Search - Rahsaan Roland Kirk :: I Eye Aye

LIVE in every sense!

08/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rahsaan was the Mohammed Ali of Jazz. He had amazing technique, great compositions, and a hip sense of humor, which jazz players sadly sometimes lack. This is a great set from the Montreux Jazz festival. It's just NOT LONG ENOUGH. "Pedal Up" fades out just when I would love to hear him go on! But don't let that stop you from buying this. This is like an explosion of power, color and sound. A great antidote for the antiseptic, flat "smooth jazz" of today and a great way to introduce yourself to REAL jazz, especially if you're not inclined to be a mellow, boring, laid-back modern "swinger." Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee...A REAL BIG BEE! You're gonna be flat on the mat like Joe Frazier when it's over."

And then there was.... ONE

Alastair Seddon | London, England, UK via Smyrna, NY, USA | 01/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rahsaan Roland Kirk might be the single most unique sounding musician ever put to recorded sound. I was brought to Roland Kirk by listening to Morphine and wanted to trace the music back to it's taproot, assuming that if Dana Colley played two saxes and Roland had played more there must be something there.And it was there.... it was all there every bit of music that anyone could ever want. Seasons rolls summer thunderclounds around the mind as Roland plays blues like no one else. I would own the album for that track alone. The listener is granted a wonderful glimpse of the man's great humor and wit in the recordings of Mr. Kirk's spoken interludes. For someone who's primary love in blues and jazz are the deeper sax and guitar sounds, this was altogether a revelation, that there could be great lightness of joy and sorrow in the blues. He carries great range in his perfomances with many voices and many instruments all played with a unique flair that is only his.Rahsaan Roland Kirk makes remarkable music and this live recording is a perfect example of the emotional and musical range of the man and his music. If you like majestic performers of soulful and lifting music, I think you will enjoy the performances on this album greatly."

The music, spirit, and essence of Rahsaan

Joseph P. Reel | Pacific Grove, California United States | 04/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the most memorable and magical nights I ever experienced was spent seeing and hearing Rahsaan Roland Kirk at the old Colony Club on Alvarado Street in Monterey, California around 1967-69. At one point he handed out little wooden flutes to the audience and we all played along to "Here Comes the Whistle Man." Although I wish I could re-visit that particular wonderful night, this performance at the 1972 Montreux Jazz Festival comes as close to capturing the music, spirit, and essence of Rahsaan as one can get without having been there.



If you were fortunate enough to have seen Roland Kirk live, perhaps you may feel, as I do, that all the instruments he played were merely accoutrements. Rahsaan himself was the instrument.



If you can find a copy of the video version of this performance entitled "The One Man Twins," grab it. You will be totally amazed by what you see and hear.

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