“I am plagued by angels and devils”, said Scott, a 50-something homeless man who sat next to me at a local bus stop. To prove it, he handed me his manifesto, a group of neatly folded napkins, the kind you find in dispensers at Jack-In-The-Box. The first paragraph of the finely printed work described a somnambulistic encounter Scott had with the spirit of jazz pioneer Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Kirk was ablaze in a fiery white essence, blowing 16th note runs on one of three horns that hung around his neck.
Whether Kirk was an angel or devil in Scott’s dream was not revealed. But the sonorous extremes Kirk offers on Brotherman in the Fatherland are evidence that Kirk was possessed by both. Recorded in Germany circa 1972, the album’s origin is in a bootleg recording of this concert. The people at Hyena Records had the good sense to release it legitimately, probably knowing that the bootleg versions have run their course. If you’re a Kirk fan, you’ll be very happy with this album. Kirk passes elegantly from resplendent covers of “Lush Life” and “My Girl” to the genre-bending “Rahsaan’s Spirit”, “Serenade to a Cuckoo”, and “Pedal Up”. The albums final cut, a cover of John Coltrane’s “Blue Trane”, is an example of Kirk at his peak, starting with the traditional, familiar beginning notes and than pushing his genius for improvisation through the horns he plays simultaneously, fingering his trademark 16th and 32nd notes at blistering speeds.
The back-up band, “The Vibration Society” is extraordinary, and features long-time Kirk sidemen Rahn Burton on piano, Henry Pete Pearson on Bass, Richie Goldberg on Drums and Joe Texidor on Percussion. Throughout, the band keeps pace with Kirk as his notes ascend summits of musical bliss only to plunge into deep valleys overgrown with exotic, aural seasonings that spice the ear.
Article comments
1 - Stephen V Funk
Great review of a great album... good to see that Joel Dorn is still unearthing unreleased Kirk stuff and getting it out there... (corny titles and cover images and all...)
And I really love this version of "My Girl"...!
2 - godoggo
I used to waste time in my college library reading old Downbeats from the '60s, and the amazing thing was that a lot of people considered him kind of an Uncle Tom at the time. Strange days.
3 - Connie Phillips
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