Album Review: Sly & Robbie and Nils Petter Molvaer- Nordub

I’m at the center of the tiny target audience for Nordub, an unlikely collaboration between the reggae innovators Sly & Robbie and the jazz trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer.  There can’t be more than a few thousand people who appreciate deep Jamaican dub and experimental Norwegian jazz.  Yet Nordub deserves an audience beyond a handful of oddball music obsessives.  The album’s colossal sonic landscape would appeal to admirers of Miles Davis’ electric bands as well as to intrepid listeners eager to hear the sound of tomorrow today.


---
I reviewed a concert by Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston at Plastic Sax.

---
Proper appreciation of most Kool Keith-related projects requires being in the right frame of mind.  Dr. Octagon’s Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation is no different.  Here’s the gloriously absurd “Flying Waterbeds”.

---
I didn’t care for the 2014 duet album by Nels Cline and Julian Lage, but bassist Scott Colley and drummer Tom Rainey add enormous excitement to the guitarists’ Currents, Constellations release.  Here’s “Imperfect 10”.

---
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers’ Years is a modest alt-country album that could have been released by Bloodshot Records in 1998.  RIYL: the Bottle Rockets, bottom shelf whiskey, the Meat Purveyors.  Here’s “Good as Gold”.

---
Dave Douglas & Joe Lovano Sound Prints combine their enormous talents on Scandal, a post-bop quintet date that I wish was just a couples notches further outside.

---
Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy rivals Migos’ Culture II as my favorite party album of 2018.

---
Rafiq Bhatia’s Breaking English is a worthy progressive noise album.

---
The Aruán Ortiz Trio’s Live in Zurich provides additional evidence that the pianist is a genius.  RIYL: Thelonious Monk, giants hiding in plain sight, Craig Taborn.

---
While Kurt Elling’s performances never fail to impress, his albums have never done much for me- until now.  The adult pop effort The Questions is like a marriage of Joni Mitchell and Frank Sinatra. 

(Original image at There Stands the Glass.)

Freakin' Weekend

As I gave each of my favorite releases a final run-through before I submitted a top ten album list to The Kansas City Star last weekend, I was indignantly reminded that not everyone in my compound is eager to hear language that most people consider objectionable.  I’ve become so inured to lurid content that it takes a lot to shock me.  It’s noteworthy, consequently, that R. Kelly’s new song ”Marching Band” is way too much for me to handle.


---
After impatiently watching the Family Stone riff for 15 minutes as it attempted to solve what I assumed was a stage monitor issue at last month’s 18th & Vine Jazz and Blues Festival, I gave up and went to the Blue Room to secure a good seat for an appearance by Kahil El'Zabar.  Cynthia Robinson was probably on the stage with the Family Stone, but because my notes at There Stands the Glass and Plastic Sax are seemingly the only reviews of the festival, I may never know for certain.  I encountered ”Dance to the Music” long before I was exposed to “Peter and the Wolf”.  The song taught me about the sonic components of pop.  And Cynthia Robinson’s cry of “all the squares, go home” was one of the most exciting things I’d ever heard.  Robinson died last week.


---
A segment about the Roseline is among my recent contributions to KCUR’s weekly Local Listen feature.

---
Should jazz be treated with kid gloves?  I don’t think so.

---
Andy Johns has died.

---
“Food” is my favorite song by Ces Cru since the duo has been signed to Strange Music.  Here’s the video.

---
Joey Cool made a video for “All Hail.”

---
Teddy Dibble issued a 36-minute jazz vinyl missive today.

---
Romain Collin’s Press Enter strikes me as overly polite.  RIYL: Esbjörn Svensson, Euro jazz, the Bad Plus.

---
The slick folk that infects Lizz Wright’s Freedom & Surrender doesn’t appeal to me.  RIYL: Natalie Merchant, Lilith Fair, k.d. lang.

---
I caught Dave Douglas’ current group at the New York venue this year, but I’m not I’m prepared to buy all eight hours of Brazen Heart Live at Jazz Standard.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Synapse Swing

A coworker at a record store gave me a copy of Jack DeJohnette’s Zebra in 1989.  I mistakenly considered the electronica project featuring trumpeter Lester Bowie a forgettable oddity at the time.  Twenty-six years later, DeJohnette’s experimentation seems remarkably prescient. 

