Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935 – December 5, 1977), also known as Roland Kirk earlier in his career, was an American jazz musician who played the tenor saxophone, flute, and many other instruments. He was well-known for his energetic performances. During his shows, he skillfully improvised music while also engaging in funny conversations, speaking strongly about political issues, and playing multiple instruments at the same time.

Life

Ronald Theodore Kirk was born in Columbus, Ohio, in a neighborhood called Flytown. He lost his sight at age two because of incorrect medical care. As a teenager, he attended the Ohio State School for the Blind. By age 15, he began performing rhythm and blues music on weekends with Boyd Moore's band. Saxophonist Hank Crawford described Kirk as a 14-year-old blind musician who played two instruments at once, impressing audiences with his skill. Crawford said Kirk was unique and played music with great energy. Kirk changed his name to "Roland" after a dream inspired him to swap two letters in his first name. In 1970, he added "Rahsaan" to his name after hearing it in another dream.

Kirk often spoke about important issues during his concerts, such as African-American history and the Civil Rights Movement. His speeches included humor and unusual ideas. Comedian Jay Leno shared that Kirk once introduced him on stage by saying, "I want to introduce a young brother who knows the black experience and knows all about the white devils… Please welcome Jay Leno!"

In 1975, Kirk suffered a major stroke that caused partial paralysis on one side of his body. He continued to perform and record music, adapting his instruments to play with one arm. At a live show in London, he played two instruments at once and later toured internationally and appeared on television.

Kirk died in 1977 at age 42 from a second stroke, the morning after performing in Bloomington, Indiana. Columbus Mayor Jack Sensenbrenner declared December 10, 1970, "Rahsaan Day," as reported in a newspaper article from December 8, 1977.

For much of his career, Kirk's hometown of Columbus did not support his work. He was asked to leave a local nightclub because his music was too complex to understand. He moved to Los Angeles for more touring opportunities. In the 21st century, Columbus residents have come to value his contributions to jazz.

Kirk's wife, Dorthaan Kirk, became well-known for organizing and producing jazz events, especially in Newark, New Jersey. She joined WBGO, the first public jazz radio station in New Jersey, in 1978. In 2020, she received the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for her work promoting jazz.

Instruments and techniques

Kirk's musical career began in 1955 and ended with his death in 1977. He mostly led his own bands and rarely played with other musicians, though he did record with arranger Quincy Jones, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Charles Mingus. One of his most famous performances was playing lead flute and solo on Jones' "Soul Bossa Nova," a 1964 song later used in the Austin Powers films.

Kirk played many different instruments and had a deep understanding of music. He loved blues, stride piano, early jazz, and pop songs. His musical vision was broader than many of his peers. Producer Joel Dorn said Kirk also knew a lot about classical music. His albums included pieces by composers like Saint-Saëns, Hindemith, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, and Villa-Lobos, along with standards, pop songs, and his own compositions. Kirk preferred the term "Black Classical Music" to describe his wide range of influences.

His playing style was based on soul jazz and hard bop, but he also used elements from other jazz styles like ragtime, swing, and free jazz. He incorporated classical influences and pop music by artists such as Smokey Robinson, Burt Bacharach, Duke Ellington, and John Coltrane.

Kirk played and collected many instruments, including saxophones, clarinets, and flutes. His main saxophones were a tenor saxophone, a stritch (a straight alto saxophone without the curved bell), and a manzello (a modified soprano saxophone with a larger, curved bell). Some of his instruments were unusual or homemade. He modified them to play multiple instruments at the same time. Critic Gary Giddins said Kirk's tenor saxophone playing alone was enough to make him famous.

On stage, Kirk often wore three saxophones around his neck and sometimes played them all at once, creating harmonies or sustaining notes using circular breathing. He used the multiple instruments to play complex chords, acting like a full saxophone section by himself. Kirk said he was only trying to copy the sounds he imagined in his mind. Even when playing multiple saxophones, his music was intricate and powerful, with strong blues influences. The live album Bright Moments (1973) is an example of his performances.

Kirk was also a skilled flute player, including recorders. Giddins said Kirk was the first major jazz innovator on flute after Eric Dolphy. He used unique techniques, such as singing into the flute while playing or using a nose flute alongside a standard flute.

