Album Review: Ces Cru- Constant Energy Struggles

I've been tracking Ces Cru's gradual ascendence on Kansas City's hip hop scene at There Stands the Glass for over five years.  I was happy for the duo when they signed to Strange Music.  It's the big break they deserve.  So what does Ces Cru rap about about on the new album Constant Energy Struggles?  They rap about about the big break they deserve.  The dominant subject matter of the album is disappointing.  I have limited tolerance for self-absorbed careerist raps.  The first five songs on Constant Energy Struggles are about Ces Cru's status in the hip hop community.  What a waste.  The superlative production and dazzling flows of Godemis and Ubiquitous are markedly superior to most of the competition.  I don't need Ces Cru to overstate the obvious.  "When Worlds Collide" is representative of the album's best and worst qualities.


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Bobby Rush's outing at the Living Room in Knuckleheads might be my favorite performance of 2013.  Here's my review.

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UMKC created a fine tribute to Aaron Markarian, the Conservatory of Music and Dance student who was recently murdered in his off-campus apartment.

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"If You Say So", a song from the Grisly Hand's forthcoming Country Singles album, is RIYL Lone Justice, X, Gram and Emmylou. 

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A friend insists that Wavves' Afraid of Heights is "the most important album in fifteen years."  Nope.  It sounds like a really good album by the Get Up Kids, Green Day or Weezer.  And that's good enough for me.

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Fred Eaglesmith chides Johnny (Cash)-come-latelys. 

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"So you guys are into jazz?"  Wolf continues Tyler, the Creator's ongoing troll.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

The Case for Smooth Jazz

I'm genuinely looking forward to hearing Joe Sample perform at White Recital Hall tonight.  As a member of the Crusaders and as a solo artist, Sample played a pivotal role in putting the "smooth" into jazz.  Sample has a lot to answer for. 

And what of it?  Sample may have perfected the smooth jazz template, but he shouldn't be held responsible for the sins of his musical descendants.  Even his funk-pop hits like the Crusaders' "Street Life" were indelibly smooove. 

Besides, context is everything.  Anyone who's experienced the functional music in the proper situations understands the ongoing appeal of smooth jazz.  Sample may have created a monster, but it's a beast I contentedly embrace. 



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I reviewed Jimmy Webb's performance at Knucklheads on Friday.

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The schedule for the Middle of the Map festival has been finalized.

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I just downloaded Baktun Baby, a new four-song EP by Spirit is the Spirit.

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Here's an EPK for Gene Clark's Here Tonight: The White Light Demos.  The album was released today.

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An old friend is affiliated with the Sin City Soul & Blues Revival.  It's not exactly my thing, but the idea of hearing James Harman, Lil' Ed, John Cleary and over two dozen additional like-minded bands in Las Vegas is intriguing.

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Andre Royo, aka Bubbles from The Wire, tells the world "What's In My Bag".

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I'll audition the latest releases from Wavves, Lil Wayne, Chvrches and Kvelertak as soon as I finish listening to Shirley Caesar's new album.

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Kansas City Click: Pop Evil performs Tuesday at Aftershock.

Masta Killa appears at the Riot Room on Wednesday.

Tear Out the Heart hit the Riot Room on Thursday.

Fat Fish Blues hosts Nick Moss and the Flip Tops on Friday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Bebo Valdés, 1918-2013

Bebo Valdés died yesterday in his adopted home of Stockholm.  The native Cuban had quite a life.  I've enjoyed Bebo Rides Again since its release in 1995.  The crystalline sound quality continues to astound me.  Yet I've come to prefer his scratchy pre-revolution recordings from the 1950s.  Hearing the life-affirming stuff causes me to wonder why I bother listening to anything else.


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I reviewed Jimmy Webb's outing at Knuckleheads last night.

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Jeneé Osterheldt wrote an excellent column about Ces Cru.

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Tim Finn tracked Radkey's activities at SXSW.

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The members of the Architects are soliciting funds for a forthcoming project.

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KJHK documented a performance by CS Luxem.

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Does anyone else remember spending hour after hour listening to bootlegs of Prince outtakes in the 1990s?  I'd forgotten about that frustrating exercise until I spent time with Inc.'s No World.

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Philip Glass shreds.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Yes at the Midland

If my 18-year-old self knew that I would willingly buy a $40 ticket to a concert by Yes in 2013, I may have spitefully cut off my callow ears.  I bought into the idea that the overblown music of Yes represented everything that was "wrong."  At this late date, however, such dated musical turf battles seem silly.

