Roland Kirk - Gifts and Messages

 Roland Kirk - 1964 Gifts And Messages  (Mercury MG 20939)

01 The Things I Love  3:09
02 Petite Fleur  3:08
03 Hip Chops  3:29
04 Gifts And Messages   4:02
05 Vertigo Ro   4:03
06 March On, Swan Lake  3:56
07 My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice  3:22
08 Tears Sent By You   5:54
09 Where Does The Blame Lie?    2:48
10 Blues For C&T   3:06
 
Roland Kirk (ts, mzo, str, fl, siren, ob) Horace Parlan (p) Michael Fleming (b) Steve Ellington (d)

Los Angeles, CA, July 22, 1964

 Do not confuse with a posthumously issued live session from Ronnie Scott's Club, London, recorded in Oct and Sept, 1964

After Reeds and Deeds what else but Gifts and Messages? Another forgotten miracle from the man who was made of music. The version of 'Petite Fleur' is haunting and the tune 'Hip Chops' is just plain cool as hell (just try to picture how in the hell you play a flute and saxophone simultaneously). My only real complaint with this record is that the cuts are shorter than I'd like (somehow I think I'll survive).

Various Artists - The History Of Chess Jazz (1996)

History of Chess Jazz is a double-disc set featuring highlights from the label's overlooked jazz catalog. Among the artists included are Kenny Burrell, Woody Herman, Ramsey Lewis, Etta James, Ahmad Jamal, and Zoot Sims. Jazz wasn't one of Chess' strong points, but there is plenty of fine music here, making it a worthwhile sampler. ~ by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG. 

Chess Records, GRD-2-812, 1996
Recorded May, 1950 - April, 1967 

Tracklist: 

CD1:
01. Ahmad Jamal - Poinciana {Buddy Bernier, Nat Simon} (9:31)
02. Sonny Stitt, Bennie Green - My Main Man {Bennie Green, Sonny Stitt} (5:59)
03. Red Rodney - Shaw 'Nuff {Ray Brown, Gil Fuller, Dizzy Gillespie} (6:36)
04. The Jazztet - Killer Joe (Benny Golson} (4:14)
05. Zoot Sims - The Man I Love {George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin} (5:16)
06. Roland Kirk - Soul Station {Rahsaan Roland Kirk} (5:28)
07. James Moody, Eddie Jefferson - Parker's Mood {Eddie Jefferson, Charlie Parker} (3:24)
08. Woody Herman - Keep On Keepin' On {Richard Evans} (4:19)
09. Ray Bryant - Gotta Travel On {Paul Clayton, Larry Ehrlich, Dave Lazer, Tom Six} (4:24)
10. Benny Goodman - Benny Rides Again {Eddie Sauter} (4:33)
11. John Klemmer - My Love Has Butterfly Wings {John Klemmer} (3:53)
12. Etta James - At Last {Mack Gordon, Harry Warren} (3:00)
13. Ramsey Lewis - The "In" Crowd {Billy Page} (5:50) 

Time: 66:32 

CD2:
01. Barry Harris - Ornithology {Benny Harris, Charlie Parker} (3:32)
02. James Moody - Last Train From Overbrook {James Moody} (3:03)
03. Gene Ammons - My Foolish Heart {Ned Washington, Victor Young} (2:48)
04. Lorez Alexandria - Baltimore Oriole {Hoagy Carmichael, Paul Francis Webster} (3:11)
05. Oliver Nelson - A Bientot {Billy Taylor} (3:48)
06. Yusef Lateef - Morning [Excerpt] {Yusef Lateef, Sandy Owen} (3:14)
07. Odell Brown - Mellow Yellow {Donovan} (5:28)
08. Art Farmer - Tonk {Ray Bryant} (3:05)
09. Illinois Jacquet - You're My Thrill {Jay Gorney, Burton Lane, Ned Washington} (3:50)
10. Howard McGhee - House Warnin' {Marshall Pau, Paul Winley} (2:31)
11. Chubby Jackson - Tiny's Blues {Al Cohn, Tiny Kahn} (5:01)
12. Clark Terry - Candy {Mack David, Alex Kramer, Joan Whitney} (2:23)
13. Benny Golson - The Touch {Benny Golson} (5:19)
14. Kenny Burrell - Silent Night {Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr} (2:35) 

