Does Your House Have Lions?

"One day in the late sixties, I was on the phone with Rahsaan and mentioned to him that just that day I bought a house.
He responded by asking, "Does your house have lions?"
I said, "What?"
He said, "Lions, you know like in front of a museum or the post office. You know, concrete lions. My house has lions. Get a house with lions."

--Joel Dorn

Friday, June 6, 2014

My Rumpus essay about discovering Rahsaan

Today's as good a day as any to re-post an essay of mine that was published in November by the Rumpus.  It's the best introduction to how I discovered Rahsaan and remained under his spell all these years.

http://therumpus.net/2013/11/songs-of-our-lives-rahsaan-roland-kirks-the-inflated-tear/

And just when I think I can't possibly still be moved by Rahsaan's music as I was the first day I heard in 1995, I found myself yesterday en route to the grocery store reduced to tears as I was listening to his tribute to John Coltrane from his album, "Volunteered Slavery."  Stumbling upon that song brought me back to that place I was a twenty-year old first discovering his sound.  His music is still alive and his story will be told.