Roland Kirk - Here Comes The Whistleman '1965

Tracks list

Here Comes the Whistleman showcases Rahsaan Roland Kirk in 1967 with a fine
band, live in front of a host of invited guests at Atlantic Studios in New York.
His band for the occasion is stellar: Jacki Byard or Lonnie Smith on piano,
Major Holley on bass, Lonnie Smith on piano, and Charles Crosby on drums. This
is the hard, jump blues and deep R&B Roland Kirk band, and from the git, on
Roots, they show why. Kirk comes screaming out of the gate following a double
time I-IV-V progression, with Holley punching the accents along the bottom and
Byard shoving the hard tight chords up against Kirks three-horn lead. The
extended harmony Kirk plays — though the melody line is a bar walking
honk — is extreme, full of piss and vinegar. On the title track, along
with the artists requisite, and genuinely good, humor, Kirk breaks out the
whistles on top of the horn for a blues stomp with Smith taking over the piano
chores. Smith plays a two chord vamp, changing the accent before he beings to
break it open into a blues with skittering fills and turnarounds while Kirk
blows circularly for 12 and 14 bars at a time. Byard returns for a tender and
stirring duet rendition of I Wished on the Moon, with his own glorious rich
lyricism. And here is where Kirk displays the true measure of his ability as a
saxophonist. Turning the ballad inside out, every which way without overstating
the notes. Here, Ben Webster meets Coleman Hawkins in pure lyric ecstasy. The
set officially ends with the wailing flute and sax jam Aluminum Baby, (both
courtesy of the irrepressible Kirk) and the bizarre ride of Step Right Up where
Kirk sings scat in a dialect that sounds like Pop-eye. Now thats where the LP
version ended, but the Label M CD reissue tags on, without credits anywhere two
absolutely essential scorchers with what seems to be Byard on piano and an
over-the-top bass blowout from Holley. Kirk plays saxophones on both, being his
own horn section. This makes an already satisfying date an essential one. Given
these additions, this might arguably be the place to start for an interested but
underexposed listener who wants to experience how dazzlingly original Kirk was.
~ Thom Jurek

Tracklist:
 01. Robert Wright - Roots (Live in Atlantic Studios) (04:12)
 02. Lonnie Smith - Here Comes the Whistleman (Live in Atlantic Studios) (05:43)
 03. Robert Wright - I Wished on the Moon (Live in Atlantic Studios) (05:55)
 04. Lonnie Smith - Making Love After Hours (Live in Atlantic Studios) (04:30)
 05. Lonnie Smith - Yesterdays (Live in Atlantic Studios) (04:07)
 06. Robert Wright - Aluminum Baby (Live in Atlantic Studios) (06:13)
 07. Lonnie Smith - Step Right Up (Live in Atlantic Studios) (04:51)

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