Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Roland Kirk at Ronnie Scott's Club

Rahsaan Roland Kirk (August 7, 1936 - December 5, 1977) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, playing tenor saxophone, flute and other woodwind instruments. He was perhaps best known for his vitality on stage, where virtuoso improvisation was accompanied by comic banter, political ranting and his famous ability to play a number of instruments simultaneously.

Biography

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. He went blind at an early age due to poor medical treatment. In 1970, Kirk added "Rahsaan" to his name after hearing it in a dream.

Preferring to lead his own groups, Kirk rarely performed as a sideman, although he did record with arranger Quincy Jones, drummer Roy Haynes and had especially notable stints with bassist Charles Mingus. His best-known performance is probably the lead flute and solo on Jones' "Soul Bossa Nova", a 1964 hit song repopularized 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 past, from ragtime to swing and free jazz. Kirk also regularly explored classical and pop music by composers such as Smokey Robinson or Burt Bacharach as well as his beloved Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and the other classics of jazz. The live album Bright Moments (1973) is an example of one of his shows, including all these elements and more. His main instrument was the tenor saxophone, supplemented by other saxes, and contrasted with the lighter sound of the flute. At times he would play a number of these horns at once, harmonising with himself, or hold a note endlessly by using circular breathing, or play the flute through his nose. All this, plus the fact that many of instruments were exotic or even home-made gave him a reputation as a vaudeville showman but the music, even with two or three saxophones in his mouth at once, was intricate, powerful jazz with a strong feeling for the blues.

Kirk was also very political, using the stage to talk on black history, civil rights and other issues, which he was always capable of tipping over into high comedy.

In 1975, Kirk suffered a major stroke which led to partial paralysis of one side of his body. Despite this, he continued to perform and record, 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 in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana University Student Union in Bloomington, Indiana.

Instruments and technique

Kirk played and collected a number of musical instruments, mainly various saxophones, clarinets and flutes. His main instruments were tenor saxophone and two obscure saxophones: the stritch (a straight alto sax lacking the instrument's characteristic upturned bell) and a manzello (a modified saxello soprano sax, tuned to C, with an 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, and 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 non-musical devices, such as alarm clocks, sirens, or a section of common garden hose (dubbed "the black mystery pipes"). His studio recordings also used tape-manipulated musique concrète, and primitive electronic sounds (before such things became commonplace).

Kirk was also an influential flautist, employing several techniques that he developed himself. One technique was to sing or hum into the flute at the same time as playing. Another was to play the standard transverse flute at the same time as a nose flute.

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 head.

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, believed 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 sight, 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.

Legacy and influence

• Kirk's technique of humming while playing the flute was adopted later by many other players, including Jeremy Steig, Thijs van Leer, and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, (who covered the Kirk tune "Serenade to a Cuckoo" on Jethro Tull's first album This Was in 1968).

• In 1978 the number one UK single "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads featured saxophonist Davey Payne playing a solo with two saxes simultaneously, in the manner of Kirk, though it cannot be compared to Kirk's sophisticated, multi-layered technique.

• Dana Colley of Morphine and Twinemen occasionally plays "double sax". Examples are "Super Sex" and "Radar" on the Morphine album Yes and "Wishing Well" on Like Swimming.

• British reed player Dick Heckstall-Smith also emulated Kirk in playing multiple saxophones simultaneously.

• Jeff Coffin, solo artist and member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, plays multiple saxophones simultaneously.

• David Jackson, of Van der Graaf Generator, was also highly influenced by the style and technique of Kirk.

• Courtney Pine, a saxophonist from the UK, also uses circular breathing and plays two saxophones at once in live performance.

• Rahsaan Roland Kirk is the namesake of jazz artists Roland and Rahsaan Barber, brothers who play trombone and saxophone respectively.

• Jonny Greenwood, the guitarist and multi-instrumentalist of Radiohead, acknowledged his respect and love for Kirk's music on the band's blog.

• Trombonist Steve Turre was strongly influenced by Kirk's music (and by his use of a conch shell as a second instrument).

• Thurston Moore wore a Rahsaan Roland Kirk t-shirt for a promo shoot for Sonic Youth's album Goo

• Drummer Ramon Lopez paid a surprising and vitalistic tribute to Rahsaan Roland Kirk in his 2002 album Duets 2 Rahsaan Roland Kirk, inviting 9 differents artists (Joëlle Léandre, Thierry Madiot, Harry Beckett, Majid Bekkas, Beñat Achiary...) for 9 duets on 9 compositions of Kirk's.

Selected discography

King Records

• 1956 - Triple Threat

Argo/Cadet/Chess Records

• 1960 - Introducing Roland Kirk

Prestige Records

• 1961 - Kirk's Work

Mercury Records

• 1961 - We Free Kings - w Richard Wyands on piano
• 1962 - Domino
• 1963 - Reeds & Deeds
• 1963 - Kirk in Copenhagen
• 1964 - Roland Kirk Meets the Benny Golson Orchestra
• 1964 - I Talk with the Spirits - album of Kirk playing the flute
• 1964 - Gifts and Messages

Limelight Records

• 1965 - Slightly Latin
• 1965 - Rip, Rig and Panic - fast bop with Jaki Byard on piano, Richard Davis on bass, and drummer Elvin Jones

Verve Records

• 1967 - Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith

Atlantic Records

• 1965 - Here Comes the Whistleman - Live - including all Kirk's banter between tracks
• 1967 - The Inflated Tear
• 1968 - Left and Right
• 1968 - Volunteered Slavery - a meltdown of pop tunes, hard bop, African chanting
• 1970 - Rahsaan Rahsaan
• 1971 - Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata - mostly Kirk alone, on many instruments.
• 1971 - Blacknuss
• 1972 - Brotherman In The Fatherland - live at the Funkhaus in Hamburg, Germany
• 1972 - A Meeting of the Times w ex-Duke Ellington singer Al Hibbler
• 1973 - Bright Moments - live at Keystone Corner, San Francisco
• 1973 - Prepare Thyself to Deal With a Miracle
• 1973 - The Art of Rahsaan Roland Kirk
• 1975 - The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color - w Richard Tee, Steve Gadd and Hugh McCracken
• 1976 - Other Folks' Music

Warner Bros. Records

• 1975 - The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man
• 1976 - Kirkatron - Warner Brothers Records
• 1977 - Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real

Posthumous releases of new material

• I, Eye, Aye: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1972 - Rhino
• The Man Who Cried Fire - Night
• Dog Years in the Fourth Ring - 32 Jazz
• Compliments of the Mysterious Phantom - Hyena
• Brotherman in the Fatherland - Recorded "Live" in Germany 1972 - Hyena

Compilations

• Rahsaan: The Complete Mercury Recordings Of Roland Kirk
• Does Your House Have Lions: The Rahsaan Roland Kirk Anthology
• Simmer, Reduce, Garnish & Serve - compilation of his last three albums.

Bibliography

• Jones, Quincy (Composer). (1964). Big band bossa nova [Phonograph]. Mercury. (Reissued on compact disc by Verve in 1998, 2005).
• Kruth, John: Bright Moments. The Life and Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Welcome Rain Publishers, New York 2000 ISBN 1-56649-105-3
• McLeod, Eric (Producer), & Roach, Jay (Director). (1997). Austin Powers: International man of mystery [DVD]. New Line Home Video.

External links

• the Rahsaan Roland Kirk website
• Stopping the white wash - Rahsaan Roland Kirk on TV
• Roland Kirk Discography (Jazz Discography Project)
• Sound?? film of Kirk with John Cage at UbuWeb.