{"title":"Roland Kirk","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRahsaan Roland Kirk, born on August 7, 1935 in Columbus, Ohio, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He became renowned for his exceptional talent as a blind saxophonist who could play multiple wind instruments simultaneously. His main instruments were the tenor saxophone, the stritch and the manzello - two unique saxophones that he personally modified to accommodate his innovative playing technique.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKirk's ability to play more than one saxophone at once originated from a dream he had and he dedicated himself to making it a reality. In addition to this remarkable skill, he also mastered circular breathing techniques which allowed him to sustain notes for extended periods of time - reportedly over an hour. Inspired by a dream as well, around 1970 Kirk added \"Rahsaan\" to his name.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout his career, Rahsaan Roland Kirk played various musical instruments including clarinets and flutes alongside his beloved saxophones. His contributions have left an indelible mark on the world of jazz music. Sadly, he passed away on December 5th, 1977 in Bloomington, Indiana due to a stroke.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"serenade-to-a-cuckoo","title":"Serenade To A Cuckoo","description":"\u003cp\u003e2 albums on 1 CD. Deluxe 6-panel digi-pak plus booklet with updated liner notes. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis edition presents two amazing quartet albums featuring multi-reedman Roland Kirk and pianist Horace Parlan: \u003ci\u003eGifts and Messages\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eI Talk with the Spirits\u003c\/i\u003e. Those records constitute the two musicians' only collaborative studio quartet albums ever. The second LP includes one of Kirk's most iconic numbers: \"Serenade to a Cuckoo\", a favourite of Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), who even recorded a version of it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jazz Up!","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50459336278347,"sku":"1137204","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2aa90936-07ed-47eb-b59b-231894a163a7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727220353"},{"product_id":"here-comes-the-whistleman","title":"Here Comes The Whistleman","description":"\u003cp\u003eSightless, peerless, multi-instrumentalist, Roland’s Kirk’s 1967 debut for Atlantic is a monster of a live set from ‘65 featuring pianists Lonnie Liston Smith and Jaki Byard, bassist Major Holley and drummer Charles Crosby - all put to tape in Atlantic Studios NYC. Cut all analogue, pressed on orange vinyl. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThink of Rahsaan Roland Kirk and a series of images flick through one’s mind. There he is, black beret and shades blowing three saxophones at once, next he’s draped in a kaftan with bells, horns, flutes, whistles and all manner of strange things hanging round his neck and then in a frock coat and top hat playing his saxophone on a street corner. He’s one of the most surreal sights you’ve ever seen and each image contains a thousand narratives. One of the things that made Kirk so special was his rapport with an audience. They weren’t just there to watch and listen. They were part of the show. Kirk would hand out whistles to the punters then lead them pied-piper-like out of the club and into the street. Nothing beats having seen Rahsaan live but \u003ci\u003eHere Comes The Whistleman\u003c\/i\u003e is a fine live date with some great music, featuring separately pianists Jaki Byard and Lonnie Smith. In a way, the spoken intros are key to the atmosphere of the record. Kirk has the audience eating out of his hand and as soon as he puts the horn to his mouth you are there with him at that moment.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modern Harmonic","offers":[{"title":"Orange | LP","offer_id":50466056012107,"sku":"1157602","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/dcf29748-3be4-4c6e-8d7c-0fe069f61344_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727303285"},{"product_id":"kirk-s-work","title":"Kirk's Work","description":"\u003cp\u003eRoland Kirk was one of the most creative, extravagant figures in jazz history. A master multi instrumentalist with no boundaries in terms of language, style and technique. Here we find him co-leading a strong studio session with organ specialist Brother Jack Mcduff. Backed up by Joe Benjamin on bass and Art Taylor on drums, Kirk and McDuff give voice to a soulful post-bop set full of groovy riffs and highly inventive instrumental ping pong. Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder and released in 1961 by Prestige Records, this is a fine early step in Kirk's varied and intense career.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sowing Records","offers":[{"title":"Clear | LP","offer_id":50466564768075,"sku":"1165219","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/914c65de-0d1f-4357-9679-d6823d89afbf_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727317018"},{"product_id":"live-at-ronnie-scott-s-1963","title":"Live at Ronnie Scott's 1963","description":"\u003cp\u003ePreviously unreleased recording from the legendary multi- instrumentalist Kirk, cut direct from tape and issued as a 200g premium pressing with Gearbox’s famous production values.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKirk’s influence and following reaches far beyond Jazz. Hendrix idolized him and it’s easy to see why. His appetite for ripping up the rulebook has brought kudos and admirers from all sides, giving him a status and respect that ensures an unearthed, never before released recording such as this added importance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gearbox","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50476714492235,"sku":"1163809","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50476715311435,"sku":"1163807","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c0cac55d-e136-4edf-8f76-a7abb7274b38_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727462889"},{"product_id":"blacknuss","title":"Blacknuss","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom its opening bars, with Bill Salter's bass and Rahsaan's flute passionately playing Bill Withers' \"Ain't No Sunshine,\" you know this isn't an ordinary Kirk album (were any of them?). As the string section, electric piano, percussion, and Cornel Dupree's guitar slip in the back door, one can feel the deep soul groove Kirk is bringing to the jazz fore here. As the tune fades just two and a half minutes later, the scream of Kirk's tenor comes wailing through the intro of Marvin Gaye's \"What's Goin' On,\" with a funk backdrop and no wink in the corner -- he's serious. With Richard Tee's drums kicking it, the strings developing into a wall of tension in the backing mix, and Charles McGhee's trumpet hurling the long line back at Kirk, all bets are off -- especially when they medley the mother into \"Mercy Mercy Me.