The Life & Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk

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Dorthaan Kirk & Gary Walker present Bright Moments: The Life & Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk on Monday, December 10 at Saint Peter's Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, in New York, NY. Featuring music by the Steve Turre All-Star Septet with special guest Dave Valentin, plus oral tributes by jazz impresario George Wein, record producer Joel Dorn, saxophonist Frank Foster and his wife/business partner Cecilia Foster, jazz aficionado Todd Barkan and more, the evening pays homage to the multi-instrumentalist who took the term to a whole new meaning by blowing several horns at the same time.

Kirk's widow, Dorthaan, tapped renowned WBGO-FM DJ Gary Walker to help honor her late husband while raising contributions for the Rahsaan Roland Kirk Scholarship Fund of Columbus (OH) Schools, where the saxophonist got his start in music.

In addition, concert-goers will be treated to video tributes, clips of rarely-seen performances by Rahsaan and a gift bag chock full of Kirk memorabilia.

"I am thrilled to hear and see the outpouring of love and respect for Rahsaan, who died 30 years ago on December 5, " said Dorthaan Kirk. "Still, today Rahsaan has some of the most dedicated fans on earth who are committed to keeping his music and memory alive. It is for them that we conceived this celebration of his life & legacy; and it is through them that new fans will seek to listen and learn about Rahsaan. We look forward to sharing many bright moments with new and old friends alike."

Frank Foster stated, "Five of Rahsaan's tremendous attributes were: his rare monumental talent, his extremely forthright attitude, his uniqueness of approach in all he did, his keen observation of life not physically viewable and his powerful determination to overcome adversity. For these, he was indeed the original '5000-pound man.'"

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