Although the multi-reed legend has had much of his work reissued over the years, this summary of five of his classic Atlantic albums is most welcome. Kirk did have moments where his performance level slipped a little, as is the case with any great artist with a prolific output, but every album he laid to tape nonetheless had moments of magic. So the less feted items such as Here Comes The Whistleman and Left And Right are still worth investigation for the way they show how his consummate ability to filter all of black music history, from ‘rag time to no time’, through his playing and composing produced ‘somethin’ else’. As for the masterpieces that are The Inflated Tear, Volunteered Slavery and Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata these albums sound no less otherworldly than they did in the late 1960s and early 1970s, primarily because Kirk's ability to convey a very deep spirituality alongside the brilliance of his imagination is rivaled only by Charles Mingus, arguably one of his closest kindred spirits. Purchase. Now.