The Final Fall of Wichita

The lack of appreciation for Pat Metheny and his close collaborator Lyle Mays outside the jazz community baffles me.  Much of their work is as groundbreaking as the output of widely revered artists like Brian Eno.  A listening session inspired by the death of Mays heightened my appreciation of their legacies.  Revisiting Metheny and Mays’ 1981 release As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls today, I was struck by how the 20-minute title track is echoed by my current obsession.  Beatrice Dillon explores the same sort of electro/acoustic and android/human divergences on her astounding debut album Workaround.  If I were a talented DJ, I might attempt to create a mix of As Falls Wichita... with drops of Dillon’s congruent tracks “Three,” “Pause” and “Ten.”  Dillon and her peers in the cutting edge of electronic music may not know it, but Metheny and Mays got there first.


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I contribute concert previews to The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed a performance by Matt Villinger, Peter Schlamb and Zach Morrow at Plastic Sax.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

The Top Albums, Songs and Performances by Kansas City Musicians in 2019

Favorite Albums and EPs by Kansas City Artists
1. The Sextet- Among Friends
2. Samantha Fish- Kill Or Be Kind
3. Matt Villinger- All Day
4. Heather Newman- Rise From the Flames
5. Making Movies- Ameri’kana
6. Adam Larson- Listen With Your Eyes
7. Rich the Factor- The Tonite Show
8. Jay McShann- Live in Tokyo
9. Keaton Conrad- Nova
10. Drugs and Attics- Clean Their Room

11. Dylan Pyles- Popular Songs for the Heart
12. Hmph!- Hmph!
13. The Get Up Kids- Problems
14. Wing Walker Orchestra- Hazel
15. Joyce DiDonato- Songplay
16. Norman Brown- The Highest Act of Love
17. Jan Kraybill- The Orchestral Organ
18. Kevin Morby- Oh My God
19. The Greeting Committee- I’m Afraid I’m Not Angry
20. Julian Vaughn- Supreme

21. Merlin- The Mortal
22. A’Sean- One Big Happy Family
23. The Kansas City Chorale- Artifacts: The Music of Michael McGlynn
24. Le Grand- Plastic Jazz
25. Calvin Arsenia- LA Sessions


Favorite Songs by Kansas City Artists
Spotify playlist
1. Keaton Conrad- “What Am I Supposed to Do?”
2. Drugs and Attics- “Dad Party”
3. Samantha Fish- “Love Letters”
4. The Sextet- “To Be Determined”
5. Heather Newman- “Rise From the Flames”
6. Pat Metheny- “America Undefined”
7. Reggie B and the Popper- “Not Funky”
8. Sara Morgan- “Church in a Bar”
9. Tech N9ne- “Like I Ain’t”
10. The Sluts- “Break Their Heart”

11. Ubi- “Gameshow”
12. Norman Brown- “Free”
13. The Get Up Kids- “The Problem Is Me”
14. Stik Figa- “More or Less”
15. The Freedom Affair- “Rise Up”
16. Matt Villinger- “Shot Roulette”
17. Godemis- “Eye Zkreem”
18. Making Movies- “Accidente”
19. Puddle of Mudd- “Uh Oh”
20. Brody Buster’s One Man Band- “Week Long”

21. JL and Joey Cool- “That’s Him”
22. Drop Dead XX- “Betty Ford”
23. The Creepy Jingles- “Atom & Evolution”
24. Nick Schnebelen- “Crazy All By Myself”
25. Other Americans- “Neon Sunrise”


Favorite Performances by Kansas City Artists
1. Logan Richardson’s Blues People- Capsule
2. The Greeting Committee- West Bottoms (Boulevardia)
3. The Sextet- RecordBar
4. Ensemble Ibérica- MTH Theater
5. My Brothers & Sisters- The Brick (Crossroads Music Fest)
6. Bobby Watson & Horizon- White Recital Hall
7. Jerry Hahn and Danny Embrey- Recital Hall at the Carlsen Center
8. Making Movies- KC Live
9. Heather Newman- Legacy Park Amphitheater
10. Doubledrag- Riot Room

11. Matt Otto Quartet- Black Dolphin
12. The Kansas City Symphony- Helzberg Hall
13. Una Walkenhorst- Songbird Cafe (Middle of the Map Fest)
14. Ben Tervort’s Classically Trained- Westport Coffee House
15. Rod Fleeman and Gerald Spaits- Green Lady Lounge
16. Brian Scarborough Quintet- RecordBar
17. Tech N9ne- KC Live (StrangeFest)
18. Soul Revival- Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
19. Peter Schlamb Trio- Capsule
20. Guitar Elation- Green Lady Lounge

21. Midwest Chamber Ensemble- Lutheran Church of the Resurrection
22. ARQuesta Del SolSoul- RecordBar
23. Katy Guillen’s Womanish Girl- The Brick (Middle of the Map Fest)
24. Black Creatures- West Bottoms (Boulevardia)
25. Jason Vivone & the Billy Bats- PorchFestKC

(Original image of the Matt Otto Quartet at Black Dolphin by There Stands the Glass.)

