Rip, Rig and Panic (album)

Rip, Rig and Panic
Studio album by Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Released	December 1965 (1965-12)
Recorded	January 13, 1965
Studio	Van Gelder Studio (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey)
Genre	Post-bop
Length	35:05
Label	Limelight
Producer	Jack Tracy
Rahsaan Roland Kirk chronology
I Talk with the Spirits (1965) Rip, Rig and Panic (1965) Here Comes the Whistleman (1965)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[3]

Rip, Rig and Panic is a 1965 album by American jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. It features a quartet of Kirk, Jaki Byard (piano), Richard Davis (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums); they were described as "the most awesome rhythm section he ever recorded with". The session was held at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio. ^[1] The set is made up primarily of original Kirk compositions.

The title of the album was explained by Kirk in the liner notes as follows: "Rip means Rip Van Winkle (or Rest in Peace?); it's the way people, even musicians are. They're asleep. Rig means like rigor mortis. That's where a lot of people’s minds are. When they hear me doing things they didn't think I could do they panic in their minds".

Kirk made many references to pioneers of jazz. "No Tonic Pres" refers to Lester Young; "From Bechet, Byas, and Fats" is a homage to Sidney Bechet, Don Byas, and Fats Waller; and "Once in a While" was inspired by Clifford Brown. Kirk also mentioned Edgard Varèse's compositions Poème électronique and Ionisation as inspirations for the album.

The English post-punk band Rip Rig + Panic named themselves after the album.

Reception

Richard Cook and Brian Morton rated the Emarcy edition of the album, combined with the album Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith , with the second-highest grade in their Penguin Guide to Jazz , and named the combined reissue as part of their suggested “core collection” of essential recordings; ^[2] AllMusic awarded the album five stars.

Track listing

All compositions by Roland Kirk except where indicated.

1. "No Tonic Pres" – 4:34
2. "Once in a While" (Michael Edwards, Bud Green) – 4:02
3. "From Bechet, Byas, and Fats" – 6:31
4. "Mystical Dream" – 2:39
5. "Rip, Rig & Panic" – 7:00
6. "Black Diamond" (Milt Sealey) – 5:23
7. "Slippery, Hippery, Flippery" – 4:56

• Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ on January 13, 1965

Personnel

• Roland Kirk — tenor saxophone, stritch, manzello, flute, siren, oboe, castanets
• Jaki Byard — piano
• Richard Davis — double bass
• Elvin Jones — drums

References

1. Jurek, Thom. AllMusic review
2. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 828. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 119. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.