Percy Sledge, 1940-2015

Tears come easily for me.  Music often acts as the trigger, and classic R&B voices get me almost every time.  I just cued up Percy Sledge’s out-of-print 1994 album Blue Night and was immediately overcome by emotion.  Listen for yourself.  Damn.  Sledge died last week.


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I reviewed Lil Boosie’s wack concert at the Midland.

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I reviewed a solid concert by Sixx:A.M. and Apocalyptica.

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I reviewed Matt Kane & the Kansas City Generations Sextet’s Acknowledgement at Plastic Sax.

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I didn’t know about Tony Bennett’s secret weapon until I first saw Ralph Sharon perform with the vocalist in the 1990s.  Sharon died on March 31.

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Johnny Kemp has died.

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After years of conjecture, a collaboration between Tech N9ne and Eminem has been released.

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Todd Clouser’s Chant is RIYL: Allen Ginsberg, beatniks, John Trudell.  Clouser created a video for “You the Brave.”

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Lila Downs’ Balas y Chocolate is a lot of fun.  RIYL: Vicente Fernández, parties, Kinky. 

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Tyler, the Creator’’s Cherry Bomb is much better than I anticipated.  And yes, “Smuckers” is the hip-hop event of the year.

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Kenny Lattimore’s Anatomy of a Love Song is RIYL: Luther Vandross, classic R&B, Marvin Gaye.  Here’s the video for “Love Me Back.”

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The-Dream’s silky Crown is RIYL: Michael Jackson, radio playlists, Future.

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Beethoven, Period, a collaboration between Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O’Riley, is my default work soundtrack.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Love Never Felt So Good: Music Midway in 2014

Top Shows of 2014
When I look at the list of my favorite live performances of the first six months of 2014, I'm certain that I'm one of the most fortunate people on the planet.

1. Bettye LaVette- Knuckleheads
2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- Midland theater
3. Pat Metheny Unity Group- Topeka Performing Arts Center
4. Marijuana Deathsquads- RecordBar
5. Kraftwerk- Sony Centre (Toronto)
6. Tony Bennett- Muriel Kauffman Theatre
7. Pharaoh Sanders- Blues Alley (Washington D.C.)
8. Nicola Benedetti- Folly Theater
9. Wolf Eyes- Riot Room patio
10. Pusha T- Midland theater

11. Suicidal Tendencies- Uptown Theater
12. Thy Art Is Murder- Aftershock
13. Regina Carter- Helzberg Hall
14. John Cale- Lawrence Arts Center
15. St. Vincent- Liberty Hall
16. Ladysmith Black Mambazo- Liberty Hall
17. Fitz & the Tantrums- KC Live
18. Allen Toussaint- Folly Theater
19. Black Label Society- Penn Valley Park
20. Bahia Orchestra Project- Helzberg Hall

21. Maze- Municipal Auditorium
22. Brad Mehldau Trio- Folly Theater
23. Jaleel Shaw with the Jeff Harshbarger Trio- Take Five Coffee + Bar
24. Brendan Kinsella- Grant Recital Hall
25. John Scofield- Folly Theater 

Top 50 Albums
Few things provide me with a bigger thrill than listening to an album for the first time.  Digital streaming, consequently, has been a godsend.  I've already listened to 234 new releases in their entirety in 2014.  My 50 favorites are listed below.  Here's a corresponding Spotify playlist.

1. St. Vincent- St. Vincent
2. Kris Bowers- Heroes + Misfits
3. Da Cruz- Disco e Progresso
4. Toni Braxton and Babyface- Love, Marriage & Divorce
5. Kelis- Food
6. Young Fathers- Dead
7. Danilo Pérez- Panama 500
8. Down- Down IV: Part II
9. Ambrose Akinmusire- The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint
10. Joyce Yang- Wild Dreams

