Some who know me might find it a little surprising that I enjoy the
music of Rahsaan Roland Kirk as much as I do. That said, I’ve only
managed to accumulate a few of his albums over the years... ‘The
Inflated Tear’, ‘I Talk With The Spirits’, ‘Domino’, and
most recently ‘Rip, Rig and Panic’. And it was that album that
did the rounds tonight accompanied by Citron Soleil from Craftwork.
There’s something about his energy that appeals to me. That things
often get a little rough around the edges just seems to work for me
when it comes to Kirk. And lets not forget that he one of the very
few utilizing the soprano pre-Coltrane too. The album features the
stellar threesome of Jaki Byard (is there anything he couldn’t
do?... seriously), Richard Davis, and Elvin Jones alongside Rahsaan’s
multiple horns. Did he record with a better rhythm section than this?
As a guy with only four of his albums it might be a little hard for
me to pass judgement. But this is one fine rhythm section and they work well in the Kirkian world – one of swing, blues, some abstraction,
plenty of personality, and energy. This disc also includes ‘Now
please don’t you cry, beautiful Edith’ but I didn’t get to
that tonight, choosing instead to give ‘Rip, Rig and Panic’ a
couple of runs. Because why not? Often I feel Kirk is shortchanged. I guess people just don't listen to his recordings. And I just remembered I also have 'Dog Years in the Fourth Ring' - I must pull that out again.
