Quarterly Report

I’m embarking on a brief blogging break.  Before I get out of Dodge, I’ll leave you with three arbitrary lists.

My Ten Favorite Concerts of 2017 (so far)
1. Charlie Wilson, Fantasia and Johnny Gill- Sprint Center
2. Jazz 100 featuring Danilo Pérez, Lizz Wright and Avishai Cohen- Yardley Hall
3. Joseph- Madrid Theatre
4. Patti LaBelle- Muriel Kauffman Theatre
5. Ramsey Lewis- Gem Theater
6. Ben Folds with the Kansas City Symphony- Helzberg Hall
7. Gaelynn Lea- Folk Alliance International Conference at Crown Center
8. Jessica Care Moore- Black Archives of Mid-America
9. Pure Disgust- Encore Room
10. Simone Porter- Folly Theater

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2017 (so far)
1. Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos- “Slide”
2. Valerie June- “Astral Plane”
3. Sunny Sweeney- “Bottle by My Bed”
4. Craig Finn- “God in Chicago”
5. Lorde- “Liability”
6. Young Fathers- “Only God Knows”
7. Alejandro Fernandez- “Agridulce”
8. José James- “To Be With You”
9. Brother Ali- “Own Light (What Hearts Are For)”
10. Chronixx- “Majesty”

My Ten Favorite Albums of 2017 (so far)
1. Miguel Zenón- Tipico
2. Tinariwen- Elwan
3. Yelena Eckemoff- Blooming Tall Phlox
4. Future- Hndrxx
5. Uniform- Wake in Fright
6. Mark Eitzel- Hey Mr. Ferryman
7. Víkingur Ólafsson- Philip Glass: Piano Works
8. Code Orange- Forever
9. Ibibio Sound Machine- Uyai
10. Noah Preminger- Meditations on Freedom



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I reviewed Rodney Crowell’s appearance at Knuckleheads.

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I reviewed Patti LaBelle’s concert at Muriel Kauffman Theatre.

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I reviewed the Jazz 100 concert at Yardley Hall at Plastic Sax.

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I discussed Victor & Penny on my weekly segment for KCUR.

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I wrote an extended preview of Xenia Rubinos’ concert for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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Craig Finn’s We All Want the Same Things is a mixed bag.  The standout tracks are “God in Chicago” and “Jester & June.”

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Tedeschi Trucks is my all-time favorite jam band.  Here’s a ten-minute interpretation of ”Keep On Growing" from Live From the Fox Oakland.

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Havok’s Conformicide is RIYL Megadeth, political metal, Revocation.  Here’s ”Intention to Deceive”.

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Spoon’s Hot Thoughts and Sinkane’s Life & Livin’ It could be the first and second discs of the same sprawling modern pop album.  RIYL: dancing, the Isley Brothers, fun.

(Original image of Charlie Wilson, Johnny Gill and band by There Stands the Glass.)

Juke

Rather than shedding tears of grief upon learning of the death of the aged blues harmonica titan James Cotton yesterday, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for living during an era that enabled me to catch multiple performances by the luminary.  I first witnessed Cotton at the original incarnation of Antone’s in Austin. I heard him for the last time at the Uptown Theater in 2011.  Thanks to the blues scare of the late 1980s and early 1990s, I also attended plenty of gigs by John Lee Hooker, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Albert Collins, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Honeyboy Edwards, Koko Taylor, Johnny Copeland, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Z.Z. Hill and many other since-departed giants.  The blues was alright.


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I reviewed last night’s outstanding concert by Charlie Wilson, Fantasia and Johnny Gill at the Sprint Center.

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I reviewed Ben Folds’ concert with the Kansas City Symphony.

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I reviewed the Quality Hill Playhouse production “Unchained Melody.”

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I named Everette DeVan the KCUR Band of the Week.

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I wrote an extended concert preview about Ariana Grande for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I reviewed the one-man play Live Bird at Plastic Sax.

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Evan Johns has died.

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Joni Sledge has died.

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Tommy LiPuma has died.

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New albums by the Kansas City based artists Samantha Fish, Hermon Mehari and Matt Otto were released today.

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The heavy Kansas City rock band Hyborian is off to an auspicious start with ”As Above, So Below”.

