Editorial Reviews

The 2004 version of Here Comes the Whistleman is the third one released in the United States in the 21st century. As soon as one license expires, someone else comes along to reissue it, Water in this case. As for the reissue itself, only the package is different. It's an exact replica of the LP in a jewel case and the graphics are higher quality than have ever existed on CD before. Here Comes the Whistleman showcases pre-Rahsaan Roland Kirk in 1965 with a fine band, live in front of a host of invited guests at Atlantic Studios in New York. His band for the occasion is stellar: Jaki Byard or Lonnie Smith on piano, Major Holley on bass, Lonnie Smith on piano, and Charles Crosby on drums. This is the hard jump blues and deep R&B Roland Kirk band, and from the git, on "Roots," they show why. Kirk comes screaming out of the gate following a double-time I-IV-V progression, with Holley punching the accents along the bottom and Byard shoving the hard tight chords up against Kirk's three-horn lead. The extended harmony Kirk plays -- though the melody line is a bar walking honk -- is extreme, full of piss and vinegar. On the title track, along with the artist's requisite, and genuinely good, humor, Kirk breaks out the whistles on top of the horn for a blues stomp with Smith taking over the piano chores. Smith plays a two-chord vamp, changing the accent before he begins to break it open into a blues with skittering fills and turnarounds while Kirk blows circularly for 12 and 14 bars at a time. Byard returns for a tender and stirring duet rendition of "I Wished on the Moon" with his own glorious rich lyricism. And here is where Kirk displays the true measure of his ability as a saxophonist, turning the ballad inside out, every which way without overstating the notes. Here Ben Webster meets Coleman Hawkins in pure lyric ecstasy. The set officially ends with the wailing flute and sax jam "Aluminum Baby" (both courtesy of the irrepressible Kirk) and the bizarre ride of "Step Right Up," where Kirk sings scat in a dialect that sounds like Popeye. Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

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