Two recent events compelled me to join the audience of about 2,000 at the Midland on Monday.  Peter Banks, a founder of Yes, died March 7.  He was 65.  Secondly, Animal Collective postponed a round of dates that included a show this week at the Midland.  The art-rock band's fans may object to the assertion, but Animal Collective's aesthetic makes it an indirect descendent of Yes.  It seemed like a case of now-or-never if I was ever going to experience a concert by the historically vindicated band.

I'm glad I pulled the trigger even though Yes' horrid lyrics have grown more annoying over the years.  And the current spot-on singer reminded me that I never cared for Jon Anderson's voice.  But the entirely unobtrusive (!) keyboardist Geoff Downes kept his back to the audience.  Drummer Alan White also stayed in the background.

The show was all about bassist Chris Squire and guitarist Steve Howe.  Both were spectacular.  Squire played with a surprisingly bluesy touch while Howe revealed that his playing is inspired by the same things that made John Renbourn, Bert Jansch and Richard Thompson such compelling guitarists.  And the sound in the Midland was almost perfect for the complete recreation of Close To the Edge, The Yes Album and Going For the One. 

Not my cuppa, but I was so impressed that I tried to initiate a chant of "One. More. Album." before the encore.  The old guys played "Roundabout" instead.  It's hard to complain- the five veterans with a cumulative age of about 300 played two-and-a-half-hours not including a 25-minute intermission.


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I reviewed Randy Brecker's appearance with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra.

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I reviewed the Elder's concert at the Uptown Theater on Saturday.

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Jack Greene has died.

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Jason Molina has died.

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Radkey, an official SXSW showcase band, was the subject of a brief profile in the New York Times.

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The forthcoming season of the Harriman-Jewell Series is remarkable.

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Olassa made a video for "Where Will I Live".

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I like the 2013 lineup of the Mayhem Festival.

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Help, I'm hypnotized ! Completely mesmerized!

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Robert Randolph Presents: The Slide Brothers is charming.  RIYL: Robert Randolph, Derek & the Dominoes, Gary Clark Jr.

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Kendrick Lamar disses Trinidad James on a new remix of "B*tch Don't Kill My Vibe."

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"Get off your phone!  Put it down!"  That's Action Bronson's message to an audience at SXSW.

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Kansas City Click: Lydia Loveless in on Tuesday's bill at the RecordBar.

Tower of Power plays Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Gypsyhawk is Thursday's headliner at the Riot Room.

Jimmy Webb returns to Knuckleheads on Friday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: The Kansas City Chorale at Asbury United Methodist Church

My worst concert-going experience in recent memory transpired Tuesday at Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village, Kansas.   It wasn't the un-amplified performance of the Kansas City Chorale that caused me grief.  The ensemble was wonderful.  At least, I assume it was.  

The problem was the boorish behavior of an alarming portion of the attendees.  Apparently compelled to hear the Chorale in the wake of the blitz of positive publicity that followed the receipt of another Grammy Award last month, the capacity audience included a few dozen people who made it clear that they really didn't want to be there.  The atmosphere was akin to dining at a trendy new restaurant while surrounded by an anxious clientele that suddenly remembered that they didn't care for that particular type of cuisine. 

I overheard one codger hectoring his wife about the price of tickets.  Even with their senior citizen discount, he complained, tickets were $20 each.  I paid $30 for the privilege of listening to the old guy complain throughout the first portion of the concert.  Several of his peers regularly emitted exasperated sighs.  Based on the steady barrage of noise he made, I can only assume that the old man seated directly behind me was focused on an intricate origami project.  While slightly more discrete, the women seated on either side of me transformed their programs into noisemakers when they weren't fussing with candy wrappers.

Conductor Charles Bruffy must have sensed the discontent.  He pleaded with the audience to limit applause so that the program could progress more quickly.  I trust that the next time I see Bruffy at work he won't feel obliged to rush. 


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I walked out on a locally-based band last weekend when it launched into "Kansas City."  It's one thing to play the tired song for tourists at a downtown bar.  But the gig in question was almost certainly attended exclusively by locals.  I'd rather hear "Mustang Sally."  Cut it out.

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Here's episode #10 of the KC Cypher series.  My favorite participants are Rondoe and Godemis of Ces Cru. 

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I have no reason to believe that the rapturous reviews aren't justified, but I just can't bring myself to listen to David Bowie's new album.

