Concert Review: Lawrence Brownlee and Eric Owens at the Folly Theater

Lawrence Brownlee’s powerful singing and enthralling emoting impressed me as I sat in the rear balcony of Carnegie Hall two years ago.  When I discovered that I could secure front row seats for my cousin’s April 6 show at the Folly Theater at an 80% discount, I jumped at the deal offered by the Harriman-Jewell series.  I was rewarded for my nominal investment with my favorite show of 2017 to date.  Yet it was Brownlee’s fellow opera star Eric Owens who I most appreciated during the program of arias, Great American Songbook tunes and gospel selections.  Less flashy but more stirring than Brownlee, Owens reduced me to tears as he delivered “Give Me Jesus.”  Jovial duets on uptempo selections like the ridiculous “Dolores” caused my face to ache from smiling so strenuously.  Libby Hanssen reviewed the concert for The Kansas City Star.


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I reviewed Kris Kristofferson’s return to the Uptown Theater for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed Judah & the Lion’s concert at the Uptown Theater for The Kansas City Star.

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I wrote extended concert previews about Radiohead and Chris Brown for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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My latest rounds of weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine are here and here.

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I recently designated Second Hand King and Katy Guillen & the Girls KCUR’s Band of the Week.

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Donny McCaslin floored me at the Folly Theater on Friday.  My notes are at Plastic Sax.

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I did some work with Lonnie Brooks in the 1990s.  The Chicago blues artist was a warm, generous man.  Brooks died last week.

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Until I read his obituaries, I didn’t know that Arthur Blythe was married to the one-time Kansas City based vocalist and actress Queen Bey.

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“I took my roof off at the red light!”  I’m not too proud to admit that I can’t get enough of Rick Ross’ noxious Rather You Than Me.  Here’s ”Trap Trap Trap”.

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I ordinarily don’t have much patience for newly recorded mainstream jazz albums.  Heads of State’s All in One is an exception.  The septuagenarian saxophonist Gary Bartz is in top form.

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Raekwon’s The Wild may be the strongest album by a Wu-Tang Clan member other than Ghostface of the last five years.  Here’s ”This Is What It Comes To”.

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F*cked Up’s “Year of the Snake” has restored my faith in 23-minute songs.  RIYL: MC5, kicking out the jams, Dwarves.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Paolo Nutini at Knuckleheads

Sometimes you get what you pay for.

I jumped at the chance to catch a free show by the male version of Adele at one of my favorite venues on Saturday. 

Realizing that the room housing the primary indoor stage would reach capacity quickly, I showed up at Knuckleheads 75 minutes early.  As Paolo Nutini and his band conducted a sound check, I waited in line outside with a couple hundred shivering people.  I was the only member of the queue without a canned food donation.  The event was apparently promoted by 90.9 The Bridge as a charitable benefit, but I rarely listen to the station.

After buying a PBR man-can for $3.50, I secured a seat at the back of the room and immediately sensed trouble.  Everyone around me was in the celebratory mood associated with holiday weekends.  No one was talking about Nutini.

Sure enough, half of the people in attendance didn't even acknowledge Nutini and his band when the 55-minute show began.  After 15 minutes of not being able to make out individual songs, I fought my way to the front.  A generous friend found room for me at a prime table 20 feet from the stage.  I still couldn't hear. 

I sensed that  Nutini's sound crew created a lush mix that would have been ideal if no one was talking.  Yet chatter overwhelmed the music.  Two bros squeezed next to me were talking about "locking down" women, whatever that means.

While I couldn't make out individual instrumentation, Nutini's voice occasionally rose above the din.  His recordings don't lie.  Nutini is a superb singer who has staked out a prime territory between Otis Redding and Maxwell.

At least, that's what I think I heard.


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I reviewed Slipknot's return to the Sprint Center.

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I list the Top Jazz Albums of 2014 at Plastic Sax.

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Ensemble Ibérica is releasing a new album next week.

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Teddy Dibble conducts a show-and-tell with the face-themed album art in his vinyl collection.

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Ottomans, the new album by Hidden Pictures, was released today.   RIYL: Crowded House, smart pop, OK Jones.

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Bobby Keys has died.  I have a vague recollection of once seeing him perform as a member of Johnny Copeland's band.  Is that possible?

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"Elvis Presley Blvd" is the best song on Rick Ross' entertaining Hood Billionaire.

