''We Free Kings'' is a studio album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist
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
Charlie Parker's "
Blues for Alice".
[Planer, Lindsay, AllMusic review/ref> The title track, a Kirk composition, is a variation on the Christmas carol " We Three Kings".
]
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
Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car accident, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Spring", an ...
and Sidney Bechet — Kirk maneuvers into and out of some inspiring situations".
Track listing
''All compositions by Roland Kirk except where noted.''
#"Three for the Festival" – 3:10
#" Moon Song" ( Sam Coslow, Arthur Johnston) – 4:23
#"A Sack Full of Soul" – 4:40
#"The Haunted Melody" – 3:38
#" Blues for Alice" ( Charlie Parker) – 4:08
#"We Free Kings" – 4:46
#"You Did It, You Did It" – 2:29
#"Some Kind of Love" – 6:11
#"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
* Roland Kirk: tenor saxophone, manzello, 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 ...
, stritch saxophone
* Richard Wyands: piano (tracks 3-5 & 9)
* Art Davis: double bass (tracks 3-5 & 9)
*Charlie Persip
Charles Lawrence Persip (July 26, 1929 – August 23, 2020), known as Charli Persip and formerly as Charlie Persip (he changed the spelling of his name to Charli in the late 1960s), was an American jazz drummer.
Biography
Born in Morristown, N ...
: 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 ...
*Hank Jones
Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored ...
: piano (tracks 1-2 & 6-8)
*Wendell Marshall
Wendell Marshall (October 24, 1920 – February 6, 2002) was an American jazz double-bassist.
Marshall was Jimmy Blanton's cousin. He studied at Lincoln University, then served in the Army during World War II. Following his discharge, he perfor ...
: bass (tracks 1-2 & 6-8)
References
{{Authority control
1962 albums
Mercury Records albums
Rahsaan Roland Kirk albums