Label: Mercury / Polygram /Verve
Release Date: Oct 25, 1990
Jazz
Only his third session as a leader, 1961's WE FREE KINGS finds multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk (he added the Rahsaan in 1969) transplanted to New York from his native Midwest and signed to Mercury Records, where he'd remain for the next seven ... Full Descriptionyears. With this classic album, Kirk shook off detractors who dismissed him as a novelty (for his revival of the vaudeville trick of playing up to three reeds at once) and established himself as a paragon of modern jazz.
Beginning with a typically idiosyncratic reworking of Coltrane's "Blues for Alice," Kirk only occasionally steps into the free jazz style implied by the album's title, notably on the first recorded version of his legendary multi-horn showcase "Three for the Festival." Recorded in two different no-nonsense trio settings, WE FREE KINGS showcases Kirk's astonishingly varied brilliance in a suitably stripped-down context. Different CD editions of this album contain various outtakes and alternate takes.
From CD Universe.
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It is certainly true that Roland Kirk (later to become Rahsaan Roland Kirk, of course) was unfairly dismissed for the showmanship that included simultaneously playing multiple horns, producing odd and disconcerting sounds on nose flute, and employing strange instruments (black mystery pipes, for example). The showmanship overshadowed the undeniable musicianship and love of music he possessed. Still, Kirk sometimes contributed to the criticism with albums that included much commentary by him and less than stellar selection of material.
On this early effort (1961), Kirk turns in one of his best musical performances on record. (He was always best absorbed in person.) From the opening notes of "Three for the Festival," which became a mainstay in his repertoire, he is in firm, swinging, soulful control. As usual, we have the wonderful illusion of at least three Kirks swinging away, as on the bright "A Sack Full of Soul." We have the breathy, funky flute he mastered, in "You Did it, You Did It." And on the aptly named "The Haunted Melody." we have the surprisingly poigant lyricism of which he was often capable.
What we also have, though, is a top-notch group behind him, a situation in which he did not always find himself on his later Atlantic albums. Richard Wyands, an underrated talent who seemed to vanish after the '60s, is alert and responsive on piano, and of course there's no drop-off when the always-in-touch Hank Jones takes over; the great Art Davis contributes his always sensitive accompaniment on bass; and Charlie Persip hangs with every angular change Kirk offers, as on the great version of Charlie Parker's "Blues for Alice." Persip's snare work, in particular, shines throughout.
"We Free Kings" ranks with the great "Rip, Rig, and Panic," among Kirk's Verve releases (originally released on Mercury). Despite what the title cut might suggest, this is not an exercise in free jazz; rather, it is tightly and deeply in the pocket. It is a first-rate release that allows the true talent of this great musician shine through.
By Tyler Smith.
**
It is sometimes forgotten that Roland Kirk was a jazz musician in the first place and not an entertainer who'd amuse the masses with playing, say, three saxophones at the same time. This album is a good reminder of what a fanatastic musician Roland Kirk really was. I personally think it is *MUCH* better than any of the stuff he released in the Seventies. But maybe I am a little bit too conservative - who knows? The album is a classic jazz album which features plenty of good compositions by Roland Kirk ("Three For The Festival" is amongst them) plus a cover of a song by Charlie Parker. He uses the different types of saxophones for different songs, and it is very nice to hear the differences between their sounds. Any fan of jazz from the early Sixties will love this album.
By Joerg Colberg.
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk- Tenor Sax, Flute, Stritch, Manzello, Siren
Richard Wyands- Piano
Hank Jones- Piano (1,2,7,9)
Art Davis- Bass
Wendell Marshall- Bass
Charlie Percip- Drums
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01. Three for the Festival (3:07)
02. Moon Song (4:20)
03. A Sack Full of Soul (4:37)
04. The Haunted Melody (3:37)
05. Blues for Alice [Alternate Take] (5:11)
06. Blues for Alice [Master Take] (4:08)
07. We Free Kings (4:44)
08. You Did It, You Did It (2:27)
09. Some Kind of Love (6:09)
10. My Delight (4:28)
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