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I finally got around to listening to Eric Church's The Outsiders.  Like the little girl with the curl, when it's good, it's very, very good, but when it's bad, it's horrid.

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How did I overlook Broken Ankles, the 2014 collaboration between Freeway and Girl Talk?  "Lived It" is excellent.

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The Art of Conversation, the highly praised duet album by Kenny Barron and Dave Holland, is exquisite.  RIYL: tony clubs, New York City, elegance.

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I'm not feeling De La Soul's new song "The People".

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Syleena Johnson's Chapter 6: Couples Therapy is RIYL: Lalah Hathaway, heartache, Jill Scott.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Brendan Kinsella at Grant Hall

After playing a rendition of Frederic Rzewiski's thorny "The People United Will Never Be Defeated" that lasted for exactly one hour, Brendan Kinsella returned for an encore at Grant Hall on Monday.

"One more time," he joked.

I laughed along with the rest of the audience of about 50.  Funny thing, though- I would have stuck around for another 60 minutes to hear it again.  Kinsella's piano recital was a test of endurance.  And I won.

Kinsella sold me on Rzewiski's political statement, a work I'd never heard.  He also played an additional set of variations by Bach and Justin Writer.


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I reviewed Wednesday's Kings of Leon and Gary Clark, Jr. concert.

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My thoughts on the first volume of Stanley Crouch's biography of Charlie Parker are published at Plastic Sax.

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Charles Love of the Kansas City band Bloodstone has died.  Our paths crossed several times.  He was an old-school gentleman.  Here's a video montage that focuses on his final years.  And I'm still astounded that Bloodstone starred in the film Train Ride To Hollywood.

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Korn is the headliner of the 2014 edition of Rockfest.

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The latest episode of the KC Cypher series gets off to a rough start.  It doesn't get much better.  KD is the best of a sorry bunch.

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Shy Boys released a video for "And I Am Nervous".

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Former Kansas City resident Steve Cardenas is doing really interesting things as a member of Ben Allison's band.  RIYL: Jim Hall, the new thing, John Abercrombie.

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Teddy Dibble has a lot going on online.  Start here, here or here.   (Tip via There Stands the Glass reader Phil.)

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Phil also turned me on to Harold Ousley's obviously seminal "Uncle Funky" from the 1972 album Sweet Double Hipness.

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Well, this is embarrassing.  I'm smitten by Rick Ross' patently offensive new album Mastermind.  The fact that his relentless boasting, sexism and homophobia don't become tiresome makes me question my self esteem.  "Sanctified" features Big Sean, Kanye West and Betty Wright.

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I feel as if I'm the only fan of contemporary hip-hop who's not down with Schoolboy Q.  At its best, the new album Oxymoron resembles a poor man's version of Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city.  At its worst, it sounds like an anemic Odd Future spinoff.  Here's "Break the Bank".

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Kris Bowers' Heroes + Misfits is the kind of album I dream about.  RIYL: Esperanza Spalding, the ideal balance of jazz and R&B, José James.

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"You wanna see a dead body?"  I championed Pusha T's "Numbers On the Boards" last year.  I still love the song, but "Nosetalgia", Pusha T's collaboration with Kendrick Lamar, may be the single best track released in 2013.

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Here's a bracing new rendition of Cursive's "A Gentleman Caller".

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Regina Carter's impeccable Southern Comfort is RIYL: Mark O'Connor, NPR bumper music, Bela Fleck.

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Ume realizes its potential on Monuments.  RIYL: Deafheaven, metallic shards, Joy Formidable.

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The way the lineup of the Big Blues Bender festival is listed reveals just how far the fortunes of a few former stars of the genre have fallen.

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I've publicly denounced modern blues in this space, so my endorsement of Damon Fowler's Sounds of Home  may send shock waves through the There Stands the Glass community.  RIYL: Dickey Betts, alcohol, Little Feat.

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Shirazette Tinnin's Humility: Purity of My Soul is a mixed bag for fans of adventurous R&B-inflected jazz.  Her drumming is great, but the occasionally wacky vocals are a deal-breaker.  RIYL: Tia Fuller, the new freshness, Stevie Wonder.

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Holy Out to Lunch!  Matt Bauder's Nightshades is very nice.  RIYL: Eric Dolphy, 1966 rebooted, Joe Henderson.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)