Rahsaan Roland Kirk
American multi-instrumentalistWikipedia
13
MENTIONS
9
EPISODES
8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 13 mentions across 9 episodes found for "Rahsaan Roland Kirk".
Sep 24, 2026
Russell WilliamsGUEST
Ray Charles.
Russell WilliamsGUEST
And then Rahsaan Roland-Kirk was playing some of the flute solos.
Russell WilliamsGUEST
And so the whole concept of an African-American working behind the camera... was a revelation.
Russell WilliamsGUEST
I mean, obviously, we'd had African-American actors in front of camera, you know, since the silent days.
DrewHOST
Back in the top 100, going back to the beginning of jazz, it was the melting pot of world music that blended itself either out of New Orleans, then later into New York, then to the West Coast and L.A.
DrewHOST
So we saw the spread from the Delta, the Delta Blues, Rhythm and Gospel, So we saw that spread from America's, Roland Kirk called it the black classical music.
DrewHOST
So then every country begins to get inspired and moved by some of this American music going to them.
DrewHOST
So it almost makes me wonder from how many regions will we get to listen to music? whether it's the folk music that we listened to before.
6 MINS LATER
DrewHOST
It's weird, though, because if I'm honest, how do you begin to define jazz? Here we are three years after we started this, and I remember Mom coming on and asking us that question.
DrewHOST
What is jazz? And if you start to put together your own personal answers, this is what I've learned, if anything.
DrewHOST
It goes against Roland Kirk's idea of black classical music.
DrewHOST
This was America's music.
DrewHOST
And in that, we struggle with what the terminology is.
DrewHOST
Even at this point in time, Roland Kirk couldn't explain this off as black classical music.
MattHOST
No.
DrewHOST
Because we're bringing in a Central America theme.
Joel Dias-PorterGUEST
Not only water moves in waves, Is it the vagus nerve which makes the octaves of chocolate in her skin appear the same as a wager on gospel harmony in the music hall of Mahalia's mouth? Do a wave function's imaginary units mark the superposition of hearts, or does no door except endorphins open our hunger to dervish numbers? Are Persian doors and Arabic digits licorice black or lipstick red? Do we discover these differences or invent them? If you've never placed a wager and lost it all, you might still hear why a choir means to gather, but not know why what it means to him seems equal parts discordance and harmony.
Joel Dias-PorterGUEST
Because how then to divine the difference between the part of the arc where the unstroke fur of Schrodinger's cat is black as Roland Kirk's clarinet, and the part where your knees remain red from kneeling to recite her 99 names as a rosary.
Ben SaxonHOST
Thank you.
Ben SaxonHOST
I haven't heard that one.
Victor WootenGUEST
He was a horn section.
Victor WootenGUEST
Yeah, like Roland Kirk thing.
Victor WootenGUEST
Yeah, exactly.
Victor WootenGUEST
Exactly.
Dave DeitkeHOST
Was it, well, did, I mean, like, I guess definitely, well, coming through Cleveland, did you ever catch, like, Ornette Coleman or, like, Coltrane or any of, like, the heavy hitters?
Terry HineGUEST
Is that, what, is that a q- well, I, uh, I used to go to Leo's Casino, and I heard Monk there and Roland Kirk.
Dave DeitkeHOST
Yeah.
Terry HineGUEST
And I heard Monk at the WHK Auditorium, and I heard Miles Davis at the Jazz Temple.
Jean CarneGUEST
Wow.
Jean CarneGUEST
Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
Jean CarneGUEST
Oh, wow.
Jean CarneGUEST
And Norman Connors.
Alan BroadbentGUEST
Yeah.
Robert MillerHOST
I remember the first time I was there, I saw Rahsaan Roland Kirk, the guy that played with 14 different saxophones in his mouth at the same time.
Robert MillerHOST
And my eyes just bugged out watching that.
Robert MillerHOST
Okay.
MikeGUEST
I never got that proficient.
MikeGUEST
There's a guy from back in the 60s, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, that used to do three saxes at one time.
MikeGUEST
Hold on.
MikeGUEST
He did what? He played three saxes at one time.
MikeGUEST
kind of his bit, and he was very much into his avant-garde jazz, which is a little on the wilder side, and he was into world music.
MikeGUEST
So we incorporated different scales.
MikeGUEST
For somebody who's interested, search for Rahsaan Roland Kirk on YouTube.
MikeGUEST
Say it slower? It's Rahsaan Roland Kirk.