Jimmy LaFave, 1955-2017

When I began attending SXSW more than 25 years ago, the event was a business conference that doubled as a showcase for locally based musicians.  Performances by the hometown hero Jimmy LaFave were among the most anticipated components of those early years.  Even though his popularity failed to keep up with the staggering growth of SXSW, LaFave remained faithful to the rootsy sound that once made him the toast of the Texas town. Nora Guthrie’s introduction of LaFave at the Folk Alliance International conference on February 18 was was warm and effusive.  Even though I wasn’t aware that he’d been diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer, I was moved by an intimate performance that included one or two of his signature Bob Dylan covers.  LaFave died last week.


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I reviewed a concert by the Black Angels and A Place to Bury Strangers.

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I reviewed outings by Railroad Earth, the Yonder Mountain String Band, Fruition and the Shook Twins at the Bluegrass in the Bottoms festival.  I also wrote a preview of the two-day event.

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

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Julian Vaughn was the recipient of my most recent KCUR Band of the Week designation.

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I appraise Norman Brown’s new album Let It Go at Plastic Sax.

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Chris Cornell has died.  He looked and sounded great when I saw him with Soundgarden eight days ago.

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I cued up Diana Krall’s Turn Up the Quiet out of professional obligation.  Boy, was I surprised!  The hushed collection of standards is easily my favorite release by the Canadian.  RIYL: Julie London, makeout music, June Christy.  Here’s ”Moonglow”.

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I’m embarrassingly easy.  Add horns and a semblance of swing to almost anything and I’m in.  I adore the new sound Pokey LaFarge unveils on Manic Revelations.  Here’s ”Riot In the Streets”.

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Julian Lage, Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier and Eric Harland support saxophonist Dayna Stephens on the predictably wonderful Gratitude.

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I keep listening to Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman in fruitless attempts to convince myself that it’s not a bitterly disappointing mess.  ”Love Yourself” typifies the miscalculations.

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Wavves continues to outshine its peers with the remarkable You’re Welcome.  RIYL: Green Day, crying on the beach, Brian Wilson.  Here’s ”Million Enemies”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Blame It All On My Roots

Self awareness can be crippling.  It’s a little late in the game to be discovering myself.  Only now am I beginning to comprehend that there’s no hiding the ancestral dirt under my fingernails.

I eagerly cued up Benjamin Clementine’s At Least For Now after it won the Mercury Prize last week.  I found his art-rock so irksome that I was compelled to retreat to the latest albums from Toby Keith and George Strait. 

By most critical measures neither 35 MPH Town nor Cold Beer Conversation are superior to At Least For Now.  Yet the conventional country albums are part of my musical DNA.

I sometimes envy the rarefied people who were raised on Kurt Weill and the Brandenburg Concertos even though growing up on Waylon Jennings and Stevie Wonder probably better prepared me for the world.  While my passion for forms like free jazz is genuine, it’s self-taught.

Keith and Strait, consequently, sound like my home turf while Clementine strikes me as a pretentious twit.  It can’t be helped. 

Jason Isbell seems to be singing to me on the opening track of Something More Than Free:  “I got too far from my raisin’, I forgot where I come from.”


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I reviewed Jackson Browne’s concert at the Music Hall.

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I reviewed Diana Krall’s return to the Midland theater.

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I wrote an essay about Adele and Allen Stone for Ink magazine.

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P.F. Sloan has died.

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Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba's Ba Power is wondrous.  RIYL: Malian music, Ali Farke Touré, life.

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The bland pop of Julieta Venegas’ Algo Sucede saddens me.  Here’s the title track.

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The trailer for the new documentary “Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story” is promising.

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Julien Baker’s Sprained Ankle is RIYL: Michelle Shocked’s The Texas Campfire Tapes, tears, Joni Mitchell’s Blue.

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The Matthew Shipp Trio plays it straight on The Conduct of Jazz.  RIYL: Thelonious Monk, a semblance of structure, Cecil Taylor.

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Stop the presses- Con Funk Shun has released a new album!  The video for ”More Than Love” is… something.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

The Right Profile

As a typical teenager, I viewed the world in black and white. 

