Everybody’s Got a Bomb

I went from pariah to popular kid in my college dorm hours after acquiring 1999 on October 27, 1982.  Few of my peers appreciated my compulsion to blast current albums- the Clash’s Combat Rock, the Gap Band’s IV and Steel Pulse’s True Democracy were in heavy rotation- at the start of the fall semester.  Prince’s instant classic made my cinderblock room with the dorm’s loudest stereo a hub for teenagers of multiple races, nationalities and sexual orientations.  Everyone loved 1999.

Wading through the five-hour-and-53-minute sprawl of the new Super Deluxe Edition of 1999 incites déjà vu.  We’d listen to all four sides of the album for hours on end during weekend dorm parties.  The bacchanal genius would have approved of the D.M.S.R. he instigated.

Almost all contemporary pop music contains echoes of 1999, so it’s difficult to appreciate how bracingly innovative Prince’s unifying funk sounded 37 years ago.  I’ve been startled anew by the freshness of a few of the tracks on the box set.  For instance, “Purple Music” sounds like Thundercat’s next single.  I’ve long believed Fulfillingness’ First Finale was the album that had the most profound impact on my life.  It’s time to amend that declaration.  If Stevie Wonder informed my childhood, Prince redirected my second decade with 1999.


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My latest concert previews for The Kansas City Star include shows by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Kitten.

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I was put on the hot seat by Steve Kraske for 30 excruciating minutes on KCUR’s Up To Date.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Rich the Factor- 1,000 (Keep It Ten Hunnid)

As millions of Jay-Z fans parsed 4:44 over the weekend, heedful Kansas Citians studied Rich the Factor’s latest missive.  1,000 (Keep It Ten Hunnid) is another essential document of Kansas City’s criminal underworld.  The album validates the assertions I made in an extensive examination of Rich published by KCUR last year.  The title track includes a statement of purpose: “Rich, why you rap about the drug life? I’m like Pac when he rapped about thug life.”  He notes that “I handle business on the late night and keep my grass cut low for the snake bites” on “Late Night.”  The production continues to reference ‘80s and ‘90s R&B.  “On the Grit” samples the 1990 hit After 7 “Ready or Not,” a sentiment that reflects Rich’s unrepentant grind.


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I reviewed Bruce Hornsby’s appearance at Knuckleheads last Thursday.

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I accorded the Philistines my KCUR Band of the Week designation.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I consider reactions to the American Jazz Museum’s negative publicity at Plastic Sax.

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Pianist Geri Allen has died.  Perfection, her collaboration with David Murray and Terri Lyne Carrington, was my #9 album of 2016.

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A perplexing eight-minute documentary on the creation of Bargou ‘08’s wonderful Targ in Algeria raises more questions than it answers.

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I embrace the glorious pop of Calvin Harris’s Funk Wav Bounces without reservation or irony.  RIYL: Pharrell Williams, 2017, Future.

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Aruan Ortiz’s solo piano album Cub(an)ism is astounding.  RIYL: Cecil Taylor, truly new sounds, Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

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May the Purple Rain never stop falling.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Pop Life

Even though I acknowledged the awful news in April, I hadn’t shed a single tear over Prince’s death until last night.   The magnitude of the loss finally hit home as the There Stands the Glass favorite Bilal delivered a libidinous version “The Beautiful Ones” on the broadcast of the BET Awards.  By performing with lust rather than grief, Bilal’s effort was the only one of the many tributes I’ve seen in the last ten weeks that caused me to crack.


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I reviewed a free Public Enemy concert.

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I reviewed a concert by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

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I discussed the late Little Hatch and the return of the Kansas City Kansas Street Blues Festival on KCUR last week.

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I scrutinize a pet peeve at Plastic Sax.

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Ralph Stanley has died.  I last saw the pioneer at Starlight Theatre in 2002. 

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Chips Moman has died.

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Amjad Sabri was murdered.

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Freddy Powers has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns has died.

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Bernie Worrell has died.

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Katy Guillen & the Girls’ Heavy Days is RIYL: Mountain, boogie, Foghat.

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Dâm-Funk’s entry for the !Z7 label’s DJ-Kicks series is my jam.  George Clinton, DJ mix tapes, Reggie B.

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The New Breed, the new album by the Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker is RIYL: the Lounge Lizards, anti-jazz, Marc Ribot.

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DJ Shadow's The Mountain Will Fall doesn’t disappoint.  RIYL: possibilities, Pimp C, space.

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It seems quaint that albums like the Bill Charlap Trio’s Notes From New York are still being made.  I’m charmed in spite of myself.  RIYL: Barry Harris, anachronisms, Tommy Flanagan.