\" By the time they reach the end of the Isleys' \"I Love You, Yes I Do,\" with the whistles, gongs, shouting, soul crooning, deep groove hustling, and greasy funk dripping from every sweet-assed note, the record could be over because the world has already turned over and surrendered -- and the album is only ten minutes old! \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlacknuss\u003c\/i\u003e, like \u003ci\u003eThe Inflated Tear, Volunteered Slavery, Rip, Rig and Panic\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eI Talk to the Spirits\u003c\/i\u003e, is Kirk at his most visionary. He took the pop out of pop and made it Great Black Music. He took the jazz world down a peg to make it feel its roots in the people's music, and consequently made great jazz from pop tunes in the same way his forbears did with Broadway show tunes. While the entire album shines like a big black sun, the other standouts include a deeply moving read of \"My Girl\" and a version of \"The Old Rugged Cross\" that takes it back forever from those white fundamentalists who took all the blood and sweat from its grain and replaced them with cheap tin and collection plates. On Kirk's version, grace doesn't come cheap, though you can certainly be a poor person to receive it. Ladies and gents, \u003ci\u003eBlacknuss\u003c\/i\u003e is as deep as a soul record can be and as hot as a jazz record has any right to call itself. A work of sheer blacknuss! by Thom Jurek\/AMG\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modern Harmonic","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50480081043787,"sku":"1086920","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Screenshot_2022-11-15_at_16.59.06_5d7c479a_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727516105"},{"product_id":"now-please-dont-you-cry-beautiful-edith","title":"Now Please Dont You Cry, Beautiful Edith","description":"\u003cp\u003eReleased in 1967 with personnel including Lonnie Liston Smith (piano), Ronnie Boykins (bass), and Grady Tate (drums), \u003ci\u003eNow Please Don’t You Cry… \u003c\/i\u003emarked the beginning of Roland Kirk’s groovier explorations that would eventually lead him to record Blacknuss (1971). It’s vintage Kirk in a pared-down setting and is considered an essential Kirk album. Verve’s Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Verve","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":51151158739275,"sku":"2241104","price":42.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Now_Please_Dont_You_Cry_Beautiful_Edith_449d6151_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1737741802"},{"product_id":"we-free-kings-acoustic-sounds","title":"We Free Kings (Acoustic Sounds)","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\"\u003eKnown as a then-young Kirk’s more consistent works, 1962’s \u003cem\u003eWe Free Kings\u003c\/em\u003e is a solid balance of bop with complimenting soul, backed by two different rhythm sections — one including Hank Jones (piano) and Wendell Marshall (bass), and the other with Richard Wyands (piano) and Art Davis (bass), while Charlie Persip (drums) maintains throughout. The repertoire is primarily a showcase of Kirk’s skill is a composer, though his take on Bird’s “Blues For Alice” is not to be missed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mercury","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":51693557711179,"sku":"R3200-1643","price":39.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/AMER_68460__194051__04172025125719-1206.jpg?v=1745446281"},{"product_id":"the-inflated-tear-start-your-ear-off-right-26-rg","title":"The Inflated Tear","description":"\u003cp\u003eRoland Kirk was an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist, who lost his sight at a very early age, and played unconventional jazz, which was not entirely free but in which melodic and very beautiful phases alternated with moments of complete dissonance and conjured up his urban background, especially reflecting his view of the world as a handicapped man. Kirk was not only famous for his unique sound achieved through his playing several instruments simultaneously and his innovative approach to music but also for his dynamic live performances.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn November 1967 Kirk left EmArcy for Atlantic Records, leading his quartet through a highly introspective, somewhat melancholy programme, which was based in the blues and groove traditions of the mid-60s. Kirk himself played flutes, the stritch, manzello and tenor saxophones, the whistle, clarinet and more – precisely those instruments that had created his unique sound, particularly when some of these instruments were played simultaneously by him. Jazz critics who had previously criticised Kirk’s sound now praised him once they had heard the restrained and elegantly layered \"Black And Crazy Blues\", the breathtakingly executed Creole \"Love Call\", the razor-sharp soul in \"The Inflated Tear\" and the gyrating lyricism of the winds in \"Fly By Night\" – and quite rightly so. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRoland Kirk convinced his listenership anyway and sold over 10,000 copies of the present LP in the very first year of its release. This is Roland Kirk in his most competent and visionary form; his reading of jazz harmony and capricious sonances is virtually incomparable.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atlantic","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black (Start Your Ear Off Right '26 Version)","offer_id":55953556603211,"sku":"R3082-4285","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black (Speakers Corner Version)","offer_id":57220321411403,"sku":"R3082-7967","price":42.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0081227806545.jpg?v=1763752690"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/roland-kirk.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}