November Recap

Top Five Performances
1. Logan Richardson’s Blues People- Capsule
My review.
2. Wilco- Midland theater
My review.
3. Lana Del Rey- Uptown Theater
My review.
4. Bobby Watson & Horizon- White Recital Hall
My review.
5. Doubledrag- Riot Room
My review.

Top Five Albums
1. Miranda Lambert- Wildcard
My review.
2. Matt Villinger- All Day
My review.
3. Brother Ali- Secrets & Escapes
My review.
4. Terri Lyne Carrington- Waiting Game
Dreams and Desperate Measures, the 42-minute suite that concludes the contentious album, is perfect.
5. Cecilia Bartoli- Farinelli
Baroque bops.

Top Five Songs
1. José James with Ledisi and Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah- “I Need Your Love”
The collaboration of my dreams.
2. Earl Sweatshirt- “East”
West of the moon.
3. Norah Jones featuring Tarriona Tank Ball- “Playing Along”
I knew she had it in her.
4. Atmosphere- “Bde Maka Ska”
Slug takes the plunge.
5. Michael Kiwanuka- “Living in Denial”
Haunting throwback soul.

I conducted the same exercise in October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February and January.

(Original image of Wilco by There Stands the Glass.)

A New Age for New Age

A conversation I overheard during the intermission of Max Richter’s concert in Austin last month provided insights into the revival of dreamy new age music.  Describing the unobtrusive background music he listened to at work, a painfully fashionable twenty-something said “just give me a cello and a tinkling piano and I’m good.”

That guy probably accounts for some of the more than three million Spotify streams of “Staircase Sonata”.  The tranquil ditty is a standout track on Absent Minded, the debut album of the young Icelandic pianist Gabríel Ólafs.  It’s among the dozens of recent releases that fall somewhere between the effervescent work of George Winston and Brian Eno’s innovative sonic wallpaper.

Is Absent Minded shallow new age noodling or weighty ambient music?  I’m not sure it matters.  As someone who worked at a record store during the height of the Windham Hill era in the 1980s, I never derided the middle-aged people who were desperately eager to purchase therapeutic sounds.  I rightly suspected that I’d eventually come to understand their need for aural consolation.


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I write weekly concert recommendations for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed Matt Villinger’s All Day at Plastic Sax.

(Original image of Iceland by the spouse of There Stands the Glass.)

This Is a God Dream: Music Midway in 2016

I’ll share my enthusiasm for the best music released so far in 2016 on KCUR’s Up To Date program on Friday, June 17.  The following lists of my favorite albums, songs and performances will provide my detractors with fresh ammunition.  I hope that that everyone else will make a few gratifying discoveries.


Top Albums
Even though it’s Kanye West’s weakest album, The Life of Pablo is a revelation.  (Spotify playlist.)

1. Kanye West- The Life of Pablo
2. Chance the Rapper- Coloring Book
3. David Murray, Geri Allen and Terri Lyne Carrington- Perfection
4. Logan Richardson- Shift
5. Savages- Adore Life
6. Hélène Grimaud- Water
7. David Bowie- Blackstar
8. Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom- Otis Was a Polar Bear
9. Walker Family Singers- Panola County Spirit
10. Kendrick Lamar- Untitled Unmastered

11. Willie Nelson- Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin
12. Exmortus- Drive Forth
13. Adrian Younge- Something About April II
14. Volbeat- Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie
15. Céu- Tropix
16. Pat Metheny Unity Band- The Unity Sessions
17. Charles Lloyd & the Marvels- I Long To See You
18. Lecrae- Church Clothes 3
19. Conflicts- The North Slope
20. A$AP Ferg- Always Strive and Prosper

21. Anthony Hamilton- What I’m Feelin’
22. BJ the Chicago Kid- In My Mind
23. Psychic Heat- Sunshower
24. Babymetal- Metal Resistance
25. Kevin Gates- Islah


Top Songs
Chance Bennett has been reading my mind.  (Spotify playlist.)

