''Dog Years in the Fourth Ring'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

by jazz multi-instrumentalist

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Retrieved February 1, 2009-. "The year ...

featuring 2 CDs of previously unreleased live performances and Kirk's

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

'' Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata'' on the third disc. It was released on the 32 Jazz label in 1997.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by Thom Jurek states "None of this material is substandard... The blues range is deep on many of these tracks, as is the entertainment value. Kirk was a performer as much as he was a musician, before and after the stroke. His lyric and harmonic sensibilities were deeply embedded in one another, and his way of crossing harmonic strategies was truly singular because it was so unorthodox... '' Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata'' is its own classic, and it deserved its own release apart from the package, but listeners will have to take what they can get. For this album alone, this package is worth the price".Jurek, T.

Allmusic Review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

accessed 26 August 2009. Writing for ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'' Bill Shoemaker noted "With few exceptions, the new material is engaging; heard in tandem with Kirk's daring real-time solo pieces, they flesh out a high-contrast portrait of this singular artist". In

Jazz Review ''Jazz Review'' was a Scottish jazz magazine, founded in 1998. The founders were jazz writer (and former editor of ''The Wire'') Richard Cook and Roger Spence of the talent management agency Direct Music Limited of Edinburgh, Scotland. ''Jaz ...

Lee Prosser observed "The live cuts from the 60's seem the most anachronistic on this set, being that they align more closely with bebop/hardbop tradition than the majority of the later performances. Still, Rahsaan's own brand of freedom was already exhibited. Indeed, the evolution over this set is from the relative conservatism of the 60's live material to the unique live-in-the-studio recordings of 1971".

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

suggested "Overall, this box is a must for the Rahsaan fan. For the Rahsaan virgin, I'd suggest picking up ''

We Free Kings ''We Free Kings'' is a studio album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Roland Kirk, released on Mercury Records in January 1962. His group works through a set of bluesy post-bop numbers, including a highly regarded version of ...

'', or the two-disc set ''Does Your House Have Lions'' first. But once you've gained an appreciation of Rahsaan, definitely, definitely pick this up. The gospel awaits all the true believers".AAJ Staff
All About Jazz Review
February 1, 1998

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

said "Kirk juggled musical genres as easily as he did a huge swath of saxophones and flutes, thumbing his nose good-naturedly as he dashed all notions of refinement and constriction".Entertainment Weekly Review
December 19, 1997.

Track listing

''All compositions by Rahsaan Roland Kirk except as indicated.'' ''Disc One:'' # "Box Tops and Whistlin' Rings" (Junior Warren) - 0:19 # "Domino" (

Louis Ferrari Louis Ferrari (1910–1987) was an Italian musette accordionist and composer who was active in France beginning in the 1930s. He established the Ferrari & Son Ensemble which played in Parisian clubs. Louis Ferrari was also the cousin of jazz accord ...

Jacques Plante Joseph Jacques Omer Plante (; January 17, 1929 – February 27, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During a career lasting from 1947 to 1975, he was considered to be one of the most important innovators in hockey. He played ...

Don Raye Don Raye (born Donald MacRae Wilhoite Jr., March 16, 1909 – January 29, 1985) was an American songwriter, best known for his songs for The Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", " The House of Blue Lights", "Just for a Thr ...

) - 5:04 # "

Blues for Alice Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narra ...

" (

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

) - 6:18 # " I Remember Clifford" (

Benny Golson Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929) is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launch ...

) - 3:37 # "

Freddie Freeloader "Freddie Freeloader" is a composition by Miles Davis and is the second track on his 1959 album ''Kind of Blue''. The piece takes the form of a twelve-bar blues in B, but the chord over the final two bars of each chorus is an A7, not the tradition ...

" (

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

) - 6:01 # "

Lester Leaps In "Lester Leaps In" is a jazz standard originally recorded by Count Basie's Kansas City Seven in 1939. The composition, credited to the group's tenor saxophone player Lester Young, is a head arrangement based on the chord progression of "I Got Rhythm ...

