Roland Kirk - Pre-Rahsaan
ARTIST.....: Roland Kirk
TITLE......: Pre-Rahsaan
LABEL......: Prestige
URL........: http://www.alfanet.hu/kirk/index2.html
RIP DATE...: Nov-16-2007
STORE DATE.: Oct-10-2007
GENRE......: Jazz
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 98,8 MB
Track Listing:
01 - three for dizzy 05:15
02 - makin' whoopee 05:10
03 - funk underneath 06:19
04 - kirk's work 03:57
05 - doin' the sixty-eight 04:24
06 - too late now 03:54
07 - skater's waltz 04:27
08 - parisian thoroughfare 10:09
09 - hazy eve 04:37
10 - shine on me 04:20
11 - evidence 04:29
12 - memories of you 07:17
13 - teach me tonight 05:24
─────
69:42 min
Release Notes:
Review by Thom Jurek
This disc places (pre-Rahsaan)Roland Kirk's 1961 session Kirk's
Work, the multi-instrumentalists second album after one for Argo
(Cadet) together with a prime, 1968 Jaki Byard LP on which Kirk
was a sideman called The Jaki Byard Experience. This was a way
Prestige (then owned by Fantasy Records) of packaging its
catalogue. They did twofers like this one, as well as career
retrospectives on any number of artists in double LP sets. In the
early 21st century, these are being remastered and re-issued on
CDs in the label's "Architects Of Jazz" series. Kirk's date puts
him in the company of organist (pre-Brother) Jack McDuff, drummer
Art Taylor and bassist Joe Benjamin. The program consists of four
originals, and three standeards. While Kirk is very sure of
himself here, the backing trio seems to have some difficulty with
the sharp changes in tempo and dynamic he puts across. McDuff has
the ability to comp throughout, but takes some chances anyway on
the slyly beautifl and saucy "Makin' Whoopee," and on Kirk's
killer early soul jazz number "Funk Underneath." The Taylor and
Benjamin aren't nearly as sure of themselves and they clearly try
to provide support/. This does not mean these tunes are not worth
hearing. They are simply because even at this early juncture, Kirk
arrived on the scene fully-formed and full developed as an artist
and as a natural bandleader. The groove-laden blues "Three For
Dizzy" and the Latin-tinged blues of "Doin' The Sixty Eight,"
(thanks to Taylor's cymbal breaks) offer Kirk in full command of
how many shades of the music he was capable of combining and
playing.
The second of these dates with Byard, Kirk, bassist Richard Davis
and drummer Alan Dawson offers a killer view of not one but two
musical iconoclasts. Byard was as wonderfully diverse as Kirk,
capable of showcasing the entire history of jazz, blues and R&B in
a single tune. The radical reading of Bud Powell's "Parisian
Thoroughfare" here is a prime example. Byard's rhythmic approach
is stellar, seamless and endlessly inventive, giving Kirk lots of
room to explore the bop head-after a somewhat lengthy "out" into"
and Byard turns the changes inside out more than once. The version
of Thelonious Monk's "Evidence" is another case in point where, in
one section Byard inverts the changes on the right hand and plays
them "straight on the left. This gives Kirk room to work his horns
like an entire horn section, calling back in delight with what he
hears. Byard's originals are really where it's at though. The
glorious ballad "Hazy Eye," invokes everyone fro Monk and Herbie
Nichols (pretty different approaches there, eh?) to Billy
Strayhorn and even Art Tatum. The reading of "Shine ON Me," an old
gospel tune, is the most wondrous thing on this set. The delight
Byard has in extrapolating the simply major chords, and Kirk's
work on the clarinet here evokes early New Orleans jazz and the
vanguard; when he switches to tenor, he digs into the meat and
potatoes of the tune even as Byard's big blocks chords and the
rhythm section's straight up, popping 4/4 keep it in line and
recognizable. This is a killer session and the better of the two
because of the sheer delight and adventure these two startlingly
outside jazzmen have in playing together.
http://www.amazon.ca/Pre-Rahsaan-Rm-Roland-Kirk/dp/B000ULQVFM