RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK - Blacknuss (1971-2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

From 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! Blacknuss, like The Inflated Tear, Volunteered Slavery, Rip, Rig and Panic, and I Talk to the Spirits, 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, Blacknuss 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!
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1     Ain't No Sunshine 2'26
Renaldo Benson / Al Cleveland / Marvin Gaye / Bill Withers
2     What's Goin' On/Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) 3'47
Renaldo Benson / Al Cleveland / Marvin Gaye
3     I Love You, Yes I Do 2'49
Chris Allen / Johnny Cameron / Rahsaan Roland Kirk
4     Take Me Girl, I'm Ready 3'18
Johnny Bristol / Pam Sawyer / LaVerne Ware
5     My Girl 3'06
Smokey Robinson / William Robinson / Ronald White
6     Which Way Is It Going 2'26
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
7     One Nation 3'41
Princess Patience Burton
8     Never Can Say Goodbye 4'02
Clifton Davis
9     Old Rugged Cross 7'15
Traditional
10     Make It with You 4'50
David Gates
11     Blacknuss 5'12
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Credits :
Bass – Henry Pearson (pistas: 1, 8, 11), Bill Salter (pistas: 2 to 7, 9, 10)
Congas – Richard Landrum (pistas: 1, 8, 11)
Congas, Percussion [Cabassa] – Arthur Jenkins (pistas: 2 to 7, 9, 10)
Drums – Bernard Purdie (pistas: 2 to 7, 9, 10), Khalil Mhdri (pistas: 1, 8, 11)
Flute, Tenor Saxophone, Saxophone [Manzello, Stritch], Gong, Whistle [Police Whistle], Arranged By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Guitar – Billy Butler (pistas: 1, 8, 11), Cornell Dupree (pistas: 2 to 7, 9, 10), Keith Loving (pistas: 2 to 7, 9, 10)
Organ – Mickey Tucker (pistas: 2 to 7, 9, 10)
Percussion – Joe Habad Texidor
Piano – Richard Tee (pistas: 2 to 7, 9, 10), Sonelius Smith (pistas: 1, 8, 11)
Trombone – Dick Griffin (pistas: 2 to 7, 9, 10)
Trumpet – Charles McGhee (pistas: 2 to 7, 9, 10)
Vocals – Rahsaan Roland Kirk (pistas: 1, 5, 8, 11)

RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK - Natural Black Inventions : Root Strata (1971) lp | 24bits-96hz | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Other than a couple of percussionists (and piano accompaniment on "Day Dream" by Sonelius Smith), all of the music on this rather unusual solo LP was created by Rahsaan Roland Kirk without overdubs or edits. He plays tenor, stritch, manzello, clarinets, flutes, black mystery pipes, percussion, and adds various sound effects, often two or three instruments simultaneously. The performances are episodic and colorful with plenty of humor and adventurous moments, worthy of repeated listenings and amazement. Scott Yanow
SIDE A
1    Something For Trane That Trane Could Have Said    3:05
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
2    Island Cry    3:52
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
3    Runnin' From The Trash    2:12
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
4    Day Dream 3:40
Written-By – Strayhorn, Ellington, La Touche
5    The Ragman And The Junkman Ran From The Businessman They Laughed And He Cried    3:02
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
6    Breath-A-Tron    1:55
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
SIDE B
1    Rahsaanica    3:40
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
2    Raped Voices    1:54
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
3    Haunted Feelings    2:25
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
4    Prelude Back Home    3:44
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
5    Dance Of The Lobes    2:05
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
6    Harder & Harder Spiritual    2:32
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
7    Black Root    3:17
Written-By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Credits :
Clarinet, Flute, Pipe, Harmonium, Piccolo Flute, Bass Drum, Cymbal, Bells, Timpani, Gong, Tenor Saxophone, Liner Notes – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Congas – Maurice McKinley
Piano – Sonelius Smith (pistas: A4)
Washboard, Triangle, Tambourine – Joe Habad Texidor

RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK - I, Eye, Aye : Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1972 (1972-1996) RM | Atlantic Jazz Gallery | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This live recording is a companion to a documentary called The One Man Twins. Released for the first time in 1996, both audio and video gives both fans and the uninitiated a glimpse of the century's most colorful performers and most complex jazz musicians. Kirk's band for the date was comprised of pianist Ron Burton, bassist Henry "Pete" Pearson, drummer Robert Shy, and percussionist Joe Texidor. Only Burton and Texidor were Kirk regulars. The set is absolutely electrifying. From the few short raps Kirk offers the crowd, one cannot be prepared for the honking, shouting, funky, gritty sets that follow. Kirk begins with "Seasons," a careening rush of flute acrobatics, and on into a deeply moving rendition of "Balm in Gilead," where Kirk evokes the spirit of Paul Robeson, and then into arguably the greatest version of "Volunteered Slavery" on record, a slamming R&B stomp of literally epic proportions, where Kirk uses each of his horns and starts blowing different notes on each simultaneously. There is a gorgeous solo medley where Kirk combines Ellington's "Satin Doll" and an improvisation on its two themes and comes up with something completely new, yet reverentially sound. The set ends with "Serenade to a Cuckoo," which moves across scalar dimensions and tonal registers with a deep, funky grace, and finally, "Pedal Up," a standard Kirk crowd-pleaser that brings all of his elements -- the spectral, the spiritual, and the carnal -- into full play. The band, with new players, can barely keep up with Kirk, but Burton keeps them right in line with the master's shifts in mood, mode, and tempo while keeping the entire gig harmonically on course no matter which instrument Kirk chooses to play. This is a hell of an introduction to one of the least-understood figures in jazz history, and an absolute necessity for fans.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1     Rahsaantalk, No. 1 0:38
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
2     Seasons 6:00
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
3     Rahsaantalk, No. 2 1:12
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
4     Balm in Gilead 7:05
Traditional
5     Volunteered Slavery 10:20
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
6     Rahsaantalk, No. 3 0:24
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
7     Blue Rol, No. 2 9:04
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
8     Solo Piece: Satin Doll/Improvisation 4:19
Duke Ellington / Rahsaan Roland Kirk
9     Serenade to a Cuckoo 3:28
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
10     Pedal Up 6:11
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Credits :
Bass – Henry "Pete" Pearson
Drums – Robert Shy
Percussion – Joe "Habao" Texidor
Piano – Ron Burton
Tenor Saxophone, Saxophone [Manzello], Saxophone [Stritch], Clarinet, Flute, Nose Flute, Siren, Performer [Other Stuff] – Rahsaan Roland Kirk

ROLAND KIRK - Live In Paris 1970 Vol. 1 & 2 (1970-1988) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Roland Kirk – Live In Paris 1970 Vol. 1
1    Easy To Love 9:35
Composed By – Cole Porter
2    Love Madeline 4:22
Composed By – R. Kirk
3    My Cherie Amour 5:30
Composed By – S. Wonder
4    Petite Fleur 7:42
Composed By – S. Bechet
5    Inflated Tear 5:20
Composed By – R. Kirk
6    Three For The Festival 7:40
Composed By – R. Kirk
7    Boogie Man Song 6:50
Composed By – R. Kirk
Roland Kirk – Live In Paris, 1970 Vol. 2
1    Sweet Fire    16:26
Composed By – Roland Kirk
2    Make Me A Pallet On The Floor 8:52
Traditional / Arranged By – Roland Kirk
3    Charlie Parker Medley 6:51
Composed By – Charlie Parker
4    Volunteer Slavery    11:41
Composed By – Roland Kirk
5    You Did It, You Did It    5:00
Composed By – Roland Kirk
6    Satin Doll 1:46
Composed By – Duke Ellington
Credits :
Bass – Vernon Martin
Drums – Jerome Cooper
Percussion – Joe Texidor
Piano – Ron Burton
Saxophone, Flute – Roland Kirk

RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK - Bright Moments (1974-1993) 2CD | RM | Atlantic Jazz Gallery | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Rahsaan Roland Kirk's live club gigs were usually engaging, freewheeling affairs, full of good humor and a fantastically wide range of music. The double album Bright Moments (reissued as a double CD) is a near-definitive document of the Kirk live experience, and his greatest album of the '70s. The extroverted Kirk was in his element in front of an audience, always chatting, explaining his concepts, and recounting bits of jazz history. Even if some of his long, jive-talking intros can sound a little dated today, it's clear in the outcome of the music that Kirk fed voraciously off the energy of the room. Most of the tracks are long (seven minutes or more), demonstrating Kirk's wealth of soloing ideas in a variety of styles (and, naturally, on a variety of instruments). "Pedal Up" is a jaw-dropping demonstration of Kirk's never-duplicated three-horns-at-once technique, including plenty of unaccompanied passages that simply sound impossible. There's more quintessential Kirk weirdness on "Fly Town Nose Blues," which heavily features an instrument called the nose flute, and the title track has a healthy dose of Kirk singing through his (traditional) flute. His repertoire is typically eclectic: Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss"; a groovy Bacharach pop tune in "You'll Never Get to Heaven"; a lovely version of Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz"; and a stomping, exultant New Orleans-style original, "Dem Red Beans and Rice." Perhaps the best, however, is an impassioned rendition of the ballad standard "If I Loved You," where Kirk's viscerally raw, honking tone hints in a roundabout way at the avant-garde without ever losing its melodic foundation. Bright Moments empties all the major items out of Kirk's bag of tricks, providing a neat microcosm of his talents and displaying a consummate and knowledgeable showman. In short, it's nothing less than a tour de force. Steve Huey  
Tracklist 1 :
1     Introduction 2:06
Rahsaan Roland Kirk    
2     Pedal Up 11:52
Rahsaan Roland Kirk    
3     You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart) 9:48
Burt Bacharach / Hal David
4    Clickety Clack 2:30
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
5     Prelude to a Kiss 5:05
Duke Ellington / Irving Gordon / Irving Mills
6     Talk (Electric Nose) 2:33
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
7     Fly Town Nose Blues 8:52
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Tracklist 2 :    
1     Talk (Bright Moments) 3:30
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
2     Bright Moments 10:02
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
3     Dem Red Beans and Rice 7:05
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
4     If I Loved You 8:50
Oscar Hammerstein II / Richard Rodgers
5     Talk (Fats Waller) 1:30
Rahsaan Roland Kirk / Fats Waller
6     Jitterbug Waltz 7:00
Richard Maltby, Jr. / Fats Waller    
7     Second Line Jump 1:30
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Credits :
Bass – Henry Pearson
Drums – Robert Shy
Flute, Tenor Saxophone, Nose Flute, Liner Notes – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Percussion – Joe Habao
Piano – Ron Burton
Synthesizer, Tambourine – Todd Barkan

RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK - The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man (1976) lp | 24bits-96hz | FLAC (tracks), lossless

The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man was Rahsaan Roland Kirk's first album for Warner Brothers, recorded before the stroke that impaired him. Kirk is at full creative and musical strength. These seven tracks are an utter astonishment. Kirk's playing of saxophones, harmonica, flutes, and euphonium is deep, soulful, and even profound in places. "Theme for the Eulipions" (which opens the album), "Giant Steps," and "There Will Never Be Another You" features an all-star band that includes Charlie Persip, a young Hilton Ruiz, bassist Buster Williams, Romeo Perique on baritone saxophone, and Howard Johnson on tuba. The version of "Sweet Georgia Brown," with its wacky percussion and whistling, is so utterly joyful and funky it's perhaps the definitive jazz version of the tune. But it's the readings of Minnie Riperton's "Loving You" and Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" that take the album to an entirely new place. They are, though very different from one another, so utterly moving and aesthetically beautiful, they elevate music to the level of poetry. This is one that's utterly necessary for fans, and a very fitting intro for the novice.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
SIDE A
1    Theme For The Eulipions 9:22
Music By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Solo Vocal – Maeretha Stewart
Words By, Speech – Betty Neals
2    Sweet Georgia Brown 5:07
Written-By – Ben Bernie, Kenny Casey, Maceo Pinkard
3    I'll Be Seeing You
Written-By – Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain
SIDE B
1    Loving You 4:42
Written-By – Minnie Riperton, Richard Rudolph
2    Goodbye Pork Pie Hat 6:17
Music By – Charles Mingus
Words By – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
3    There Will Never Be Another You 5:08
Written-By – Harry Warren, Mac Gordon
4    Giant Steps 6:11
Music By – John Coltrane
Words By – Betty Neals
Credits :
Arranged By – Frank Foster (pistas: A1, B3, B4), Rahsaan Roland Kirk (pistas: A2, A3, B1 to B3)
Backing Vocals – Adrienne Albert (pistas: A1, B3, B4), Arthur Williams (pistas: A1, B3, B4), Francine Carroll (pistas: A1, B3, B4), Hilda Harris (pistas: A1, B3, B4), Maeretha Stewart (pistas: A1, B3, B4), Milton Grayson (pistas: A1, B3, B4), Randy Peyton (pistas: A1, B3, B4)
Baritone Saxophone – Romeo Penque (pistas: A1, B3, B4)
Bass – Charles 'Buster' Williams (pistas: A1, B3, B4), Mattathias Pearson (pistas: B1, B2), Milton Hinton (pistas: A2)
Celesta – Hilton Ruiz (pistas: B4)
Drums – Bill Carney (pistas: A3), Charlie Persip (pistas: A1, B3, B4), Jerry Griffin (pistas: B1, B2)
Guitar – William Butler (pistas: A3, B1, B2)
Harmonica, Saxophone [Stritchaphone], Tenor Saxophone, Vocals, Producer – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Keyboards – Arthur Jenkins (pistas: B1, B2)
Organ – Trudy Pitts (pistas: A3)
Percussion – Habao Texidor (pistas: A1, B1 to B4), Warren Smith (pistas: B1, B2)
Piano – Hank Jones (pistas: A2), Hilton Ruiz (pistas: A1, B1 to B3)
Tuba – Howard Johnson (pistas: A1, B3, B4)
Whistling – William Eaton (pistas: A2)

RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK - Brotherman in the Fatherland (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

It's very tempting to go off on Joel Dorn for his decision to call a Rahsaan Roland Kirk record recorded live in Germany Brotherman in the Fatherland. Dorn's had questionable taste about all kinds of things since he began running record labels that have had numerous names attached to them -- Kirk's music is not one of them. This gig, recorded in 1972, is one of those seemingly out-of-nowhere moments when Kirk, struggling to make a living, took it to the audience full-force. He was accompanied on this tour by longtime pianist Ron Burton, bassist Henry Pearson, drummer Richie Goldberg (who did a long stint with Ray Charles) and Joe Texudor on assorted percussion. The program is pure magic: from "Like Sony" to a bad-ass reworking of the insipid Bread tune "Make It with You," that Kirk turns into pure outre blues soul-jazz, and that's just the beginning. "Rahsaan's Spirit" is the place where Kirk spins off into his own universe with the band -- Burton's solo here is particularly telling as the members all solo. Kirk brings it back to a deeply soulful read of "My Girl" with a piano intro that sounds a lot like Roy Bittan's from Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road," but it was a couple of years ahead of that milestone. Kirk's nose flute hints the melody line before his flute takes over and runs the melody down to its root; he plays them simultaneously and even vocalizes, à la Charles. The swinging Ramsey Lewis-styled soul riffing gives the audience something else to hold onto before the doors come off with "Seasons/Serenade to a Cuckoo" that digs even deeper as it streams into "Pedals Up," a musically tender reading of "Lush Life," before it all melts down into Coltrane's "Afro Blue" with Kirk on all horns peeling the paint; there's only a brief respite before it goes all the way into jazz heaven with a deeply swinging, blues-drenched crazyland reading of "Blue Trane." Like his best live outings -- this one doesn't have the same sound quality as Bright Moments -- this one is simply astonishing in its intensity, soul, and acumen. One can only wonder when hearing the polite applause at the end of the gig (instead of the justifiable shouting and screaming that should've been there) if the German crowd were just blown away, or confused. Listeners, too, may wonder if they can believe what has just transpired in the space of an hour. They can. Dorn may be on the questionable side in naming this recording, but he's to be thanked for issuing it.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Intro / Like Sonny 8:34
Written-By – John Coltrane
2    Make It With You 5:39
Written-By – David Gates
3    Rahsaan's Spirit    7:05
4    My Girl 5:15
Written-By – Ronald White, Smokey Robinson
5    Seasons / Serenade To A Cuckoo 6:54
Written-By – Roland Kirk
6    Pedal Up    10:21
7    Lush Life 3:12
Written-By – Billy Strayhorn
8    Afro Blue 4:04
Arranged By – John Coltrane
Composed By – Mongo Santamaria
9    Blue Train 17:31
Written-By – John Coltrane
Credits :
Double Bass – Henry Pete Pearson "Mettathias"
Drums – Richie Goldberg
Ensemble – Rahsaan Roland Kirk & The Vibration Society
Percussion – Joe "Habao" Texidor
Piano – Ron Burton
Saxophone [Tenor, Manzello, Stritch], Flute, Flute [Nose], Clarinet – Rahsaan Roland Kirk