Rahsaan Roland Kirk > Reviews (1)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk was not only a great saxophonist, flautist and clarinettist, but he also modified his own saxophones and had the ability to play up to three at the same time (stritch - like a straight alto, manzello - looks like an alto, but sounds like a soprano, and he also used a normal tenor sax)! What's more, Roland was also blinded soon after birth!

While Roland Kirk had the ability to play great solo's on a single sax, he also had the ability to play utterly astonishing sections on three saxes, sometimes soloing on one while accompanying himself with the others - one of my favourite recordings like this is on the CD Bright Moments, in the second track, Pedal up, when about 10 minutes through the piece the rest of the band stops, while Roland breaks into Satin Doll on his three saxophones in harmony before preceding to solo on the tune while accompanying himself.

Throughout his life, Roland Kirk was always a slightly mysterious man, and he had the ability to do circular breathing, meaning that he could play incredibly long phrases without apparently taking a breath. Instead of telling people this, he used to enjoy explaining this to people by claiming that he could breathe through a hole in his head! Also, the idea of playing three saxes came to Roland when at the age of 16 he dreamed that he was playing 3 instruments at the same time. He also added Rahsaan to his name after an inspirational dream.

While Rahsaan's music is too "gimicky" for some, it is certainly different, and it's well worth checking out, not only for his ability to play 3 saxes at a time, but also for his ability to play great solo's on a single instrument.

Some good CD's to listen to by him are:
Bright Moments, We Three Kings, Case of the 3-sided Dream, The Inflated Tear and Blacknuss.