The debut recording, Inflated Tear, by Roland Kirk (this was still pre-Rahsaan) on Atlantic Records -- the same label that gave us Blacknuss and Volunteered Slavery -- is not the blow-fest one might expect upon hearing it for the first time. In fact, producer Joel Dorn and label boss Nesuhi... [+] Expand

The debut recording, Inflated Tear, by Roland Kirk (this was still pre-Rahsaan) on Atlantic Records -- the same label that gave us Blacknuss and Volunteered Slavery -- is not the blow-fest one might expect upon hearing it for the first time. In fact, producer Joel Dorn and label boss Nesuhi Ertegun weren't prepared for it either. Kirk had come to Atlantic from Emarcy after recording his swan song for them: the gorgeous Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith, in April. In November, Kirk decided to take his quartet of pianist Ron Burton; bassist Steve Novosel; and drummer Jimmy Hopps; and lead them through a deeply introspective, slightly melancholy program based in the blues and groove traditions of the mid- '60s. Kirk himself used the flutes, the strich; the Manzello; whistle; clarinet; saxophones; and more -- the very instruments that had created his individual sound, especially when some of them were played together -- and the very things that jazz critics (some of whom later grew to love him) castigated him for. Well; after hearing the restrained and elegantly layered "Black and Crazy Blues," the stunningly rendered "Creole Love Call," the knife-deep soul in "The Inflated Tear," and the twisting-in-the-wind lyricism of "Fly by Night," they were convinced, and rightfully so. Roland Kirk won over the masses with this one, too, selling over 10,000 copies in the first year. This is Roland Kirk at his most poised and visionary; his reading of jazz harmony and fickle sonances are nearly without peer. And only Charles Mingus understood Duke Ellington in the way Kirk does. That evidence is here also. If you are looking for a place to start with Kirk; this is it. [The British edition restores the original artwork and includes one track not available on the original album.] ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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