Time: 49:54 

Total Time: 01:56:26

Roland Kirk - Complete Recordings 1956-1962

A new cheapo Euro-box with little in the way of covers or notes, but with fresh remastering of some of my favorite albums - ripped from Unkie Cliff's new box set.

Roland Kirk - Now Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith (vinyl rip)

The second rip on the new turntable!

"Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith (about Kirk's wife) was the first of his all groove sides. Out of ten tunes, Kirk composed eight, of the other two, only one was a recognizable jazz tune ("It's a Grand Night for Swinging" by Billy Taylor, who wrote the liner notes) and the other was a pop tune (Bacharach and David's "Alfie"). Unlike Rip, Rig, and Panic from two years earlier in 1965, this set featured an in-the-pocket rhythm section. Adventure was not the name of the game on this date, feeling was -- and for the job he got some of the finest cats working in the groove jazz idiom: drummer Grady Tate, pianist Lonnie Liston Smith, and bassist Roland Boykins. The record opens with "Blue Rol," a standard blues made more beautiful by Kirk's playing three horns throughout except for his tenor solo and Smith's tough comping in the middle register. "Alfie" is another story. Kirk blows his tenor with the same tonal warmth Ben Webster did by reading the melody faithfully and tenderly adding fills with Smith, slipping around him for subtle accents, adding color and dimension even when he picks up the tempo, which is led by a steaming, hard-swinging Tate. The end of the album is very special as well, as the title track features the only outside playing on the disc, but it feels more like it's honking R&B shouting rather than vanguard invention as it gives way to the gorgeous Latin swing of the melody. Finally, on the Taylor tune, after a breathtaking arpeggio orgy on "Stompin' Grounds" between Kirk and Smith, the elegance of the musician shines through, as Kirk's flute sweeps through the rhythm section, carrying the cut-time number through a bop permutation or two before coming back to the blues in his solo. Smith's pianism here is so light, his touch so quick and fluid, Kirk can't help but cruise over the tune. This was the beginning of the exploration that led listeners to Blacknuss and Boogie Woogie String Along for Real, and it is worth every bit as those two recordings." Thom Jurek

Roland Kirk, Gifts and Messages (Live at Ronnie Scott's))

I believe that someone mentioned having been to this show in the comments to an earlier RK post so I couldn't resist bringing this one back from the Crypt. You may or may not know that one of the rocks this blog was founded on was the music of Roland Kirk, primarily the pre-Rahsaan recordings. This is one of the rarest of the rare and this time in glorious, crisp FLAC. Here is my original review from May 2009.

"There are two albums bearing this title, this one here is the live set from Ronnie Scott's Club. The showmanship, humor and boundless energy that made a Kirk show unforgettable are all on display in this marvelous show. A Roland Kirk live show was an encounter with a musical force of nature. All you could do was ride the wave, resistance was futile (Kirk as a Borg?). The accompanying group was Ronnie's house band and the very young Rick Laird sounds a little overwhelmed but that's easy to overlook.

A 78 minute slice of wonderment - Kirk's power and magnetism will quickly erase any of this recording's shortcomings."

Roland Kirk, Gifts and Messages (Live)
Ronnie Scott's Jazz House (JHAS 606)
Recorded live at Ronnie Scott's Club, 1964

1. Ronnie's Intro
2. Bags Groove
3. Roland's Intro
4. It Might as Well be Spring
5. (On a) Misty Night
6. Come Sunday
7. Avalon
8. My Ship
9. A Strich in Time
10. Gifts and Messages
11. Reeling and Rhyming

Roland Kirk tenor, strich, manzello, flute, whistle, nose flute, siren, saxophonium
Stan Tracy piano
Rick Laird bass
Allan Ganley drums

links in comments

Tubby Hayes - Return Visit! 1962

A recovery from the Crypt but with a different review and in FLAC.

