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Two Unearthed Live Gems By Rahsaan Roland Kirk
by Michael Blake
What a joy it was to sit down with these never-before-heard live recordings from American jazz genius Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Unearthed by producer Zev Feldman and released in tandem by Resonance Records, these beautifully packaged CD sets--complete with striking artwork, evocative photos, and heartfelt personal reflections--are a marvelous tribute in their own right. I was first introduced to Kirk as a teenager while visiting friends whose parents' record collections often included his more commercially successful albums like The ...
Continue ReadingRahsaan Roland Kirk: Seek & Listen: Live At The Penthouse
by Jack Kenny
Few figures in jazz history have embodied the word original quite like Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Sightless from infancy, yet bursting with boundless vision, he turned live performance into theatre, ritual and revelation. On stage, he appeared as a commanding silhouette festooned with flutes, whistles, tenor saxophone, clarinet, bells, harmonica and his self-fashioned instruments--the manzello and stritch. Before a note was played, the spectacle alone promised something extraordinary. When the music began, it revealed what Kirk himself called Black Classical Music: ...
Continue ReadingRahsaan Roland Kirk: Vibrations In The Village: Live At The Village Gate
by Joshua Weiner
Thankfully, fans of classic jazz rarely have long to wait before another wonderful, previously unreleased treasure drops from the indefatigable producer Zev Feldman and the folks at Resonance Records. A pair of live releases by multi-instrumentalist, showman, and musical conjuror Rahsaan Roland Kirk join the limited-edition vinyl lineup for Record Store Day's Black Friday 2025 event, with a standard CD release one week later. Seek & Listen: Live At The Penthouse (Resonance Records, 2025) documents 1967 performances, while ...
Continue ReadingDue spettacolari inediti dal vivo di Rahsaan Roland Kirk
by Michael Blake
Abbiamo chiesto a Michael Blake, affermato sassofonista sulla scena newyorchese e cultore della musica di Rahsaan Roland Kirk, di ascoltare i due recenti inediti dal vivo di Kirk e condividere con i lettori di All About Jazz le sue impressioni. Ecco il resoconto Che gioia ritrovare questi inediti dal vivo del genio del jazz americano Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Riesumati dal produttore Zev Feldman e pubblicati in parallelo da Resonance Records, questi cofanetti CD magnificamente curati--completi di libretti ...
Continue ReadingUnearthed... Previously Unreleased Music from Rahsaan Roland Kirk + New Tunes from Brandon Sanders and Lafayette Harris Jr.
by Hobart Taylor
Rahsaan Roland Kirk Live Recording, plus gorgeous vocals from Rufus Wainwright and La Paula Herrera.Playlist Host Speaks 00:00 Brandon Sanders “Soul Eyes" from Lasting Impression (Savant/HighNote) 00:15 Sharel Cassity “Gratitude" from Gratitude (Sunnyside) 6:14 Los Angeles Improvisations Ensemble “Sussex Elegy" from Insubordinate Lunar Transgressions (Denouement) 10:58 Host Speaks 16:42 Marianne Solivan “Open the Door" from Break's Over (Imani) 17:39 Lafayette Harris, Jr “Good Morning Heartache" from All In Good Time (Savant) 22:51 Geri Allen/Charlie Haden/Paul Motian “Obtuse Angles" ...
Continue ReadingRahsaan Roland Kirk: Seek & Listen: Live At The Penthouse
by Dan McClenaghan
Most jazz fans are likely familiar with the visual images that are usually tagged onto the music of Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1935 -1977)--photos of a man in black sunglasses with three (or more) reed instruments around his neck and/or in his mouth. That these optics often precede the experience of the music is ironic, since Kirk himself was blind. But Kirk was a showman. These images caught the attention. And he did indeed play three (maybe only two; maybe the ...
Continue ReadingFall Sip & Swing Compilation
by Kristen Lee Sergeant
Dear All About Jazzers, Welcome back to your quarterly wine and song pairing, Jazz & Juice, where we all get to enjoy loitering at the intersection of wine and song. This is a collection of my favorite pairings from the past months--if you'd like to keep pace with me and the pairings this fall (and hear more about what I'm up to in both spheres), consider this your invitation to join your fellow Jazz & Juicers ...
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