Roland Kirk: Triple Threat
King 534
November 9, 1956
Roland Kirk: Introducing Roland Kirk
Argo 669
June 7, 1960
Roland Kirk: We Free Kings
Mercury 20679
August 16-17, 1961
Charles Mingus: Vital Savage Horizons
Alto 714
October 21, 1961
Charles Mingus: Oh Yeah
Atlantic 1377
November 6, 1961
Charles Mingus: Tonight At Noon
Atlantic 1416
November 6, 1961
Roland Kirk: Domino
Mercury 20748
April 17-18, September 6, 1962
Roy Haynes: Out Of The Afternoon
Impulse 23
May 16, 23, 1962
Quincy Jones: Hip Hits
Mercury 60799
June 15, 1962, April 9, 1963
Tubby Hayes and the All-Stars: Tubby's Back In Town
Smash 67026
June 23, 1962
Roland Kirk: Live At Newport Jazz Festival 1962
Mercury 846 630
July 2, 1962
Quincy Jones: Big Band Bossa Nova
Mercury 60751
August 13, 1962
Eddie Baccus: Feel Real
Smash 27054
October 1962
Roland Kirk: Reeds And Deeds
Mercury 20800
February 25-26, 1963
Roland Kirk: The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson Orchestra
Mercury 20844
June 11-12, 1963
Roland Kirk: Kirk In Copenhagen
Mercury 20894
October 1963
Roland Kirk: Kirk's Work
Prestige 7210
Quincy Jones: Mancini Song Book
Mercury 60863
February 5-6, 1964
Roland Kirk: Berkshire Blues
Mercury 72325
May 26, 1964
Roland Kirk: Gifts and Messages
Mercury 20939
July 22, 1964
Roland Kirk: I Talk With The Spirits
Limelight 82008
September 16-17, 1964
Sonny Stitt: Loose Walk
Philology 43
September 24, 1964
Roland Kirk: Gifts And Messages
Allegro/Magnum America JACD 055
October 21, November 3, 1964
Quincy Jones: We Had a Ball
Limelight 86002
December 20, 1964
Roland Kirk: Rip, Rig and Panic
Limelight 82027
January 13, 1965
Roland Kirk: Slightly Latin
Limelight 82033
November 16-17, 1965
Roland Kirk: Here Comes The Whistleman
Atlantic 3007
1966, September 19, 1966
The Jazz Corps: Featuring Roland Kirk
Pacific Jazz 20116
October 11-12, 1966
Roland Kirk & John Cage: Sound??
1967
Roland Kirk: Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith
Verve 8709
April 1967
Roland Kirk: The Inflated Tear
Atlantic 1502
November 27, 30, 1967
Roland Kirk: Left and Right
Atlantic 1518
June 18, 1968
Roland Kirk: Volunteered Slavery
Atlantic 1534
July 7, 22-23, 1968
Jaki Byard: Experience
Prestige 7615
September 17, 1968
Quincy Jones: Walking In Space
A&M 93023
June 1969
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Live In Paris 1970
Esoldun 109, 115, Bandstand 1539
February 22, 1970
Roland Kirk: Live In Stuttgart 1970
Moon 27
February 26, 1970
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Rahsaan, Rahsaan
Atlantic 1575
May 11-12 1970
Roland Kirk & Al Hibbler: A Meeting Of The Times
Atlantic 1630
September 19, 1966, March 30-31, 1972
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata
Atlantic 1578
January 26, 1971
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: The Best of Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Blacknuss
Atlantic 1601
August 31, September 8, 1971
Les McCann: Live At Montreux
Atlantic 2-312
June 24, 1972
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: (I, Eye, Aye)
Rhino/Atlantic 72453
June 24, 1972
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: The One-Man Twins
Rhino/Atlantic [VIDEO]
June 24, 1972
Newport in New York '72: The Jam Sessions, Volumes 3 and 4
Cobblestone CST 9026
July 3, 1972
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Prepare Thyself To Deal With A Miracle
Atlantic 1640
January 22, 1973
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Bright Moments
Atlantic 2-907
June 8-9, 1973
Charles Mingus: Mingus At Carnegie Hall
Atlantic 1667
January 19, 1974
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color
Atlantic 1674
May 14, 1975
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Other Folks' Music
Atlantic 1686
March 1976
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: The Return of the 5000 Pound Man
Warner Bros. 2918
1976
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Kirkatron
Warner Bros. 2982
1976
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Paris 1976
Royal Jazz 510
November 14, 1976
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: The Man Who Cried Fire
Night 91592
1973 - 1977
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Boogie-Woogie String Along For Real
Warner Bros. 3085
1977
Ken Kesey: Poetic Hoohaw
[VIDEO]
Summer, 1977
Bright Moments [Roland Kirk]
Rahsaan Roland Kirk (August 7, 1936 - December 5, 1977) was a blind American jazz multi-instrumentalist. He was perhaps best known for his ability to play more than one saxophone at once.
