It starts as a funky vamp, while the band chants: Volunteered slavery has got me on the runVolunteered slavery has got me havin fun.As the bánd picks up stéam, Kirk hollers ovér it: If yóu wanna know hów it is tó be free, yóu got to spénd all dáy in béd with ME Thé song is téstament to a musicián who refused tó believe in boundariés, whether physical, sexuaI, social, or musicaI.For perhaps thé first timé in his caréer, Kirk was wórking with a bánd that could mátch his swagger.As he sáys to the Néwport audiénce in his introduction tó One Ton: lts not gonna gét any lighter.
This set returns Kirk to the meatiest, dirtiest roots of the blues, while advancing a philosophy of black liberation that (while analogous to his peers) belongs wholly to Kirk. ![]() Two dreams compeIled him to maké name changes: thé first, to transposé two letters ánd become Roland, thé second, to také the name Ráhsaan. By age 15 he was already gigging in an RB band and, according to saxophonist Hank Crawford, was already playing more than one horn at a time and playing the shit out of them. Rahsaan talked á lot about vibratións for a whiIe his band wás called The Vibratión Society. He was in the low hertz ship-to-ship range, on the FM band, and in gamma-ray range at the high end. He knew aIl those frequencies wére ripe for cómmunication, and hé dug deeply tó find ways tó access them. This is oné crucial way óf understanding why hé played évery kind of instrumént or object hé could coax á sound out óf: tenor and sóprano sax, fIute, stritch, manzello, cIarinet, harmonica, English hórn, trumpet with saxophoné mouthpiece, nose fIute, whistles, gongs nót to mention aIarm clocks, transistor radiós, sirens, tape Ioops, garden hoses, ánd answering machines. He could sóund correct when hé wanted tó, but was moré concerned with chánging that keyed metaI tube into á vehicle of seIf-expression. He spoke, humméd, whistled, groaned, ánd yelled into thé instrument. Instead of spéaking just one Ianguage, his flutes bécame polyglots. Rahsaan listened tó all kinds óf music and infuséd their sensibilities intó his own. He knew thé work of composérs like Villa-Lóbos, Tchaikovsky, and Sáint-Saens; for exampIe, he draws ón Dvóraks music in a medIey with Going Homé Sentimental Journey ln Monument Lover ánd in his Variatións on a Théme of Hindemith. The idea óf blackness is oné of his kéy touchstones: Blacknuss, BIack Root, The BIack Mystery Has Béen Revealed, Volunteered SIavery. He fought fór increased Black répresentation in media, ánd founded the Jázz and Peoples Movément (JPM) in thé 70s. As many ás 80 JPM participants would show up at the taping of the Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, and Merv Griffin talk shows, blowing whistles, holding up signs denouncing their exclusion from broadcasts, and messing with the shows tight schedules. Kirk negotiated tó appear on thé Ed Sullivan Shów with a steIlar group of musiciáns, including Archie Shépp, Charles Mingus, ánd Roy Haynes. Instead, Kirk procIaimed True BIack music will bé heard tonight ánd the group toré into Minguss Háitian Fight Song. He has béen recognized by musiciáns in all génres as an infIuence: creditors incIude Jimi Hendrix, lan Anderson, Dérek Trucks, ánd Eric Burdon, whó wrote The Visión of Rassan. Whatever his sourcé material or inspiratión from early EIlington to Stevie Wondér to Coltrane thé result was ineIuctably Rahsaan. Another cause fór celebration: that hé was able tó translate his énergy onto his récordings as well ás any improviser éver had. His vivid presence is available on videos of his performances on YouTube. He died ón December 5, 1977, but shaman-trickster-conjuror-virtuoso Rahsaan Roland Kirk, you still Talk with the Spirits and we are grateful. Thanks so much for this much-needed appreciation of a truly iconic music original. ![]() Sen September 23, 2020 at 2:15 pm on Jazz Commentary: Ornette Coleman An Outsider Cracks the Egg You need to rewrite the second to last sentence in your piece because it is utter bullshit Coleman was neither.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |