Roland Kirk with Tete Montoliu - A Cabin in the Sky

Roland Kirk, multiple reeds
Tete Montoliu, piano
Tommy Potter, bass
Kenny Clarke, drums
Milan 1962

[@lpa56]

Two magnificently musical "blind mice" (2 out of 3). What a PLEASURE to hear Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Tete Montoliu playing together. There is hope for humanoids, however slim.

[@UnitedElectric]

Piano guy is new to me. KILLED IT

[@manuell.4998]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaqXc3Rtbah0ps0

[@JazzVideoGuy]

No energy crisis here. This could warm up a frigid house on a cold winter's day.

[@lestrum]

Had the pleasure of seeing him live a few times at the Village Vanguard up close. In those days very few video, etc, so had to see him to believe what he was able to do was actually possible. It was. Great showman and highly versatile. He would often climb the stairs of the Vanguard while playing.

[@MonkeyIslandBlues]

Roland with the Stricth!!...i guess this was in early '60.....thanks for this!!

[@Playthellgb42]

One of the greatest! A true original voice on the saxophone!!!

[@fuckcensorshipforeal]

If some one asked me to try to prove the existence of a God, the closest I could come would be to point to Rahsaan Roland Kirk

[@vova47]

Excellent Tete!....

[@allensaltzman5278]

The energy this man exudes is amazing.Catching him at the Village Vanguard was electrifying. And the piano player wasn’t too shabby either.

[@nominalegg5865]

Gimmickry aside (circular breathing, simultaneous blowing of multiple novelty horns and so on) Rahsaan Roland Kirk was one of the greatest soloists I’ve ever heard. He knew how to build a solo to an intense climax, riding it like a roller coaster with twists, turns, crazy highs and soulful, plunging depths - all the while teasing, quoting, using comic relief, mimicking, and more quoting...He had phenomenal pyrotechnic abilities as well as a vast knowledge of musical history; passages of which he could quote at any time in any key, perhaps even faster than Bird. Thank you to whoever posted this.

[@nicholasghoulson9949]

Not as fast as a Cuckoo:D

[@The_Ex_Boxing_Nerd]

he was not a gimmick ever

[@Playthellgb42]

@@The_Ex_Boxing_Nerd thanks for that correction!

[@MarkTarmannPianoCheck_it_out]

@@The_Ex_Boxing_Nerd multiple horns was not a gimmick. it was an inexpensive section that sounded great. but giving out bumps to the front row? not a gimmick per se..but promotion maybe? "TONIGHT ONLY be one of the 1st 10 fans to buy a ticket to RHASAAN KIRKS show tonight at the Vanguard at get a bump of his good shit,, absolutely free!" or just a guy who enjoyed his powders being generous with his shit and getting a few fans onto the same wooooooooooo...aaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy......... train feel.......

[@The_Ex_Boxing_Nerd]

@@MarkTarmannPianoCheck_it_out, Kirk was an eccentric man. Feeding off of the energy of a crowd and making them happy just being a performer.

[@exjazzbassbaz]

the phenominal mr kirk no other word for him.make no mistake this was a jazz giant on a par with parker and the rest and ive listened to to them all over 60yrs of my 76yr lifetime.this is some upload many thanks.

[@lmstearn]

Parker, and then some!

[@wyndhleodumegwu253]

Rahsaan Roland Kirk deposits "Organic Real Jazz" with surrealistic and superlative eminence.

[@davideastlee9983]

no words... when giants roamed the earth. thank you

[@adeduction]

Incredible performance - incredible improviser. I'd always knew about him ever since he first started playing & bought one of his first albums. I wasn't a wannabe saxophone player so after the novelty of the 3 horns wore off I stopped listening & following his career. Didn't know he was this great - exceptional - until now. I think he pretty clearly cut - played better - than everybody on this particular number. Thanks.

[@GoodlivinGav]

How good is this!?! I'm going to listen to this every morning before going to work!

[@davidbillingsley2763]

THE GREATEST!

[@derekcunningham1690]

He plays every conceivable note on that instrument- never done before and never done since . Extraordinary

[@sanidan2010]

Amazing how a blind man could create such a visual experience as well as audial perfection.

[@MaximusWolfe]

An actual musical genius.

[@jeffcraven7376]

A good example of Kirk's playing that showed he didn't need any gimmicks.

[@jeffcraven7376]

Though there was Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Master of sax Charles Parker, plus Sonny Stitt, Parker's main fan (though he never admitted it but his closest imitator), and the great Roland Kirk, there's no one left of my favorite sax players but Phil Woods(must be 84 y/o this year). Phil erupted in the 50's, and yet his playing is ever still so sweet. Woods sounds a lot like Parker, yet when phil plays you know it's Mr. Woods. Best of health Phil, and may you continue to play with the essence of true unadulterated music just like those that've pass that I've mentioned.

