I was astounded the first time I saw Bobby "Blue" Bland. I don’t recall many details about the performance at his co-headlining appearance with B.B. King at the Uptown Theater in in 1979 or 1980. It was the composition of the audience that surprised me. I was one of just a few white people at the show.
Even a surly teenager from the suburbs could recognize that Bland’s music was universal. Yet aside from his appearances at festivals, the six or seven Bland concerts I attended were barely integrated even after the blues boom of the mid-’80s reacquainted white audiences with the form. I still fail to comprehend why- unlike his longtime associate B.B. King- Bland never crossed over to a mainstream audience.
Bland’s presentation- squall and all- was impeccable. He always carried a large band. Maybe Bland’s health stood in the way. Even back at that show at the Uptown over thirty years ago, Bland seemed frail. In spite of the physical challenges he faced, Bland never failed to deliver. Even his final Kansas City appearance at the 2011 edition of the Rhythm & Ribs Jazz & Blues Festival was solid. I envy those who saw him in his prime.
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My review of Widespread Panic’s concert last weekend has displeased a lot of people.
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I participated in a discussion of the Best Kansas City Music of 2013 (so far) on KCUR’s Up To Date.
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KCUR catches up with Charles Love of Bloodstone.
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A collabo between Tech N9ne and the Doors? Makes sense to me.
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I have no idea what's going on in this weird art film about Don Cherry.
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There Stands the Glass reader Phil turned me on to the East River String Band podcast.
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I don’t care for most of what's in Julieta Venegas' bag.
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Dear Diary, I grew up hearing David Allan Coe’s ”If That Ain’t Country” played in my home. I didn’t think anything of it when I was a kid.
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I'm looking forward to spending quality time with this week's new releases by Amon Amarth, Andy Bey, Booker T, Bosnian Rainbows, India.Arie, Smith Westerns, Mavis Staples, Transplants, Wale and Yellowjackets after I listen to Dessa’s Parts of Speech's album.
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Ornette Coleman’s 1970 album Friends and Neighbors has been reissued. RIYL: proof of the existence of a higher power, genius, America.
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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here. Bonus pick: Adam Marsland appears at the RecordBar on Friday. He's RIYL Billy Vera, Alex Chilton, Har Mar Superstar.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
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