Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Live in Paris (1970) (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:28 minutes | 1,02 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Transversales Disques
Gifted multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk at the height of his powers, backed by his Vibration Society, including long-term cohorts pianist Ron Burton, powerhouse percussionist Joe Habao Texidor, Dick Griffin on trombone, drummer Jerome Cooper and Vernon Martin on Double Bass.
First ever official reissue of this rare ORTF recording performed live at studio 104, Maison de la Radio Paris, with the full permission and cooperation of the National Audiovisual Institute (INA).
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Prepare Thyself To Deal With A Miracle (1973/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 43:24 minutes | 1,63 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino Atlantic
Recorded in 1973, this is yet another criminally underappreciated Rahsaan Roland Kirk recording from the last phase of a remarkable career. This is perhaps Kirk’s most experimental recording in that it involves his most involved performing on multiple horns and flutes — including his infamous and wonderful nose flute — and working with drones on a more surface level. Given Kirk’s system of playing three horns at once, the drone horn was always a part of his sonic architecture. The difference here is that the melodic and improvisational lines take a back seat on tunes such as the opening “Salvation and Reminiscing,” where he makes fantastic use of a baby E-flat saxophone, and on “Celestial Bliss,” on which he is accompanied on his “black mystery pipes” only by percussion. On the medley “Seasons: One Mind Winter/Summer/Ninth Ghost,” Kirk begins with the nose flutes, playing a part of “Balm in Gilead,” before bringing in a six-piece string orchestra to play behind him as he improvises on all the melodies and modes. And this improvisation is not just a series of out arpeggios playing legato and running through and over the changes, but intricately nuanced, gentle, and architecturally sophisticated wanderings. Despite the beauty of the album’s first three tracks, it is on the closer, the 21-and-a-half-minute “Saxophone Concerto,” where Kirk most leaves his mark as a composer and innovator on the jazz world. Kirk comes out blowing literally like a train and weaves in, with vocalists Jeanne Lee and Dee Dee Bridgewater, a series of muted horn lines and rhythm figures. The band is 16 pieces total, and the concerto is structured in movements from an intro in which the purpose is stated: “time for America to discover some of its true Black miracles,” wherein bebop and hard bop shimmy up against free modes and articulations by the rhythm section and the other horns. Kirk may solo on top with his tenor, but he holds close to the rhythm section’s articulation of mutated blues. From here, Latin and faux classical chromatics are shaded into the whole as the pace becomes more and more frenetic, and just as the piece becomes perhaps circus-like, Kirk and company strip it all back and out, into a free universe washed by improvising vocalists, crashing cymbals, droning brass, and rumbling tom-toms before it’s all a hush of unidentifiable sounds except for those of breaking glass. There are numerous metaphors and metonyms here, but they will not come to the listener until later, when she or he regains the conscious notion of breathing.
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Kirkatron (1977/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 47:05 minutes | 1,63 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino – Warner Records
Kirkatron is an album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk featuring performances by Kirk recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1975 and studio sessions from 1975 and 1976.
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Domino (Remastered) (1962/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 58:24 minutes | 659 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla
The period Mercury Roland Kirk, well before he adopts binary rhythms and expand his music to cross the boundaries of jazz. At the beginning of the sixties, Kirk is already an orchestral man who, without renouncing blues and tradition, explores new ways, both melodic and instrumental. Using up to three instruments simultaneously, including stritch and manzello, both from the saxophone family, he chose to surround himself with two quartets, the presence of pianist Andrew Hill in the first conferring a grain of madness extra to his music. Wiser but full of feeling, Wynton Kelly’s piano is nonetheless endearing, especially since it builds on Roy Haynes’ formidable drumming and Roland Kirk’s humor remains infectious.
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Live at Ronnie Scott’s 1963 (Remastered) (Live) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 37:55 minutes | 1,36 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Gearbox Records Limited
Previously unreleased recording from the legendary multi-instrumentalist Kirk. Kirk’s influence and following reaches far beyond Jazz. Hendrix idolised 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.
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk – The Vibration Continues (1978/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 1:24:52 minutes | 2,85 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | Digital Booklet | © Rhino Atlantic
The Vibration Continues is a breathtaking compilation of hits spanning the years of 1968-1974 from multi-instrumentalist, Rahsaan Roland Kirk. With virtuoso improvisations, the album features tremendous renditions of Ellington’s “Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me” and a brilliant performance of “Tribute to John Coltrane: Lush Life, Afro-Blue & Bessie’s Blues.”
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