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After taking in the streaming version of last night's SXSW showcase by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, I gave the band's new Push the Sky Away album another chance.  Listening to it under the stars changed everything.  It rocketed to #8 on my ranking of the Best Albums of 2013.

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Nerds!

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image of the audience's version of a vuvuzela by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Kairy Koshoeva and the Owen/Cox Dance Group- Polsky Theatre

I used to think about love, mortality and God as I listened to the Goldberg Variations.  Not anymore.  A concert at Polsky Theatre on Monday may have forever altered the associations I'll make when I hear Bach's famous work.  A performance by the Owen/Cox Dance Group accompanied Kairy Koshoeva as she played the variations in its entirety.  Jennifer Owen's creative choreography managed to make the composition seem like a natural modern dance soundtrack.  The sole flaw occurred at the conclusion of a few segments as Koshoeva's otherwise stellar playing was sullied by the necessity of monitoring the readiness of the dancers.  The free performance served as a preview of a June 8 concert at White Recital Hall.


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I did not expect much of Scotty McCreery at the Uptown Theater on Saturday.  The kid impressed me.  Here's my review.

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Strange Music continues to crank out videos.  Here are the moving pictures for Ces Cru's "When Worlds Collide".

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I've long suggested that Mac Lethal could be a successful television or radio personality.  Here's proof.

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Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label is the latest reissue from the Numero Group.

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Coming to the Stiefel Theatre in Salina, Kansas: the Beach Boys, Cheap Trick, Joan Baez, Ian Anderson and Boz Scaggs.

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Here's the latest dispatch from Earl Sweatshirt.

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Kansas City Click: Freedy Johnston plays the Czar Bar on Tuesday.  I'm not sure if he's willing to play "Trying To Tell You I Don't Know" anymore.

DJ Abilities appears at the Czar Bar on Wednesday.  (R.I.P. Eyedea.)

Sam Baker performs at a house concert on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Ashley Monroe- Like a Rose

Oh, hell yes!  Ashley Monroe's new Like a Rose offers evidence that the Nashville establishment remains capable of producing proper traditional country albums.  Like a Rose is precisely the kind of honky tonk album that I'd been hoping Miranda Lambert, Monroe's bandmate in the Pistol Annies, would record.

Dozens of alt-country albums are issued every year.  I enjoy a lot of them.  Yet there's something about a slick major label production that adds a satisfying luster to the old-school sound that labels like Bloodshot just can't duplicate.  Like a Rose successfully filters the drinkin' and cheatin' songs of Gary Stewart through Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.  The title of "You Ain't Dolly (And You Ain't Porter)," the album-ending duet with Blake Shelton, reveals the era that inspired the project's rough-hewn sensibility.

Monroe's heroines keep it real.  One is "a dollar short and two weeks late."  Another has painful morning-after regrets.  A third begs her man to spice up their sex life.  "She's Driving Me Out of Your Mind" is an old-fashioned weeper.  "Used", the most conventional track, possesses the low-key angst associated with Alison Krauss.  The title track is one of the few positive songs.

Fans of Gary Allan, Shelby Lynne, the Mavericks, Dwight Yoakam and Randy Travis are encouraged to board this train. 



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I'd forgotten how much I loved Paid In Full until I heard Rakim perform much of the seminal album Wednesday.  Here's my review.

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Jazz organist Melvin Rhyne has died.

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I've spent much of my adult life embarrassing myself by confusing Alvin Lee with Albert Lee.  Alvin Lee died this week.

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Tiny Horse has a video for its acclaimed song "Ride".

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Ces Cru is on fire.

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Olassa performed on a local television program.

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Is it nostalgia, brain damage or good taste that causes me to adore the new self-titled album by Dallas' Mothership?  RIYL: Black Sabbath, Goblin Cock, Judas Priest.

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The video for DJ Muggs' "Soundclash Business" is amusing.  My glowing review of his album is here.

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The video for bentcousin's "bent paperboy" is appropriately charming.  My review of the British duo's debut album is here.

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"For Those Who Love the Lizz"!  Gypsyhawk is my new favorite thing.

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Between Krokus' Dirty Dynamite and a live album by Rhino Bucket, 2013 is already a banner year for aficionados of AC/DC knockoffs.  (I'm one of them.)

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I listened to the entirety of Rhye's Woman.  It's smooove.  RIYL: Sade, Seal, George Michael.

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Antonio Sanchez's New Life sounds like the best jazz album of 1994.  It came out this week.  Hey, I loved 1994.  RIYL: Michael Brecker, Steps Ahead, Tony Williams.

