Customer Reviews

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - The One Man Twins [VHS]

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I've seen over 500 music performances by different artists on video. This is the best. The songs are great and setlist is varied. The performaces are breathtaking. And the film looks as if were shot yesterday instead of 25 years ago. With cameras on stage and around the indoor auditorium, there's no shot that you don't see. By the way, increadible camera-work. See this and shed a tear, then work yourself into a frenzy.

If you have forgotten what the combination of extraordinary talent and the courage to express yourself as fully as possible was like, it is worth checking this video out. Kirk is often criticized for what is considered gimmicky antics with several horns at once (which he quite masterfully keeps in tune and in sync with his sidemen) but his abilities on say the Tenor sax are enough to warrant him a great reputation as a legend of jazz. This video, filmed in Swizerland in 1972 captures a hungry European audience, hungry for life, jazz, drugs (which Kirk dishes out at one ecstatic point in the set), and expression. Kirk, on stage,and lind, may very well be lucid dreaming and fearlessly displays his message to the world. As a musician myself, who is often plagued by stiffness and fear, it was quite refreshing and inspiring.

Although there is very little footage available of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, thankfully, his fiery performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival was magnificently captured on this superb video. The audio and video quality (in color) is surprisingly crisp and clear for a 1972 production and unlike Bert Stern's overly acclaimed video, "Jazz on a Summer's Day," the magnificent camera work stays focused were it should be: on the musicians.

It's all here. The shamanic bigger-than-life Rahsaan thoroughly absorbed in his music, dripping with sweat, "inflated tears" cascading from his sightless eyes, yet seeing things we cannot hear. An array of instruments both familiar and strange hangs from his broad shoulders. His ever attentive guide and percussionist, Joe "Habao" Texidor, takes on the appearance of a possessed Central American sorcerer dancing in constant motion around the high priest and providing him with whatever additional instruments he calls for.

Then there's the rest of what is perhaps the tightest and most sympathetic of Rahsaan's groups, known collectively as The Vibration Society. The under-appreciated and under-recorded pianist Ron (aka Rahn) Burton playing chords that ascend and descend like sea swells. Positioned at the piano but looking more like a corporate executive sitting behind a mahogany desk, his staid countenance belies the fact that he's playing some of the funkiest solos on record. Burton stays so uniquely focused as to be totally in touch with, but not distracted by, the fever-pitch energy swirling around him when the audience spills on to the stage during "Volunteered Slavery."

Although bassist Henry "Pete" Pearson often appears alternatively bemused and perplexed by Rahsaan's over-the-top solos and stage antics, he nevertheless lays down reliable bass lines and knows when to lay out.

Robert Shy is a drummer par excellence who displays his talents across a broad rhythmic spectrum ranging from big blues backbeats to the subtle use of delicate finger cymbals.

Yes, there is the notorious episode during "Blue Rol No. 2" where Kirk not only pays tribute to the nose with his flute but also gives it a little "treat" which he shares with some members of the audience. It was the 70's and I will leave any moralizing about that to the moralists. Was destroying a chair at the conclusion of "Volunteered Slavery" necessary? Was it just so much show-biz shtick or simply symbolic of the pent up rage he felt against the many forms of prejudice he encountered during his lifetime? Kirk's on-stage behavior will always serve as a source of debate and material for his critics. This video not only captures all the elements of a high-energy jazz performance, it documents a significant event in jazz history. Rahsaan fans will also want to read John Kruth's Bright Moments: The Life and Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

And now the bad news: This VHS release is not only out of print, but has virtually disappeared from the Web.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk is a Great Underrated Genius.His Work is Incredible.This Concert Displays His Many Gifts as a Artist too the fullest.The Music&Performance COmes at You&Never Misses it's Beat.Very Essential.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk is a hugely underrated figure in jazz. This filmed performance shows his tremendous talent, and his capacity for inciting crowds into frenzys. His use of cocaine on stage is highlighted at one point when Kirk, who was blind, graciously distributs some to the audience members, in the middle of a tune. If you like jazz, you'll like this.

If you love jazz, this is what you have been looking for.
After viewing this video, I have been on the hunt for more video's from Rahsaan Roland Kirk but so far I have been unsuccessful. This is the best Jazz video I have ever seen and I have been listening to jazz for about 15 years.
Buy It!