Circular breathing on saxophone has become almost common place. Rhassan is the only person I’ve ever seen do it on the flute. The man was a giant for many reasons. He let nothing stop him, not racism, not his blinding as a child nor a stroke when he was older. He overcame every obstacle on his way to gifting the world with his music and his playful joy. I was fortunate enough to see/hear him many times. It changed my life.🙏
On a cold winter’s night the early 70’s I was lucky to experience Kirk perform in a small club in Montréal. He felt his way on the stage, opened with the drums, seamlessly handed them off then took the piano, handed that off. Then the show began and the rest was indescribable. He exited as he entered and, here I am, over fifty years later, still picking through what he left on the stage.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was an awesome artist and sweet man who i had the pleasure to appreciate multiple times up close at the Village Vanguard when i was a teenager...Love Supreme to my Dad who turned me on to jazz early on..
@Le Continental Google said he was blind from birth (NY Times article). So, anyway, it was news to me. My older brother was/is a jazz guy. I really only knew "Serenade for a Cuckoo, and that was because of Jethro Tull. I should've given Kirk more of a listen back in the day.
What a special one... this song ever had been in my mind since my father pass away, i´ve benn searching it only with this 2:51 rythm and finally here we are.
he played a street festival just of the OSU campus in the early seventies. He actually grew up in Columbus oh. Seeing him, I mean hearing him was one of my unforgettable experiences. I was turned on to him a few years before with Jethro Tull's version of this song which is not bad but I found this Kirk to be like a mad scientist who blows you away more and more the harder you listen. Ian Anderson met him when he played the same night at the famous 1969 Newport Jazz Festive. As Ian Anderson himself puts it a few years ago, "Rahsaan was a lot like Captain Beefheart. They’re cut from the same cloth. There’s something about these colourful shamans. They can tease us, but we go along with it, because we know they’re touched by genius, but at the same time there’s a little bit of the snake oil for sale.” But his solos are on the level of the great bee bop masters. He rarely played in anyone else's band. When he played in Columbus he to the organizers to find a bass player and a drummer and he showed up by himself. He just called out a key, hummed and tapped out a grove using the valves on a sax, stomped his foot on the beginning downbeat and they guys played their asses off grinning ear to ear behind him. They were the best local players, and he made them better. Thsi singular event held on a makeshift stage on Pearly Alley just off High street remarkably, had been declared a cop-free zone. Kirk had a vial of cocain around his neck and snorted up from time to time exchanges hit of doobies while holding out the coke spoon to the people in front of the stage. I was as wild a night as I've ever seen, and musically he played his ass off. Comes on wearing in a black biker jacket with 3 saxes around his neck with cazooes whistles, slide whistles and lord knows what else draped around him. He LOVED sound.
Can you be a great entertainer AND a serious Jazz musician?This question has persisted for years.Rahsaan was and is clearly one of the definitive answers of all time.He created his own world,bringing joy to music lovers throughout the entire planet.
Check out Jethro Tull's cover of this song from their first album "This Was Jethro Tull". Ian Anderson (vocals / flute) has said that Roland Kirk was a huge influence on his style in many ways. There are about 8 different things Roland Kirk does in this particular video that you'll hear Ian Anderson copy in much of Jethro Tull's earlier material.
Well, maybe I saw Tull a few times .They did this tune and it's great . Ian did not do the circular breathwork to this degree, also cannot play three wind instruments simultaneously..
@@moussetache1815 I'll never forget it - back in 2003 I was in a shopping mall walking around a Sears store, when their Musak started playing this. It was one of my better shopping experiences. It really put me in the mood to buy something, LOL.
This is not the first time I see someone playing a couple of instruments at the same time and play them with outstanding accuracy. A true genius of the jazz era.
The foot stomp at the beginning of his solo is seriously cool. Listen to the way he interacts with the rhythm section. The phrasing, the technique, the grit, the funk. What a player!
My idol. I am not able to do a lot of things he was doing but never say no. He was a true ambassador of American culture in anyway. So many influences . I am just in love with him
I saw and heard Roland Kirk live in a small club in Birmingham England and there was, fortunately for me, a small audience. I watched him from less than 2 metres. What an experience. Ian Anderson is just a pale carbon copy.
