a musically tender reading of "Lush Life," before it all melts down into Coltrane's "Afro Blue" with Kirk on all horns peeling the paint; there's only a brief respite before it goes all the way into jazz heaven with a deeply swinging, blues-drenched crazyland reading of "Blue Trane." Like his best live outings -- this one doesn't have the same sound quality as Bright Moments -- this one is simply astonishing in its intensity, soul, and acumen. One can only wonder when hearing the polite applause at the end of the gig (instead of the justifiable shouting and screaming that should've been there) if the German crowd were just blown away, or confused. Listeners, too, may wonder if they can believe what has just transpired in the space of an hour. They can. Dorn may be on the questionable side in naming this recording, but he's to be thanked for issuing it.

Tracks
-1. "Intro/Like Sonny" (John Coltrane) - 8:32
-2. "Make It with You" (David Gates) - 5:39
-3. "Rahsaan's Spirit" - 7:04
-4. "My Girl" (Smokey Robinson, Ronald White) - 5:15
-5. "Seasons/Serenade to a Cuckoo" - 6:54
-6. "Pedal Up" - 10:20
-7. "Lush Life" (Billy Strayhorn) - 3:12
-8. "Afro Blue" (Mongo Santamaría) - 4:04
-9. "Blue Train" (Coltrane) - 17:31
*Recorded at the Funkhaus in Hamburg, Germany on March 3, 1972

Personnel
*Roland Kirk: tenor saxophone, manzello, stritch, clarinet, flute
*Ron Burton: piano
*Henry Metathias Pearson: bass
*Richie Goldberg: drums
*Joe Habad Texidor: percussion

sample & buy: Brotherman in the Fatherland

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - Domino (1962) (24-bit rem) (eac-log-cover)

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - Domino (1962)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 600MB

Verve Master Edition | 24-bit remaster

Allmusic:
The expanding musical universe of Rahsaan Roland Kirk continues its orbit on Domino. While always true to his exceptional talents, Kirk's previous efforts are somewhat derivative when compared to his later and more aggressive sound. On Domino, the genesis of his more assertive presence is thoroughly evident. Additionally, this disc features several impressive originals, as well as the most distinctly branded cover tunes to date, including the intense bop of the title track. As evidenced throughout the album, Kirk's compositions are becoming denser and more involved. "Meeting on Termini's Corner" -- an ode to the legendary Five Spot club -- mimics the off-kilter rhythms of Thelonious Monk. The tenor sax solo that rises through his multi-instrumentation is stunning. The contrast between the lilting flute work, which bookends "Domino," and the stirring tenor sax solo at the center is yet again indicative of the boundaries Kirk would be approaching. However, it's the Latin-tinged "Rolando" that might best display the unmistakably singular sound that comes from the stritch -- a Kirk modified second generation B flat soprano sax -- and the tenor sax, when performed simultaneously. The warmth and clarity are at once unique and hypnotic. Another prime example of the multiplicity in Kirk's performance styles can be heard on "I Believe in You." The juxtaposition of the husky tenor with the spry manzello provides a false sense of balance as Kirk delays combining the two until the final chorus. This produces a surprising and memorable effect, as Kirk's arrangement does not anticipate the finale. The 2000 CD reissue contains both recording dates for the original album as well as a previously undocumented session that includes Herbie Hancock(piano), Roy Haynes (drums), and Vernon Martin (bass). Additionally, Domino was the first album to feature Kirk's live band of Haynes, Andrew Hill (celeste/piano), and Henry Duncan (percussion) on several tracks.

Tracks
-01. "Domino" (Don Raye, Jacques Plante, Louis Ferrari) – 3:16
-02. "Meeting on Termini's Corner" (Roland Kirk) – 3:41
-03. "Time" (Richie Powell) – 3:13
-04. "Lament" (J. J. Johnson) – 3:40
-05. "A Stritch in Time" (Kirk) – 5:06
-06. "3-in-1 Without the Oil (Kirk) – 2:35
-07. "Get Out of Town" (Cole Porter) – 4:49
-08. "Rolando" (Kirk) – 3:47
-09. "I Believe in You" (Frank Loesser) – 4:26
-10. "E.D." (Kirk) – 2:36
bonus tracks:
-11. "Where Monk and Mingus Live"/"Let's Call This" (Kirk)/(T Monk) – 4:12
-12. "Domino" [alternate version] – 4:07
-13. "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 3:15
-14. "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" – 2:18
-15. "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" – 2:21
-16. "Someone to Watch Over Me" [breakdown take] (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) – 2:37
-17. "Someone to Watch Over Me" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) – 3:38
-18. "Termini's Corner" (Kirk) – 2:35
-19. "Termini's Corner" [breakdown take] – 2:28
-20. "Termini's Corner" – 2:45
-21. "Termini's Corner" – 4:10
-22. "When the Sun Comes Out" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 2:48
-23. "When the Sun Comes Out" – 2:05
-24. "When the Sun Comes Out" – 2:44
-25. "Time Races With Emit" [erroneously issued as "Ad Lib"] (Kirk) – 0:22