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YG’s Still Brazy is RIYL: Dr. Dre, 1993, Tha Dogg Pound.  Here’s ”Gimmie Got Shot”.

(Original image of Sheila E. by There Stands the Glass.)

Prince, 1958-2016

I wore out the grooves on all four sides of 1999 in the months following the release of the album.  It’s a tribute to the universal appeal of the music that none of the guys in my college dorm ever complained.

Such was the power of Prince.  He changed everything.

The six albums beginning with Dirty Mind and ending with Sign o’ the Times is one of the greatest strings of consecutive brilliant releases in pop music history.

In terms of altering both the musical and cultural landscapes, Prince’s feat is matched by only a handful of artists including the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Sly and the Family Stone and Kanye West.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

He Was a Friend of Mine

You don’t want to be my friend.

Four of my closest high school pals are dead.  I haven't spoken to a few others in years.  Maybe that’s why I reacted so poorly when a former classmate I’ve loved since the day we met in 1979 dropped a disheartening bomb on me during a break at last week’s appearance by Adam Lambert at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.

While I discussed the merits of Pentatonix with his child, my friend casually mentioned that it was the first live music event he’d attended since he accompanied me to a 2001 show by Prince at Municipal Auditorium.

I responded by inviting the girl to move into my home to escape her unsound living conditions.  What’s worse- my failure to insist that my friend join me at any given show during the past 14 years or his inability to maintain a balanced life?

Then again, maybe the joke’s on me.  While I’ve spent much of my adult life listening to loud music in dark rooms, my friend has become a successful attorney and a prominent community leader.

What have I done?


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I reviewed a concert by Adam Lambert and Pentatonix.

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I played songs by Samantha Fish, Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle, Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7, Kendrick Lamar, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Lila Downs during my appearance on KCUR’s Up To Date last week.  Here’s the podcast.

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

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I contribute weekly Local Listen segments to KCUR.

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I took notes at a performance by the Brian Scarborough Quintet at the Westport CoffeeHouse.

(Original image of Lemony Snicket at the Plaza Library by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Sturgill Simpson- Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

I'm skeptical when people who wouldn't know Ray Price from Luke Bryan rave about a country artist.  Having been raised on albums by Waylon, Willie and Kris, I take it personally when jokers subvert those sounds to amuse people who look down on the form.  That's why I avoided Sturgill Simpson's fashionable Metamodern Sounds in Country Music for months.  I'm finally willing to admit that it's really good.  With lyrics that could have been written by Jimmie Dale Gilmore and production modeled on Honky Tonk Heroes, the album sends me back to my smoke-filled childhood home.


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I reviewed the Zombie Pub Crawl.

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I participated in a discussion about Kansas City's jazz scene on KCUR's Central Standard last week.

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D/Will and Stik Figa made a video for "Work".

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Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar are at their best on "Never Catch Me".

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Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood is my favorite jam band.  Juice is RIYL: Garage a Trois, outdoor festivals, Umphrey's McGee.

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It really goes without saying, but Prince's messy new Art Official Age contains about 20 minutes of brilliance.  RIYL: Controversy, freaks, Sign o' the Times.

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Yelawolf's "Till It's Gone" is one of my favorite songs of 2014.  RIYL: Lindsey Buckingham, classic rock, Tech N9ne.

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Roni Size is back.  His new album Take Kontrol is RIYL: 1997, video game soundtracks, Orbital.

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Jazz can be a chore.  It took four sessions for me to work my way through Joris Roelof's Aliens Deliberating.  RIYL: Eric Dolphy, nails on chalkboards, Ned Rothenberg.

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Everclear's spoof of U2's partnership with Apple is perfect.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Bebo Valdés, 1918-2013

Bebo Valdés died yesterday in his adopted home of Stockholm.  The native Cuban had quite a life.  I've enjoyed Bebo Rides Again since its release in 1995.  The crystalline sound quality continues to astound me.  Yet I've come to prefer his scratchy pre-revolution recordings from the 1950s.  Hearing the life-affirming stuff causes me to wonder why I bother listening to anything else.


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I reviewed Jimmy Webb's outing at Knuckleheads last night.

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Jeneé Osterheldt wrote an excellent column about Ces Cru.

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Tim Finn tracked Radkey's activities at SXSW.

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The members of the Architects are soliciting funds for a forthcoming project.

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KJHK documented a performance by CS Luxem.

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Does anyone else remember spending hour after hour listening to bootlegs of Prince outtakes in the 1990s?  I'd forgotten about that frustrating exercise until I spent time with Inc.'s No World.

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Philip Glass shreds.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)