The last part of your comment is total bollocks, Anderson had already started to play that way before he knew who Roland Kirk was, plus Ian was a singer songwriter, guitarist and flautist so was a man of many talents by the time one of his band members ( Jeffrey Hammond) told him his flute playing style sounded like Roland Kirks, Anderson did not copy that style.
One of the classic Jazz compositions along with Brubeck's "take five ", Monks "round midnight" and many others . Got into Kirk through the" Inflated tear" album .
Roland Kirk grandissimo fiatista jazz già molto avanti rispetto agli standard musicali del suo tempo penso si era negli anni 50 o giù di lì ed è stato fonte di ispirazione per un' altro grandissimo come Lui ,JAN ANDERSON dei mitici JETHRO TULL !!!!!!
True that. In fact Jethro Tull covered this song on their very first LP, "This Was". Enc. - a link to the remixed version by master engineer, Steve Wilson. ruclips.net/video/b8CDbF0lxmk/видео.html
This is the guy who got me hooked on jazz and started it all with the singing into the flute and vocal sounds plus multi-instrumental techniques. He was even adventurous enough to have played live with The Mothers of Invention. On top of all this, he was blind! Ian who?
Well, almost. Roland wrote and played the song in F minor. Ian played it in G minor, which put him in a technically much easier key. One where he could play closer to the D minor licks that permeate most of his songs. Ian's exciting and innovative rock style made for a great show but he has nowhere near the musical and technical abilities of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Those double-time, double-tongue runs are amazing! I don't know him but I bet Ian would agree with me. From interviews, he seems like a well-grounded and humble man. I'm a big fan of both of these idiom-bending flutists!
Great music! Sharing that is fantastic! Share some more informations (name of the others musicians, place, context...) would be even greater! Thanks for the discovering
This is why all the Ian Anderson comments are annoying on here. Kirk is playing what, triplet double-tongues here or something? Ian could never hold a candle to that.
That's how I first heard this tune. It was also the first jazz tune I ever learned. In 10th grade I used to just stand there in my stupid marching band uniform and play " Serenade to a Cuckoo " over and over again. I'm going to go play it tonight if these jazz kids will let me sit in. If so they are going to damn sure learn something from my 67 year old ass!
I saw him at Ronnie Scotts in London 1972. The power went out due to a coal miners strike, and they set up candles on every table. Kirk said "We don't need no power to play our music" and he was guided to each table while soloed over the band.
![Rahsaan Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear [Live in Prague, 1967]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZIqLJmlQQNM/mqdefault.jpg)
![Rahsaan Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear [Live in Prague, 1967]](/img/tr.png)
Circular breathing on saxophone has become almost common place. Rhassan is the only person I’ve ever seen do it on the flute. The man was a giant for many reasons. He let nothing stop him, not racism, not his blinding as a child nor a stroke when he was older. He overcame every obstacle on his way to gifting the world with his music and his playful joy. I was fortunate enough to see/hear him many times. It changed my life.🙏
ruclips.net/video/ekIIn_BY3e0/видео.html
(Absolutely not sharing this to try to contradict you, just thought you'd enjoy this guy!)
your words they are salt..
for truth, not Salty,
✌️
i would have loved to see this man perform live.
On a cold winter’s night the early 70’s I was lucky to experience Kirk perform in a small club in Montréal. He felt his way on the stage, opened with the drums, seamlessly handed them off then took the piano, handed that off. Then the show began and the rest was indescribable. He exited as he entered and, here I am, over fifty years later, still picking through what he left on the stage.
@UncleWally3 What a beautiful rembrance. You are very lucky. I can only dream.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was an awesome artist and sweet man who i had the pleasure to appreciate multiple times up close at the Village Vanguard when i was a teenager...Love Supreme to my Dad who turned me on to jazz early on..
You sucked him didn't ya?
Bad ass Jazz artist of the highest order.
I'm ashamed to say I've played flute for 44 years and never heard of Kirk until today. Brilliant. I have catching up to do.
Check out Eric Dolphy & Yusef Lateef while you're at it
@@parker_pubs Thanks! I'll do that.
And Hubert Laws , James Moody @@samstone9368
@@samstone9368Harold McNair
One of a kind as man and musician - NOBODY sounds like him
An absolute genius with great backing musicians.
And then you remember he was blind as well, respect through the roof for this guy
Seriously? I never ever knew that, in all these years.
