Jazz Revisionism

When she burst onto the international jazz scene a decade ago, I hailed Esperanza Spalding as The One, a bold, charismatic and visionary artist capable of reversing the flagging fortunes of the form.  Bad call.  Not only is much of Spalding’s work removed from jazz these days, her new album 12 Little Spells is one of the most noxious releases by a critically acclaimed artist in years.  12 Little Spells is so aggressively awful that tracks like “Readying to Rise” resemble parodies of frequently self-indulgent acts like Weather Report, Frank Zappa and King Crimson.  The only song on 12 Little Spells worth revisiting is “Touch in Mine”.

In a much more pleasant reassessment, I’ve come around to Cécile McLorin Salvant.  I long thought the hype surrounding the vocalist was unwarranted.  The critical darling struck me as fey, mannered and slight.  Just as my commendation of Spalding proved to be wishful thinking, I reckoned Salvant’s backers desperately needed her to be something she wasn’t.  The Window changed my mind.  Accompanied only by the spectacular keyboardist Sullivan Fortner on all but one song on the lovely album, Salvant shows that she likely merits a place in the pantheon of the most notable jazz and cabaret talents.


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Tony Joe White has died.  “Polk Salad Annie” and “Rainy Night in Georgia” were essential components of the soundtrack of my childhood.

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Wah Wah Watson, a guitarist for the likes of Marvin Gaye and Maxwell, has died.

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Saxophonist Sonny Fortune has died.

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The Indian musician Annapurna Devi has died.

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I think I’m going to meet my maker every time I travel between Kansas City and St. Louis.  The Bottle Rockets document the white-knuckle experience on “Highway 70 Blues,” the second track on their new album Bit Logic.  The plaint includes this truism: “if you’re in a hurry to cross Missouri, things might not go as planned.”

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Although he wasn’t on the bill, the Louisville bard Will Oldham was the most famous person I encountered at the Cropped Out festival earlier this month.  Oldham’s new solo acoustic set Songs of Love and Horror is RIYL Tom Rush, exposed nerves, Eric Anderson.

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James Francies sounds like Robert Glasper’s little brother on his Blue Note debut Flight.

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Corporate rock sometimes hits the spot.  I freely admit that I enjoy Myles Kennedy’s Year of the Tiger.  RIYL: Chris Cornell, proficiency, Scott Weiland.  Here’s the title track.

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Wolfgang Muthspiel’s Where the River Goes is fine, but I was expecting so much more from the all-star collaboration.  The Austrian guitarist is accompanied by trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Eric Harland on a project that doesn't fulfill its promise.

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The Dirty Nil’s Master Volume is a masterful evocation of rock bands ranging from Thin Lizzy to Wavves.  Here’s “That's What Heaven Feels Like”.

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Román Filiú’s stellar Quarteria is RIYL Miguel Zenón, Cuban jazz, Henry Threadgill.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review- Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin

It’s discouraging to see one of the greatest figures in American music reduced to a punchline.  The Willie-and-weed narrative was played out 20 years ago but I still encounter many more Willie-related marijuana jokes than serious discussions of his music. 

The ongoing artistic vitality of Nelson, 82, is one of the most remarkable achievements in popular music.  While his performances are ramshackle affairs, several of his recent albums are exceptional.

The gentle swing and the unabashed sentimentality of the new Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin brings tears to my eyes.  My emotional reaction is partly based in nostalgia.

My old man bought every Nelson album in the 1970s.  Willie's greatness was about the only thing he and I agreed upon.  The 1978 album Stardust introduced me to standards like “September Song” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.”  Summertime may be even better.


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I reviewed Logan Richardson’s magnificent new album Shift for KCUR.

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I reviewed Lee Fields’ impressive concert at the Granada.

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I previewed Kacey Musgraves’ concert for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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

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I’m the gray blip that moves from the left to the right side of the stage at the 4:49 mark of the transfixing time lapse video of the Be/Non album release show at the Scottish Rite Temple.

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Some of the tracks on Kendrick Lamar’s new collection of outtakes and demos are merely footnotes to Good Kid M.A.A.D. City and To Pimp a Butterfly.  Other selections- particularly the jazz and funk selections- are stunning.

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Aki Rissanen’s Amorandom is an up-to-date acoustic piano trio album.  RIYL: Esbjörn Svensson, Finland, Brad Mehldau.

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Birds of Chicago’s Real Midnight is RIYL: Sonia Dada, nouveau hippies, Poi Dog Pondering.

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Esperanza Spalding’s wretched new album is a half-baked tribute to the collaborations between Joni Mitchell and Jaco Pastorius.

(Original image of a stagehand vacuuming the set of a Vance Joy concert by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Exmortus- Ride Forth

The cover art is ridiculous, the guitar solos are garish, the vocals are generic and the production is flat.  I adore Exmortus’ Ride Forth anyway.  The band's standard-issue metallic riffing scratches one of my recurring itches.  ”For the Horde” is exactly what I need to get me through this dark month.


