Gifts & Messages

Gifts & Messages is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk. It was originally released on the Mercury label in 1964^[1] and features performances by Kirk with Horace Parlan, Michael Fleming and Steve Ellington.^[2]

Gifts & Messages
Studio album by Roland Kirk
Released	1964
Recorded	July 22, 1964
Genre	Jazz
Label	Mercury
Roland Kirk chronology
Kirk in Copenhagen (1964) Gifts & Messages (1964) I Talk with the Spirits (1964)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[4]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[5]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz	[6]

The editors of AllMusic awarded the album 4½ stars, with a reviewer describing it as "one of the most straightforward hard bop sessions recorded by Roland Kirk," while noting his "carefully thought-out yet often abandoned solos approaching free jazz at times." They also praised the "assured hard bop of his backing trio," which "does nothing to restrain Kirk's wilder fancies."^[3]

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote: "The whole set is peppered with quotes, allusions and tags from other songs, sometimes punning, sometimes surreal, always absolutely musical. Not the best recording... but the music more than makes up for any technical deficiencies."^[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Roland Kirk except where noted.

1. "The Things I Love" (Lew Harris, Harold Barlow) - 3:12
2. "Petite Fleur" (Sidney Bechet) - 3:10
3. "March On, Swan Lake" (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky arranged by Roland Kirk) - 3:57
4. "Tears Sent By You" (Michael Fleming) - 5:59
5. "My Heart At Thy Sweet Voice" (Camille Saint-Saëns arranged by Roland Kirk) - 3:21
6. "Gifts And Messages" - 4:06
7. "Hip Chops" - 3:33
8. "Blues For C & T" - 3:06
9. "Where Does The Blame Lie" - 2:49
10. "Vertigo Ro" - 4:07

• Recorded in Los Angeles, CA on July 22, 1964

Personnel

• Roland Kirk: tenor saxophone, manzello, stritch, flute, siren
• Horace Parlan: piano
• Michael Fleming [de]: double bass
• Steve Ellington: drums

References

1. "Retailers' Fall Record Buying Guide". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 17, 1964. p. 75 – via Google Books.
2. "Rahsaan Roland Kirk discography". Jazz Discography Project. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
3. "Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Gifts & Messages". AllMusic. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
4. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (8th ed.). Penguin. p. 748.
5. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. New York: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 119. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
6. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2004). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz. Virgin Books. p. 494.