SOUNDTRACK: RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK-“Volunteered Slavery” (live March 1972).
I had never heard of Rahsaan Roland Kirk before reading this story. This surprises me since i rather like avant garde jazz. I looked him up and was blown away by this live recording from Paris.
The song starts with a catchy saxophone riff. The band (Ron Burton on piano, Henry Pearson on bass, Richie Goldberg on drums and Joe Texidor on percussion) interacts throughout the song–chatting, laughing. Then they sing the simple, catchy lyrics:
Volunteered slavery has got me on the run
Volunteered slavery is something we all know
Then at two minute the magic begins. He starts playing three horns at the same time. I can’t quite tell what they are from this video, but he puts all three in his mouth and is able to play melody and harmony on separate instruments. It’s amazing, if all too brief.
Then he starts playing a proper saxophone solo. It runs for the next seven or so minute with the main melody being fun and bouncy, a perfect representation of 60s/70s jazz.
The band is very into it–“you got it!” and lot of encouragement all around. The song ends with a cacophony of percussion and whistles. What a fun set. Wish I could have seen him live.
[READ: December 30, 2019] “Super Goat Man”
The end of the year issue is called the Cartoon Takeover: A Semi-Archival Issue. So there’s a lot of cartoons, but there’s also some old stories. Like this one.
This was originally published in the March 29, 2004 issue of the New Yorker. I don’t recall reading it then, so it was new to me.
When the narrator, Everett, was ten years old, Super Goat Man moved into the commune down the street from his house in Brooklyn. Super Goat Man had fallen out of the world of superhero comics because he spoke out against the war and now he was living in a commune. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 