Rahsaan Roland KIRK - I Talk with the Spirits 1964

Rahsaan Roland KIRK - I Talk with the Spirits 1964
Label: Polygram Records
Audio CD (September 29, 1998)

Jazz

Recorded in 1964, I Talk with the Spirits is one of Roland Kirk's most revered, yet scarce, concept albums. It was the first and only time that the innovative multi-instrumentalist would focus entirely on flutes. The result is a bizarre, otherworldly album on which beautiful ballads, blues-inflected vocalization, and iconic humor easily coalesce. Propelled by the supple rhythm section of pianist Horace Parlan, bassist Michael Fleming, and drummer Walter Perkins and special appearances by vocalist Crystal Joy Albert and Bob Moses on vibraphone, Kirk delivers a mixed bag of well-worn classics ("We'll Be Together Again," "People," and "My Ship") plus brilliant originals, like the wonderfully nutty "Serenade to a Cuckoo" and the haunting, Japanese-influenced title track. Although gimmicky and dated at places,
this is essential Kirk.
By John Murph.
**
Are their musicians like this anymore? With a title like "I Talk With The Spirits", one would imagine that sizable goods were in order. While no one track can speak representatively for the entire effort, not even the title track, one cannot fail to be astonished by the spectrum of moods and ideas that flow through these ten pieces. The experience is uncommonly artistic and uncompromising but never strains the ear or mind. On this album of flute-based sessions, one is in the presence of a very fertile imagination, a setlist genius who touches the many colors of jazz yet delivers it all in a human-sized package. For the presence of cuckoo clock, japanese music box, the numerous moments of extended flute technique (keypad percussion, simultaneous singing and playing, & other extramusical noises), and brief parsings of studio commentary, tags like "gimmicky" and "dated" have been attached by others. But to my ears it is pure time-defying magic. This is jazz plus Rahsaan, he is the extra ingredient that makes music special, to make you feel nothing but good all over, as if you might be in the presence of a weirdly beautiful, but beneficent shaman. As a free-range whole, arranged and executed by a poet's poet, clearly and constantly musical, this album has the mark of unsurpassed integrity. The superb digitally remastered sound is warmly focused and tactile, just the way it should be in the home.
By  Yves Latorte.
**
Rahsaan Roland Kirk- Flute, Alto flute, African wood flute
Horace Parlan- Piano
Walter Perkins- Drums
Michael Fleming- Bass
Bobby Moses- Vibraphone
Crystal-Joy Albert- Vocals
**
01. Serenade To A Cuckoo Roland Kirk Quartet 4:33 
02. Medley: We'll Be Together Again / People From "Funny Girl" Roland Kirk Quartet 4:40  
03. A Quote From Clifford Brown Roland Kirk Quartet 4:24 
04. Trees Roland Kirk Quartet 6:20  
05. Fugue'n And Alludin' Roland Kirk Quartet 0:44
06. The Business Ain't Nothin' But The Blues Roland Kirk Quartet 5:03 
07. I Talk With The Spirits Roland Kirk Quartet 3:56
08. Ruined Castles Roland Kirk Quartet 1:20 
09. Django Roland Kirk Quartet 4:50
10. My Ship Roland Kirk Quartet 5:00
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