Guest: John Kruth, author of Bright Moments!: The Life and Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk

In this episode of Reading Is Funktamental, we head back in time to discuss a true classic of jazz and jazz journalism. The fascinating life and legacy of the great jazz artist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, with John Kruth, the author of this first and most complete biography, Bright Moments: The Life and Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk (2000).

Bright Moments is the story of a truly neglected genius who eclipsed jazz itself. Rahsaan Roland Kirk was a one-of-a-kind musician and human being. As some of you may know, Rahsaan played two or three saxophones at a time and developed a unique breathing system, which some call circular breathing or spherical breathing, one that allowed him to play continuous, nonstop solos that mesmerized audiences everywhere. He was also fantastic on the clarinet and flute (with a breathy, vocalized technique that enormously influenced Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson).

A blind musician, Kirk played the history of jazz, or what he called “black classical music,” from the roots to the fruits, recorded over 35 records, and extensive tours. In this wonderful biography, Kruth interviewed his peers, friends, band members, widow, and doctor. They include Quincy Jones, Sonny Rollins, Grover Washington, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, Eric Burdon, and Ian Anderson, to name a few. Find out why Rahsaan was called by Jimi Hendrix his “favorite musician” "Reading is Funktamental" is a monthly one-hour show about great books written about music and music-makers. In each episode, host Sal Cataldi speaks to the authors of some of the best reads about rock, jazz, punk, world, experimental music, and much more. Occasionally, the host is joined by notable musicians who have written about their careers. Recent guests have included eccentric British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, Traffic co-founder Dave Mason, and Moon Zappa. Expect a great conversation and a playlist of great music to go with it.

Sal Cataldi is a musician and writer based in Saugerties. He is best known for his work with his genre-leaping solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music, and is also a member of the ambient guitar duo, Guitars A Go Go, the poetry and music duo, Vapor Vespers, the jazz ensemble Hari Karaoke Trio of Doom and the quartet, Spaceheater. His writing on music, books and film has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, PopMatters, Seattle Times, Huffington Post, Inside+Out Upstate NY, and NYSMusic.com, where he is the book reviewer.