[@vova47]

+jeff Craven Quote from drum master Kenny Clarke :"Even if there never was Bird, there would still be Sonny Stitt!...". Stitt was his own man, nobody's copy and HE was a true master of sax, better tenor player than Bird and at the very least his equal on alto (IMO he had better sound than Bird) True, he was like all the jazz musicians fan of Charlie Parker's genius, but what is less known, Charlie admired Sonny Stitt more than any other sax player. . And, all due respect to the late Phil Woods, as a soloist, he was never anywhere near Stitt or Bird (or Cannonball, who was much closer to the other two).

[@jeffcraven7376]

I think Parker had a better sound than Stitt on tenor, a deeper, mellower sound with all the dexterity and creativity Bird was known for. As to tone, that's a matter of taste; I prefer Bird's over Stitts. To me Stitt just didn't demonstrate the same level of imagination in his riffs & extended solos. As to Woods, the closest thing to Parker (alive?) today, plus Phil's tone is the most beautiful of any sax player I've ever heard. I didn't know that Phil had died; listened again to his 2013 album "New Celebration" all the time while driving 30 miles home last night.

[@davidvelleman6655]

+jeff Craven There is 1 difference between them: Charlie Parker is a genius, and Stitt is not a genius, this is my opinion. Listen to stitt play something and then listen to another version of him playing it and I think you will find that he is mostly playing uninspired habits. Stitt sounds amazing on Sonny Stitt w/The Oscar Peterson trio, that is a great album. I only think Bird played tenor on a miles album in which Bird drank a liter of Vodka, did not play well, and screwed around angering miles and damaging his reputation with prestige.

[@jeffcraven7376]

+David velleman Dave I agree with you. I've had an LP of Stitt 35 years, + two CDs for 20+ years. I might have listened completely thru each of these three albums once. When it comes to Parker (recordings first introduced to me by a friend in 1978), I've worn out L.P.s & have atleast a dozen Parker C.D.s that get played several times a year. Comparing Sonny Stitt to Parker is like comparing 24K Gold (Parker) to electroplate.

[@Cormagh]

A humbling performance.

[@kingpleasure]

Absolutely incredible!

[@bobmerrillnet]

Absolutely astoundingly incredible!

[@potaylo]

Love his total mastery of improv and his persona. He was/is a musical magnet for me.

[@bigtim323]

Met him once at family reunion. Mom's first cousin.

[@daviddoyle4516]

Ras in his prime,,,,,standing tall,, full of vigor,,,,every confidence,,, like a boxer,,,,a boxer for Jazz,,,

[@FCntertainr]

That horn is called a Manzello! I bet Rahsaan had that bell welded on what is like a straight Alto sax. He found it in a basement along with a curved neck soprano like horn called a stritch. Sax like variants that didn't catch on. The curved necks made it easier to play 2 or three at once! ( with his tenor) I did it for awhile when I was. Young. I bought a regular curved soprano and loved it but didn't keep playing with tenor lol. Someone has invented an instrument two joined with one mouth piece ?

[@DYNODRUM]

What ! an Amazing Force these Guys bring...Viva Italia and Kenny Clarke ?

[@thomasoboelee]

Smokin'!!!!

[@4jeffinseattle]

Genius

[@4jeffinseattle]

The pianist and Roland (both blind) are in another world.

[@RedAlEarttDramaMeanWhoDat]

SMOKIN' ! ! !

[@ricaard]

monstrous!

[@toniparera7476]

Once I heard about one instrument called trumpet-phone. Is it?

[@saxyricks4731]

Kirk's inventiveness is unflagging, unfathomable, inflammable............

[@robhughes7426]

triple tonguing while circular breathing!!!!!

[@jiyujizai]

💙😀🌷🍀

[@fan8504]

freedom !

[@temujintehweird1158]

6:11, the drummer

[@bryantjackson7450]

4 15 h quotes charlie parker wow this guy is so out there

[@oscargrillo9508]

He quotes the clarinet obligatto of "High Society", often quoted by Bird....And "O' Sole Mio" etc, etc...

[@bladome]

!!

[@bobmerrillnet]

Talk about the blind leading the blind

[@MyFlare123]

What the heck is that instrument he's playing at the beginning??!!~

[@julianmitchell3035]

I believe that's a manzello. Nope, it's his stritch (straight alto).

[@Poltier]

Stritch. Invented by Kirk.

[@bignoze123]

will you look at the size of that thing....

[@kingabbott]

What horn is that?

[@umbertorizzopinna7941]

A modified contralto

[@gillesgary5852]

Les années 60 pour le Jazz sont comme un sommet de montagne, l'Everest ou l'Himalaya. Trane, Ornet, thelonius, Cecil, Roland et bien d'autres musiciens ont atteint une puissance et une liberté d'invention musicale jamais retrouvée depuis, encore moins dans la sauce sage et commerciale actuelle. Le Free ne se vendait pas, j'assistais à leurs concerts dans des salles quasiment désertées par les spectateurs dès la deuxième partie. Rien à voir avec le le ronron commercial. Il faudra au moins un siècle pour retrouver un jazz de cette qualité, pour tuer cette merde de marché de la musique, ce temple de fric élevé aux feignants.

[@patrickcollins1855]

All them blind?