After learning that Marva Whitney had passed, I attempted to explain her career to a teenager. "She's the original Janelle Monae," I suggested. "Like Monae, Whitney was a beautiful musician from Kansas City, Kansas, who rose to fame through her association with another artist." Monae, of course, collaborated with Fun on one of the biggest hits of the new millennium. Whitney worked with James Brown. Tim Finn's 2006 interview with Brown includes fascinating insights into his relationship with Whitney. Her death also serves as a bitter reminder of my limited influence. Knowing that Whitney regularly performed in New York and Japan up until two or three years ago, I lobbied club owners, event programmers and Whitney's manager to book Whitney in Kansas City. It never happened.
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I discussed the year in music on KCUR's Up To Date last week. Details are here.
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Oh, Mac Lethal!
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KCUR offers a multi-media profile of Amy Farrand.
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Year-end listening: Bruno Mars' Unorthodox Jukebox is a really good pop album… Patti Smith's Banga would have made my year-end album list if I'd given it a proper airing prior to last week… What I've heard of Willie Buck's Cell Phone Man is excellent. RIYL: Delmark Records… Algiers' "Blood" needs to be heard by people who appreciate mashups of Sun Ra, Eazy E, Sonic Youth and B.B. King… I've spent a lot of time listening to authorized bootlegs of Nicholas Payton concerts in 2012. This one seems particularly good.
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The Melvins' animated tour diary is hilarious.
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Matador Records chatted with Tom Ray of Vintage Vinyl.
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Is it wrong to laugh at Danny Brown?
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A guy from reggae legends The Meditations (!) recorded an excellent in-studio session for KJHK.
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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
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