Gifts & Messages
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| Gifts & Messages | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1964 | |||
| Recorded | July 22, 1964 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Roland Kirk chronology | ||||
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Gifts & Messages is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk. It was originally released on the Mercury label in 1964[1] and features performances by Kirk with Horace Parlan, Michael Fleming and Steve Ellington.[2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |  [4] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [5] |
| The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz | [6] |
The editors of AllMusic awarded the album 4½ stars, with a reviewer describing it as "one of the most straightforward hard bop sessions recorded by Roland Kirk," while noting his "carefully thought-out yet often abandoned solos approaching free jazz at times." They also praised the "assured hard bop of his backing trio," which "does nothing to restrain Kirk's wilder fancies."[3]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote: "The whole set is peppered with quotes, allusions and tags from other songs, sometimes punning, sometimes surreal, always absolutely musical. Not the best recording... but the music more than makes up for any technical deficiencies."[4]