He played other instruments like whistles, clarinet, harmonica, and English horn. He often kept a gong nearby and could play trumpet well. He used unusual methods, such as playing a trumpet with a saxophone mouthpiece.

Kirk also used non-musical items, like alarm clocks, sirens, and garden hose (called "the black mystery pipes"). From the early 1970s, his recordings used tape-manipulated sounds and early electronic effects before they became common.

The album The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color was unique in jazz and pop music history. It was a two-LP set, with Side 4 appearing blank. However, fans later discovered two hidden telephone messages recorded by Kirk on Side 4, separated by empty space. These messages were not included in the first CD reissue but were added later.

Kirk learned about world events through radio and TV. His later recordings included spoken commentaries on current events, such as Richard Nixon's role in the Watergate scandal. The 3-Sided Dream album was a "concept album" that used environmental sounds, tape loops, backward recordings, and snippets of Billie Holiday's singing. It also addressed the growing influence of computers in society, with Kirk joking about unplugging a machine that tried to control him.

In the 1976 album Other Folks' Music, the spoken words of Paul Robeson, another prominent Black artist, can briefly be heard.

Legacy and influence

Ian Anderson, the leader and flautist of Jethro Tull, recorded a version of Roland Kirk's "Serenade to a Cuckoo" on their first album This Was (1968). Kirk's musical style inspired Anderson to believe the flute could be used in rock music. Anderson studied Kirk's way of using his voice on the flute, and this technique became a key part of Jethro Tull's sound. Anderson met Kirk at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival, where both performed on the same night. Anderson described Kirk as "colorful shamans" who "tease us" but are "touched by genius," even if they sometimes "sell snake oil."

Jeff Coffin, the saxophonist in Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, was greatly influenced by Kirk's music. He learned from Kirk that it is acceptable to experiment with instruments. Coffin used Kirk's inventions that involved multiple horns with the Flecktones and on his solo album Mutopia.

Guitarist Jimi Hendrix "idolized" Kirk and wished to collaborate with him one day.

Frank Zappa was influenced by Kirk's music early in his career. In the liner notes for his 1966 debut album Freak Out!, Zappa listed Kirk as one of many musical influences. Kirk and Zappa performed together at least once at the 1969 Boston Globe Jazz Festival.

Derek Trucks, a fan of Kirk, recorded Kirk's composition "Volunteered Slavery" with his group on the 2004 album Live at Georgia Theatre, the 2006 album Songlines, and the DVD Songlines Live. Trucks said hearing Kirk's music felt similar to how Hendrix's records made him feel, as if "blowing the rules wide open."

David Jackson of Van der Graaf Generator was highly influenced by Kirk's style and technique. Since at least 1969, Jackson has played multiple saxophones at the same time.

Guitarist Michael Angelo Batio said Kirk's ability to play two saxophones at once inspired him to create his "double guitar."

A band named T.J. Kirk was formed in honor of three artists: Thelonious Monk, James Brown, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The band, created by guitarist Charlie Hunter as a side group to his own band, includes members Scott Amendola, Will Bernard, and John Schott.

Paul Weller cited Roland Kirk's 1964 album I Talk with the Spirits as one of his "Most Influential Albums" in an interview with The Times in 2009.

Björk named Roland Kirk's piece The Inflated Tear as one of her favorite jazz works, describing it as "primitive and instinctive," "open to nature," and "punk."

Davey Payne's twin saxophone solo on "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" (Ian Dury & the Blockheads, 1978) was inspired by Kirk.

Terry Edwards' twin saxophone solo on "The Ministry of Defence" by PJ Harvey (2016) was also inspired by Kirk.

Eric Burdon and War's 1970 debut album Eric Burdon Declares War includes a track titled "The Vision of Rassan," split into two pieces: "Dedication" and "Roll on Kirk."

The English post-punk group Rip Rig + Panic was named after an album by Roland Kirk of the same name.

Clutch paid tribute to Roland Kirk in the song "Three Golden Horns" on their 2022 album Sunrise on Slaughter Beach.

Jazz producer Berlioz honored Roland Kirk in the track "ode to rahsaan" on his 2024 album open this wall.

Saxophonist Michael Blake played tenor and soprano saxophones simultaneously on several albums in the 2000s. He covered Kirk's Three for Dizzy on Danish drummer Kresten Osgood's Hammond Rens (2002) and performed both horns on New Blues, Old News (Michael Blake, Elevated) and Weazy (Ben Allison, Riding the Nuclear Tiger).