11. Rick Ross- Mastermind
12. Drive-By Truckers- English Oceans
13. F*cked Up- Glass Boys
14. Takuya Kuroda- Rising Son
15. Skating Polly- Steilacoom
16. Ledisi- The Truth
17. Guided By Voices- Motivational Jumpsuit
18. Vampire- Vampire
19. Souljazz Orchestra- Inner Fire
20. Bohren & Der Club of Gore- Piano Nights

21. Against Me!- Transgender Dysphoria Blues
22. José James- While You Were Sleeping
23. Coltsblood- Into the Unfathomable Abyss
24. Jason Eady- Daylight & Dark
25. Juilliard String Quartet- Elliott Carter: The Five String Quartets
26. Angelique Kidjo- Eve
27. Regina Carter- Southern Comforts
28. The Pretty Reckless- Going To Hell
29. Perfect Pussy- Say Yes To Love
30. Leon Russell- Life Journey

31. De La Tierra- De La Tierra
32. Simone Dinnerstein- Bach: Inventions & Sinfonias
33. Pharoahe Monch- Post Tramatic Stress Disorder
34. Pat Metheny Unity Group- Kin
35. Future- Honest
36. Jack White- Lazaretto
37. Joshua Redman- Trios Live
38. Stephen Malkmus- Wig Out at Jagbags
39. Tech N9ne- Strangeulation
40. The War On Drugs- Lost In the Dream

41. Ume- Monuments
42. Bixiga 70- Ocupai
43. Diverse- Our Journey
44. Mike Dillon- Band of Outsiders
45. Lord Mantis- Death Mask
46. Michael Jackson- Xscape
47. Beck- Morning Phase
48. My Brothers & Sisters- Violet Music, Vol. 1
49. Zara McFarlane- If You Knew Her
50. Pharrell Williams- Girl

Reissues, Compilations and Soundtracks
1. Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978
2. The Sound of Siam, Volume 2- Molam & Luk Thung Isan from North-East Thailand 1970-1982
3. Miles Davis- Miles at The Fillmore: Miles Davis: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 3
4. Wheedle's Groove: Seattle's Finest In Funk & Soul 1965-75
5. Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton (soundtrack)

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Aloe Blacc- Lift Your Spirit

It happened as I watched the NFL draft earlier this month.  "I'm the Man," the ubiquitous hit by Aloe Blacc, was used as bumper music during the broadcast.  Already weary of the song, I began to actively loathe "I'm the Man." 

Burnout was inevitable.  The song's blockbuster potential was immediately apparent when it popped up in December.  But what about the rest of Blacc's album Lift Your Spirit?

Well, it's more of the same.  The third track is a version of "Wake Me Up," the inescapable Avicii hit featuring Blacc's vocal.  The shameless hooks of "Here Today" and "Can You Do This" make the biggest hits of One Direction and Ariana Grande seem likes studies in subtlety.

"Owe It All," the closing track that sounds like a late period gem by the Four Tops, is one of two or three selections that successfully seduced me.  I have little doubt that several additional songs will win me over when I see Blacc perform.

I have nothing against blatantly commercial music, but Lift Your Spirit resembles a collection of expertly crafted advertising jingles.


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I reviewed Tony Bennett's concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on Friday.

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Sunstroke?  I saw ghosts at Union Station yesterday.

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My Brothers & Sisters' "How To Move What To Wear" was my pick of the week for KCUR's Local Listen segment.  It's my favorite song from the band's Violet Music: Volume One album.

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Metatone's video for "When the Dreams Come" is excellent.

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The trailer for a 1974 music festival in Sedalia is hilarious.

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A recent edition of Barry Lee's Signal To Noise program on KKFI featured music from the collection of the late Anne Winter.  (Via Tim Finn.)

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Herb Jeffries, "the bronze buckaroo," has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Motivational Jumpsuit, the latest outburst from Guided By Voices, is unaccountably excellent.  RIYL: Rubber Soul, weirdos, Robyn Hitchcock.

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Medeski Martin & Wood's collaboration with Nels Cline on The Woodstock Sessions, Vol. 2 contains plenty of fine skronk, funk and noodling. Here's a track.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)