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Rahsaan Roland Kirk / Yusef Lateef: Separate But Equal
by Robert Spencer
Back in the days when Joel Dorn, the 32 Jazz majordomo, walked the hallowed hall of Atlantic Records, he nourished the hope someday to bring two of the most luminous exponents of Great Black Music, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Yusef Lateef, together in the studio. Alas, Kirk took ill and ultimately died before Dorn's vision could be realized, so this reissue is the next best thing: Kirk's The Case of the 3-Sided Dream in Audio Color packaged together with Lateef's ...
Continue ReadingRahsaan Roland Kirk: Left Hook, Right Cross
by Jim Santella
This set of two reissued Atlantic recordings offers a clear picture of what Rahsaan Roland Kirk was all about. Whether playing rough-house tenor, three saxophones at once, his searing brand of flute with vocalized thoughts, or the high-pitched ocarina-like nose flute, Kirk was a distinctive and highly unique professional. And he could connect with an audience. On “Old Rugged Cross" Kirk preaches to the listener and warns that “We got a cross that we must bear" with respect to the ...
Continue ReadingRahsaan Roland Kirk: A Standing Eight
by Robert Spencer
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 ...
Continue ReadingRahsaan Roland Kirk: Aces Back to Back
by Robert Spencer
Step right up. Enclosed are four strong Kirk entries, too long unavailable: Left & Right (1969), Rahsaan Rahsaan (1970), Prepare Thyself to Deal with a Miracle (1973), and Other Folks' Music (1976). Any admirer of the raw-boned adventurousness, raucous joy and staggering virtuosity that were Kirk trademarks will find them all in abundance here, although these albums have been hitherto overlooked in Atlantic's CD reissue program. Joel Dorn, the intrepid founder of 32Jazz and former Atlantic producer extraordinaire, takes up ...
Continue ReadingRahsaan Roland Kirk: Dog Years In The Fourth Ring
by AAJ Staff
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was a man, at least by the technical definition of the word. However, the ranks of men are often left by a chosen few, whose very greatness elevates them to the status of genius, prophet, or legend. Rarely however, is a man considered all three. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, however, was such a man. A musical genius, Kirk's ability to play multiple horns at the same time was not what really made him a legend. It was his ...
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