Not sure how I’ve missed his music before but I’ve been listening to Simmer, Reduce, Garnish, & Serve tonight and it’s blown me away. Any pointers on your favourite albums appreciated.
Thank you so much. Feel like I’ve got a new rabbit warren of discovery going on now. Appreciate your informative and detailed reply very much.
That Roy Haynes record..Out of the Afternoon.
Thank you. Added to my playlist.
Ripper
Bright Moments is an amazing visceral live album. It will transport you. You feel like you are there
This is one of my favorite albums of all time. A masterpiece.
I saw Rahsaan many times from 1971 to 1975. The Bright Moments tour was special.
I am so jealous!
Favorite albums would include “Prepare Thyself To Deal With A Miracle”, Blacknuss, Rip Rig and Panic, plus there are multiple “best ofs” like The Art Of Roland Kirk on Atlantic for cheap. He’s also stellar on Mingus’ Oh Yeah! Ummm, what else—We Free Kings, Volunteered Slavery. No sense in asking me, I can’t be objective.
A couple of my favorite Roland Kirk albums :
Now Please Don't You Cry Beautiful Edith
https://songwhip.com/rahsaan-roland-kirk/now-please-dont-you-cry-beautiful-edith
I Talk With Spirits (an all flute album)
https://songwhip.com/rahsaan-roland-kirk/i-talk-with-the-spirits
We Free Kings
https://songwhip.com/rahsaan-roland-kirk/we-free-kings
Introducing Roland Kirk
https://songwhip.com/rahsaan-roland-kirk/introducing-roland-kirk
Blacknuss (a more 70s contemporary album)
Thank you. Love the knowledge from this sub a lot. Definitely need to check out I Talk With Spirits.
There's a good documentary film about him: The Case of the Three Sided Dream
That one’s really great. Came away with a much deeper appreciation of him.
“Rip, Rig and Panic” is a personal favorite album of his.
Inflated Tear is also very good
Absolutely. That was my first Kirk album.
With elvin mf'n Jones on drums!
He’s on the record “Jaki Byard Experience” and his playing is quite fantastic, just like the record
Thanks for this rec. Jaki and Roland go great together. This is 4 years after Rip Rig and Panic but just from listening to the first track man it's adventurous!
He’s so incredible! My favorites are:
We Free Kings (1961)
The Inflated Tear (1967)
Rip, Rig and Panic (1965)
Now Please Don’t You Cry, Beautiful Edith (1967)
Bright Moments (1974)
Those first three in particular, just one brilliant composition after another with some of the best, most melodic & inventive playing I’ve ever heard.
Just bought blacknuss an hour ago. Solid stuff!!
Thanks. Cued up next to listen to.
There are videos of Rahsaan with his Vibration society on you tube that are wonderful.
Before he took “Rahsaan” “:
The Jazz Corps Under The Direction Of Tommy Peltier Featuring Roland Kirk – The Jazz Corps is an underrated gem. Strong West Coast flavor, superb melodies, nice stretching out on the solos… impeccable album.
Thank you. Got a wealth of stuff to check out tonight and tomorrow now.
Going on the list…
His version of the The Entertainer off Case of the Three Sided Dream is sooooo good
The Inflated Tear is one of my favorite pieces of music. There’s many versions, I like the one on his Live in Paris album. The whole record is incredible, of course. It would be easy to think of his way of playing multiple horns simultaneously as a gimmick but that song shows it’s so much more than that. It’s ethereally beautiful.
I prefer his more direct small grouo jazz stuff rather than the pop covers and the larger group stuff, but that is just my general jazz aesthetic.
Inflated Tear, Domino, Rip Rig & Panic
My first record of his was "The Inflated Tear" - my college student union would have record sales (new & used) each year, and I'd heard some Kirk on the college radio and found an album and bought it without knowing what to expect.
Amazing stuff. So many other great recordings mentioned - and depending on what music services you use there are likely good compilations available.
An old concert film at Montreux? Was a classic. I believe it's on YouTube free now.
Cafe Stritch, San Jose CA. I got a lot of appreciation for jazz from this local no longer running jazz club. Local musicians playing. Local musicians watching. $3 PBR. The literal best thing in downtown soulless San Jose. They were obsessed with Rahsaan. RIP Cafe Stritch you legend. Fuck COVID
Saw Rahsaan one night at the old Gilly's on N Main... scared the shit out of me!
More “mainstream” but great lps are the 3 sided dream and 5000 pound man.
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Yes indeed! Rahsaan had long runs of albums on Mercury and related labels, and then on Atlantic. Followed by a short stint on Warners - and you've just listened to a compilation of that. There is a big box of the Mercury stuff - ranging from relatively straight-ahead stuff to Big Band with Quincy Jones to a live encounter with Sonny Boy Williamson II. After that Kirk moved to Atlantic where, with co-conspiring producer Joel Dorn, his surreal tendencies were given free rein. There were plans for a 13cd Atlantic box set, but that never materialized. There are smaller collections, and the original albums are all available. Kirk also appeared as a sideman - most terrifically on Charles Mingus' Oh Yeah. Kirk was one of the most abundantly talented, outrageous and entertaining musicians...ever...in any genre. Following are YouTube playlists covering Mercury and Atlantic.
Rahsaan: The Complete Mercury Recordings
Rahsaan on Atlantic!