Artist:Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Song:Roots
Album:Here Comes The Whistleman
Blind jazz sax player Rahsaan Roland Kirk was known for playing multiple instruments on stage but he was a very powerful musician and that was overlooked sometimes. He was known for playing saxophone offshoots like the manzillo & stritch and he rigged them up so he could play all his instruments simultaneously. He started playing professionally at age 15 and after touring with Charles Mingus in 1961, he formed his own band. Here Comes The Whistleman was recorded live at Atlantic Studios in New York on March 14, 1965 and the opener Roots displays Kirk's R & B jump style. The musicians are Jaki Byard on piano, Major Holley on bass and Charles Crosby on drums. The album was rereleased on CD by Label M in 2001 with two added unreleased tracks. Water Records reissued it in 2004 minus those tracks. Rahsaan Roland Kirk became somewhat of an activist in the early 70s with the Jazz & People's Movement. He suffered a stroke in 1975 and died on Dec. 7, 1977 at age 41. Rahsaan Roland Kirk was an eccentric just like a lot of other great jazz musicians.
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