KIRK, ROLAND - Third Dimension / Triple Threat (Sealed) (LP)

This debut album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk was originally released on the King label titled Triple Threat and re-released in the US in 1976 by Bethlehem Records as Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Early Roots and in the UK on Affinity. The title changed again when Bethlehem released it as 'Third Dimension'. The original album received limited distribution and only became widely known after the Bethlehem Records reissue, a few years prior to Kirk's death. The King edition is considered by many jazz aficionados as one of the rarest of all jazz LPs. Whatever the title, it is an album of progressive jazz. Roland Kirk is featured on a tenor sax, a straight alto and a straight soprano sax and each time these instruments are heard, he is playing all three at the same time. The soprano saxophone is rarely heard in a jazz album. This is perhaps true because the instrument has never held a high popularity among jazz musicians. Many saxophonists have never been able to capture the instrument's true tonal quality. Due to the soulful feeling and the very fast execution Kirk captured in this album, the soprano sax came into its own as an instrument of jazz. Even if the listener cannot visualise how complicated it is to play all three instruments at one time, one can still enjoy the music as if it were three great jazz artists performing as an ensemble.