Good Timing

Rolex watches don’t tempt me.  I’ve never even touched one of the expensive status symbols.  And while I haven’t been inside one of the luxury cars, I’m sure top-of-the-line Mercedes sedans merit their price tags.  I have the same sort of conflicted feelings about RoundAgain, the new album by the reunited quartet of saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade.  I was initially floored by the shimmering summit of four of the world’s best musicians.  Yet I grew increasingly irritated by the quartet’s relentless perfection with each subsequent listen.  Is there such a thing as being too good?  Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard, the second most notable acoustic jazz album released July 10, is far from flawless.  The sound is surprisingly sketchy for a Blue Note Records release, and the quintet of pianist and bandleader Gerald Clayton, saxophonists Logan Richardson and Walter Smith III, bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Marcus Gilmore occasionally flirts with chaos.  While it’s clearly inferior, I find the slightly derelict Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard more interesting than the crystalline RoundAgain.  Then again, I wear a $50 watch and prefer Fords to Ferraris.


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The latest diary entry essay at Plastic Sax addresses the reevaluation of my priorities during the pandemic.

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Opera update: I eagerly devoured all four hours of last night’s free stream of Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.”  The tally currently stands at 113 operas in 113 days.

(Original image of the primary clock at Grand Central Station by There Stands the Glass.)

Ancient to the Future

After the Art Ensemble of Chicago scrambled my DNA at the Big Ears Festival in March, I knew that catching another date on the band’s fiftieth anniversary tour was the only way to fully recalibrate my mind and body.  A Southwest Airlines flash sale allowed me to satisfy my compulsion with a minimum of financial pain on Labor Day weekend.  The Art Ensemble of Chicago was among the 30 acts I caught during the three days I spent at the Chicago Jazz Festival.  I’ll write about the curative event in detail at Plastic Sax.  In the meantime, I’m uploading clips and photos to my Instagram account.  Here’s an initial ranking of my favorite sets.

1. Art Ensemble of Chicago
2. Ben Lamar Gay
3. The Juju Exchange
4. Eddie Palmieri Sextet
5. Jeremy Cunningham’s The Weather Up There
6. Russ Johnson Quartet
7. Christian McBride's New Jawn
8. Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet
9. Joel Ross Quartet
10. Rempis/Flaten/Ra + Baker Quartet

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My most recent concert previews for The Kansas City Star are here and here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Swinging Doors: Remembering Merle Haggard

As I’ve mentioned several times in this space, I was raised on country.  A few portions of my indoctrination didn’t initially take.  Ray Price’s countrypolitan hits, for instance, struck me as corny until my hair began to gray. 

I always loved the music of Merle Haggard.  The Songs I’ll Always Sing compilation was my dad’s preferred Merle album.  And hearing the latest Hag hit on the radio pleased both of us.  One of the biggest mindblowers in my dad’s record collection was A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, my salute to Bob Wills).   The crazed Western swing broadened my horizon. 

My dad allowed me to tag along with him to a few Merle concerts when I was a kid.  When I later took dates to Merle’s shows, I desperately hoped I wouldn’t run into my old man.  That confession is especially painful now that both Merle and my dad are gone.

I reviewed Haggard’s final Kansas City show last year.


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I reviewed a concert by Joe Ely, Ruthie Foster and Paul Thorn.

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I reviewed the Christian McBride Trio’s concert at the Folly Theater.

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My favorite selection of the master’s recital by Garrett Torbert at St. John’s United Methodist Church last Friday was a reading of Aaron Copland’s ”The Promise of Living.”  Here’s a rendition by a larger group. 

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Tony Conrad has died.

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Leon Haywood has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Ralph Peterson’s ably played but entirely predictable Triangular III is precisely the sort of mainstream jazz album that causes me to question my commitment to the form.

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The EPK for In Movement, the new collaboration between Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison, is compelling.

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Maxwell’s BLACKsummer’snight was my top album of 2010.  I’m atwitter about ”Lake By the Ocean”, the lead track from the long-anticipated follow-up.

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Phronesis’ Parallax is RIYL: Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Euro-jazz, The Bad Plus.  Here’s ”Stillness”.

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Bombino’s lovely Azel is RIYL: Tinariwen, the Sahara, Terakaft.  Here's ”Inar (If You Know the Degree of My Love For You)”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Revocation- S/T

I'm going through some extremely difficult stuff at the moment.  While my first instinct is to throw a pity party while I put soul tracks like "I Wish It Would Rain" on repeat, I'm using Revocation's new self-titled album to help me work out a bit of my frustration.  The Boston-based band has created one of the year's most devastating albums.  The opening track "The Hive" is representative of the project.  It's brutal music for bleak times.  


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George Duke has died.  I recently wrote about Duke here and here.

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"Cowboy" Jack Clement has died.

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Tech N9ne claims that "I'm gonna be the first rapper to cross over to black folk" on "B.I.T.C.H.".  His new album debuted at #4 on Billboard's Top 200 chart.

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Christian McBride's first album of 2013 didn't do anything for me.  I'm hoping for different results from his new Out Here release.  Here's the EPK.

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CSS turned me on to As Mercenárias in their charming episode  of "What's In My Bag?"

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Myron & E's "Do It Do It Disco" is my jam.  RIYL: Sam and Dave, Joe Simon, the Dells.

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I enjoy The Vigil, Chick Corea's new old-school fusion release.  The amazing album cover is, ahem, truly memorable.

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The Flaming Lips and Animal Collective are participating in Cassette Store Day.  Of course they are.

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Here's a video for "Of Many, One", a track from the forthcoming album by Brian Haas and Matt Chamberlain.  RIYL: the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Critters Buggin, Philip Glass.

