Puttin' On the Ritz

A base in Greenwich Village on a recent trip to New York City altered my perspective of the ostensible artistic and economic capital of the world.  Aside from the omnipresent scent of urine, there was nothing I didn’t like about the neighborhood (not that I could afford even the least expensive items in many of the rarified shops.)  Finding the willpower to sleep when renowned jazz clubs were within a 15-minute walk was a real challenge.

I didn’t catch Bill Charlap this time around, but the sophisticated tone of the pianist’s new album Uptown, Downtown with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington reflects the urbane ambiance I encountered at tony venues including the Blue Note.  (Here's my footage of a fancy Eddie Palmieri show.)

The host at Mezzrow may have mistaken me for David Lynch when he positioned me at a prime table for a solo concert by Sullivan Fortner even though I was wearing a ratty t-shirt.  I felt like I was at the top of the world as people decked out for fashion shoots and residents of luxury condos envied my spot within arm’s reach of the engaging young pianist.


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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I laud the Black Dolphin at Plastic Sax.

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Don Williams has died.

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Hüsker Dü was one of my favorite bands in the mid-’80s.  Grant Hart’s warm songs provided vital balance on classic albums like Flip Your Wig.  Hart died Wednesday.

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Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry died last week.  Montgomery Gentry headlined a concert at Providence Medical Center Amphitheater in Bonner Springs a few weeks ago.

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I caught Sheer Mag at Kaiju in Louisville last week.

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Hearing Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal” on KSHE while driving through St. Louis this week made me giddy, but played-out tracks by Jefferson Starship, Pink Floyd Cheap Trick, Tom Petty and Yes just made me sad.

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Instant Karma’s Trying To Find My Mind is RIYL the Pretty Things, Kansas City garage-rock bands, Wreckless Eric.

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Van Hunt’s terrific Popular acts as an accidental Prince tribute.

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Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real’s self-titled release  is a fine outlaw country-ish album.  RIYL: the Grateful Dead, legacies, Sturgill Simpson.

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I admire Matt Wilson’s Honey and Salt: Music Inspired by the Poetry of Carl Sandburg, but I don’t necessarily like it.  RIYL: Ken Nordine, beatniks, Lord Buckley.

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A pithy jam band?  That’s the premise of Hard Working Americans.  We’re All In This Together is RIYL Todd Snider, barroom blues, Widespread Panic.  Here’s the title track.

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In much the same way I crave junk food, I derive enormous pleasure from Playboi Carti’s self-titled mixtape. Here’s “New Choppa”.

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Much of Living Colour’s Shade is stunning.  Here’s the band’s cover of “Who Shot Ya?”

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My lack of enthusiasm for Malija’s Instinct is further proof that I’m not automatically in the tank for every highly-touted Euro-jazz album.  RIYL: Paul Desmond, cold handshakes, Phronesis.

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Mike Stern Trip is an appealing time machine.  RIYL: the Brecker Brothers, jazz fusion circa 1980, We Want Miles.

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Krystian Zimerman’s Franz Schubert: Piano Sonatas has helped to center me in recent days.

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Antibalas’ Where the Gods Are in Peace is more of the same.  That’s a good thing.  RIYL Fela, celestial jams, Lettuce.

(Original image 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.)