Tubby Hayes - Return Visit! 1962
Fontana, 1962


1. Afternoon In Paris 5:46
2. I See My Third "I" 9:27
3. Lady "E" 3:15
4. Stitt's Tune 9:51
5. Medley: If I Had You; Alone Together; For Heaven's Sake 7:24

 Tubby Hayes tenor sax, vibes; Roland Kirk tenor sax, manzello, flute, nose flute, stritch; Jimmy Gloomy tenor sax, flute; Walter Bishop Jr. piano; Sam Jones bass; Louis Hayes drums


"A Saturday morning in June 1962 and Tubby Hayes arrives at the recording studio on West 48th Street in New York City. A session has been slated for later that day with a pick-up group. None of the group has been aware of the date until the night before. One by one they wander in. All have been playing spots in various clubs until the early hours. Introductions are made. One member wonders who Tubby Hayes is, asks if he's a rock `n' roll singer. This is Jimmy Gloomy, not his real name, as he probably shouldn't be there at all - contractual reasons. Memories of Louis Armstrong: "It wasn't me, sir. I won't do it again".

Midday arrives and producer Quincy Jones suggests maybe they get started. But what to play? They don't have a play list, have never rehearsed. Apart from pianist Walter Bishop Jnr, Tubbs has never met any of them. Quincy suggests they warm up with a blues, and they choose `Stitt's Tune`, the theme of Tubb's old band The Jazz Couriers - Tubbs and Gloomy on tenor sax, Roland Kirk providing counter melody on manzello and stritch, his customary hybrid horns. Next it's a minor blues - a Kirk original `I See With My Third "I"', then a ballad medley, including `Alone Together', one of Tubbs' favourites. Next Tubbs switches to vibes for `Afternoon In Paris', with solos from Kirk and Gloomy on tenors and Bishop on piano, and an unrehearsed coda from one-man brass section Kirk on tenor, manzello and stritch. They round off the session with another Kirk original `Lady "E"', with Tubbs still on vibes and Kirk on flute. And then they're through. Just time for bassist and drummer Sam Jones and Louis Hayes to get to Birdland and Kirk to the Five Spot for their first sets, and for Tubbs to return to the UK. In the space of just a few short hours they've recorded an exciting and memorable jazz album. That's how it was and them were the days."
By David Baxter.

Roland Kirk - The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets The Benny Golson Orchestra

The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson Orchestra
Jun 11, 1964-Jun 12, 1963
Label: Mercury 20844

   1. Ecclusiastics
   2. By Myself
   3. Roland Speaks
   4. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
   5. Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
   6. I've Got Your Number
   7. Between the Fourth and the Fifth Step
   8. April Morning
   9. Get in the Basement
  10. Abstract Improvisation

Virgil Jones, Richard Williams-tpt (1-5)
Tom McIntosh, Charles Greenlea-tbn (1-5)
Don Butterfield-tu (1-5)
Harold Mabern-p (1-10)
Richard Davis-b (1-5)
Abdullah Rafik-b (6-10)
Albert Heath-d (1-5)
Sonny Brown-d (6-10)
Benny Golson-cond, arr (1-5)

Another wonder from Kirk's Mercury years that has spent far more time out of print than in print. Not for any failure of the music here, I'm surprised this album was never popular, side one is with a nonet arranged by Benny Golson with some very appealing music including the twisted Monk-like  'Ecclusiastics' and the lovely 'A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square' featuring Kirk on strich. Side two is a quartet set from a year later that is full of great moments too. 'Ive Got Your Number' is another strich piece that rivals any alto man, followed by one of those jaw dropping full horn chorus numbers that leave you speechless, and then two completely different tenor tour de force pieces that have Roland showing off a slightly Coltrane ballad sound on 'April Morning' and then pure Sonny Rollins trio voicing in 'Get in the Basement'. I don't recall exactly which piece it is now but on one of these you hear one of the first examples of Roland's circular breathing, a technique which only he ever made in the least bit interesting for my ear. (are you hearing me Irvin Mayfield?)

