Ronald Theodore Kirk was born in Columbus, Ohio on August 7, 1936. At 2, Kirk became blind because of poor medical treatment. He originally learned to play the bugle and trumpet. Later he switched to clarinet and C-melody sax.

Kirk started playing professionally when he was 15. When he was in his teens, he discovered the manzello and the stritch. The manzello is a curved variant of a soprano sax. The stritch is a straight variant of an alto sax. Kirk started using these instruments and modifying them so that he could play them at the same time.

Kirk had a dream that he should transpose the letters in his name. That’s how he started calling himself Roland. Later, he had another dream that told him to add Rahsaan to the beginning of his name.

Kirk’s first recording was an R&B album he recorded in 1956 called Triple Threat. He moved to Chicago in 1960. That same year he released his second album, Introducing Roland Kirk. In 1961, he toured Germany with Charles Mingus. After that he led his own group. He liked being a band leader.

In 1963, he mastered circular breathing. This allowed him to play his instruments without pausing to breathe.

In the 1970’s, Kirk started a group called the Jazz and People’s Movement. They were dedicated to opening up new opportunities for undiscovered jazz musicians.

Besides his various saxophones, Kirk played the flute, piccolo, nose whistle, and harmonica. He also designed an the trumpophone (a trumpet with a saxophone mouthpiece) and the slidesophone (a trombone with a sax mouthpiece).

In 1975, Kirk had a stroke that left one side of his body paralyzed. He continued to play with one hand until his death from a second stroke on December 5, 1977.

Here he is playing Milestones in Belgium in 1963.