October 2, 2010

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Rahsaan Roland Kirk - defied logic, defied gravity, made perfect sense.


I understand there are people on this planet who have never heard of Rahsaan Roland Kirk before. You have missed one of the true geniuses, innovators and lunatics the Jazz world had to offer.

The only horn player I ever heard who could play three instruments at once with two different melodies going simultaneously. Above and beyond an extraordinary technique of breathing, he also had unbelievable control and that gift of splitting his brain in half. I don't know how he did it. To this day I don't know how he did it, some thirty-three years after his passing. On top of everything else, he was also blind.

His recordings are legendary, both his studio albums as well as live. He was truly one of a kind and if you've never heard him before, I urge you to check him out and listen to his amazing catalog of recordings.

Tonight's track, Three For The Festival, is the opening number from his 1961 album for Emarcy (Mercury) We Free Kings.

'nuff said.

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