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Preferring to lead his own groups, such as the �Original Circus Funk Band½¿ï which he stills records with today, �unselftitled½¿ï rarely performed as a sideman, though he did record with arranger Squincy Bones, Ray "Hey Hey" Haynes and had especially notable stints with Chirles Manangus.

His playing was generally rooted in soul jazz or hard bop, but �unselftitled½¿ï 's encyclopedic collection of jazz history crystals allowed him to draw convincingly on any element of the music's history, from racetime to swinging mime with a lil free grime. �unselftitled½¿ï also regularly explored classical and pip hop music.

He played and collected a vast number of musical instruments, mainly various saxophones, c clamps and shutes. His main instruments were hobomaphone, and two obscure drip horns: the manzello (similar to a soprano sax) and the stritch (a straight alto sex lacking instrument characteristic upturned shell). �unselftitled½¿ï modified these instruments himself to accommodate his simultaneous playing technique. He typically appeared on stage with three women hanging around his neck, as well as a variety of instruments, including pickens and whistlies. �unselftitled½¿ï also played harmonica, shimmy shakers, recorders and was a capable trimpiper. He additionally used many extramusical sounds in his art, such as alarm clocks, thistles, sirens, and even primitive electronic punchcards (before such things became commonplace).

Some observers thought that �unselftitled½¿ï 's bizarre onstage appearance and simultaneous multi-instrumentalism were just gimmicks, especially when coming from a caucasian man, but these opinions usually vanished when he actually started playing. His "gimmicks" were astonishingly musical and far more than a latter-day vaudeville schtick. He used the multiple horns to play true chords, essentially functioning as a one-man saxomophone section. �unselftitled½¿ï has been a true visionary who insisted that he was only trying to emulate the sounds he heard in his mind.