The five CDs of this still outrageous and hugely entertaining collection by probably one of the most inventive saxophonist in jazz history, Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The set collects in card LP replica sleeves, the first five original albums Kirk recorded for Atlantic between 1967 and 1971. They capture the concentrated power and vivid imagination of a multi-instrumentalist who could play three horns at once and make his own instruments.
Here, field holler and modern jazz balladry, rocking rhythm and blues, shouts and out-there abstraction are compressed into a single musical vision that roam at will through the legacy of African-American music.
Includes career-defining albums:
CD 1 · Here Comes the Whistleman (Atlantic SD 3007) 1967
CD 2 · The Inflated Tear (Atlantic SD 1507) 1968
CD 3 · Left & Right (Atlantic SD 1518) 1968
CD 4 · Volunteered Slavery (Atlantic SD 1534) 1969
CD 5 · Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata (Atlantic SD 1578) 1971
Tracklist
CD 1
01. Roots 05:49
02. Here Comes The Whistleman 4:05
03. I Wished On The Moon 5:54
04. Making Love After Hours 4:30
05. Yesterdays 4:08
06. Aluminium Baby 6:12
07. Step Right Up 4:50
CD 2
01. The Black and Crazy Blues 6:08
02. A Laugh For Rory 2:54
03. Many Blessings 4:46
04. Fingers In The Wind 4:18
05. The Inflated Tear 4:59
06. The Creole Love Call 3:54
07. A Handful Of Fives 2:43
08. Fly By Night 4:19
09. Lovellevelliloqui 4:06
CD 3
01. Black Mystery Has Been Revealed 1:18
02. Expansions 19:38
A. Kirkquest
B. Mingus
C. Celestialness
D. A Dream of Beauty Reincarnated
E. Frisco Vibrations
F. Classical Jazzical
G. Ellington Psalms
H. Haynes' Brain's Sayin's
I. What's Next - Overture
03. Lady's Blues 3:46
04. IX Love 3:41
05. Hotcha 3:24
06. Quintessence 4:12
07. I Waited For You 2:54
08. A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing 3:56
CD 4
01. Volunteered Slavery 5:45
02. Spirits Up Above 3:38
03. My Cherie Amour 3:21
04. Search For The Reason Why 2:08
05. I Say A Little Prayer 8:00
06. Roland's Opening Remarks 0:40
07. One Ton 5:01
08. Ovation & Roland's Remarks 1:41
09. A Tribute To John Coltrane 8:13
- Lush Life
- Afro-Blue
- Bessie's Blues
10. Three For The Festival 4:26
CD 5
01. Something For Trane That Trane Could Have Said 3:07
02. Island Cry 3:54
03. Runnin' From The Trash 2:16
04. Day Dream 3:42
05. The Ragman and The Junkman Ran
From The Businessman They Laughed and He Cried 3:04
06. Breath-A-Thon 1:55
07. Rahsaanica 3:43
08. Raped Voices 1:47
09. Haunted Feelings 2:27
10. Prelude Back Home 3:45
11. Dance Of The Lobes 2:06
12. Harder & Harder Spiritual 2:35
13. Black Root 3:17
Album details
Personnel on Here Comes the Whistleman:
Roland Kirk (alto & tenor sax, flute, nose flute, stritch, mazello), Jackie Byard, Lonnie Smith (piano), Major Holley (bass), Charles Crosby (drums).
Recorded live at Atlantic Studios, New York City, March 14, 1965
Personnel on The Inflated Tear:
Roland Kirk (tenor sax, clarinet, flute, stritch, mazello, English horn, whistle, flexaphone), Ron Burton (piano), Steve Novosel (bass), Jimmy Hopps (drums).
Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, November 27, 1967
Personnel on Left & Right:
Roland Kirk (tenor sax, manzello, stritch, clarinet, flute, organ, narrator), Jim Buffington, Julius Watkins (French horn), Frank Wess (woodwinds), Ron Burton (piano), Vernon Martin (bass), Roy Haynes (drums), Warren Smith (percussion, vocals), Unidentified strings, Gil Fuller (arranger).
Recorded at Atlantic Studios, New York City, June 17, 1968
Personnel on Volunteered Slavery:
Roland Kirk (tenor sax, manzello, stritch, clarinet, whistle, vocals), Ron Burton (piano), Vernon Martin (bass), Jimmy Hopps (drums), Joe Habad Texidor (percussion).
Recorded at Newport Jazz Festival, RI, July 7, 1968 [#6-10] and Regent Sound Studios, New York City, July 22 & 23, 1969 [#1-5]
Personnel on Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata:
Rahsaan Roland Kirk (tenor sax, manzello, stritch, clarinet, flute, B flat clarinet, E flat clarinet, pipes, harmonium, piccolo, bass drum, thundersheet, cymbals, bells, music box, palms, timpani, gong, bird sounds), Sonelius Smith (piano), Maurice McKinley (drums), Joe Habad Texidor (washboard, triangle, thundersheet, tambourine).
Recorded at Regent Sound Studios, New York City, January 26 and February, 1971
All sessions Stereo recordings
Originally produced by Joel Dorn & Roland Kirk