Discography

• 1956: Triple Threat (King, 1957)
• 1960: Introducing Roland Kirk (Argo/Cadet/Chess, 1960)
• 1961: Kirk's Work (Prestige, 1961)
• 1961: We Free Kings (Mercury, 1962)
• 1962: Domino (Mercury, 1962)
• 1963: Reeds & Deeds (Mercury, 1963)
• 1963: The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson Orchestra (Mercury, 1963)
• 1963: Kirk in Copenhagen (Mercury, 1964) – live performance
• 1964: Gifts & Messages (Mercury, 1964)
• 1964: I Talk with the Spirits (Limelight, 1965)
• 1965: Rip, Rig and Panic (Limelight, 1965)
• 1965: Here Comes the Whistleman (Atlantic, 1967)
• 1965: Slightly Latin (Limelight, 1966)
• 1967: Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith (Verve, 1967)
• 1967: The Inflated Tear (Atlantic, 1968)
• 1968: Left & Right (Atlantic, 1969)
• 1968–69: Volunteered Slavery (Atlantic, 1969)
• 1970: Rahsaan Rahsaan (Atlantic, 1970) – live performance
• 1971: Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata (Atlantic, 1971)
• 1971: Blacknuss (Atlantic, 1972)
• 1965, 72: A Meeting of the Times (Atlantic, 1972)
• 1972: I, Eye, Aye: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1972 (Rhino, 1996) – live performance. posthumous release.
• 1972: Brotherman in the Fatherland (Hyena, 2006) – live performance in Germany. posthumous release.
• 1973: Prepare Thyself to Deal With a Miracle (Atlantic, 1973)
• 1973: Bright Moments (Atlantic, 1974)
• 1974: Compliments of the Mysterious Phantom (Hyena, 2003) – live performance. posthumous release.
• 1975: The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color (Atlantic, 1975)
• 1975: The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man (Warner Bros., 1976)
• 1975–76: Kirkatron (Warner Bros., 1977) – partially live performance
• 1975–76: Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real (Warner Bros., 1977)
• 1976: Other Folks' Music (Atlantic, 1976)

Compilations and Box Sets

• Hip (Fontana, 1965)
• The Man Who Cried Fire (Night, 1990)
• Rahsaan: The Complete Mercury Recordings of Roland Kirk (Mercury, 1990)[10CD]
• Does Your House Have Lions: The Rahsaan Roland Kirk Anthology (Rhino, 1993)[2CD]
• Simmer, Reduce, Garnish & Serve (Warner Archives, 1995) – compilation from his last three albums
• Talkin' Verve: Roots of Acid Jazz (Verve, 1996)
• The Art of Rahsaan Roland Kirk – The Atlantic (Atlantic, 1996)[2LP]
• Dog Years in the Fourth Ring (32 Jazz, 1997) – recorded 1963–75
• Aces Back to Back (32 Jazz, 1998)[4CD] – combines Left & Right (1968), Rahsaan Rahsaan (1970), Prepare Thyself to Deal With a Miracle (1973), and Other Folks' Music (1976)
• A Standing Eight (32 Jazz, 1998)[2CD] – combines The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man (1976), Kirkatron (1977), and Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real (1977)
• Left Hook, Right Cross (32 Jazz, 1999)[2CD] – combines Volunteered Slavery (1969) and Blacknuss (1972)
• Third Dimension and Beyond (Gambit, 2005) – combines Triple Threat (1957) and Introducing Roland Kirk (1960)
• Only The Best of Rahsaan Roland Kirk Volume 1 (Collectables, 2009)[7CD] – combines Blacknuss, The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color, The Inflated Tear / Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata, Kirkatron, Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real, and Other Folks' Music

• Big Band Bossa Nova (Mercury, 1962)
• Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini (Mercury, 1964)
• I/We Had a Ball (Limelight, 1965) – recorded 1964–65
• Quincy Plays for Pussycats (Mercury, 1965) – recorded 1959–65
• In the Heat of the Night OST (United Artists, 1967)
• Walking in Space (CTI, 1969)

• Tonight at Noon (Atlantic, 1964) – recorded 1961
• Oh Yeah (Atlantic,