Album Review: Daymé Arocena- Sonocardiogram

Cesária Évora’s burnished voice accentuated some of my happiest moments of the 1990s.  The morna sung by the Cape Verde star was an integral part of my domestic chill-out soundtrack during the Clinton era.  Évora died in 2011.  Her spirit seems to have resurfaced a continent away in the form of Daymé Arocena.  The Cuban musician performs entirely different styles of music- her wondrous new album includes jazz, R&B balladry and Santeria incantations- yet Sonocardiogram is imbued with the same sort of soulful spirituality that I relished in Évora two decades ago.


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My Tool take: Fear Inoculum is a net positive for the world.  Here’s the title track.

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I respect the positive vibes, constructive sentiments and jazz-steeped production on Common’s Let Love, but man, the Chicago rapper sure is corny.  Here’s “Hercules”.

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Unpopular opinion: Sleater-Kinney’s The Center Won't Hold is excellent.  Sure, it sounds just like a St. Vincent album.  That’s a good thing.

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Dedicated readers of my music blogs won’t be surprised to learn that I adore Miguel Zenón’s Sonero: The Music of Ismael Rivera.  RIYL: Charlie Parker, certifiable genius, Dizzy Gillespie.

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I don’t know if Post Malone or the team of people tasked with keeping the gravy train rolling is responsible for the success of the project, but the highly anticipated Hollywood’s Bleeding is more than sufficient.

(Original image of a Mexican street scene by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: August Greene

I love everything about August Greene’s self-titled debut album.  Well, almost everything.  Common’s lyrics are occasionally too corny even by my sentimental standards.  And a background vocalist’s pitch seems slightly off.  My instantaneous embrace of the project is hardly a surprise.  I’ve long adored the veteran rapper, the genre-busting keyboardist Robert Glasper and the imaginative drummer Karriem Riggins.  Working as August Greene, they create a sublime blend of jazz, soul and hip-hop that’s situated at the exact center of my wheelhouse.  The group’s Tiny Desk Concert is divine.


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

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I named Brewer & Shipley the KCUR Band of the Week.

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Russ Solomon has died.  I reported directly to the retail titan during a particularly perilous segment of my career in the music distribution industry.  Solomon’s fearlessness was inspiring, his guile was masterful and his frequent displays of kindness never failed to motivate me.

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Tracey Thorn’s Record is wonderful.  RIYL: Everything But the Girl, Brit-pop circa 1986, Pet Shop Boys.  Here’s “Sister”.

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Lucy Dacus’ breathlessly hyped Historian merits much of the acclaim.  RIYL: Eliza Carthy, the flavor of the week, Fairport Convention.  Here’s “Addictions”.

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A bygone Moroccan band’s deranged interpretation of “Für Elise” makes me proud to be an Earthling.

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Dayramir González attempts to condense the entire history of Cuban jazz into the 72-minute The Grand Concourse.  The manic release is recommended if you like Cachao, Benny Moré and Irakere.

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Alfredo Rodríguez’s The Little Dream is completely over the top.  RIYL: Lionel Loueke, Cuba, Pat Metheny at his most excessive.

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Seun Kuti does right by his father on Black Times.  Femi Kuti’s One People One World is slightly less formidable.

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The Andy Sheppard Quartet’s wispy Romaria is elegant sonic wallpaper.  RIYL: music for hangovers, John Surman, clouds.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)