We Free Kings

Last updated
We Free Kings
We Free Kings.jpg
Studio album by
Roland Kirk
ReleasedJanuary 1962 (1962-01) [1] [2] [3]
RecordedAugust 16–17, 1961
Genre Jazz
Length38:40
Label Mercury
Roland Kirk chronology
Kirk's Work
(1961)		We Free Kings
(1962)		 Domino
(1962)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
DownBeat Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
New Record Mirror Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [8]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]

We Free Kings is a studio album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk, released on Mercury Records in January 1962. [1] [2] [3] His group works through a set of bluesy post-bop numbers, including a highly regarded version of Charlie Parker's "Blues for Alice". [4] The title track, a Kirk composition, is a variation on the Christmas carol "We Three Kings".

Contents

Reception

The AllMusic review by Lindsay Planer calls the album "among the most consistent of his early efforts. The assembled quartet provides an ample balance of bop and soul complements to Kirk's decidedly individual polyphonic performance style. His inimitable writing and arranging techniques develop into some great originals, as well as personalize the chosen cover tunes. With a nod to the contemporary performance style of John Coltrane, as well as a measure of his influences — most notably Clifford Brown and Sidney Bechet — Kirk maneuvers into and out of some inspiring situations". [4]

Track listing

All compositions by Roland Kirk except where noted.

  1. "Three for the Festival" – 3:10
  2. "Moon Song" (Sam Coslow, Arthur Johnston) – 4:23
  3. "A Sack Full of Soul" – 4:40
  4. "The Haunted Melody" – 3:38
  5. "Blues for Alice" (Charlie Parker) – 4:08
  6. "We Free Kings" – 4:46
  7. "You Did It, You Did It" – 2:29
  8. "Some Kind of Love" – 6:11
  9. "My Delight" – 4:28
  • Recorded in New York on August 16, 1961.

CD editions of the album include a different version of "Blues for Alice" (Parker) – 5:11.

Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 Editorial Staff, Billboard (13 January 1962). "We Free Kings". Billboard Music Week. The Billboard Publishing Co. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 Editorial Staff, Cash Box (20 January 1962). "Jazz Pick of the Week" (PDF). Cash Box. The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc., NY. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 Editorial Staff, Cash Box (27 January 1962). "January Album Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc., NY. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 Planer, Lindsay, AllMusic review
  5. ↑ DownBeat: April 26, 1962 vol. 29, no. 9
  6. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  7. ↑ R.L.M. (20 July 1963). "Roland Kirk: We Free Kings" (PDF). New Record Mirror . No. 123. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  8. ↑ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 827. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
  9. ↑ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 119. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
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