I revisited the recording after enjoying High Risk, Dave Douglas’ exciting new album, and Starfire, the latest release from Jaga Jazzist.

Don’t tell my readers over at Plastic Sax, but mainstream acoustic jazz isn’t really doing it for me these days.  I either need to hear at least a hint of skronk or some sonic tinkering to get excited about the form in 2015. This pair of new releases does the trick.

Jaga Jazzist has a rabid following among the cool kids, but Starfire strikes me as an homage to the interstellar grooves of the Pat Metheny Group, a comparison that would surely upset status-conscious vinyl collectors. 

Dave Douglas expands on DeJohnette’s innovations on the outstanding High Risk.  The project’s luminous trumpet work and intriguing electronica thrill me.


---
I reviewed a concert by the Smashing Pumpkins.

---
I reviewed a concert by the Old 97’s.

---
I wrote a detailed review of Dominique Sanders’ A True Story Based On… for public radio station KCUR.

---
Kansas City’s Jooby Truth created a video for ”Rap Money”.

---
Teddy Dibble examines jazz in 1964.

---
Mel Waiters has died.  I reviewed a concert featuring the soul-blues artist in 2008.

---
Chris Squire of Yes has died.  Here are my notes on a 2013 concert at the Midland theater.

---
Gunther Schuller has died.

---
Jamison Ross’ debut album gives me whiplash.  It sounds as if it was compiled from several different sessions.  It includes Robert Randolph-style rock, Ramsey Lewis-ish soul-jazz and sophisticated balladry in the vein of John Legend.

---
Thundercat’s Beyond/Where the Giants Roam is RIYL: Flying Lotus, relaxed jams, George Duke.

---
Here’s an inspiring story about recent events at St. Louis’ Vintage Vinyl.

---
Kathryn Joseph doesn't make the sort of music I ordinarily appreciate. She sings like Joanna Newsom, a cloying affectation that usually drives me up a wall. Yet I’m enchanted by the Scot’s debut album Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled.

---
My favorite selections on Ben Williams’ Coming of Age evoke Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and prime Lonnie Liston Smith. 

---
After all these years, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s gimmick still work for me.  Freedom Tower: No Wave Dance Party 2015 is RIYL: 1965-era Rolling Stones, sleaze, Eric Burdon.

---
”Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart”

---
I don't have much to add to Tim Finn’s review of the Rollings Stones’ concert at Arrowhead Stadium.  I enjoyed Saturday’s outing even more than the Stones shows I saw in 1981.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Be Good Or Be Gone

Since the previous There Stands the Glass post seven days ago, I’ve taken in 30 sets of live music.  My ten favorites:

• Four Fists
• Sufjan Stevens
• Ebony Tusks
• Duncan Burnett and the Ministry
• Jorge Arana Trio
• Sleater-Kinney
• The Phantastics
• Sie Lieben Maschinen
• Anna Cole and the Other Lovers
• Peter Hook and the Light

---
I reviewed a concert by Sleater-Kinney and Theesatisfaction on Sunday.

---
I reviewed Ink’s Middle of the Map Fest on Friday and Saturday.

---
I reviewed Death Cab For Cutie’s concert at the Midland theater on Thursday.

---
I reviewed Sufjan Stevens’ concert at the Midland theater on Tuesday.

---
I contributed a Local Listen segment about La Guerre to KCUR.

---
Here’s a ten-minute documentary about the obscure Kansas City musician Michael Angelo.  His 1977 debut album will be reissued on April 28.

---
“Yoga” indicates that Janelle Monáe is intent on expanding her audience.

---
Live at Monterey Jazz Festival, the debut release of a band co-led by Dave Douglas and Joe Lovano, is every bit as impressive as you’d think.  RIYL: Dave Holland, present-day Wayne Shorter, Tim Berne.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Action Bronson- Mr. Wonderful

You have to love a guy who can laugh at himself.  That’s precisely what Action Bronson does throughout the hilarious Mr. Wonderful.

The people who accuse Bronson of swagger jacking Ghostface Killah’s flow are missing the point.  Bronson’s raps are in the spirit to hip-hop humorists Kool Keith, the Beastie Boys and Mac Lethal.

Bronson is the new Biz Markie.

Amusing tracks like ”Baby Blue”, ”Actin’ Crazy” and ”Easy Rider” make Mr. Wonderful my party album of 2015.