@Le Continental Google said he was blind from birth (NY Times article). So, anyway, it was news to me. My older brother was/is a jazz guy. I really only knew "Serenade for a Cuckoo, and that was because of Jethro Tull. I should've given Kirk more of a listen back in the day.
@@TheJollycoppers , not actually blind from birth. He had an eye condition and his nurse gave him an improperly mixed dosage of his medication.
That rhythm section behind him is killing it!
For sure
What a special one... this song ever had been in my mind since my father pass away, i´ve benn searching it only with this 2:51 rythm and finally here we are.
True virtuoso player with a sense of humor. He inspired Ian Anderson to take up the flute.
Definitely can see and hear the influence!
Rahsaan is my favourite reedman of all time. His exuberance and sheer love of music is breathtaking.
I saw him many times at the village vanguard in the 70s watching these videos brought tears
Lautstärke erhöhen
he played a street festival just of the OSU campus in the early seventies. He actually grew up in Columbus oh. Seeing him, I mean hearing him was one of my unforgettable experiences. I was turned on to him a few years before with Jethro Tull's version of this song which is not bad but I found this Kirk to be like a mad scientist who blows you away more and more the harder you listen. Ian Anderson met him when he played the same night at the famous 1969 Newport Jazz Festive. As Ian Anderson himself puts it a few years ago, "Rahsaan was a lot like Captain Beefheart. They’re cut from the same cloth. There’s something about these colourful shamans. They can tease us, but we go along with it, because we know they’re touched by genius, but at the same time there’s a little bit of the snake oil for sale.” But his solos are on the level of the great bee bop masters. He rarely played in anyone else's band. When he played in Columbus he to the organizers to find a bass player and a drummer and he showed up by himself. He just called out a key, hummed and tapped out a grove using the valves on a sax, stomped his foot on the beginning downbeat and they guys played their asses off grinning ear to ear behind him. They were the best local players, and he made them better. Thsi singular event held on a makeshift stage on Pearly Alley just off High street remarkably, had been declared a cop-free zone. Kirk had a vial of cocain around his neck and snorted up from time to time exchanges hit of doobies while holding out the coke spoon to the people in front of the stage. I was as wild a night as I've ever seen, and musically he played his ass off. Comes on wearing in a black biker jacket with 3 saxes around his neck with cazooes whistles, slide whistles and lord knows what else draped around him. He LOVED sound.
I'm just a little jelly...! That's awesome man!
Ulrich Hangartner
verstanden👮🏽♂️
yes sir👮🏽♂️
3801° (mi) piace
A true original and a musical genius! So under recognized!
I had forgotten how great this guy is.
Extraordinary. Even Zappa cited Roland Kirk as an influence.
I'd never heard of that but it's easily understood ... Zappa loved people who had their own thing to do. Zappa loved originals.
They shared the stage at one point
i had a dream that he, jimmy and sun ra played at my funeral.
how good sounds that!
Now that would truly be a funeral that was out of this world…or any other for that matter.
Those three Cats would probably play you back to life!
Jimmy who??
The video of him at two different angles at the same time blows my mind. It's better than today's modern videos.
If time travel was a casual thing I'd love to go back and check this out live
He was greatest player ever, I saw him many years ago, God he was wonderful.
Can you be a great entertainer AND a serious Jazz musician?This question has persisted for years.Rahsaan was and is clearly one of the definitive answers of all time.He created his own world,bringing joy to music lovers throughout the entire planet.
Bright moments
Kirk and dizzy for sure
Roland was in another world....Basic straight jazz players could not compete with this man....and sometimes that is saying something.....
You cant find musicians like this anymore.
@@brettk4294 Hate to say it but all the hate and suffering made Black musicians as soulful as they were.
Unbelievably brilliant! The world has lost true magic magic without him. Come back to us... 🐯
No doubt, the greatest influence upon Ian Anderson... this has to be recognized.
Check out Jethro Tull's cover of this song from their first album "This Was Jethro Tull". Ian Anderson (vocals / flute) has said that Roland Kirk was a huge influence on his style in many ways. There are about 8 different things Roland Kirk does in this particular video that you'll hear Ian Anderson copy in much of Jethro Tull's earlier material.
Well, maybe I saw Tull a few times .They did this tune and it's great . Ian did not do the circular breathwork to this degree, also cannot play three wind instruments simultaneously..