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The trailer for a documentary titled The Power of Soul contains a couple tantalizing moments.

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I love all readers of There Stands the Glass.  (Not really, but it's a nice thought.)  Even so, BGO's recent comment is one of the best in the history of this blog: I'd go see J.P. Harris if I had a designated driver and I didn't have to get up early the next day. Listening to him is a real throwback and the sincerity seems authentic. Who shows up for the likes of him anyways? Hipsters? Bumpkins? Old men like me? Dime-a-dance dames in fancy dresses?  Thanks, as always, BGO.

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Kansas City Click: My top picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Joe Budden- No Love Lost

I'd characterize my viewing of the television series Love and Hip Hop as a guilty pleasure, but I don't really enjoy watching the reality show.  Yet I can't tear myself away from the shrill drama perpetuated by misguided rappers and their farcical love interests. 

The supposed real life of Joe Budden looks miserable.  I've always liked the guy and I'm a big fan of his supergroup Slaughterhouse.  Unfortunately, nothing on Budden's new hit album No Love Lost is remotely as good as the all-star collective's recent "Throw It Away.

The project contains "She Don't Put It Down", my least favorite current radio song.  It's frustrating because Budden can't be written off.  A few of No Love Lost's tracks are effective.   The guilty conscious he exposes on the confessional "Skeletons" is a hip hop rarity.  "Castles" is a solid put-down of his hangers-on.

Budden recites the Serenity Prayer on the opening track.  I'm so grateful that I don't have his problems.


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I ponder Alaturka's new album Yalniz at Plastic Sax.

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Here's footage of Tony Tixier and Diverse performing at a house concert last weekend.  (I'm hiding in a back corner of the elegant room.)

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Readers can also spot me in the video of the Beautiful Bodies' "Invincible".

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Schorre's Son, the latest release by Dutch Newman, includes features by Ron Ron, Stik Figa, B Double E, the Phantom and Joey Cool.

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The lineup for the 2013 edition of Rockfest is solid. There are even a couple bands- including Heaven's Basement- that I haven't already seen.

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I encourage anyone who's Austin-bound for SXSW to check out the Midcoast Takeover.

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Hey, Paul Weller digs Os Mutantes, Gilberto Gil and Ethiopian jazz!

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Free Lil' Poopy!

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Kansas City Click: Patrick Krief performs at the RecordBar on Tuesday.

J.P. Harris appears at Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

The Blue Room hosts Amina Figarova and her band on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: New Ear- Strangely Familiar at All Souls Unitarian Church and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

"We're in a spaceship here," composer Paul Rudy said as he pointed to the futuristic protuberance on the ceiling of the foyer of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.  "It's just masquerading as a museum." 

An audience of about 125 heard the world premiere of Rudy's "Martian Chronicles" on Friday, March 1.  Mark Southerland's saxophones and horn sculptures took the lead during the spacey piece as the members of New Ear provided accompaniment.  After I realized that the rudderless composition didn't have a determined destination I was able to enjoy the ride.  Only the repeated use of an irritating and incongruous vibraslap-style percussion effect interfered with the celestial journey.  (KCUR produced an excellent piece about "Martian Chronicles.")

The first half of New Ear's "Strangely Familiar" program across the street at All Souls Unitarian Church was even better.  Lawrence Figg's cello playing over the spectral prerecorded sounds on "fits + starts" clearly blew the minds of the stoned college-age kids seated near me.  Robert Pherigo's work on treated piano during " Still Sorrowing" blew my mind in turn.  Jan Faidley and Thomas Aber evoked the work of the World Saxophone Quartet on the Tim Berne-inspired "We Speak Etruscan."  Only a composition by Chong Kee Yong failed to delight me.  It sounded a riot in a yoga studio. 

The Kansas City Star published a proper review of Friday's concert.


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I reviewed a concert by 3 Doors Down, Daughtry and Aranda.

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I introduced selections by six locally-based artists on Friday's edition of KCUR's Up to Date. 

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"We had that Bannister Mall crackin'!"  Here's the video for Kutt Cahoun's "I Been Dope" from his new Black Gold album.

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Here's a four-minute promo video for Kanrocksas. 

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Van Cliburn has died.

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The openng segment of a new documentary about the Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin is amazing.

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Gionvanni Guidi's City of Broken Dreams seems promising.

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I listened to the new ambient album Selected Studies, Vol. 1 by Lloyd Cole (yes, that Lloyd Cole) and Hans-Joachim Roedelius as I read last night.  Thumbs up.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)