Circular Breathing?.......... Depends Who!

[burning dog]

SA mentioned circular breathing and hinted that the results can be appalling (I agree) but is this not great?

Was this chap not one of great modernist balladiers? I think his exotic image sometimes overshadowed what a fine impovisor he was.

I only saw him after his stroke in a strange yoof matinee concert with a lack lustre version of Soft Machine (that the audience loved) must have been the Camden Jazz Festival, but I'm pretty sure the gig was at at the Rainbow (which was in Islington)

[Quarky]

Roland Kirk does not in my view have the attention he deserves.

Saw him in Birmingham in the '60s, and he was certainly the best of the "contemporary" musicians in that time period, in my view.

[Lateralthinking1]

burning dog - Thanks for posting this clip. It sounds great and I found the performance intriguing. Having now had a quick look at his biography, it seems like he was a fascinating person. I will certainly listen to him some more - Lat.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

saw Roland Kirk in the early 60s at Scott's Old Place; the Herman Herd were also in London and the rhythm section sat in ..... and he played and played ....it was total ecstasy .. i have never been to a more exciting gig .... we walked home at 4 in the morning and i swear our feet did not ouch earth until the next day ... up there with the Ornette Fairfield Hall gig, but close up and in a much smaller space it was overwhelming ...

Kirk is certainly a lyrical soloist but when he gets his horn section working ten feet in front of you the whole room flipped, never mind me

worthy of a Library i'd have thought

[MrGongGong]

The absolute God of circular breathing has to be Evan Parker !
(Oren Marshall aint bad either !)

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

and Evan Parker is on Jon3 tonight:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y6hwr

[Serial_Apologist]

Oops - thanks for that reminder, calum!

The practice of circular breathing always reminds me of the story of a musician (who's name presently escapes me) who, in jest, when asked how he did it, described, a yogic principle known as Nauli, involving drawing water in via the colon!

I always love that story about the occasion of Kirk playing Ronnie's in the 60s when the police raided on the pretext of some drinking licence infringement. Kirk assumed that the police whistles were the ones he'd handed out for audience participation; meanwhile most of the rest of the band had scarpered out the back, leaving the oblivious Mr Kirk enthusiastically blowing away alone on stage!

A different gig to the one you were at, I guess, calum!

S-A

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

if i had had the £££ i would have been there every night!

[Paul Sherratt]

Calum,
Bursting in breathlessly just to let you know that Good Max is playing a couple of Violettas in his Late Show
tonight. ( 8/2/2011 )

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

thanks for the pointer Paul, i will be listening ....