Personnel
* Roland Kirk - flute, tenor sax, vocals, stritch, manzello, nose flute, siren
* Henry Duncan - drums
* Herbie Hancock - piano
* Roy Haynes - drums
* Andrew Hill - piano, celeste
* Wynton Kelly - piano
* Vernon Martin - bass

sample & buy: Domino

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - Sweet Fire (A Jazz Hour With Roland Kirk) (1970)

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - Sweet Fire (A Jazz Hour With Roland Kirk) (1970)
jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 360MB

Jazz Hour

Allmusic:
Sweet Fire is an unauthorized recording of Rahsaan Roland Kirk playing live in Europe in 1970, perhaps in Paris. This may also have been a radio broadcast, but the source is not clear. Kirk was touring behind the massively underrated Rahsaan Rahsaan at the time, and a number of selections from this set reflect that LP's track list. First, the facts: Kirk's band at the time consisted of trombonist Dick Griffin, pianist Ron Burton, drummer Harold White, percussionist Joe Texudor, and bassist Vernon Martin. Most of what is here is made up of medleys, some of which are simply amazing (in terms of performance, not sound), including the outrageously soulful triptych of "Love for Sale," "Bag's Groove," and "My Cherie Amour." One of the most kinetic versions of "Three for the Festival" is here, and another medley of "Sweet Fire" and "Roller Coaster" goes on for nearly 22 minutes with plenty of heart from Kirk -- who is in excellent form, as is his surprisingly canny rhythm section. Certainly this not a proper introduction to Kirk's work, but it is a hot little item for real fans who quite understandably need every note the man ever recorded, substandard sound quality or not.

Tracks:
-1. My Little Suede Shoes/Groovin' High 6:34
-2. Petite Fleur/When the Saints Go Marching In 8:15
-3. Roller Coaster/Sweet 21:51
-4. Love for Sale/Bags Groove/My Cherie Amour 13:48
-5. Three for the Festival 7:51
-6. Boogie Man Song 5:23

Personnel:
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Flute, Sax (Tenor)
Dick Griffin - Trombone
Ron Burton - Piano
Vernon Martin - Bass
Harold White - Drums
Joe Habad Texidor - Percussion

sample & buy: Sweet Fire

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - Aces Back To Back (4album box) (eac-log-cover)

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk  - Aces Back To Back (4album box) 

1968-Left & Right_1970-Rahsaan Rahsaan_1973-Prepare Thyself to Deal With a Miracle_1976-Other Folks Music

jazz | 4cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 1170MB

32jazz | rar +5% recovery

AMG:
Whether or not the four individual albums packaged with in Aces Back to Back are among Rahsaan Roland Kirk's finest is of no consequence. The fact that they have been assembled in a package that offers the listener a sense of Kirk's development and continuity is the issue here. And in this way, Aces Back to Back is a supreme collection. The four albums included -- Left & Right, Rahsaan Rahsaan, Prepare Thyself to Deal With a Miracle, and Other Folks Music -- date from 1969 to 1976 and chart dimensional growth of Kirk's completely original music. There's the outsider wizardry of Left & Right that melds the innovations of John Coltrane and Scott Joplin across an entire range of highly experimental yet wonderfully human music. Guests included Roy Haynes, Alice Coltrane, Julius Watkins, and many others in a band that ranged from a quartet to a full orchestra. Then there are the nine musicians who appear on Rahsaan Rahsaan, among them avant violinist Leroy Jenkins. Here, from the margins comes Kirk's preaching and poetry and also yielded the classics "The Seeker" and "Baby Let Me Shake Your Tree." The fact that they open and close the album, respectively, reveals not only Kirk's diversity, but also his commitment to a universal black music. Prepare Thyself to Deal With a Miracle is Kirk's meditation on orchestral music juxtaposed against folk and R&B forms. Form the opening "Salvation and Reminiscing," where the string section carries a monadic theme into microtonal territory, Kirk uses the "ugliness" to achieve great beauty which is fully realized when he combines a revved-up version of "Balm in Gilead" with a section of Ralph Vaughn Williams' Pastoral Symphony on "Seasons." Finally, with the issue of Others Folks Music, Kirk contributes only one composition, a beautiful meditation entitled "Water for Robeson and Williams." The rest is made up of the music of Charlie Parker ("Donna Lee"), Kirk's then pianist Hilton Ruiz ("Arrival"), Frank Foster ("Simone"), and others. This is a loose, roughneck record where Kirk uses the harmonics of others to transform his own into something that would make the music itself larger than any of its individual parts. In all for the price tag, this is a solid buy, revealing the most misunderstood innovator in the history of jazz.