" (

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

) - 5:32 # "

Sister Sadie "Sister Sadie" is a jazz standard written in 1959 by Horace Silver, and first recorded for his 1959 Blue Note Records album, ''Blowin' the Blues Away''. Covers *1960: Hank Crawford – ''More Soul'' ( Atlantic Records) *1960: Gil Evans – '' O ...

" (

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

) - 5:03 # "One Mind/Seasons" - 4:41 # "

I Say a Little Prayer "I Say a Little Prayer" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, originally peaking at number four on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967. On the R&B Singles chart it peaked at number ...

" (

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

) - 12:58 *Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark on October 27, 1963 (track 5), Bremen, Germany, in 1964 (tracks 2-4), Paris, France, in 1972 (track 6 & 8), and Boston, MA on October 31, 1972. ''Disc Two:'' # "Jammin' With a Wolf" - 0:25 # "Three for the Festival" xcerpt- 3:53 # "Untitled Blues" - 7:23 # "Passion Dance" (

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA ...

) - 8:09 # "

Petite Fleur "Petite Fleur" is an instrumental written by Sidney Bechet and recorded by him in January 1952, first with the Sidney Bechet All Stars and later with Claude Luter and his Orchestra. Chris Barber recording In 1959, it was an international hit as a c ...

" (

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic temp ...

) - 7:34 # "

Giant Steps ''Giant Steps'' is the fifth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane as leader. It was released in February 1960 on Atlantic Records. This was his first album as leader for Atlantic Records, with which he had signed a new contract the previou ...

" (

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

) - 4:13 # "Misterioso/

Blue Monk This is a list of compositions by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. 0-9 52nd Street Theme A contrafact based loosely on rhythm changes in C, and was copyrighted by Monk under the title "Nameless" in April 1944. The tune was also called "Bip Bop" ...

" xcerpt(

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

) - 1:03 # "Rahsaantalk" - 0:25 # "Multi-Horn Medley: Satin Doll/Lover" (

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...

) - 6:18 # "Blacknuss" - 6:22 *Recorded in Bremen, Germany, in 1964 (track 2), Paris, France, in 1970 (track 5) and 1972 (track 9), unlisted location on April 10, 1972 (track 10), Berlin, Germany, in 1973 (track 4 & 7), Montreux, Switzerland, in 1975 (track 3), and Pori, Finland, on July 10, 1975 (track 6). ''Disc Three:'' # "Something for Trane That Trane Could Have Said" - 3:05 # "Island Cry" - 3:52 # "Runnin' from the Trash" - 2:12 # "Day Dream"(

, John Latouche,

Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take ...

) - 3:40 # "The Ragman and the Junkman Ran from the Businessman They Laughed and He Cried" - 3:02 # "Breath-A-Thon" - 1:55 # "Rahsaanica" - 3:40 # "Raped Voices" - 1:54 # "Haunted Feelings" - 2:25 # "Prelude Back Home" - 3:44 # "Dance of the Lobes" - 2:05 # "Harder and Harder Spiritual" - 2:02 # "Black Root (Back to the Root)" - 3:17 *Recorded at Regent Sound Studios, NYC, January 26 (tracks 1-3, 5, & 7-12) and February 4 (tracks 4, 6 & 13), 1971

Personnel

*Roland Kirk -

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

manzello The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to prod ...

, stritch,

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, black mystery pipes,

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

, thundersheet,

cymbals A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

, bells,

music box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc to pluck the tuned teeth (or ''lamellae'') ...

, palms,

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

bird sounds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight s ...

