Volunteered Slavery

Kirk, Rahsaan Roland

album cover

Three Instruments Simultaneously, One Amazing Sound

Blind multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk brought several big ideas to jazz—he was among the first (and best) at playing multiple wind instruments at once, and during the social upheaval of the 1960s, he laced his music with consciousness-raising chants and provocations.

One of a handful of amazing records Kirk (1936–1977) made for Atlantic in the late '60s, Volunteered Slavery argues that Kirk was at the same time also a detail guy, attuned to the galvanic power of small ideas. Lighting onto an up-tempo gospel rhythm, he nudges it just enough to subvert the expected amen cadences.

Whether riffing on an early-jazz parade beat or playing totally free, Kirk's command of the entire jazz language is astounding. In the course of a single solo, he can sound like a well-oiled horn section playing esoteric harmonies or three different musicians squabbling. To underscore his point that people of all races willingly volunteer for subjugation, Kirk interpolates the utopian closing theme to the Beatles' "Hey Jude" into the title track, a wry comment on universalism.

This album is divided between short pieces recorded in the studio and highlights from Kirk's appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1968. Every track sparkles—the studio selections turn on brash horn-section arrangements that keep the music tightly focused, while the live stuff is more expansive and improvisation-oriented. Make sure not to miss the spirit-summoning "A Tribute to John Coltrane," which finds Kirk transforming the inspiration he gets from the jazz legend into captivating, passionately original torrents.

Genre: Jazz
Released: 1969, Atlantic (Reissued 2002, Collectables)
Key Tracks: "Volunteered Slavery," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Search for the Reason Why," "A Tribute to John Coltrane"
Catalog Choice: Blacknuss; The Inflated Tear.
Next Stop: Yusef Lateef: The Blue Yusef Lateef.
Book Pages: 428–429

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