Jethro Tull fan here, yes I discovered Kirk thanks to this cover, although it took some time to know it was one haha.
@@moussetache1815 I'll never forget it - back in 2003 I was in a shopping mall walking around a Sears store, when their Musak started playing this. It was one of my better shopping experiences. It really put me in the mood to buy something, LOL.
@@dynasticlight1073 , I've read several Anderson interviews where he mentions Kirk's influence. No "maybe" about it...
Roland Kirk, much love, RIP, from a great fan!
Why would someone vote this down? This is a great video of a genius musician doing his thing.
Magical - and a hard slap in the face for anyone who ever thought they could walk in his footsteps...xxx
This is not the first time I see someone playing a couple of instruments at the same time and play them with outstanding accuracy. A true genius of the jazz era.
This song is so vintage and yet still so classical and original and such a masterpiece.
He was an fantastic musician.
Listen when he plays "This masquerade" you can find it here on RUclips
What an unique way of playing flute ! Beautifull !
Kirk’s work, indeed. If anyone deserves a documentary, he does!
The foot stomp at the beginning of his solo is seriously cool. Listen to the way he interacts with the rhythm section. The phrasing, the technique, the grit, the funk. What a player!
He was extraordinary !
My idol. I am not able to do a lot of things he was doing but never say no. He was a true ambassador of American culture in anyway. So many influences . I am just in love with him
I saw and heard Roland Kirk live in a small club in Birmingham England and there was, fortunately for me, a small audience. I watched him from less than 2 metres. What an experience. Ian Anderson is just a pale carbon copy.
The last part of your comment is total bollocks, Anderson had already started to play that way before he knew who Roland Kirk was, plus Ian was a singer songwriter, guitarist and flautist so was a man of many talents by the time one of his band members ( Jeffrey Hammond) told him his flute playing style sounded like Roland Kirks, Anderson did not copy that style.
Ian Anderson played lots of flute styles, and its ridicoulus to compare him with Kirk.
OH MY GOD! WOW! That just blew my mind. Who was the person that clicked thumbs down? Shame!
+Paradoxataur he was probably trying to click thumbs up and got so excited he missed!
He may of thought it was Ian Anderson playing? 😂
It was a troll. Never mind the naysayers.
Blows my mind every time.
DAMN! FANTSTIC. YOU CAN TELL THAT THIS MAN HAD A TRUE LOVE AFFAIR WITH MUSIC.
Music loved him as much as how much he loved music
WHAT YOU SAY IS VERY TRUE.
A musical genius!...to say the least!!
Fantastic. I am blown away.
Wonderful - as ever
Saw another video with him playing the flute. The extra-ordinary.
Excellent. Can see where Ian Anderson gets some of his inspiration from! And I've seen Tull do that recorder up the nose trick, too!
Cooooo! I learned the intro on my guitar jus now!! Thank yall!!!!
Bro.Ron from WeAllBeTV brought me here☺ #Amazing
Listening to this, you can really hear how Kirk was an inspiration to the early works of Ian Anderson. Two great masters of the flute.
Love this music thanks for sharing
PBS needs to do a documentary on this legend.
Holy $h!t this is fire!
Just. So. Damn. Good. Without Roland Kirk, no Ian Anderson.
Anderson was a songwriter 1st and foremost.
Dammit, I quit! (packs flute away)
RRK was sick as hell, fun to watch too.
Packs internet away, gets flute out...jams like hell with similar musical humans....voila!
Tera Toma Ray Oh no...no.
never quit. ...Music is Life..imagine. .had Roland quit? ?
Come back Rahsaan. We want your like again!!!!
Nunca lo habia escuchado y es, maravilloso! la pieza la escuche con Jethro Tull hace 45 anos, pero esto es buenisimo.
One of the classic Jazz compositions along with Brubeck's "take five ", Monks "round midnight" and many others . Got into Kirk through the" Inflated tear" album .
Roland Kirk grandissimo fiatista jazz già molto avanti rispetto agli standard musicali del suo tempo penso si era negli anni 50 o giù di lì ed è stato fonte di ispirazione per un' altro grandissimo come Lui ,JAN ANDERSON dei mitici JETHRO TULL !!!!!!
