Used-Bin Bargains: Rahsaan Roland Kirk

The current Chicago weather is -1. Not bad considering it's raised 5 degrees since I woke up, though it would be nice if my steam heat would turn on. I guess free heat is what it is.

GO BEARS!!!!!!!!!!! (sigh)



Rahsaan Roland Kirk - From Bechet, Byas and Fats - Rip, Rig and Panic (Limelight 1965)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Stompin' Grounds - Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith (Verve 1967)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Rip, Rig and Panic/Now Please Don’t Your Cry, Beautiful Edith / Polygram

Last November I attended this meet-and-greet at the Sonotheque for a job I was perusing; alas music directing an independent radio station is not the most financially stable situation. I’m a big fan of this Chicago nightspot because basically it’s a bar built inside a sound system and they frequently feature eclectic DJs and worldly acts. But maybe my favorite characteristic is the television they have mounted above the bar, which plays random old films from god knows where and the soundless visuals seem to intoxicate me more than their overpriced alcohol. On this particular night, while I was supposed to be schmoozing, they were playing this film of Rahsaan Roland Kirk absolutely killing it in black and white and though I couldn’t hear the music that actually accompanied the concert, just watching the jazz man play his barrage of handmade instruments as well as piano and drums was mesmerizing. Well it’s been three months and I have yet to hear about the job (or the South African girl I was hitting on that night as well, sigh), but the evening wasn’t wasted because it prompted my digging into the great world of Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

The blind multi-instrumentalist was born during the mid-30s in Columbus, OH and was trained on the bugle, trumpet, clarinet, C-melody and tenor sax by 15. His late teenage years were spent playing R&B professionally as he began to discover unordinary instruments like the manzello, a modified version of the saxello (a straight B-flat soprano), and the stritch, a modified straight E-flat alto, as well as tweak his own horns so he could play them simultaneously. Throughout his career he’d continue this practice of creating instruments introducing the trumpophone, which used a soprano sax mouthpiece on a trumpet, and the slidesophone, a miniature trombone again with a sax mouthpiece, as well as incorporating piccolo, harmonica, siren whistles, tape manipulation, electronics and other instruments not typically associated with jazz. The early 60s saw Kirk in Chicago as he began to make a name for himself as a solo musician, not to mention touring Europe with Mingus in the interim. In the early 70s he became an activist for supporting jazz and African-American artists, but sadly, he suffered a paralyzing stroke in '75. Though he lost movement on one complete side of his body, he kept playing one-handed with his constantly modified instruments. Kirk passed away in 1977, but left a lasting mark on the jazz world with his exciting showmanship, as an unparalleled multi-talented musician and with his genre-infusing eccentrics that still influence artists today.

Much to our benefit, many of Kirk’s records can be picked up as double albums on CD, like this 1990 Polygram release featuring 1965’s Rip, Rig and Panic (Limelight) and 1967’s Now Please Don’t You Cry, Beautiful Edith (Verve). Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, Rip, Rig and Panic features not only a pre-Rahsaan Roland Kirk taking his post-bop sound through many different phases of jazz, but also sports absolutely amazing accompaniment. Rounding out the quartet was long-time Coletrane drummer Elvin Jones, incredibly versatile pianist Jaki Byard and Creative Construction Company bassist Richard Davis. I think the most appropriate description for this album would be accessible avant-garde jazz. While certainly spending much time within the reigns of hard and post-bop, Kirk’s refusal to stick with one sound (or instrument) finds the music careening off into numerous directions including traditional New Orleans jazz, modal music, free improvisation and even found sound as with glass shattering to represent a change in theme or Edgard Varèse-inspired tape manipulation. But I believe that the fact it never reaches an inaccessible noise level would appeal to listeners trying to ease themselves into the world of avant-garde jazz.

“Rip means Rip Van Winkle [or Rest in Peace?]. It’s the way people, even musicians, are. They’re asleep. Rig means like rigor mortis. That’s where a lot of people’s minds are. When they hear me doing things they didn’t think I could do they panic in their minds. They all say, 'Well, I didn’t know this kind of thing could happen.' Actually, I was doing some things like this when I was in Ohio, but I lost work because people didn’t want to hear this kind of thing.”

Though recorded two years later, Now Please Don’t Cry, Beautiful Edith (Kirk’s wife), is much more accessible in what I am assuming was an attempt to reach a wider audience. It’s much more based around grooves and even features a rendition of “Alfie,” a pop tune originally penned but Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Joining Kirk in the studio this time was renown soul-jazz session drummer Grady Tate, future fusion keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith and long-time Sun Ra associate Roland/Ronnie Boykins on bass. He couldn’t have had a better band in place for the feel of this album that was simultaneously soulful, bluesy and warm. It makes an intriguing juxtaposition to Rip, Rig and Panic though hardly generic; Kirk’s inventiveness as a player just cannot be contained for long no matter the theme. For example, the aforementioned “Alfie” starts off pretty mundane with it’s light piano accompaniment and smooth jazz sax, but the skittering drums pick up and Kirk wails in an seemingly multi-tracked way as they find a loose groove to finish the three-minute song. While I will admit that Please Don’t Cry is not nearly as awe-inspiring as Rip, it’s an important exposure to the many dimensions of Kirk. This double-album is a great introduction to the unpredictable and multi-dimensional world of Rahsaan Roland Kirk and worth every penny you spend on it.