



Roland Kirk - We Free Kings
Roland Kirk (tenor saxophone, flute) [click here to see more products featuring Roland Kirk]
Piano – Hank Jones (A1, A2, B1 to B3) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Hank Jones]
Bass – Art Davis (A3 to A5, B4),
Bass - Wendell Marshall (A1, A2, B1 to B3)
Drums – Charlie Persip
Piano - Richard Wyands (A3 to A5, B4)
Written by Roland Kirk (A1, A3-4, B1-4), Charlie Parker (A5), Arthur Johnston (A2), Sam Coslow (A2)
1 LP, Stoughton Printing gatefold old-style tip-on jacket
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Quality Record Pressings
Label : Mercury - Acoustic Sounds Series
Original Label : Mercury
Recorded on Aug. 16 and 17, 1961 at Nola Recording Studios
Recorded by by Tommy Nola
Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original master tape
Originally released in 1962
Reissued in 2025
Tracks:
Side A:
- Three For The Festival
- Moon Song
- A Sack Full Of Soul
- The Haunted Melody
- Blues For Alice
Side B:
- We Free Kings
- You Did It, You Did It
- Some Kind Of Love
- My Delight
Reviews:
« 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… » AllMusic Review by Lindsay Planer
Ratings :
Discogs : 5 / 5 ; AllMusic : 4 / 5