Rahsaan Roland Kirk - I Talk With The Spirits '1964 [1998]

Tracks list

Multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk leaves the stritch, manzello and other exotic
instruments at home for this all-flute outing from his pre-Rahsaan days.
Consisting mostly of originals, with a couple of show tunes and a swinging take
on John Lewis Django thrown in, I Talk to the Spirits provides the best sampling
of Kirks unique flute style. He hums along with himself as he plays, inserts
pieces of lyrics when the mood hits, finds overtones and multi-part harmonies as
he blows madly through the upper register and sails sweetly through the lower.
Included here is the original version of Serenade to a Cuckoo, a song later
taken to rock audiences with its inclusion on the first Jethro Tull album. (In
fact, for the Tull fan who wants to hear where Ian Anderson borrowed his style,
I Talk to the Spirits is the place to go.) The playing on this outing is
uniformly excellent, with Kirk ranging from his trademark up-tempo overblowing
on A Quote from Clifford Brown to bluesy growling on The Business Aint Nothing
But the Blues to placid beauty on the ballad Trees. He guides Kurt Weills My
Ship on a five-minute voyage through calm seas and turbulent double-timed
storms. Kirks sense of whimsy and musical fun is evident throughout.


Tracks:

01. Serenade to a Cuckoo
02. Well Be Together Again / People (From Funny Face)
03. A Quote from Clifford Brown
04. Trees
05. Fuguen and Alludin
06. The Business Aint Nothin But the Blues
07. I Talk with the Spirits
08. Ruined Castles
09. Django
10. My Ship (From Lady in the Dark)

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