Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Rahsaan Roland Kirk (August 7th, 1935 - December 5th, 1977) was a blind American jazz saxophonist, perhaps best known for his ability to play more than one saxophone at once. Kirk was born Ronald Kirk in Columbus, Ohio, but felt compelled by a dream to transpose two letters in his first name to make Roland. After another dream about 1970 he added Rahsaan to his name.

Related Topics:
August 7th - 1935 - December 5th - 1977 - Jazz - Saxophonist - Saxophone - Columbus, Ohio - Dream - 1970

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Preferring to lead his own groups, Kirk rarely performed as a sideman, though he did record with arranger Quincy Jones, Roy Haynes and had especially notable stints with Charles Mingus.

Related Topics:
Quincy Jones - Roy Haynes - Charles Mingus

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His playing was generally rooted in soul jazz or hard bop, but Kirk's encyclopedic knowledge of jazz history allowed him to draw convincingly on any element of the music's history, from ragtime to Swing and free jazz. Kirk also regularly explored classical and pop music.

Related Topics:
Soul jazz - Hard bop - Ragtime - Swing - Free jazz

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Kirk played and collected a vast number of musical instruments, mainly various saxophones, clarinets and flutes. His main instruments were tenor saxophone, and two obscure saxophones: the manzello (similar to a soprano sax) and the strich (a straight alto sax lacking the instrument's characteristic upturned bell). He also played harmonica, english horn, recorders and was a capable trumpeter. Influenced by 20th century classical music, Kirk sometimes modified his instruments to better suit his unconventional techniques, and additionally used many extramusical sounds in his art, such as alarm clocks, whistles, and sirens. Some observers thought these touches were gimmicks, but Kirk insisted he was only trying to emulate the sounds he imagined.

Related Topics:
Saxophone - Clarinet - Flute - Tenor saxophone - Harmonica - English horn - Recorder - Trumpet - 20th century classical music

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He was also a proponent of circular breathing and was reportedly able to sustain a note for over an hour. He played many instruments, and also employed several novel and influential techniques as a flautist. One technique which he developed was to sing or hum into the flute at the same time as playing. (This technique was adopted later by Jeremy Steig and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull - compare the Kirk tune Serenade to a Cuckoo on their first album.)

Related Topics:
Circular breathing - Instruments - Flautist - Sing - Jeremy Steig - Ian Anderson - Jethro Tull

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In 1975 he suffered a stroke which led to partial paralysis of one side of his body. Despite this, he continued to perform, playing with only one arm, and managed to tour internationally and even appear on TV. Unfortunately, he died from a second stroke in 1977.

Related Topics:
1975 - Paralysis - TV - 1977

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