Blacknuss - Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1971)

Talking about discovering jazz through mp3 sharing, I could have picked any number of classic jazz types here. I’d listened to jazz since my guitar teacher introduced me as a teen, but I suddenly had access to so much of it. Thelonius Monk, Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins. But I’ll pick Rahsaan Roland Kirk just because he was such an odd and distinctive and intereseting character.

Kirk is just somebody who loves music, and you can hear his enthusiasm on everything he plays. A lot of horn players spend training time learning to not let the incidental noises through, but Kirk seems to rejoice in letting you in on the secrets: you hear his breathing and tongue techniques, warts and all.

Here he goes through a lot of soul tunes and some other selections. You can hear him singing or humming along, sometimes while his band is playing and sometimes vocalizing through his own reeds and winds he’s playing. Endlessly fearless and inventive, there wasn’t any part of Kirk that didn’t love being a musician; there isn’t a moment of this record that doesn’t love being a record.

Tracks I Liked

My Girl - a playful take on a classic

Which Way Is It Going - hard to describe without using the word “joyous”

Old Rugged Cross - the old hymn gets wound up into a funky jam