The highest praise that can be heaped on the stellar new self-titled recording by Hearts of Darkness is that the document successfully captures much of the energy of their live performances. The album crackles with energy.
By the time I was born the heyday of Kansas City jazz was already decades past. As I noted in 2009, however, using the same instrumentation as the legendary jazz bands of the '30s and '40s, Hearts of Darkness capture some of the same vital spirit of that era. While a few local musicians work in that vein today, ttheir work is inevitably imbued with a sense of nostalgia. Based in the Afrobeat of Fela, Hearts of Darkness only allude to the bands of Jimmy Lunceford and Benny Moten.
A free download of "Step First Look Last" is available here. The entire album will be available for purchase at the band's July 10 gig at Crosstown Station .
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Credentials Hip Hop lists its top ten Kansas City hip hop albums of 2010 (so far) and interviews the Arrangatang Gang.
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The M P M pays tribute to the late Robert Byrd.
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It's time to catch up on my concert reviews- here are my efforts for the following shows: Tool and Woven Hand, Roger Daltrey, Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum and Love and Theft and 311, Offspring and Pepper.
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Kansas City Click: Levon Helm makes a rare Kansas City appearance Monday at Crossroads KC.
I'm escorting a woman to Bob Schneider's Tuesday show at Knuckleheads.
(The Hearts of Darkness review is cross-posted from Plastic Sax.)
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