Kirk was the ultimate musical chameleon; he could play anything and sound any way he liked from Hawkins to Trane, and from Bechet to Lacey. He was a walking musical encyclopedia in much the same fashion that Jaki Byard was. No wonder that they enjoyed playing together! Mingus must have been in heaven to have the two of them in the band at the same time, it gave him a variety of tonal colors to play with that let him express his Duke-ness most effectively.

In my mind all these Mercury recording of Roland Kirk are essential for any jazz fan, so I will dig through all of them and bring those that still languish out of print to the Crypt. At least nowadays things like We Free Kings, Domino, Rip Rig and Panic and I Talk With The Spirits seem to stay in print so there is some evidence that the world is finally catching up to Roland. About damn time!

Roland Kirk - Reeds and Deeds

One of the guys whom I first focused on at The Crypt nearly 4 years ago now. I've always preferred the Mercury Kirk to the Atlantic Kirk and I'll never understand why certain of these albums are never in print.

Of all the forgotten Kirk albums, the failure to keep this one in print would have to be the most mystifying. A true lost gem that now days can only be reconstructed from the out of print Mercury Kirk box. The album features a larger ensemble than previous sessions but the many voices and colors of Kirk's axes are undiminished. Check out the wonderful trumpet work by Virgil Jones and the burning trombone solos by Charles Greenlea. A masterpiece start to finish that stands up to anything from the Mercury era.

Roland Kirk: Reeds and Deeds
Mercury 20800, 1963

01 Reeds and Deeds 5:20
02 Hay Ro 3.04
03 This Is Always 4:20
04 Song of the Countrymen 6.56
05 Limbo Boat 3:02
06 Lonesome August Child 4:36
07 Land of Peace 5:54
08 Waltz of the Friends 4.40


Recorded in New York, February 25-26, 1963


[track. 2, 5-8]
Roland Kirk (ts, manzello, stritch, fl, siren)
Virgil Jones (tp)
Charles Greenlea (tb)
Harold Mabern (p)
Abdullah Rafik (b)
Walter Perkins (ds)

[track 1,3,4]
Arranged & Conducted By: Benny Golson
Roland Kirk (ts, manzello, stritch, fl, siren)
Virgil Jones (tp)
Tom McIntosh (tb)
Harold Mabern (p)
Richard Davis (b)
Walter Perkins (ds)

Newport in NY '72, The Jam Sessions, vols 3 & 4

Newport in NY '72, The Jam Sessions, vols 3 & 4
Cobblestone 1973

Volume 3: Radio City Music Hall July 6
1) Perdido
2) Misty
3) Now's the Time

Joe Newman, Nat Adderley trumpet; Illinois Jacquet, Budd Johnson tenor sax; Tyree Glenn trombone; Gerry Mulligan baritone sax; Jaki Byard piano; Chubby Jackson bass; Elvin Jones drums

Volume 4: Radio City Music Hall (side A July 6, side B July 3)

1) Blue N' Boogie

Clark Terry & Howard McGhee trumpet; Sonny Stitt & Dexter Gordon tenor sax; Gary Burton vibes; Jimmy Smith organ, George Duke piano; Al McKibbon bass; Art Blakey drums

2) So What

Harry 'Sweets' Edison trumpet; James Moody, Flip Phillips, Zoot Sims & Dexter Gordon tenor sax; Roland Kirk tenor sax, manzello, stritch, whistle; Kai Winding trombone, Chuck Wayne guitar, Herbie Hancock piano; Larry Ridley bass; Tony Williams drums

This may well be the best side out of all six LP's - Kirk's solo is jaw dropping!