Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real

Recorded when the composer was incapacitated by a 1975 stroke and released just before another stroke ended his life, Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real is the portrait of a larger-than-life music man facing his own mortality. Where many musicians would have felt a license to wallow in the cruelty of life, Kirk instead embraced his playful side, though there's no disguising the deep sadness beneath the joy. The title song pairs an old gutbucket blues motif with an orchestral arrangement, consummating the marriage of high culture and low culture that Kirk had aimed to affirm throughout his career. Other performances likewise reference the roots of Kirk’s music, including Duke Ellington’s “In a Mellow Tone” and the New Orleans standard “Make Me a Pallet on the Floor,” which features Kirk’s earthy singing. Two of the most moving performances are “I Loves You Porgy” and “Summertime.” Skeletal and haunting, they function not as songs but as memories of songs. These are the sounds of a man resolving himself to life’s finish.