1. Chance the Rapper- “Same Drugs”
2. Anderson Paak- “Come Down”
3. Parker Millsap- “Heaven Sent”
4. Kanye West- “Ultralight Beam”
5. Tedeschi Trucks Band- “Anyhow”
6. BJ the Chicago Kid- “Church”
7. Agoraphobic Nosebleed- “Not a Daughter”
8. Krizz Kaliko- “Didn’t Wanna Wake You”
9. Boosie Badazz- “Cancer”
10. Steve Gunn- “Ancient Jules”

11. Anthony Hamilton- “Ain’t No Shame”
12. A$AP Ferg- “Strive”
13. Regina Belle- “He’s Alright”
14. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis- “Bolo Tie”
15. Mount Moriah- “Precita”
16. Deftones- “Doomed User”
17. Margo Price- “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)”
18. Rihanna- “Love On the Brain”
19. Keys N Krates featuring Ouici- “Love Again”
20. The Philistines- “Radiation Drive”

21. French Montana, Kanye West and Nas- “Figure It Out”
22. Kvelertak- “1985”
23. Carrie Rodriguez- “Z”
24. Sturgill Simpson- “Breakers Roar”
25. Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal- “Parts of a Man”


Top Shows
I've attended about 200 individual performances since January 1.

1. Lee Fields and the Expressions- The Granada
2. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band- Sprint Center
3. Exmortus- Aftershock
4. Florence + The Machine- Providence Medical Amphitheater
5. Tortoise- The Granada
6. The Who- Sprint Center
7. Lamb of God- The Midland
8. Christian McBride Trio- Folly Theater
9. Goddamn Gallows- Riot Room patio
10. Be/Non- Scottish Rite Temple

11. Maarja Nuut- Westin Kansas City at Crown Center
12. Tedeschi Trucks Band- The Midland
13.  Logan Richardson- Blue Room
14.  Dwight Yoakam- Uptown Theater
15.  UFO- VooDoo
16.  Pablo Ziegler and the Quartet for New Tango- Polsky Theatre
17.  Les Arts Florissant- Helzberg Hall
18.  Fantasia- Starlight Theatre
19.  Roy Ayers- Blue Room
20. Matt Villinger- Orion Room at the Green Lady Lounge

21. Ebony Tusks- The Midland
22. Avant- Uptown Theater
23. Group of the Altos- The Brick
24. Midori with the Kansas City Symphony- Helzberg Hall
25. R. Kelly- Sprint Center

Top Five Opening Acts
1. A$AP Ferg, for G-Eazy- The Midland
2. Tombs, for 1349- Riot Room
3. Deafheaven, for Lamb of God- The Midland
4. OMD, for Barenaked Ladies- Starlight Theatre
5. Elle King, for Vance Joy- The Midland

(Original image of my 38th favorite performance of 2016- the Calamity Cubes at the Riot Room patio- by There Stands the Glass.)

Hi, How Are You?

The second season of the Amazon series Transparent traumatized me.  It’s not the show’s primary theme of malleable gender identity that rattled my nerves.  A straight male character named Josh Pfefferman induced unwelcome flashbacks to the years I spent as a music distribution sales rep.  Josh, a self-centered weasel who intends to launch a record label, closely resembles a subset of men I once dealt with every day.  Listening to entitled guys almost exactly like Josh demand that albums by developing acts like the fictional folk-pop band Fussy Puss be stocked on shelves of Wal-Mart was the bane of my existence. 


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I reviewed Tech N9ne’s sold-out concert at the Midland theater.

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I reviewed Todd Rundgren’s return to the VooDoo.

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In what may most be my most subversive act of the year, I played punk rock (Radkey), jazz (Matt Villinger), rap (Tech N9ne), hip-hop (Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment), R&B (Jill Scott) and pop (Rihanna) during my guest appearance on the AAA station 90.9 The Bridge last week.  You can stream or download a podcast version of my misbehavior here.  I suppose I owe the staff and the listeners of the non-commercial radio station an apology.

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Scott Weiland died last week.  I ranked the reunited Stone Temple Pilots’ headlining appearance at the 2008 edition of Rockfest as one of the best concerts of the decade.  I also reviewed the first concert of Weiland’s 2009 solo tour.  The buzz in advance of that show was extremely negative but Weiland was great that night.

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Four of the top five releases in No Depression’s year-end reader’s poll have black-and-white or sepia-toned album covers.

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Jon Benjamin Well, I Should Have…* is amusing for about five minutes.  The premise- a comedian plays piano with a legit jazz band- gets old in a hurry.  The trailer is funnier than the album.