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Based on the stellar quality of the three advance tracks from Valerie June’s new album The Order of Time, I was hoping for a modern-day Astral Weeks.  It’s not even close.  The remainder of The Order of Time is merely good.  RIYL: Van Morrison, celestial boogie, Iris DeMent.

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I thought I’d outgrown 1980s college rock, but the Rolling Blackouts' The French Press makes me swoon in spite of myself.  RIYL: The Windbreakers, 1985,  the Go-Betweens.  Here’s ”Julie’s Place”.

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Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives’ Way Out West is a showcase for guitarist Kenny Vaughan.  RIYL: Dick Dale, spaghetti westerns, Marty Robbins.  Here’s the title track.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall From Kansas?

I’ve long felt like a provincial yahoo. 

I’m an expert on budget hotels in Amarillo but I’ve never traveled to Africa.  I’ve walked countless streets in small towns in central Kansas but I know only a couple hundred words of Spanish.

A visit to Carnegie Hall last week made me feel like less of a rube.  I’d never made it to the storied concert hall during a handful of previous visits to New York City.

An unamplified performance by my fellow Kansan Joyce DiDonato with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the Perspectives series she curates was sufficiently loud in my $40 balcony seat.  The program was dominated by material from DiDonato’s Stella di Napoli, my ninth favorite album of 2014.

A duet between DiDonato as Romeo and Laura Claycomb as Juliet during a selection from Vincenzo Bellini’s “I Capuleti e I Montecchi” is one of the most stimulating things I've witnessed.  My cousin Lawrence Brownlee was also impressive.

The New York Times reviewed the concert.


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An appearance by Charlie Wilson was no less memorable than shows I’ve witnessed by James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes.  Here’s my review.

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I reviewed a concert by Maroon 5, Magic! and Rozzi Crane.

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I caught a performance by Noah Preminger’s quartet while in New York.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment on the New Riddim to KCUR.

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Earl Sweatshirt’s new I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside… initially strikes me as a rehashed version of his amazing Doris.  ”Grief” sounds like a suicide note.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

The Jacka, 1977-2015

The Jacka was killed in Oakland last night.  A television news program reported the murder.  I last saw the underappreciated rapper perform at the Uptown Theater in 2010.  Here are my notes about the show.  D-Boy Era, the Jacka’s throwback hip-hop collaboration with Lee Majors, was my #12 album of 2010.  His most recent release What Happened to the World was my #21 album of 2014.  In spite of his salty persona, the Jacka was very personable when I met with him in a Midtown bar a few years ago.


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I reviewed Dominique Sanders’ astonishing new album at Plastic Sax.

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I contributed a feature about Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle to KCUR.

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La Guerre’s Sapphires is RIYL: Hospital Ships, yearning, Regina Spektor.

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The Floozies’ Do Your Thing is an invigorating dance party.  RIYL: Zapp, disco, Daft Punk.

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I loved John Doe’s recent appearance at Knuckeheads.  Tim Finn reviewed the show.

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Vinyl Community noteworthy Teddy Dibble pays tribute to his late brother.

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I’ve yet to select my favorite new jam on Charlie Wilson’s Forever Charlie. RIYL: The Gap Band, romance, the Commodores.  Here’s ”Me and You Forever”.

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I questioned what I’m doing with my life after I ingested all 153 minutes of the new live album documenting John Scofield’s collaboration with Gov’t Mule.  It’s more in line with the Allman Brothers Band than with Miles Davis. 

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Gehenna, the latest release by Danish band By the Patient, hits the spot.  RIYL: Behemoth, riffs, Vader.

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If neither Hand Over Fist’s “Prize Fight” nor any of the stunning songs on P.O.S’s Never Better failed to break through, it’s unlikely that the latest Doomtree album All Hands will alter the crew’s fortunes. 

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My high hopes for Mohammed Fairouz’s Follow, Poet were dashed when I finally heard the bloated project.  RIYL: high concept, Leonard Bernstein, sociology.

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Dawn Richard’s Blackheart is a compelling variation on post-Beyoncé R&B.  Here’s ”Blow”.

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I have yet to watch the archived performance by Our Point Of View, the all-star group featuring Robert Glasper, Ambrose Akinmusire, Marcus Strickland, Lionel Loueke, Derrick Hodge and Kendrick Scott.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)