---
I reviewed a concert by Chris Tomlin, Tenth Avenue North and Rend Collective.

---
My notes on a performance by the Lee Konitz and Dave Douglas Quintet have attracted quite a bit of attention.

---
I contributed a Local Listen segment about Danielle Nicole (Schnebelen) to KCUR.

----
Al Bunetta has died.  To say we didn’t care for each other would be an understatement.

---
John Renbourn has died.

---
Tech N9ne made a video for “Aw Yeah? (Intervention).”

---
Stik Figa has released Stik Figa Is Not Quite Himself.

---
Brandon Draper’s Night-Night Songs is RIYL: lullabies, Iron & Wine, nice guys.

---
Rhodes Ahead Volume 2, the latest release from Marc Cary, makes me extremely happy.  RIYL: George Duke, instrumental funk, J Dilla.  Here’s ”Astral Flight 17”.

---
Liturgy’s The Ark Work is either the best or the worst album of 2015.  RIYL: Thurston Moore, “serious” metal, Swans.

---
Much of Duets: Re-Working the Catalogue is just as poorly conceived as the album’s title.  Even so, it’s nice to hear Van Morrison and Gregory Porter revive “The Eternal Kansas City.” 

---
The self-titled EP by Mali’s Trio Da Kali is gorgeous, but it offers me little to sink my teeth into.

---
There Stands the Glass reader Gary alerted me to a reissue of Owen Maerck’s Teenage Sex Therapist.  RIYL: Pere Ubu, rock eccentrics, Henry Kaiser.

---
Although it features a couple musicians I really admire, much of Alex Sipiagin’s Balance 38-58 bored me.  RIYL: Tom Harrell, conservatories, Terell Stafford.

---
It almost goes without saying that the Next Stop Soweto: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco and Mbaqanga 1975-1985 compilation is ridiculously good.  (Via Big Steve.)

---
Maybe you had to be there.  Steve Wilson’s Vanguard Sessions failed to move me.  RIYL: Charlie Parker, the Village Vanguard, Thelonious Monk.

---
I’m enjoying the ECM Records radio channel at iTunes (I don’t know how to link to it). The stream includes a lot of amazing stuff- Lumen Drones and The Amazing Adventures of Simon Simon, anyone?- that I hadn’t heard.

---
Minnesota Public Radio published an interesting piece about music critic Jon Bream and his record collection.

---
I’m not a Deadhead, but I keep select tracks from early albums including American Beauty in regular rotation.  At its best, Freedom & Dreams, the collaboration between the North Mississippi Allstars and Anders Osborne, approximates that sound.

---
Courtney Barnett's Sometimes I Sit & Think & Sometimes I Just Sit is almost as good as people say it is.  RIYL: Jim Carroll, talking-not-singing, Tonio K.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

It Serves Me Right To Suffer

News of Jimmy Dawkins' passing caused me to reflect on my relationship with the blues. 

During the last big blues scare I avidly consumed the music.  I frequented gigs by the likes of Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Little Hatch and Jimmy Rogers and avidly kept tabs on the new release schedules of labels like Delmark Records. 

Money is tighter these days and I have to deal with the real-life challenges faced by most adults.  While I have plenty of reasons to embrace the blues, the form no longer holds much interest for me.  Am I a loathsome bandwagon-jumper or has the quality of the blues scene diminished?

Soul and R&B-oriented acts like Linda Shell & Her Blues Thang and Bobby Rush excepted, I'm not inclined to spend a Friday night at a club listening to a blues band.  Even acclaimed outliers don't stir me.  Most of the blues I listen to for pleasure was recorded before 1970.

It serves me right to suffer.


---
Dave Douglas reconfigured my DNA earlier this week.  Here's my review of his appearance at the Blue Room.

---
Mac Lethal is in cranky old man mode on "Late 20's & Early 30's.  I like it, but I'll be even happier when he starts complaining about 1099s and mortgage deduction paperwork.)

---
Here's an update on Kerwin Young's affiliation with Public Enemy.

---
KJHK filmed an in-studio session by Fourth of July.

---
Kvelertak is my favorite thing right now.

---
I pray that I never outgrow my love for sleazy rock albums like Too High Too Kross by the Dirty Fences.

---
This Is The End, Beautiful Friend is a set of the "silent final grooves of records" available at the Free Music Archive.  RIYL: vinyl, noise, mixtapes. 

---
Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)