*Junior Warren -

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

(Disc One track 1) *

George Gruntz George Gruntz (24 June 1932 – 10 January 2013) was a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist, and composer known for the George Gruntz Concert Big Band and his work with Phil Woods, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(Disc One tracks 2-4 & 7, Disc Two track 2) *

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (, 27 May 1946 – 19 April 2005), also known by his abbreviated nickname NHØP, was a Danish jazz double bassist. Biography Pedersen was born in Osted, near Roskilde, on the Danish island of Zealand, the son of ...

- bass (Disc One tracks 2-5 & 7, Disc Two track 2 & 6) *

Daniel Humair Daniel Humair (born 23 May 1938 in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Swiss drummer, composer, and painter. He is widely renowned and became a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1986 and Officier in 1992. He has played with many jazz p ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(Disc One tracks 2-4 & 7, Disc Two track 2) *

Tete Montoliu Vicenç Montoliu i Massana, better known as Tete Montoliu (28 March 1933 – 24 August 1997) was a Spanish jazz pianist from Catalonia, Spain. Born blind, he learnt braille music at age seven. His styles varied from hard bop, through afro-Cuban, ...

- piano (Disc One track 5) *

Alex Riel Alex Riel (born 13 September 1940) is a Danish jazz and rock drummer.''Jeg skal sgu sidde ved trommerne'' Af Bine Madsen. Dagbladenes Bureau, 9 February 2010. Same interview in Flensborg Avis, 17 February 2010, Side 18''Alex Riel'' Horsens F ...

- drums (Disc One track 5) *Ron Burton - piano (Disc One track 6, 8 & 9, Disc Two tracks 5, 9 & 10) *Henry "Metathias" Pearson - bass (Disc One track 6, 8 & 9, Disc Two tracks 3-4, 7, 9 & 10) *Richie Goldberg - drums (Disc One track 6 & 8, Disc Two track 9) *Joe "Habao" Texidor -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

, washboard, thundersheet (Disc One track 6 & 8, Disc Two track 5 & 9, Disc Three) *Robert Shy - drums (Disc One track 9, Disc Two track 10) *Arthur Perry - percussion (Disc One track 9, Disc Two track 10) *

Hilton Ruiz Hilton Ruiz (May 29, 1952 – June 6, 2006) was an American jazz pianist in the Afro-Cuban jazz mold, but was also a talented bebop player. He was of Puerto Rican descent. Biography Born in New York City, Ruiz began playing piano at the age of f ...

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

(Disc Two track 3 & 6) *

Todd Barkan Todd Barkan (born August 13, 1946) is an American jazz impresario and producer. Biography Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Barkan grew up in Columbus, Ohio and attended Oberlin College. He ran a club in San Francisco called Keystone Korner from 1972 t ...

- percussion (Disc Two track 3) *

Sonny Brown Clifton D. (Sonny) Brown is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He played with the Houston Oilers during the 1987 season and was a member of the 1985 National Champions Oklahoma Sooners. Brown was named the MVP of ...

- drums (Disc Two track 3) *Donald Smith - piano (Disc Two tracks 4 & 7) *John Goldsmith - drums (Disc Two tracks 4 & 7) *Anthony Scott - percussion (Disc Two track 4 & 7) * Vernon Martin - bass (Disc Two track 5) *

Jerome Cooper Jerome Douglas Cooper (December 14, 1946 – May 6, 2015) was an American free jazz musician. In addition to trap drums, Cooper played balafon, chirimia and various electronic instruments, and referred to himself as a "multi-dimensional drummer," ...

- drums (Disc Two track 5) *Kenny Rogers -

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

(Disc Two track 7) *Maurice McKinley - drums (Disc Three) *

Sonelius Smith Sonelius Larel Smith (born December 17, 1942, Hillhouse, Mississippi) is an American jazz pianist and composer. His family moved to Memphis in 1948, where he learned to play piano. He got a degree in music education at Arkansas Agricultural, Mec ...

- piano (Disc Three track 4)

References

{{Authority control 1996 compilation albums Rahsaan Roland Kirk albums Albums produced by Joel Dorn