| Gifts & Messages | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1964 | |||
| Recorded | July 22, 1964 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Roland Kirk chronology | ||||
| ||||
Gifts & Messages is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk. It was originally released on the Mercury label in 1964 [1] and features performances by Kirk with Horace Parlan, Michael Fleming and Steve Ellington. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |  [4] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [5] |
| The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz | [6] |
The editors of AllMusic awarded the album 4½ stars, with a reviewer describing it as "one of the most straightforward hard bop sessions recorded by Roland Kirk," while noting his "carefully thought-out yet often abandoned solos approaching free jazz at times." They also praised the "assured hard bop of his backing trio," which "does nothing to restrain Kirk's wilder fancies." [3]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote: "The whole set is peppered with quotes, allusions and tags from other songs, sometimes punning, sometimes surreal, always absolutely musical. Not the best recording... but the music more than makes up for any technical deficiencies." [4]
All compositions by Roland Kirk except where noted.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, known earlier in his career simply as Roland Kirk, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute, and many other instruments. He was renowned for his onstage vitality, during which virtuoso improvisation was accompanied by comic banter, political ranting, and the ability to play several instruments simultaneously.
Song for My Father is a 1965 album by the Horace Silver Quintet, released on the Blue Note label in 1965. The album was inspired by a trip that Silver had made to Brazil. The cover artwork features a photograph of Silver's father, John Tavares Silver, to whom the title composition was dedicated. "My mother was of Irish and Negro descent, my father of Portuguese origin," Silver recalls in the liner notes: "He was born on the island of Maio, one of the Cape Verde Islands."
Volunteered Slavery is an album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk containing portions of his 1968 Newport Jazz Festival performance along with studio recordings from July 1969. It was released on the Atlantic label and features performances by Kirk with Rahn Burton, Vernon Martin, Jimmy Hopps and Joseph "Habao" Texidor, Dick Griffin, Charles McGhee, Sonny Brown, Charles Crosby and the "Roland Kirk Spirit Choir".
I Talk with the Spirits is a 1965 album by American jazz musician Roland Kirk. Kirk plays only flutes for this album, not the saxophone or other instruments he commonly used. It contains the first appearance of the song "Serenade to a Cuckoo", later covered by Jethro Tull.
Introducing Roland Kirk is the second album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk, released on the Argo label in late 1960. It features performances by Kirk with Ira Sullivan, William Burton, Donald Garrett and Sonny Brown.
The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, released as a double LP, with side 4 appearing blank - although side 4 did have a hidden track, the contents of which are released as track #20 on the CD rerelease. It contains performances by Kirk with Pat Patrick, Hilton Ruiz, Richard Tee, Arthur Jenkins, Cornell Dupree, Keith Loving, Hugh McCracken, Francisco Centeno, Henry Pearson, Bill Salter, Sonny Brown, Steve Gadd, John Goldsmith, Lawrence Killian, Ralph MacDonald, and arrangements by William Eaton.
Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real is the final album recorded by jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk featuring performances by Kirk with string section and orchestra. It was recorded following a stroke which left him partially paralysed.
The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
Kirk in Copenhagen is a live album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk recorded in October 1963 at the Club Monmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was originally released on the Mercury label in 1964 and features performances by Kirk with Tete Montoliu, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Don Moore and J.C. Moses and a guest appearance by Sonny Boy Williamson, credited as "Big Skol".
Slightly Latin is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk, released on the Limelight label in 1966. It includes performances by Kirk with Virgil Jones, Martin Banks, Garnett Brown, Horace Parlan, Eddie Mathias, Sonny Brown, Montego Joe, Manuel Ramos, Coleridge Perkinson and an unidentified choir.
Left & Right is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk, released on the Atlantic label in 1969. It contains performances by Kirk with Jim Buffington, Julius Watkins, Frank Wess, Rahn Burton, Vernon Martin and Roy Haynes, with Warren Smith, Richard Williams, Dick Griffin, Benny Powell, Pepper Adams, Alice Coltrane, Jimmy Hopps, Daniel Jones and Gerald "Sonny" Brown featuring on an extended track with orchestration by Gil Fuller.
Rahsaan Rahsaan is a live album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk featuring performances recorded at the Village Vanguard in May 1970. It was originally released on the Atlantic label in 1970 and features performances by Kirk with Rahn Burton, Vernon Martin, James Madison and Joe Habad Texidor with Dick Griffin, Howard Johnson, Leroy Jenkins, Sonelius Smith and Alvern Bunn added on an extended track. The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek states "Rahsaan was the king of the riff—he could use it until it bit you—and once it did he was off and running someplace else, down on the hard-swinging outer spaceways of his mind and heart".
Bright Moments is a live album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, recorded at Keystone Korner, San Francisco, in June 1973 and released in 1974. It contains performances by Kirk with Ron Burton, Todd Barkan, Henry Mattathias Pearson, Robert Shy and Joe "Habao" Texidor.
A Meeting of the Times is an album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk and vocalist Al Hibbler recorded in March 1972 in New York City, and released in December of that year. It features performances by Kirk and Hibbler with Hank Jones, Ron Carter and Grady Tate with an additional track recorded by Kirk with Leon Thomas, Lonnie Liston Smith, Major Holley and Charles Crosby from the sessions that produced Here Comes the Whistleman (1965).
Other Folks' Music is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, recorded in March 1976. It contains performances by Kirk with Richard Williams, Kermit Moore, Gloria Agostini, Trudy Pitts, Hilton Ruiz, Henry Mattathias Pearson, Roy Haynes, Sonny Brown, Arthur Jenkins and Joseph "Habao" Texidor.
The Jaki Byard Experience is an album by jazz pianist Jaki Byard, originally released on the Prestige label in 1968, featuring performances by Byard with Roland Kirk, Richard Davis and Alan Dawson.
Mingus at Carnegie Hall is a live album by the jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus, recorded at Carnegie Hall in January 1974 by Mingus with Jon Faddis, Charles McPherson, John Handy, George Adams, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Hamiet Bluiett, Don Pullen, and Dannie Richmond. The original release did not include the first part of the concert, featuring Mingus’s working sextet without Handy, Kirk, and McPherson. An expanded “Deluxe Edition” including the entire concert, was issued in 2021.
The Green Leaves of Summer is an album by American jazz pianist Hampton Hawes recorded in 1964 and released on the Contemporary label.
Very PERSONal is an album by saxophonist Houston Person recorded in 1980 and released on the Muse label early the following year.
The Spirits Up Above is an album by trombonist Steve Turre recorded in 2004 and released on the HighNote label.