Kirk was born Ronald Theodore Kirk in Columbus, Ohio, but felt compelled by a dream to transpose two letters in his first name to make Roland. In 1970, Kirk added "Rahsaan" to his name.
Preferring to lead his own groups, Kirk rarely performed as a sideman, although he did record with arranger Quincy Jones, Roy Haynes and had especially notable stints with Charles Mingus. He played the lead flute and solo on Jones' Soul Bossa Nova, a song popularized in the Austin Powers films (Jones 1964; McLeod et al. 1997).
His playing was generally rooted in soul jazz or hard bop, but Kirk's knowledge of jazz history allowed him to draw on many elements of the music's history, from ragtime to swing and free jazz. Kirk also regularly explored classical and pop music.
Kirk played and collected a number of musical instruments, mainly various saxophones, clarinets and flutes. His main instruments were a tenor saxophone and two obscure saxophones: the manzello (similar to a soprano sax) and the stritch (a straight alto sax lacking the instrument's characteristic upturned bell). Kirk modified these instruments himself to accommodate his simultaneous playing technique. He typically appeared on stage with all three horns hanging around his neck, as well as a variety of other instruments, including flutes and whistles, and often kept a gong within reach. Kirk also played harmonica, english horn, recorders and was a competent trumpeter. He often had unique approaches, using a saxophone mouthpiece on a trumpet or playing nose flute. He additionally used many extramusical (musique concrète) sounds in his art, such as alarm clocks, whistles, sirens, a section of common garden hose ("the black mystery pipes") and even primitive electronic sounds (before such things became commonplace).
Some observers thought that Kirk's bizarre onstage appearance and simultaneous multi-instrumentalism were just gimmicks, especially when coming from a blind man, but these opinions usually vanished when Kirk actually started playing. He used the multiple horns to play true chords, essentially functioning as a one-man saxophone section. Kirk insisted that he was only trying to emulate the sounds he heard in his mind.
Kirk was also a major exponent and practitioner of circular breathing. Using this technique, Kirk was not only able to sustain a single note for virtually any length of time; he could also play sixteenth-note runs of almost unlimited length, and at high speeds. His circular breathing ability enabled him to record "Concerto For Saxophone" on the "Prepare Thyself To Deal With A Miracle" LP in one continuous take of about 20 minutes' playing with no discernible "break" for inhaling. His long-time producer at Atlantic Jazz, Joel Dorn, believes he should have received credit in The Guinness Book of World Records for such feats (he was capable of playing continuously "without taking a breath" for far longer than exhibited on that LP), but this never happened.
"The Case Of The 3-Sided Dream in Audio Color" was a unique album in jazz and popular music recorded annals. It was a two-LP set, with Side 4 apparently "blank," the label not indicating any content. However, once word of "the secret message" got around among Rahsaan's fans, one would find that about 12 minutes into Side 4 appeared the first of two telephone answering machine messages recorded by Kirk, the second following soon thereafter (but separated by more blank grooves). The surprise impact of these segments appearing on "blank" Side 4 was lost, of course, on the CD reissue of this album. These spoken-word segments reflected the tenor of the times, so to speak, with the rather pessimistic theme that humanity had "blown" its chance to live in a world of peace and harmony. But this was entirely in keeping with the fact that, despite his loss at an early age of his visual acuity, Rahsaan was very much on top of societal developments, racial and economic injustice and disparity. (Indeed, he had participated many years previously in protests against the failure of TV show hosts like Merv Griffin to hire any non-white musicians.) He gleaned information on what was happening in the world via audio media like radio and the sounds coming from TV sets. His later recordings often incorporated his spoken commentaries on current events, including Richard M. Nixon's involvement in Watergate. The "3-Sided Dream" album was a "concept album," somewhat akin to the Beatles' "psychedelic" phase in the incorporation of "found" or environmental sounds and tape loops, tapes being played backwards, etc. Snippets of Billie Holiday singing are also heard briefly. The album even confronts the rise of influence of computers in society, as Rahsaan threatens to pull the plug on the machine trying to tell him what to do.
In 1975, Kirk suffered a major stroke which led to partial paralysis of one side of his body. Despite this, he continued to perform, modifying his instruments himself to enable him to play with only one arm. At a live performance at Ronnie Scott's club in London he even managed to play two instruments, and carried on to tour internationally and even appear on TV.
He died from a second stroke in 1977 after performing at the Bluebird nightclub in Bloomington, Indiana.
Thanks a million Roland for joining our ministry of Blues. It's all about peace, love, understanding, and GROOVE! Hope to perform for you sometime. Enjoyed your tunes. Wishing you the very best in Blues and life! -Big Daddy
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