What I Learned From Having Died

I’ve watched streams of entire operas for 61 consecutive days.  I finished a hideous three-hour-and-43-minute 1986 production of Richard Wagner’s “Lohengrin” this morning.  The strenuous process altered my ears.  Out for Stars, a challenging album by an Amsterdam based octet overseen by the Slovenian pianist Kaja Draksler, would have almost certainly have struck me as overly precious and exceedingly cacophonous just two months ago.  The scratchy recording sets the poems of Robert Frost to avant-garde chamber music.  While vocalists Björk Níelsdóttir and Laura Polence mimic operatic singing on “The Silken Tent,” their approach is more often in line with experimental folk ensembles.  Based on Robert Frost’s “A Passing Glimpse,” “Danas, Jučer, Sutra” reduces my opera-traumatized psyche to a puddle.  But don’t mind me- I’m so intoxicated by the European-steeped Kool Aid that even a woefully inept and horribly out of tune saxophone solo on “Away!” pleases me.


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Hearing Jah Wobble’s opening bass line on “Public Image” in 1978 was among the most transformative musical moments of my life.  I had a friend who sprung for Public Image Ltd.’s Metal Box a year later.  Corrosive songs like “Poptones” also modified the way I experience sound.  Almost every song by Sleaford Mods catapults me back to that era.  All That Glue, a 72-minute compilation of the group’s most popular songs and odds-and-sods, is a thrilling career summation and logical extension of PiL’s legacy.  Here’s the excellent video for “Second”.

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I lament the conservatism of the Folly Jazz Series’ forthcoming season at Plastic Sax.

(Original image of smoke near the entrance of Churchill Downs by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Khatia Buniatishvili at the Folly Theater

I’ve witnessed the cavorting of scantily clad pop stars, the testifying of sweaty soul men and the suggestive voguing of hyper-masculine country crooners in recent months.  None of these performers possessed even half of the charisma exuded by Khatia Buniatishvili at the Folly Theater on Wednesday.  While she and Sony’s marketing department don’t hesitate to capitalize on her looks, the celebrated pianist from Batumi, Georgia, boasts the sort of magnetism that transcends her pleasing visage.  The impeccable playing of Buniatishvili emphasized extreme dynamics in an enchanting program of Shubert.  She ecstatically tossed her hair, waved her arms and contorted her body during her Kansas City debut.  Just how captivating was Buniatishvili?  The majority of the audience of about 750 stuck around for the invariably dull artist interview that follows concerts in the Harriman-Jewell Series.  I’m not the only one who can’t get enough of Buniatishvili.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Tamela Mann at the Folly Theater

For a sanctified second on Saturday, the Holy Spirit seemed to roll through the Folly Theater.  A member of Isaac Cates & Ordained stepped to the front of the stage and began to roar with a voice that belied her small frame.

The sound issues that plagued the concert momentarily dissipated.  Taken aback by the ferocious power of their colleague's conviction, several members of the choir doubled over in celebratory shock.  A significant portion of the audience of approximately 700 jumped to their feet.  I was similarly overcome. Tears flowed down my cheeks.

It was the highlight of a night of rapturous peaks and scandalously disappointing lows.  The concert was part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City's annual celebration of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Tickets were $16.

The evening got off to a rough start as the opening remarks of Mia Ramsey- a woman who proved to be an excellent master of ceremonies- were inaudible.   Patrons of events at the Folly Theater can usually count on the opportunity to bask in the venue's pristine acoustics.  The sound was disastrous Saturday.  If the sonic technicians were attempting to recreate the crackly and distorted sound of a 1950's field recording of a tent revival, well, they succeeded.

A brief opening appearance by Shanice and Maurice Hayes was a fiasco.  Their prerecorded backing tracks were a muddle.  The father and daughter had one semi-functional microphone between them.  What a shame.  Isaac Cates & Ordained overcame the sonic debacle through sheer talent (and a possible act of God). 

David Mann, the husband of the celebrated actress and gospel star Tamela Mann, wasn't about to leave the fate of his wife's headlining performance in God's hands.

"I want to make sure you get the real Tamela Mann," David Mann told the audience as the sound was tested.

The precautionary work didn't pay off.  Mann may have opened with "Best Days."  I'm not sure.   I couldn't hear her over the wildly distorted music.  A solid band was game, but Mann inexplicably insisted on a karaoke approach for selections including the Grammy-nominated and current chart-topping gospel hit "Take Me To the King".

Mann is an amazingly dynamic performer.  Yet she was on stage for just 45 minutes.  She spent part of that time indicating that she and her husband David were eager to sell "product" (her word) in the lobby.   This essential fan footage shot at the concert reveals the best and worst aspects of Mann's performance.  Mann dances as the house band fires on all cylinders.  Then she sneaks a peak at her watch at the 1:08 mark.

Clock-watching- even in a trying situation- is a bad look.


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Claire and the Crowded Stage made a video for "Technicolor".

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"Slidecam duet."  (Via Hey Cameraman.)

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Kansas City Click: Hermon Mehari and Mark Lowrey open the week by trading their regular nights at the Majestic.  The switch allows Mehari to play on Sunday while Lowrey will appear on Monday.

John Fullbright returns to Knuckleheads on Tuesday.

The RecordBar hosts Ryan Lee Toms on Wednesday.

Wayland plays the Riot Room on Thursday.

(Original image of Isaac Cates & Ordained by There Stands the Glass.)