cd1: 1968 - Left & Right
01. Black Mystery Has Been Revealed 1:16
02. Expansions 19:55
03. Lady's Blues 3:45
04. I X Love 3:38
05. Hot Cha 3:21
06. Quintessence 4:10
07. I Waited for You 2:51
08. A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing 3:55

cd2: 1970 - Rahsaan Rahsaan
01. The Seeker 17:21
02. Satin Doll 2:16
03. Introduction 1:40
04. Medley 4:50
05. Sweet Fire 6:02
06. Introduction 3:17
07. Baby Let Me Shake Your Tree 4:54

cd3: 1973 - Prepare Thyself to Deal With a Miracle
01. Salvation and Reminiscing 5:22
02. Seasons 9:37
03. Celestial Bliss 5:40
04. Saxophone Concerto 21:00

cd4: 1976 - Other Folks Music
01. Water for Robeson and Williams 3:45
02. That's All 7:38
03. Donna Lee 4:10
04. Simone 9:05
05. Anysha 8:12
06. Samba Kwa Mwanamke Mweusi 6:50
07. Arrival 7:10

Personnel:
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Clarinet, Flute, Harmonica, Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor)
Alice Coltrane - Harp
Pepper Adams - Sax (Baritone)
Frank Wess - Woodwind
Leroy Jenkins - Violin
Henry Pearson - Bass
Roy Haynes - Drums
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion
Dee Dee Bridgewater - Vocals
...

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'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear (1967)

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear (1967)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 295MB

Atlantic | rar +5% recovery

AMG:
The debut recording by Roland Kirk (this was still pre-Rahsaan) on Atlantic Records, the same label that gave us Blacknuss and Volunteered Slavery, is not the blowing fest one might expect upon hearing it for the first time. In fact, producer Joel Dorn and label boss Neshui Ertegun weren't prepared for it either. Kirk had come to Atlantic from Emarcy after recording his swan song for them, the gorgeous Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith, in April. In November Kirk decided to take his quartet of pianist Ron Burton, bassist Steve Novosel, and drummer Jimmy Hopps and lead them through a deeply introspective, slightly melancholy program based in the blues and in the groove traditions of the mid-'60s. Kirk himself used the flutes, the strich, the Manzello, whistle, clarinet, saxophones, and more -- the very instruments that had created his individual sound, especially when some of them were played together, and the very things that jazz critics (some of whom later grew to love him) castigated him for. Well, after hearing the restrained and elegantly layered "Black and Crazy Blues," the stunning rendered "Creole Love Call," the knife-deep soul in "The Inflated Tear," and the twisting in the wind lyricism of "Fly by Night," they were convinced -- and rightfully so. Roland Kirk won over the masses with this one too, selling over 10,000 copies in the first year. This is Roland Kirk at his most poised and visionary; his reading of jazz harmony and fickle sonances are nearly without peer. And only Mingus understood Ellington in the way Kirk did. That evidence is here also. If you are looking for a place to start with Kirk, this is it.

Tracks:
01-The Black and Crazy Blues 5:59
02-A Laugh for Rory 2:47
03-Many Blessings 4:36
04-Fingers in the Wind 5:07
05-The Inflated Tear 4:46
06-The Creole Love Call 3:45
07-A Handful of Fives 2:35
08-Fly by Night 4:09
09-Lovellevelliloqui 3:59
10-I'm Glad There Is You [bonus track] 2:10

Personnel:
* Roland Kirk - tenor sax, manzello, stritch, clarinet, flute, whistle, English horn or flexafone
* Ron Burton - piano
* Steve Novosel - bass
* Jimmy Hopps - drums
* Dick Griffith - trombone

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'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - Volunteered Slavery (1968) (eac-log-cover)

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - Volunteered Slavery (1968)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 345MB

