: Insights into Kirk's multi-instrumental technique (playing the manzello, stritch, and tenor sax simultaneously) and his relationship with producer Quincy Jones.
Now, Dorn was assembling the definitive document: Rahsaan: The Complete Mercury Recordings . But this was not just a box set. It was a séance. It was a séance
In the pantheon of jazz giants, few figures are as simultaneously beloved, perplexing, and awe-inspiring as Rahsaan Roland Kirk. He was a multi-instrumentalist of staggering virtuosity, often playing three horns at once (tenor sax, manzello, and stritch). He was a political provocateur, a blind visionary who saw music as total theater, and a walking encyclopedia of jazz history who could quote Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and circus calliopes in the same breath. He was a political provocateur, a blind visionary
For enthusiasts of "Black Classical Music"—a term coined by the legend himself—few releases hold as much weight as This massive 10-CD (plus one bonus disc) box set, released by Verve/PolyGram in 1990, chronicles the most transformative years of a musician who was often dismissed as a "gimmick" act before being recognized as a multi-instrumental visionary. He was a political provocateur
Spanning from , this collection captures Kirk’s evolution from a young iconoclast into a formidable bandleader and virtuoso. The Core of the Collection
Other tracks from this period: “The Creole Love Call” (Duke Ellington’s ghost in a stranglehold), “A Laugh for Rory” (a eulogy for a friend, played on flute and nose flute simultaneously), “Three for the Festival” (a carnival of circular breathing that sounds like ten people dancing in wooden shoes).