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I’m not the least bit embarrassed to admit that I’m partial to Buckcherry’s sleaze-rock.  Rock 'n' Roll is RIYL: Kiss, STDs, Aerosmith circa ‘76.  Here’s ”Tight Pants”.

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The recent reissue of Gloria Ann Taylor material doesn’t live up to the hype.  RIYL: psych guitar noodling, Big Brother and the Holding Company, forced vocals.

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Much of Van Hunt’s murky The Fun Rises, The Fun Sets makes even the biggest disappointments of Sly Stone and Prince seem competent.

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Archy Marshall’s A New Place 2 Drown is RIYL: Young Fathers, gloom, King Krule.

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Cam’s Untamed is acceptable mainstream country.  RIYL: Miranda Lambert, Nashville, Sunny Sweeney.  Here’s ”Burning House.

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The use of an accordion in an experimental jazz context sounds entirely natural to me on Old Time Musketry’s Drifter.

(Original image of Daniel Johnston-inspired graffiti by There Stands the Glass.)

Song For Sisyphus: A Remembrance of Phil Woods

Phil Woods was the first angry jazz musician I encountered.  He certainly wasn’t the last.

I recall being titillated by the rage Woods unleashed on impolite people on blankets and in lawn chairs at a free concert sponsored by Kansas City, Missouri, in the mid-’70s. 

I’d never seen a performer act like that. 

As a kid who managed to talk a parent who didn’t have any interest in jazz into driving him to the show (I recall that it was near our home north of the river), I didn’t have much context for what I was witnessing.  But I could tell that it was good.

I was riveted. 

In hindsight, it’s clear to me that Woods’ fiery outing and a free concert by the elegant Roland Hanna at Crown Center in the same time period ignited my tempestuous obsession with jazz.

An appearance at the Folly Theater in 2012 was the last of several times I saw Woods.  I admit to crying in my review of his bittersweet performance.  Woods died on September 29.


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I reviewed the Grisly Hand’s new Flesh & Blood album for KCUR.

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I reviewed a Zappa Plays Zappa concert.

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I wrote an extended preview about KC Psych Fest for Ink magazine.

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

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My review of Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle’s Live in Kansas City album is on page 27 of the October issue of JAM magazine.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment about Mark Lowrey to KCUR.

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I reviewed Matt Villinger’s All Night at Plastic Sax.

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Kansas City’s music nerds have been posting fond recollections about the RecordBar in response to the venue’s tenth anniversary and pending relocation.  One friend claims to have taken in more than 700 performances at the RecordBar.  I don’t keep meticulous records; my number is probably around 225.  I haven’t appreciated everything I’ve seen in the room.  For instance, I detested Mumford & Sons when I caught the soon-to-be-massive band in the club in 2010.  Here are my ten favorite performances at the RecordBar:  Nikka Costa (2006), The National (2005), The People’s Liberation Big Band (2012), V.V. Brown (2010), Marijuana Deathsquads (2014), Mission of Burma (2012), Peter Schlamb’s Electric Tinks (2015), American Music Club (2008), Blind Pilot (2009) and Helmet (2015).

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The Buhs created a representative promotional video.

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Wilton Felder of the Crusaders has died.

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Pop quiz: which two artists have had two #1 albums on Billboard’s Top 200 chart in 2015?  Why, it’s D---e and Future, of course.  As I detailed in my notes about his 2013 concert at the Sprint Center, I loathe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  Even so, I have to admit that I enjoy much of his latest chart-topper What a Time To Be Alive. 

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I admire Ron Carter’s big band album My Personal Songbook.  Note that I didn’t say I liked it.  RIYL: Oliver Nelson, swangin’, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

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I recently discovered The Milken Archive, "the largest collection of American Jewish music ever assembled."  I’ve heard almost none it, an oversight I intend to rectify.

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Children of the Light features Wayne Shorter’s band without their leader.  The trio of Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade is in top form.

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A recent appearance in Olathe reminded me that Shemekia Copeland is really smart.  That’s partly why I can’t help but think that she’s patronizing the blues audience on Outskirts of Love.  I like it anyway.

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Evan Parker performed in St. Louis last week.  There’s not an audience for the British free jazz artist in Kansas City.  Ninth Square, Parker’s new album with Joe Morris and Nate Wooley, is RIYL: skronking, Sonny Sharrock, screeching.

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I’d been looking forward to the release of the New Mastersounds’ Made For Pleasure, but now that it’s here I’m just not feeling it.  RIYL: St. Paul & the Broken Bones, nice tries, the Budos Band.

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I can’t resist the cheap nostalgia of Graveyard’s Innocence & Decadence.  RIYL: Thin Lizzy, 1975, UFO.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)