A GOD GIFT True genius
He was a inspiration for Ian Anderson 🎵
True that. In fact Jethro Tull covered this song on their very first LP, "This Was". Enc. - a link to the remixed version by master engineer, Steve Wilson. ruclips.net/video/b8CDbF0lxmk/видео.html
@@robertrichman6873 Thanks, I have this record, but didn't hear Wilsons remix. 👍
Roland Kirk is a real one.
A pure artist who let nothing get in his way. Humbling!
Amazing
Yikes!........Magnificent!!!!
Best Flaute and Sax ❤️❤️😍😍🎷🎷
KIRK LEGGEND 💣
This is the guy who got me hooked on jazz and started it all with the singing into the flute and vocal sounds plus multi-instrumental techniques. He was even adventurous enough to have played live with The Mothers of Invention. On top of all this, he was blind! Ian who?
Awesome player played with bunky g some. Was super
IT IS FANTASTIC.
this is amazing
I'm doing this song in Jazz band and just.... Wow
👍 Great stuff!" 🎵=🔑
🫂🕺💃 most talented jazz artist 🫂
Fantastic
Incredible technique, what a circular breathing!!!
I wish he was still here!This man was it! The greatest!
One of the GREATS!
This is Hard-Bop / Post-Bop / Soul-Bop at its absolute best...
A freak of nature. His widow, Betty, works at WBGO radio
Gotta love it !!
What a remarkable man. The term 'life force' could have been invented for him.
Jethro Tull' s cover on their debut "This was" brought me here.
One of a kind genius. Invented the singing into the flute technique too.
he`s the jimmy hendrix on flute and strich
mario7frankielee he actually is jimmy favorite musician
Coz hes black?
i know
and i have this thing with „untrained „
singing voices
i love jimmys voice and rashans
LandoCowDelicion
can‘t tell
i‘m colorblind
@@nathanliu7610 captain beefheart was also obsessed with rahsaan
He is a Legend! RIP RRK, much love.
my hat is off! I bow low. a musical genius.
THERE WILL BE NO ONE LIKE HIM IN THIS LIFE TIME!! HE WAS LIKE COLTRANE&HENDRIX YOU WILL NEVER SEE AGAIN IN THIS LIFE.
Wonderland !
Ok, now I know where Ian Anderson copped all his early licks.
You are correct. Rahsaan influenced Ian heavily.
Right?
Yeah..Jethro Tull covered this song on their first album. So he certainly wasn’t hiding this influence!
Well, almost. Roland wrote and played the song in F minor. Ian played it in G minor, which put him in a technically much easier key. One where he could play closer to the D minor licks that permeate most of his songs. Ian's exciting and innovative rock style made for a great show but he has nowhere near the musical and technical abilities of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Those double-time, double-tongue runs are amazing! I don't know him but I bet Ian would agree with me. From interviews, he seems like a well-grounded and humble man. I'm a big fan of both of these idiom-bending flutists!
So did Dave Jackson of Van Der Graaf Generator as did many British acts of this era!!!
dude is prolly my favorite of all time yo even moreso than horace silver n yusef lateef......n thats some shit right there.
Saw him once--tremendous. At one point, he described Ian Anderson as "the MFer who stole everything he knows about the flute from me."
Una forza della natura, diventata arte.
Great music! Sharing that is fantastic! Share some more informations (name of the others musicians, place, context...) would be even greater! Thanks for the discovering
Christ, this is excellent
He was so amazing. Do you know what those things are hanging from his flute? Curious.
ah other instruments - neat!
Whammy bar
BRAVO!
Grandissimo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The great Roland Kirk.
This man is a legend! Holy shit! 0:52
Don’t forget 3:36
This is why all the Ian Anderson comments are annoying on here. Kirk is playing what, triplet double-tongues here or something? Ian could never hold a candle to that.
2:29 forgot to mention Jethro Tull who largely imitated his style to great profit and introduced the flute to rock and roll.
That's how I first heard this tune. It was also the first jazz tune I ever learned. In 10th grade I used to just stand there in my stupid marching band uniform and play " Serenade to a Cuckoo " over and over again. I'm going to go play it tonight if these jazz kids will let me sit in. If so they are going to damn sure learn something from my 67 year old ass!
“How many instruments can you play?”
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: “Yes.”
I saw him at Ronnie Scotts in London 1972. The power went out due to a coal miners strike, and they set up candles on every table. Kirk said "We don't need no power to play our music" and he was guided to each table while soloed over the band.
Great!