I hit the quiet storm trifecta on Sunday. While watching Will Downing deliver the classic 1998 ballad “Stop, Look, Listen to Your Heart” at the Kansas City Jazz & Heritage Festival, I was rocked by a bolt of adult R&B inspiration. I hustled to the nearby Celebration at the Station to hear Patti Austin perform with the Kansas City Symphony. At the conclusion of her portion of the massive event, I raced back to the Jazz District in time to catch Oleta Adams revive her 1991 smash “Get Here”. Rarely has my unironic embrace of slow jams been more rewarding.
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I reviewed the first and second days of the Kansas City Jazz & Heritage Festival for The Kansas City Star. I pontificate on the inaugural edition of the festival at Plastic Sax.
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Samantha Fish’s two-night stand at Crossroads KC was my show of the week for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.
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I gave Oleta Adams the KCUR Band of the Week designation.
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Gregg Allman has died. He seemed frail at a 2015 casino gig I reviewed for The Kansas City Star.
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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.
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Mickey Roker has died.
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The new reissue of Mulatu of Africa is unassailably groovy. The many imperfections of Mulatu Astatke’s 1972 album somehow makes the music even more perfect. RIYL: Roy Ayers, qi, Sun Ra.
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Robert Johnson has nothing on Willie Nelson. God’s Problem Child is yet another improbably strong album from the 84-year-old icon.
(Original image of the Celebration at the Station by There Stands the Glass.)
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