Atlantic | rar +5% recovery

AMG:
Before the issue of Blacknuss, Rahsaan Roland Kirk was already exploring ways in which to make soul and R&B rub up against jazz and come out sounding like deep-heart party music. Volunteered Slavery, with its beat/African chanted poetry and post-bop blues ethos was certainly the first strike in the right direction. With a band that included Charles McGhee on trumpet, Dick Griffin on trombone, organist Mickey Tucker, bassist Vernon Martin, drummers Jimmy Hopps and Charles Grady, as well as Sony Brown, Kirk made it work. From the stinging blues call and response of the tile track through the killer modern creative choir jam on "Spirits Up Above" taking a small cue from Archie Shepp's Attica Blues. But it's when Kirk moves into the covers, of "My Cherie Amour," "I Say a Little Prayer," and the Coltrane medley of "Afro Blue," "Lush Life," and "Bessie's Blues," that Kirk sets it all in context: how the simplest melody that makes a record that sells millions and touches people emotionally, can be filled with the same heart as a modal, intricate masterpiece that gets a few thousand people to open up enough that they don't think the same way anymore. For Kirk, this is all part of the black musical experience. Granted, on Volunteered Slavery he's a little more formal than he would be on Blacknuss, but it's the beginning of the vein he's mining. And when the album reaches its end on "Three for the Festival," Kirk proves that he is indeed the master of any music he plays because his sense of harmony, rhythm, and melody comes not only from the masters acknowledged, but also from the collective heart of the people the masters touched. It's just awesome.

Tracks:
01. Volunteered Slavery -5:45
02. Spirits Up Above -3:39
03. My Chérie Amour -3:20
04. Search For The Reason Why -2:08
05. I Say A Little Prayer -8:01
06. Roland's Opening Remarks -0:40
07. One Ton -5:02
08. Ovation & Roland's Remarks -1:46
09. A Tribute To John Coletrane: Lush Life - Afro-Blue - Bessie's Blues -8:16
10. Three For The Festival -4:18

Personnel:
*Bass - Vernon Martin
*Drums - Charles Crosby , Jimmy Hopps , Sonny Brown
**Piano - Ron Burton
*Saxophone [Tenor], Flute, Flute [Nose], Horns [Manzello, Stritch], Gong, Vocals, Whistle - Roland Kirk
*Trombone - Dick Griffin
*Trumpet - Charles McGhee
*Vocals [Backgrounds] - Roland Kirk Spirit Choir

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'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - We Free Kings (1961) (eac-log-cover)

'Rahsaan' Roland Kirk - We Free Kings (1961)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 310MB

Mercury |  rar +5% recovery

AMG:
We Free Kings, Roland Kirk's third long-player, is among the most consistent of his early efforts. The assembled quartet provides an ample balance of bop and soul compliments to Kirk's decidedly individual polyphonic performance style. His inimitable writing and arranging techniques develop into some great originals, as well as personalize the chosen cover tunes. With a nod to the contemporary performance style of John Coltrane, as well as a measure of his influences -- most notably Clifford Brown and Sidney Bechet -- Kirk maneuvers into and out of some inspiring situations. His decidedly 'Trane-esque solos on "My Delight" are supported with a high degree of flexibility by one-time Charles Mingus' pianist Richard Wyands and Dizzy Gillespie percussionist Charlie Persip. The album's title track is a Kirk original, based on the melody of the Christmas hymn "We Three Kings." Incorporating recognizable melodies into Kirk's oft times unorthodox musical settings would prove to be a motif throughout his career. An example is the highly touted cover of Charlie Parker's "Blues for Alice." This is an ideal avenue for the quartet to explore one of Kirk's specialties -- the blues. The almost irreverent manner in which he fuses blues and soul music into the otherwise bop-driven arrangements is striking. "A Sack Full of Soul" is a funky number with a walking-blues backbeat that perfectly supports Kirk's swinging solos. The stop time syncopation is reminiscent of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say." The 1987 CD version also includes an alternate take of "Blues for Alice." One additional track -- a cover of the Frank Loesser standard "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" -- was also recorded at these sessions and remained unissued until its inclusion on the ten-disc Rahsaan: The Complete Mercury Recordings of Roland Kirk box set.

Tracks:
01. "Three for the Festival" – 3:10
02. "Moon Song" – 4:23
03. "A Sack Full of Soul" – 4:40
04. "The Haunted Melody" – 3:38
05. "Blues for Alice" ( – 4:08
06. "Blues for Alice" ( – 5:11
07. "We Free Kings" – 4:46
08. "You Did It, You Did It" – 2:29
09. "Some Kind of Love" – 6:11
10. "My Delight" – 4:28
* Recorded in New York on August 16, 1961.

Personnel:
* Roland Kirk: tenor saxophone, manzello, flute, stritch
* Richard Wyands: piano (tracks 3-5 & 9)
* Art Davis: bass (tracks 3-5 & 9)
* Charlie Persip: drums (tracks 3-5 & 9)
* Hank Jones: piano (tracks 1-2 & 6-8)
* Wendell Marshall: bass (tracks 1-2 & 6-8)

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