Soul-jazz Musicians Codexery

Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Jazz multi-instrumentalist who played several horns at once.

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Rahsaan Roland Kirk was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born Ronald Theodore Kirk on August 7, 1935, in Columbus, Ohio.[1] According to his own statement, Kirk's loss of sight at age two was caused by receiving medical care that was not appropriate.[2]

Life and work

He moved to New York City in 1960 and joined Charles Mingus's band in 1961, gaining exposure to mainstream jazz audiences.[3][4] In 1975, he suffered a major stroke causing partial paralysis, but he modified his instruments to continue performing and touring.[5] Kirk played multiple saxophones, flutes, and other instruments simultaneously, using circular breathing to sustain notes.[2] His widow Dorthaan Kirk became a noted jazz advocate, receiving the 2020 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy.[6][7]

Saxophonist Hank Crawford remembered witnessing a blind Kirk, aged 14, perform on two horns at once and "tear the joint up".[8] A dream compelled Kirk to swap two letters in his given first name, creating "Roland"; following another dream in 1970, he added the name "Rahsaan".[8][4]

What the cited sources add

The African American Registry account states that Kirk's most productive period was from 1965 to 1975, when he recorded a series of albums for Atlantic Records.[4] According to the same source, Kirk became violent on an episode of the Dick Cavett Show in 1970 as part of his activism.[4] Dorthaan Kirk stated that her husband played 45 woodwind instruments and collected over 7,000 albums spanning Southern white gospel to classical music.[7] The NEA Jazz Masters profile notes that Dorthaan Kirk met Rahsaan through a mutual friend in Los Angeles while she was still married to her first husband.[7]

Dorthaan Kirk married Rahsaan in 1971 and moved with him to New Jersey.[7]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz", Oxford University Press, p. 497/8; "The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music", Guinness Publishing, 1992, p. 1385 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music", Guinness Publishing, 1992, p. 1385 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "August 7, 1935 AD Roland Kirk, Musician born", African American Registry (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. "August 7, 1935 AD Roland Kirk, Musician born", African American Registry. facts only, no text reused. aaregistry.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music", Guinness Publishing, 1992, p. 1385; "The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music", Guinness Publishing, 1992, p. 1385; "Newcastle Jazz Festival", Genome Radio Times 1923–2009, 13 November 1976 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: La Gorce, "Dorthaan Kirk Is Newark's First Lady of Jazz", The New York Times, January 9, 2016; "Dorthaan Kirk, Jazz Advocate 2020 NEA Jazz Master", National Endowment for the Arts, August 14, 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. "Dorthaan Kirk, Jazz Advocate 2020 NEA Jazz Master", National Endowment for the Arts, August 14, 2020. facts only, no text reused. arts.gov
  8. Wikipedia, "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Heining, "Roland Kirk: Here Comes The Whistleman", All About Jazz, October 19, 2016; Heining, "Roland Kirk: Here Comes The Whistleman", All About Jazz, October 19, 2016; Giddins, "Visions of Jazz: The First Century", Oxford University Press (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Rahsaan Roland Kirk (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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