![\"play\"](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/div>\n<\/div>\nCulture of hip-hop: Ohio State professor discusses his music class<\/p>\n
Ohio State professor J Rawls discusses some of the most exciting aspects of teaching his hip-hop music class.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/media-video><\/div>\n
<\/story-highlights> Though blind since age 2, Rahsaan Roland Kirk had a keen vision that set him apart from most musicians.<\/p>\n The Columbus-born artist<\/a> knew music both viscerally and intellectually, fusing jazz, soul, bebop, classical and other genres in an unorthodox style that captivated some and confused others.<\/p>\n Unsure what to make of him, the latter were not exactly receptive. In fact, Kirk was thrown out of a club because the crowd could not comprehend his esoteric sound.<\/p>\n That lack of appreciation would linger for decades after his death in 1977, an unsung hero at age 42.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was really a genius when it came to music. He doesn\u2019t get the acclaim he deserves,\u201d said Jack Marchbanks<\/a>, host of WCBE\u2019s weekly \u201cJazz Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n Often pictured playing a saxophone \u2013 or three at the same time \u2013 Kirk played multiple instruments including flute, recorder, clarinet, harmonica, English horn, trumpet and whistles.<\/p>\n His musical arsenal was also stocked with gadgets like alarm clocks, a piece of garden hose and a music box from his niece’s rocking chair.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything he put his hands or mouth on, he could play,\u201d said his sister, Candice Kirk.<\/p>\n Rahsaan Roland Kirk recorded 30-plus albums and jammed with a who\u2019s who of music from Charles Mingus to Jimi Hendrix. A young comic named Jay Leno<\/a> once opened for him, and he was one of the late Quincy Jones\u2019s<\/a> favorite session artists.<\/p>\n Still, he is largely unknown in his hometown.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was before his time. They couldn\u2019t understand the music,\u201d Candice Kirk said.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough it was jazz, Rahsaan called it \u2018Black classical music.\u2019 Their minds just weren\u2019t there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Those mental doors are creaking ajar as people begin to discover Kirk\u2019s music, with folks like his sister and Marchbanks leading the charge to keep those doors open.<\/p>\n Marchbanks attributes what he called the \u201cRahsaan renaissance\u201d partly to Jones\u2019s effusive praise of the multi-instrumentalist in a video recorded shortly before Jones died in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cHe talked about how Rahsaan was his favorite musician, how no one was better, how he was a whole horn section by himself. That sparked people\u2019s interest,\u201d Marchbanks said.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso, WCBE has more than 10,000 people who listen to \u2018Jazz Sunday\u2019 on the internet, and we always talk about Rahsaan. There\u2019s been a lot of interest over the last 18 months or so. We\u2019ve been holding the torch high.\u201d<\/p>\n Candice Kirk and Marchbanks aren\u2019t just holding the torch, they\u2019re passing it on to a new generation of artists through the Rahsaan Roland Kirk Scholarship Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n Established through the Columbus Foundation in 2008, the scholarship awards $4,000 \u2013payable over four years \u2013 to Columbus City Schools seniors planning to pursue an undergrad degree in music or fine arts.<\/p>\n\n
Rahsaan Roland Kirk Scholarship Fund supports Columbus students<\/h2>\n