Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Trumpeter, Educator Jim Rotondi Dies at 61
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
On April 4, Hyena Records willl release Brotherman In The Fatherland, a never before released concert recording of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Recorded March 3, 1972, at the Funkhaus in Hamburg, Germany, and originally broadcast on German radio and television, the recordings from this performance have surfaced on the jazz underground from time to time over the years—swapped among tape-traders and rare jazz collectors. With the release of Brotherman In The Fatherland, however, these highly regarded and much-lauded performances from the pristine, high-fidelity “Hamburg ‘72 radio broadcasts” will be officially released for the first time ever.
“Every few years I try to get a new Rahsaan recording into the market, but we’re really selective about what we put out there, so we wait until we feel we have exactly the right recording and performance to be released,” said Brotherman In The Fatherland‘s producer and longtime Kirk friend and collaborator Joel Dorn. “He never got the respect or the credit he was due during his time, but in the years since his death the people who really believed in his genius have managed to expand his audience and garner him some of the critical praise he so deserved.”
On Brotherman In The Fatherland, Kirk is joined by his band of the period featuring Ron Burton on piano, Henry Pete Pearson “Mettathias” on bass, Richie Goldberg on drums and Joe “Habao” Texidor on percussion. The date serves as an exceptional example of Kirk’s tenor saxophone. His bold, muscular tone and inspired expression on the instrument are highlights throughout the concert, including set openers, “Like Sonny” and “Make It With You,” his often played improvisational vehicle “Pedal Up” and a tour de force rendition of John Coltrane’s “Blue Trane.” Another standout is the six minute-plus medley of the Kirk compositions “Seasons” and “Serenade To A Cuckoo,” for which he switches to flute and showcases yet another side of his unending musical oeuvre.
Brotherman In The Fatherland is the third Kirk release on Hyena. The first was a reissue of the “audio scrapbook” The Man Who Cried Fire, which was assembled as a patchwork quilt of various Kirk “live” recordings from different years and varying bands. The second release was Compliments of the Mysterious Phantom, a previously unissued “live” recording from San Diego in 1974.
For more information, go to hyenarecords.com.
Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.
Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Charles Lloyd, seen here at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, makes DownBeat Poll history!
Jul 11, 2024 12:23 PM
The incomparable Charles Lloyd swept the 72nd Annual DownBeat Critics Poll, becoming the first artist ever to earn…
“Being president of Blue Note has been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me,” Was said. “It’s a gas to serve as one of the caretakers of that legacy.”
Jun 4, 2024 12:21 PM
Sitting with Don Was is a comfortable and unhurried exercise. He may seem slightly reserved at first, but ideas and…
The Century Room in downtown Tucson, Arizona, was born in 2021.
May 21, 2024 12:58 PM
Players got to play. It’s long been a part of jazz history: When there’s a venue vacuum, when there are fewer…
“She reminds me of my childhood and makes we want to cry,” Cécile McLorin Salvant, pictured here with writer Ashley Kahn, said of Dianne Reeves.
Jun 11, 2024 12:31 PM
Italy’s Umbria Jazz Winter is one of those rare annual festivals that not only coincides with a major holiday —…
