Jimi Tenor: Roland Kirk is for me one of the most amazing saxophonists. Seems to me he could have blown anybody out of the water! And I guess he did. I haven’t listened to many of his recordings because some of them are a little too middle of the road musically for me. But Inflatable Tear is an exception. Especially the title track is amazing. There’s a good behind-the-scenes story about the track in the liner notes. Of course Kirk was also a top flutist. I have seen pictures of his flute. He had the area around the mouthpiece taped, maybe to help him find the blowhole, since he was blind. On the other hand, some people put blue tape around the blowhole to get a certain kind of flute sound.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – The Inflated Tear
