If I Loved You - Rahsaan Roland Kirk (flute, stritch, tenor saxophone); Ron Burton (piano), Todd Barkan (synthesizer, tambourine), Henry Pearson (bass), Robert Shy (drums), Joe Habao (percussion) - Recorded live at Keystone Korner, San Francisco, California from June 8-9, 1973 Rahsaan Roland Kirks live club gigs were usually engaging, freewheeling affairs, full of good humor and a fantastically wide range of music. The double album Bright Moments is a near-definitive document of the Kirk live experience, and his greatest album of the 70s. The extroverted Kirk was in his element in front of an audience, always chatting, explaining his concepts, and recounting bits of jazz history. Even if some of his long, jive-talking intros can sound a little dated today, its clear in the outcome of the music that Kirk fed voraciously off the energy of the room. Most of the tracks are long (seven minutes or more), demonstrating Kirks wealth of soloing ideas in a variety of styles (and, naturally, on a variety of instruments). Pedal Up is a jaw-dropping demonstration of Kirks never-duplicated three-horns-at-once technique, including plenty of unaccompanied passages that simply sound impossible. Theres more quintessential Kirk weirdness on Fly Town Nose Blues, which heavily features an instrument called the nose flute, and the title track has a healthy dose of Kirk singing through his (traditional) flute. His repertoire is typically eclectic: Ellingtons Prelude to a Kiss; a groovy Bacharach pop tune in Youll Never Get to Heaven; a lovely version of Fats Wallers Jitterbug Waltz; and a stomping, exultant New Orleans-style original, Dem Red Beans and Rice. Perhaps the best, however, is an impassioned rendition of the ballad standard If I Loved You, where Kirks viscerally raw, honking tone hints in a roundabout way at the avant-garde without ever losing its melodic foundation. Bright Moments empties all the major items out of Kirks bag of tricks, providing a neat microcosm of his talents and displaying a consummate and knowledgeable showman. In short, its nothing less than a tour de force. - Steve Huey, AMG
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 06:41:26 +0000