Search - Rahsaan Roland Kirk on DVD

Really Mixed Feelings

tin2x | Staten Island, NY USA | 06/08/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ok in summary the good:
3 rare Roland Kirk performances are on this DVD.
1 - Most of Montreux, Switzerland 1972 (released as One Man Twins on Rhino a few years ago, but now out of print)
2 - Sound - the experimental film with John Cage which is sold individually by another company for a LOT more money
3 - a UK TV performance from 1969 with Buddy Guy, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton all jamming with RRK
If you are a fan of RRK you know that he was an incendiary live performer and that is true here in the 2 live performances. It's a treasure trove of a neglected master.

The bad in summary:
It's a DVD-R.
The production levels are awful.
The DVD has NO copyright info, no liner notes, on the disc itself all it says is 'Rahsaan Roland Kirk' and 'Anonymous Film Archive #51' and was clearly burned and labeled on a home PC. It is at least 2nd rate in that regard. The same for the sleeve. The DVD menu is also clearly from a software program. Since it was burned at home and is not a production DVD it will not be recognized my some DVD players. Additionally it often is pixelated and play back is not entirely smooth.
As you can also guess these are not quality transfers. I have One Man Twins (Montreux) and Sound both on VHS. The quality on those items is not great and will get worse over time. Here the quality is not great but at least should not degrade.

I'm happy to own it, but buyers should be aware it is a second rate product, is only a DVD-R, is probably violating copyrights, and has low quality. It is something of a treasure trove and comparative bargain for RRK fans but is not the quality of product this jazz legend truly deserves."

An Amazing Collection of Kirk Videos, BUT...

Fritz Gerlich | admin@audioetc.info | 02/27/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"It is a bootleg that has been burned on a dvd-r on a home computer. There are no copyrights or anything. Which would be fine except the dvd wasn't burned properly. Neither my computer nor my standalone could play more than a few minutes of the dvd.

So you'll be taking your chances if you buy this. My advice, buy it only if you're fully prepared to eat the shipping costs when you return it.

I really wish it had worked though, as there are some rarities on this disc not avaiable elsewhere."