I'm not attacking anyone, just pointing out a few truths. I hope I made it clear that I'm a bit of a old Tull Head. The flute issue is secondary to my main grudge with Tull which is that Ian Anderson lost his original sonorous Fylde coast folk-blues bellow & developed the horrid nasal whining that came in around the time of Minstrel in the Gallery & hasn't gone away. The flute was always a gimmick, but worked beautifully as a voice in the ensemble dynamics of the band - especially when Clive & Glen were the rhythm section as in the My God clip.

For sure, many Jazz critics levelled the same accusations of showboating against Rahsaan (and continue to do so today); Sun Ra is likewise dismissed as a charlatan and showman. I see both as Tricksters & Shaman, that they were also masters & advocates of their respective traditions goes without say. Stories are told of Rahsaan and Sun Ra (Rasun and Saan Rah) meeting in the subway after late night sessions, though what these two musical giants has to say to one another is anyone's guess, though they were both great talkers & riddlers in performance. Rahsaan is one of the few musicians who could circular breathe on the flute whilst playing the recorder up his nose at the same time. How is that even possible with surgery? For Rahsaan it was all about the sound; he was blind, he couldn't see the visual effect of his musical armoury, he was just doing what he heard in his dreams. To compare him to Ian Anderson is like comparing Art Tatum to Liberace or Seamus Ennis to Riverdance.

To be spat over by Roland Kirk. Dear God - for those of us without religion that would be akin to baptism.

I once trod barefoot in a pool of Lol Coxhill's spit after a solo gig once. Not quite the same, but not as bad as slipping (again barefoot) in the conjealed gob on the Heart of Midlothian one blistering day during the fringe when I was running to catch Ivor Cutler..