Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Early Days/Triple Threat (Remastered) '2019

Tracks list

When the pre-Rahsaan Roland Kirk stormed the jazz scene in the mid-50s,
certainly nobody was ready for his virtuosity, as he demonstrated ability, not
gimmickry, to play the tenor sax, manzello, and stritch simultaneously. Triple
Threat is his introductory foray into this arena, as he presents a program of
half standards and half his basic bluesy originals taken into this upper realm
of multiphonic capacity. Of the covers, the ballad Stormy Weather has Kirk
playing counter-melodies rather than harmonics on his horns, and it is
remarkable. The Nearness of You is a bit distant in its production values with
Kirk using tentative or staggered phrasings, and Easy Living has the lead played
on the manzello, with the multiple horns only on the final phrase of the melody.
The originals are pretty simple, with a repeat swing groove setting off the jam
Ronalds Tune and Kirk working the controlled, non-exploited harmonics of the
three woodwinds on Slow Groove; using a happy shuffle R&B feeling on mostly
tenor for A La Carte; and finishing up with the now famous 12-bar blues bopper
Triple Threat, which was his signature dish. The liner notes of this recording
have always been irritating bordering on condescending, implying that the tenor
sax was always a more popular instrument and misidentifying the manzello and
stritch as a straight alto and straight soprano when they were actually distinct
instruments, exclusively played by Kirk. No matter -- this is a marvelous
introduction to the greatest soloist in the history of jazz and, despite its
very short running time (under 30 minutes), is a true pivot point in modern
music.

Tracklist:
2:52 | 01. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Rolands Theme (Remastered)
6:52 | 02. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Slow Groove (Remastered)
4:38 | 03. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Stormy Weather (Remastered)
5:33 | 04. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - The Nearness Of You (Remastered)
2:23 | 05. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - A La Carte (Remastered)
4:40 | 06. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Easy Living (Remastered)
2:24 | 07. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Triple Threat (Remastered)

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