I took the nascent punk revolution at face value and renounced my affinity for everything that didn’t conform to the new sound.  I spent the better part of a year attempting to be a purist, an absurd challenge for a kid who grew up loving Waylon Jennings, Michael Jackson, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. 

It’s almost impossible to overstate the impact of London Calling.  When my favorite band embraced jazz, reggae, rockabilly and blues in 1979, I was freed from the false stylistic constraints of punk.

I wasn’t alone.  Thousands of Midwestern kids like me would soon welcome a new wave of Los Angeles bands like the Blasters and Los Lobos. 

J.D. McPherson’s excellent Let the Good Times Roll reminds me of that era.  The smart, funny and soulful album is as solid as anything that came out of the roots revival of the early 1980s.


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I reviewed Aaron Lewis’ concert at the VooDoo.

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I created a Local Listen segment about Maps For Travelers for KCUR.

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The lineup of the 2015 edition of Rockfest represents a step up from recent years.

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Orrin Keepnews has died.

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EarthEE, the new album by THEESatisfaction, is very good.  RIYL: Shabazz Palaces, funkateers, Erykah Badu.

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Ibeyi’s self-titled album is just a tad too precious for my taste.  RIYL: Dirty Projectors, public radio, Cibelle.  Here’s Ghosts.

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Jacky Terrasson is the exactly the type of brash ambassador that jazz desperately needs.  That said, his new album Take This makes me want to listen to Slayer.  Here’s the album trailer.

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If Spoon wasn’t really good, the band might sound like Diamond Rugs. Cosmetics also resembles an  inferior version of the Latin Playboys or Morphine.

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Gang of Four's What Happens Next is depressingly uninteresting.

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Bob! How could you? (I love that man.)

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I don’t even know who I am anymore.  A couple tracks on Diana Krall’s easy listening album Wallflower brought me to the brink of tears.  RIYL: Julie London, elevators, Andy Williams.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Reach- Live at RecordBar

When Reach insistently repeats the refrain "Hip Hop Is Alive" on his new album Live at RecordBar, he isn't celebrating the latest success of Wale or 2 Chainz.  Reach is a true believer in the original purist ideals of hip hop.  The new release- his fourth full-length album- serves as affirmation of Reach's principles.  Supported by the funk/jam band Mouth, DJ Ataxic and vocalists Schelli Tolliver, Sausha Brooks and Vance Ashworth, the well-recorded collaboration brings out the best in each participant.  Live at RecordBar represents most everything I respect but too rarely encounter in live hip hop performances.


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Gov't Mule was good on Tuesday.  Here's my review.  Diana Krall was great on Wednesday.  Here's my review.

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Jeff Hanneman of Slayer has died.

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Chris Kelly, better known as Mack Daddy of Kriss Kross, has died.

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Sid Selvidge has died.  Listen to "The River" from his 2003 album A Little Bit of Rain if you're in need a good cry.

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The single best live performance I witnessed last week was a rendition of Teri Quinn's "Shanafelt" at the senior recital of Sarrah Cantrell at UMKC's White Recital Hall.

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Betse Ellis performed "Straight to Hell" on KDHX.

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As I watched the attractive, well-heeled and diverse audience of about 10,000 take in Quixotic's sublime Surfaces performance last Sunday at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, it occurred to me that the event was the antithesis of Rockfest.  And in truth, I'm more of a Rockfest kind of guy.

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Les Izmore was a guest on KCUR's Central Standard.  (Not to be a stickler, but the "new" solo album in question was released in 2011.)

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I reviewed Matt Kane's Suit Up! at Plastic Sax earlier this week.

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De La Soul's new "Get Away" is impressive.

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I'm not prepared to endorse The Uncluded, the new partnership between Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson, but it's entirely possible that I'll come around.  RIYL: parallel universes, primitivism, schizophrenia. 

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Dag- the lineup of Soundset 2013 goes from Atmosphere to Tech N9ne. 

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Two or three of you crusty old bastards highly-valued readers will be glad to hear that Spider John Koerner's new What's Left of Spider John is a lot of fun.  RIYL: Minnesota, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Mississippi John Hurt. 

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Questlove is quite possibly the best person alive.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)