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I reviewed G-Eazy's sold-out concert at the Midland theater.

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I featured Jay McShann in an episode of KCUR’s weekly Local Listen and reviewed a centennial birthday concert in his honor.

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I can’t keep up with the spate of notable deaths.  The careers of Phil Everly, Paul Bley, Long John Hunter, Pierre Boulez, Clarence “Blowfly” Reid, Red Simpson and Glenn Frey may or may not be examined in this space in the weeks to come.

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As the first genuine soul man to drip sweat on me while I was on a dance floor, Otis Clay had a more profound impact on me than any of the men listed in the item above.  I first saw him pour it all out at a blues club in Chicago in the 1980s.  I also recall the late George Myers, a co-owner of the Grand Emporium, playfully delivering a nickel and a nail to the stage of his bar during a Clay performance.  Clay died on January 8.  Here’s footage from Soul Train.

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I asked McClain Johnson an “uncomfortable question” after I heard 3,000 white kids yell a racial epithet during A$AP Ferg’s performance at the Midland.  Here’s his response.

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Blackstar is solid.  Had David Bowie released the album a month earlier, Blackstar would have ranked #15 on my Best Albums of 2015 list.

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Charles Lloyd & the Marvels’ I Long To See You is dreamy.  RIYL: Bill Frisell, folk-jazz, Greg Leisz.

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Halsey’s excruciating ”New Americana” makes me want to summarily dismiss her entire generation.

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Bill Stewart’s Space Squid is RIYL: Seamus Blake, modal jazz, Paul Motian.

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Charles Bradley’s cover of Black Sabbath’s ”Changes” is a revelation.

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I’ll gladly buy a ticket to see Hinds perform, but I’ve already heard all the sounds on Leave Me Alone too many times.  RIYL: The Blake Babies, enthusiasm, Burger Records.

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The Spirio Sessions, a virtual piano duet between Uri Caine and Jenny Lin, is RIYL third stream, Keith Jarrett, high concept.

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I may grow to love the album, but my initial reaction to Anderson Paak’s Malibu is that it’s precisely one-third as good as To Pimp a Butterfly.  Here’s ”Come Down”.

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Why didn’t any of you jerks tell me about Judith Hill’s Prince-produced 2015 album Back In Time?  I would have missed the fine R&B project entirely had the bots at Spotify not insisted that I hear it.  Here’s ”Cry Cry Cry”. RIYL: Etta James, Prince media blackout, Alicia Keys.

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Moments on Baaba Maal’s wildly inconsistent The Traveller are rapturously beautiful.  RIYL: Salif Keita, production tricks, Peter Gabriel.

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I’m not disappointed that Esperanza Spalding has turned to psychedelic funk-rock. Instead, I’m disappointed that she’s turned to pedestrian psychedelic funk-rock.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: The Wood Brothers- The Muse

The year-end top-ten-album list I just submitted to the official gatekeepers is dominated by hip-hop and jazz entries.  I'm pleased with my choices, but obviously a brief list won't fully represent my listening habits.  For instance, I listen to a lot of folk and folk-rock ranging from favorite albums by the late Bill Morrissey to current folk scare acts like the Head and the Heart that are inflicted on me by members of my compound.  Because its relaxed tone is reminiscent of creaky old albums by The Band, I'm particularly partial to The Muse, the latest effort by The Wood Brothers.  I'm not about to forsake my beloved jazz, hip-hop and metal for The Muse, but it's pretty solid.  Here's the video for the album's title track.


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I reviewed Harry Connick's concert at the Midland theater on Sunday.

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Kansas City rapper Ace Duce has died.

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Dalima, a Kansas City rapper associated with Tech N9ne, was involved in a shooting in Salina several months ago.  (Tip via Tony's Kansas City.)

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Composer John Tavener has died.  I reviewed a performance of one of his works in 2011.

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The video for Josh Berwanger's "Time Traveler" is RIYL: Warriors (the movie), 1989, Cheap Trick. 

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Marcus Yates, the artist known as Obergeek just a few months ago, has released Dark Taupe Schemata . RIYL: XV, Tech N9ne, Kid Cudi.

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Danny Brown's cameo is my favorite part of the new interactive Bob Dylan video that's threatening to explode the internet today.

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Esperanza Spalding campaigns for the closure of Guantanamo in "We Are America".

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Death's edition of "What's In My Bag" is pretty great.

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El Pelon del Mikrophone's "No voy a llorar" is my idea of a good time.

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Here's a track from Neneh Cherry's forthcoming solo album, her first in 16 years.  RIYL: M.I.A., The Slits, Roni Size.

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I mentioned Marco Polo's PA2's The Director's Cut in the previous post.  I finally got around to listening to the supremely entertaining 80-minute project that serves as a tribute to old-school hip-hop.  RIYL: Pharoahe Monch, Large Professor, King Tee.

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Oh, Kanye West,, how I love you!

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By request- here's the soundtrack of my childhood: "Hee hee he haw haw haw".

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)