Roland Kirk

He was best known for being a blind jazz saxophonist who could play more than one wind instrument at once. Kirk played a number of musical instruments, mainly various saxophones, clarinets and flutes. His main instruments were tenor saxophone and two obscure saxophones: the stritch and the manzello. Kirk modified these instruments himself to accommodate his simultaneous playing technique. The idea of playing more than one saxophone at the same time occurred to him in a dream and he set out to make it a reality. Around 1970 he added “Rahsaan” to his name after hearing it in a dream. He is also noted for his circular breathing technique and was reportedly able to sustain a note for over an hour.

Website

Records:

1. Roland Kirk with Jack McDuff – Skaters waltz, Prestige

Episode17 Jazz

1. the George Shearing Quintet – the Beb-bop Irishman, Capitol
2. Ben Webster – Jive at six, Metro
3. Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore – Billie’s bounce, Blue Note
4. Buck Clayton and Big Joe Turner – Honeysuckle rose, Fontana
5. Lionel Hampton – Hamp’s got the blues, Timeless Records
6. Horace Silver – Senor blues, Blue Note
7. Thelonious Monk – Epistrophy, Riverside
8. Coleman Hawkins / Roy Eldridge / Howard McGee – the Blue room, Ozone
9. Roland Kirk with Jack McDuff – Skaters waltz, Prestige
10. Cecil Taylor – Conquistador, Blue Note
11. Art Blakey Quartet – Blues back, Jasmine
12. Dizzy Gillespie – Here t’ is, Philips