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One of my preachers is also a folk singer.

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Here's a nice video feature about Afropunk.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Cherokee Rock Rifle- Ta-Li

Cherokee Rock Rifle enjoys an enviable status among the cool kids in Kansas City.  In addition to being a good guy, vocalist Dutch Humphrey works as a bartender at one of the town's most fashionable music venues.  His band, consequently, is a compulsory member of the in-crowd. 

That sort of reasoning has never swayed me.  I regularly rip the music made by my friends and associates.  I'm a jerk that way.

Thankfully, I love Ta-Li, Cherokee Rock Rifle's new six-song EP, on its own merits.  It compares favorably to the output of like-minded bands including Clutch, Valient Thorr and Black Lips.  The quintet's antecedents include Nazareth, Humble Pie and Accept.  In other words, Cherokee Rock Rifle makes snarling blues-based rock designed to accompany illicit activity. 

Because I've been ailing, it's been a long, lonely time since I cut loose.  The hell-raising Ta-Li will be my companion the next time I'm in a proper mindset to f*** s*** up.   


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The least expensive tickets at the door of T.I.'s concert at the Sprint Saturday last Saturday were $60.  The headliner phoned it in.  Here's my review of the lackluster performance by one of my favorite rappers.

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I caught wholesome heartthrob Tate Stevens' second show at the Midland.  Here's my review.

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Chrissie Amphlett of the Divinyls,  Richie Havens and Artie "Blues Boy" White have died.

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Music-oriented movies at the forthcoming Middle of the Map Film Fest include A Band Called Death and The Frames: In a Deep Shade.

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"This Grey Goose tastes like water."  Brett Gretsky promotes its new release.

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I insist that Tyga supervise the soundtrack to the hypothetical sequel of Idiocracy.  After listening to the entirety of the young star's Molly-centric Hotel California album, I question America's sustainability.

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Christian McBride played the National Anthem at an NBA game last week.

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I loathe TV comedians, but I have to admit that I laughed at Jimmy Kimmel's Coachella-related stunt.

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I can't wait to hear this week's new albums by JD Allen, the Appleseed Cast, Brass Bed, Fantasia, Har Mar Superstar, Wallace Roney, Edward Simon, Snoop Lion, Thee Oh Sees, Craig Taborn, Frank Turner, Carlos Vives and Rob Zombie.  Cowboy Indian Bear's Live Old, Die Young  is at the top of my list.

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Kansas City Click: Black Mountain perform at the RecordBar on Tuesday.

Early Graves play the Czar Bar on Wednesday.

Davey's hosts Cowboy Indian Bear on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Terri Lyne Carrington- Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue

When you get into popularity then you're talking about money, not music. -Duke Ellington

Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue is the sort of high-concept album that music geeks adore.  In a nutshell: three of today's most accomplished jazz musicians reinterpret a classic jazz album with bold political perspectives and contemporary sounds.  I applaud the audaciousness of the project.

A core group of drummer and bandleader Terri Lyne Carrington, bassist Christian McBride and pianist Gerald Clayton employ a few additional likeminded musicians and a slew of provocative spoken word samples about economics.  The original Money Jungle- a 1963 collaboration between Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach- merely implied what Carrington and her cohorts make explicit. 

The risk of a project of this nature is that the wealth of ideas could easily outshine the music.  That's not the case here.  The album is consistently entertaining.  Its sole fault is that two or three of the piano trio tracks more closely resemble the Ray Brown Trio than the legendary original Money Jungle assemblage.  There are worse things, of course, than hearing McBride emulate his Ray Brown.

Clark Terry's slurry scat on "Fleurette Africain” is just as articulate as the sampled monetary quotes from figures including Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Ron Paul and Condoleezza Rice that are sprinkled throughout the album.   The neo-soul of "Backward Country Boy Blues," featuring vocalist Lizz Wright, is superior to most of Esperanza Spalding's disappointing Radio Music Society.  Mainstream jazz fans may object to these updates, but Carrington's versatility is in line with the progressive inclinations of Ellington, Mingus and Roach.

It's difficult not to interpret Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue as a commentary on today's dismal jazz economy.  This is an essential album made by some of the biggest names in jazz.  Yet it only stands an outside chance at breaking into sales of five figures.  Only a handful of critics have yet to even acknowledge the album's existence.  Amazon's current sales ranking of the February 5 release is #1,178. 

The album closes with Herbie Hancock reading the Ellington quote posted above.  Was Ellington right?  Or was he making a self-serving excuse for the diminished role jazz plays in American culture? 


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I reviewed performances by Willy Moon, Shiny Toy Guns, the Beautiful Bodies and IAmDynamite at the Midland last Friday.

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The KC Cypher Series just got real.  The latest episode features Stik Figa, Riv Locc and Young Fate. Ron Ron (at the 7:37 mark) makes the most interesting appearance. 

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Flatlands Country Music Festival anyone?

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Here he goes again- Mac Lethal's "I Gotta Pee But I'm Too Comfortable To Get Up".

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RCA is pawning off 29 Van Cliburn discs for $80.  EMI is selling 11 Boris Christoff discs for $35. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…"

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I don't care what anyone says- I think Frank Ocean's weird Grammy performance was brilliant.

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The very existence of a hopelessly esoteric new release from Arhoolie Records fills me with joy.  The Wall Street Journal offers perspective.

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Last night I dreamed that I was married to the daughter of Irma Thomas.

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Kansas City Click: Ex-Cult are Tuesday's headliners at the RecordBar.

Lonnie McFadden performs at WestChase Grille on Wednesday.

Carrie Rodriguez returns to Knuckleheads on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)