We Free Kings＜限定盤＞

当時まだ若かったカークの1962年作品でバップの堅実なバランスと、それを引き立てるソウルを備えた1枚。

ハンク・ジョーンズ、ウェンデル・マーシャルを含むリズム・セクションと、リチャード・ワイアンズとアート・マーシャルを含むリズム・セクションという2つの異なるリズム・セクション、そしてチャーリー・パーシップが全体を支えている。レパートリーは主にカークの作曲家としての腕前を披露するものだが、バードの「Blues For Alice」 は見逃せない。
■ゲイトフォールド仕様
〈パーソネル〉Roland Kirk(ts, manzello, fl) Hank Jones (p) Wendell Marshall (b) Richard Wyands (p) and Art Davis (b) Charlie Persip (ds)

We Free Kings, Roland Kirk's third long-player, is among the most consistent of his early efforts. The assembled quartet provides an ample balance of bop and soul compliments 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. His decidedly 'Trane-esque solos on "My Delight" are supported with a high degree of flexibility by one-time Charles Mingus' pianist Richard Wyands and Dizzy Gillespie percussionist Charlie Persip. The album's title track is a Kirk original, based on the melody of the Christmas hymn "We Three Kings." Incorporating recognizable melodies into Kirk's oft times unorthodox musical settings would prove to be a motif throughout his career. An example is the highly touted cover of Charlie Parker's "Blues for Alice." This is an ideal avenue for the quartet to explore one of Kirk's specialties -- the blues. The almost irreverent manner in which he fuses blues and soul music into the otherwise bop-driven arrangements is striking. "A Sack Full of Soul" is a funky number with a walking-blues backbeat that perfectly supports Kirk's swinging solos. The stop time syncopation is reminiscent of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say." The 1987 CD version also includes an alternate take of "Blues for Alice." One additional track -- a cover of the Frank Loesser standard "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" -- was also recorded at these sessions and remained unissued until its inclusion on the ten-disc Rahsaan: The Complete Mercury Recordings of Roland Kirk box set. ~ Lindsay Planer