Another One

“We the Best Music!”  DJ Khaled is ridiculous.  Yet because the hip-hop svengali is in on the joke, I laugh with him rather than at him.  Khaled’s Father of Asahd suffused me with unqualified joy as I drove through Kansas City with the windows rolled down today.  Hearing titans like Cardi B, Nas, Post Malone and Beyoncé rap and sing on state-of-the-art beats accentuated the gorgeous spring day.  The project’s only real flaw is yet another weak Chance the Rapper track.  Aside from providing further confirmation that Chance lost his mojo more than a year ago, Father of Asahd is indeed “another one.”  The star-studded “Holy Mountain” opens the album.


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Tyler, The Creator is a weirdo.  That’s hardly news.  Yet with the release of his new album I finally understand that he’s also a card-carrying music nerd.  Every track on the breakup-themed collection Igor seems to be based on either a dusty R&B song or a vintage pop nugget.  His radical remakes of oldies pay homage to the past even as they break new sonic ground.  Here’s “Earfquake”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Blow by Blow

I was transported back to my suburban youth as Jeff Beck played the 1975 jazz fusion classics “Freeway Jam” and “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” at Starlight Theatre last week.

On the cusp of the punk revolution, the garage bands in my subdivision near Kansas City International Airport were still in thrall of jazz fusion and progressive rock.  Selections from Beck’s Blow by Blow, Kansas’ Masque and Rush’s Fly By Night were studiously covered by the musically-inclined big brothers of my hoodrat friends.

In other words, I come by my abiding affection for unfashionable jams like “School Days” and ”You Know, You Know” honestly.


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I reviewed a concert by Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck.

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I talked about Steddy P on KCUR last week.

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

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I previewed Corinne Bailey Rae’s concert at the Uptown Theater for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I paid $35.50 to hear David Sanborn perform at Muriel Kauffman Theatre last week.  My thoughts on the show are posted at Plastic Sax.

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The Kansas City musician Dan Doran has died.

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Pete Fountain has died.

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Einojuhani Rautavaara has died.

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Charlie Hunter’s Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched In the Mouth is insanely fun.   RIYL: Lester Bowie, parties, Medeski Martin & Wood.

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Sarah Borges’ “Tendency to Riot” is one of my favorite songs of 2016.  Her Good and Dirty EP was produced by Eric Ambel.  RIYL: The Bottle Rockets, alcohol, Tim Easton.

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I’m not ashamed to admit that I enjoy DJ Khaled’s summer blockbuster Major Key.  RIYL: radio, Jay-Z, Instagram selfies.

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The 1970s redux!  Nels Cline’s Lovers is a wondrous evocation of the adventurous side of CTI Records.  Admirers of third stream albums by Jim Hall and Paul Desmond are likely to adore Lovers. 

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)