As a showman, Kirk had few equals. His solo incantations, like “Clickety Clack,” carry the feel of a sermon or political speech, while lengthy instrumental jams such as “Pedal Up” show the saxophonist's fluid improvisational genius. In the studio, he was no less versatile in taste, adapting motifs by 20th-century composer Paul Hindemith and referring to older classical forms on “Fugue'n and Alludin'.”