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"Who has the hippest chops in the world?" 
 
If you're going to ask that question on a record, you had better have the nuts to back it up.  I mean, you will be annihilated, humiliated for the rest of time, if you don't.  Rahsaan Roland Kirk knew he had them and so did everyone else on the scene.  To this day, any time you see a saxophonist playing 3 horns at once or circular breathing or playing the nose flute or any of the other manifestations that Rahsaan developed, they are paying tribute to him, whether they know it or not.  
 
Gary Lucas is a New York City treasure who does things with the guitar no one thought possible.  Did part of his inspiration come from seeing and hearing Rahsaan perform in 1971?  Do we have live recordings of Rahsaan from that period in the WKCR archives?  Is Gary going to join host Mitch Goldman in the studio Monday night for Deep Focus?  There's more than one way to find out.  Listen to WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org Monday (5/13) from 6pm to 9pm.  Or join us next week when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Either way it's ad-free, all free, totally non-commercial.  Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us onInstagram.  Photo credit: Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Großen Sedesaal des NDR Hamburg, 1972 from Wikipedia, courtesy of Creative Commons 2.0 
#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #DeepFocus #GaryLucas #RolandKirk #RahsaanRolandKirk #MitchGoldman #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast 
 

"Who has the hippest chops in the world?" 
 
If you're going to ask that question on a record, you had better have the nuts to back it up.  I mean, you will be annihilated, humiliated for the rest of time, if you don't.  Rahsaan Roland Kirk knew he had them and so did everyone else on the scene.  To this day, any time you see a saxophonist playing 3 horns at once or circular breathing or playing the nose flute or any of the other manifestations that Rahsaan developed, they are paying tribute to him, whether they know it or not.  
 
Gary Lucas is a New York City treasure who does things with the guitar no one thought possible.  Did part of his inspiration come from seeing and hearing Rahsaan perform in 1971?  Do we have live recordings of Rahsaan from that period in the WKCR archives?  Is Gary going to join host Mitch Goldman in the studio Monday night for Deep Focus?  There's more than one way to find out.  Listen to WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org Monday (5/13) from 6pm to 9pm.  Or join us next week when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Either way it's ad-free, all free, totally non-commercial.  Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us onInstagram.  Photo credit: Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Großen Sedesaal des NDR Hamburg, 1972 from Wikipedia, courtesy of Creative Commons 2.0 
#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #DeepFocus #GaryLucas #RolandKirk #RahsaanRolandKirk #MitchGoldman #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast 
 

Almost every episode of Deep Focus is now available here as a podcast.  I say "almost" because there are a handful that, for technical reasons, were not recorded completely or not recorded at all (if anyone has a home recording of the show that I did with Greg Tate on the band VSOP, please send it my way!).
 
This is the second of those episodes to be posted to the podcast, and it's a great one: Melvin Gibbs again, now on the topic of the stupendous Arthur Rhames and the stunning Mixashawn Lee Rozie, again at Soundscape.  It was recorded September 20, 2010 and here is the second and last extant recordings, presented in its entirety.  
 
Photo credit: Arthur Rhames -2017-by-shigeki-masumoto

Almost every episode of Deep Focus is now available here as a podcast.  I say "almost" because there are a handful that, for technical reasons, were not recorded completely or not recorded at all (if anyone has a home recording of the show that I did with Greg Tate on the band VSOP, please send it my way!).
 
This is the second of those episodes to be posted to the podcast, and it's a great one: Melvin Gibbs again, now on the topic of the stupendous Arthur Rhames and the stunning Lee Rozie, again at Soundscape.  It was recorded September 20, 2010 and here is the first of 2 extant recordings, presented in their entirety.  

Almost every episode of Deep Focus is now available here as a podcast.  I say "almost" because there are a handful that, for technical reasons, were not recorded completely or not recorded at all (if anyone has a home recording of the show that I did with Greg Tate on the band VSOP, please send it my way!).
 
This is the first of those episodes to be posted to the podcast, and it's a great one: Melvin Gibbs on the topic of Sonny Sharrock at Soundscape.  It was recorded September 13, 2010 and here is the recording in its entirety.  

What confers greatness?  There are many pathways, the most obvious being distinctive playing.  Are there others?  What about brilliant composing? Or inspiring bandleading?  Or creating your own sound?  How about honoring the tradition while still being blazingly original?  Or just going your own way, whether anyone else is on that path or not?  Achievement in any one of these categories will bring listeners' admiration but few reach the heights in all of them.  Those are the heroes.
 
This Monday (3/18) cornetist/composer Graham Haynes joins host Mitch Goldman for a Deep Focus on trumpeter Woody Shaw.  Jewels of the WKCR archives shall sparkle.
 
On WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org. Next week it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/. 



 
Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on Instagram.  


 
Photo credit: Woody Shaw 1977 by Tom Marcello, courtesy of Creative Commons.

 
#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #DeepFocus #GrahamHaynes #WoodyShaw #MitchGoldman #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast