Review: Jack DeJohnette- Sound Travels

Jack DeJohnette will celebrate his seventieth birthday on August 9, 2012, and it seems as if he can get everything he asks for at this stage of his illustrious career. The credits of his new album Sound Travels read like a who's-who of today's top "jazz" artists. The list includes Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke, Jason Moran and Esperanza Spaulding. Bobby McFerrin also makes a (very nice) appearance. The only misstep is a jamband track featuring Bruce Hornsby. It's five minutes of pain on an otherwise exceptional album. Here's the EPK.


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I love scrutinizing the annual Pazz and Jop poll. Here's a short list of artists I overlooked in 2011: Matana Roberts! Wussy! Tombs! Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal! Random Axe! And I'm chagrined that my top album, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey's Race Riot Suite, isn't among the 1734 titles that received at least one tally. Am I the album's sole champion?

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ZZ Ward's "Better Off Dead" confounds me.

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I feel obligated to spend my time and money on the new Chick Corea/Eddie Gomez/Paul Motian tribute to Bill Evans. Here's the EPK.

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The KC Sound Collective- the act responsible for my favorite performance of 2011- is the subject of a nice introductory video.

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I recently discovered the Freedom Suite, a collaboration between Nnnenna Freelon and The Beast, at Bandcamp. (It's free.)

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Welcome to 2012.

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I'll consider the life of the late Johnny Otis next week at There Stands the Glass.

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Vizzy Zone.

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"We've got the songs- we don't have the money." Here's Molly McGuire's Kickstarter campaign.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Jimmy Castor, 1947-2012

"One of the Butt sisters!" I've been snickering at "Troglodyte"'s lowbrow gag since I was a child. Yet Jimmy Castor, who died yesterday, did much more than provide me with cheap laughs.

My friend BGO chided me in an email exchange for implying that Castor was a mere novelty artist. And sure enough, according to Castor's site "(b)efore even finishing junior high school, Jimmy Castor had written his first million seller for Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers called 'I Promise To Remember'." Castor would have been nine years old at the time. How does that work? I'll count on superior scholars to sort out Castor's career. Besides, I heard the entirety of Castor's 1966 hit "Hey, Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You" for the first time today.

It's an odd thing to attribute to a novelty song, but "Troglodyte" had an enormous impact on my musical development. The monstrous groove prepared me for the advent of the Ohio Players and the life-changing "Flash Light" five years later. The hip hop samples that followed in the next decade only confirmed my ardor.

One last note- it was "Troglodyte" that first stirred my prepubescent hormones. And what could possibly be more significant than that?


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I wrote an piece about Nicholas Payton's Black American Music proposal.

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An "elitist music snob" reviewed Nnenna Freelon's concert Saturday at The Folly Theater.

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I'd intended to offer a survey of today's new releases but I couldn't get past this.

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Ebony Tusks' video for "Everybody Runs" is on point.

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Kansas City Click: Whoop whoop! Boondox hit the Beaumont Club tonight.

The Life and Times return to the Riot Room on Wednesday.

I'll made the trek to Lawrence for Doomtree's show at the Granada on Thursday.

Start Here

I'm hardly a shill for NPR's music programming. I frequently mock the insular indie rock that's closely associated with the media conglomerate and its self-congratulatory audience. Last year's list of its listeners' favorite albums is a case in point. While I respect and even admire acts like The Decemberists, that rarefied sound rarely moves me.

I'm a hypocrite, however, because that same smug tone doesn't bother me half as much when it's applied to jazz Black American Music and "world" music. In fact, NPR's free concert downloads from globalFEST have dominated my listening this week.

I implore you to grab 'em all. My favorites are the performances by Wang Li and Mayra Andrade. Both artists had been unfamiliar to me. Andrade's straightforward take on a Caetano Veloso song is the dreamiest thing I've heard in 2012. So, thanks NPR. My gratitude is so earnest that I won't use this space to mock your endorsement of Real Estate.


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I'd love to check out Coachella. Truth be told, however, I'm much more of a Essence guy.

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You know what the world needs? A great new Alicia Keys album.

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CES Cru signs to Strange Music.

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The trailer for the forthcoming LCD Soundsystem doc is pretty great.

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The dull EPK for the new Robert Glasper album dampens my enthusiasm for the project.

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What's up, mirror?

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Micah Herman- The Ship

The Micah Hermon album review is reposted from Plastic Sax:

It must be terribly frustrating to be a Kansas City-area jazz bassist not named Bob Bowman, Jeff Harshbarger or Gerald Spaits. The three men invariably secure a disproportionate number of the area's high profile gigs. Each member of the triumvirate deserves his elite standing, but that doesn't mean that the talent pool ends with them. James Albright, Ben Leifer, Bill McKemy and Dominique Sanders are wildly different but uniformly excellent bassists.

And then there's the often overlooked Micah Herman. He's no less impressive than the aforementioned bassists, but to my knowledge he hasn't had a regular widely-touted public gig since he teamed up with Loren Pickford at the Golden Ox for a three-year run that ended in 2009. His new album The Ship, Vol. 1: The Studio Sessions makes a strong case for Herman as a top-tier talent.

While The Ship contains a breadth of styles, Herman generally works from a post-Coltrane perspective. "My Ship", a duet with saxophonist Matt Carrillo, is gorgeous. The contributions of saxophonist Matt Chalk also impress.

Yet it's the presence of Logan Richardson that makes the album essential for listeners not already heavily invested in Kansas City's scene. The brilliant saxophonist appears on five of The Ship's nine tracks. Richardson's innovative soloing on "Ease Back" is the sort of next-level stuff that fans of adventurous jazz dream about. Rather than merely admiring Richardson's improvisations, Herman acts as an electric Charlie Haden to Richardson's stunning Ornette Coleman.

The Ship's quiet issuance in December didn't do it any favors. In spite of its unfortunate timing and complete absence of hype, The Ship is the best album released by a Kansas City jazz artist in 2011.


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The Oak Ridge Boys and the Dukes of Dixieland team up for a new version of "Elvira".

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I intend to catch the A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs touring exhibit this month.

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Tinariwen's Tiny Desk Concert is wonderful.

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Rich Forever, Rick Ross' free new mix tape is shockingly good if you like that sort of thing. (And I do.)

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A link provided by BigSteveNO threw me into full geek mode.

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I don't know what to make of "Glory", Jay-Z's tribute to his newborn child.

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"She Smells So Nice"!

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Miles Bonny has a new Kickstarter campaign.

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Kansas City Click: Jason and the Scorchers appear Wednesday at Knuckleheads.

Lord T & Eloise do whatever it is they do Thursday at the Riot Room.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Jad Fair's Bird House

Jad Fair's latest project instantly transported me back to the early '80s. In those days I felt compelled to salvage Half Japanese and Jad Fair solo albums from record store cutout bins. I didn't particularly enjoy the absurd outsider sounds but I loved the fact that "music" of this nature could actually be recorded, released, distributed and sold. A video for the title track for the forthcoming EP Bird House is an uncanny representation of my disjointed memories of that era. I continue to embrace the anarchy.

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Album of the Year?

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The unseasonably warm weather somehow makes the idea of driving to Arkansas to hear acts like Bob Weir and Railroad Earth at Wakarusa seem attractive.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Why Are There So Many Songs About Rainbows?

I'd been waiting for the moment for months. Hearing a song I selected at the internet site Turntable.fm boom through the sound system at a real life nightclub was a genuine thrill. When a few friends organized a Turntable.fm-themed event at Czar Bar during the holidays, the first song I programmed was Heavy D's "The Overweight Lover's in the House." I went on to play a few of my punk, metal and hip hop favorites but the party was eventually co-opted by fans of pop, dance and techno. That meant that a few of my selections- including Nashville P*ssy's "All F*cked Up"- were quickly skipped after they were "lamed." It was no surprise, consequently, that my troll pick "Rainbow Connection" made it all the way through without getting axed. I'll get another crack at it when The Beaumont Club hosts a similar event January 13.

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Here's 66 minutes of excellent footage from Mark Lowrey's December 21 gig at the Record Bar.

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I'll admit it- I always look forward to hearing Skillz' year-end wrap-up. Just once.

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Mac Lethal's new release is out. Here's the video for "Jake + Olive".

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Skip past the introduction for a sublime performance by Terri Lyne Carrington, Geri Allen, Esperanza Spalding and Tineke Postma.

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Jeff Harshbarger is Plastic Sax's Person of the Year.

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I can relate to the subject matter of the latest effort by Brother Ali.

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Kansas City Click: This is the best time of year to investigate locally-based talent.

(Original image of a large-screen projection from the Turntable.fm party by There Stands the Glass.)

The Twenty Best Music Videos of 2011

Partly because I'm horrified by the absence of Tom Waits in my year-end albums and songs and shows lists, I was compelled to compile another list that would include the great man.

1. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat- "Copper Top" (above)
I identify with every moment.


2. Spoek Mathambo- "Control"
Terrifying.



3. Tyler, the Creator- "Yonkers"
A nihilistic star is born.



4. ASAP Rocky- "Purple Swag"
Can't. Stop. Watching.



5. BLNRB featuring Ukoo Flani, Radi and Jahcoozi- "Ma Bhoom Bhoom"
What in the world?



6. Beyonce- "Best Thing I Never Had"
No explanation necessary.



7. Tuneyards- "Bizness"
Charming.



8. Manchester Orchestra- "Simple Math"
Dude.



9. Evidence featuring Fashawn- "Same Folks"
The encounter at 3:35 floors me.



10. Tom Waits- "Satisfied"
It "scratches where I been itchin'."



11. Is Tropical- "The Greeks"
The music is just ok, but oh, the video!



12. Destroyer- "Kaputt"
Um...



13. Battles- "My Machines"
Gary Numan!



14. Sims- "Burn It Down"
I love this crew.



15. Lil Wayne- 6 Foot 7 Foot
It's all about Tammy.



16. St. Vincent- "Cruel"
Aw!



17. Nicki Minaj- "Moment 4 Life"
Ridiculous!



19. Mayer Hawthorne- "A Long Time"
A sweet homage to Berry Gordy.



20. Katy Perry- "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"
What's it to you?

Need more? Here's my list of the top 25 Kansas City music videos of 2011.

We Play Funerals

Two of the finest musicians in the Kansas City area endured a tough gig Monday. The duo's discrete music was repeatedly drowned out by indifferent patrons at an establishment in Johnson County.

One of the band's members attempted to address the worst offenders by politely engaging them at their table as his partner vamped. The group of twenty-somethings didn't take the hint.

"We do weddings- anyone out there getting married?" the musician later asked with a murderous glare. "No? Well, we also do funerals. We play exactly the same repertoire."

A handful of attentive listeners laughed, but it really wasn't funny. More often than not, people unable to S.T.F.U. impede upon my enjoyment of live music.


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Jazz giant Sam Rivers has died.

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Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood , a native of Arkansas City, Kansas, died on Christmas Day. (Tip via a source who prefers to remain anonymous.)

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Credential Hip Hop selects the Top 20 Kansas City Hip Hop Albums of 2011.

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Kansas City Click: I need to attend two more shows to reach 365 in 2011. I have yet to pick 'em.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Mark Lowrey at the RecordBar

As the year-end lists in the previous two There Stands the Glass posts indicate, my preoccupation with jazz Black American Music and hip hop persists.

That's why I recently dragged my weary carcass to the RecordBar after midnight a couple days ago for the latest installment of Mark Lowrey's series of live collaborations with hip hop artists.

It was disappointing to discover that the dozen or so B.A.M. and hip hop musicians almost outnumbered the members of the audience. Even so, what I witnessed was astounding. The monstrous funk groove drummer Ryan Lee and Lowrey created was enhanced by the guitar and vocals of Enrique Javier Chi of Making Movies.

So fresh!


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I reviewed the Wilder's self-titled album.

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My current pathological aversion to Americana doesn't apply to Kathleen Edwards.

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I learned of the late Bill Tapia via a DJ at Turntable.fm. So charming!

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Here's another "Nancy Reagan" update. (Via Wayward Blog.)

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Billie Jo Spears has died. (Tip via BGO.)

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Here's a mildly amusing Wakarusa tease.

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Dee Spears, Willie Nelson's longtime bassist, has died. (Tip via BGO.)

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Bob Burnett of the Highwaymen has died. (Tip via BGO.)

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Kansas City native Bob Brookmeyer has died.

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Cesaria Evora has died.

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Ralph McDonald has died. (Tip via BGO.)

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Mac Lethal has officially unveiled "Royal's Cap (My Ode to Kansas City)".

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Year-end Kansas City music lists!

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Kansas City Click: You don't want to be like me- stay home for once.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Meet Me In the Bathroom Stall: The Best Albums and Songs of 2011

The 25 Best Albums of 2011
I'd like to think that hip hop and jazz dominated my listening time in 2011 because that's where the most compelling and artistically relevant developments were taking place. I could easily list 25 interesting albums from each genre. Black Up would rate highly on both tallies. And The Race Riot Suite may very well be the Mingus Ah Um of our time.

I reluctantly hopped off the metal bandwagon in 2011. The happy medium between blissful stupidity and self-conscious theorizing became too difficult for me to locate. The post-Husker Du album David Comes To Life rescued me.

And before you ask, I have nothing against the Wilcos and Fleet Foxes of the world. I still like that stuff. If I'm going to listen to the same-old same-old, however, I prefer that it come in the form of R&B from the likes of Jill Scott and Kindred the Family Soul.

I don't expect to see There Are Rules listed elsewhere. While most people panned the album, it's hit me just as powerfully as if I had commissioned TGUK to create an angry album for a music-obsessed Midwestern guy in his forties who refuses to let go of the things he loves.


1. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey- The Race Riot Suite


2. F*cked Up- David Comes To Life


3. Joe Lovano & Us 5- Bird Songs


4. Shabazz Palaces- Black Up


5. Tech N9ne- All 6's and 7's


6. Bill Frisell & Vinicius Cantuaria- Lagrimas Mexicanas


7. Lil Wayne- Tha Carter IV


8. Ambrose Akinmusire- When the Heart Emerges Glistening


9. Jill Scott- The Light of the Sun


10. The Get Up Kids- There Are Rules

11. Raphael Saadiq- Stone Rollin'
12. Danny Brown- XXX
13. David Binney- Graylen Epicenter
14. Bon Iver- Bon Iver
15. Hospital Ships- Lonely Twin
16. James Farm- James Farm
17. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat- Everything's Getting Older
18. Mac Lethal- North Korean BBQ
19. Death Grips- Exmilitary
20. Orrin Evans- Captain Black Big Band
21. The Go! Team- Rolling Blackouts
22. My Morning Jacket- Circuital
23. Rev. John Wilkins- God Is Right On Time
24. Opeth- Heritage
25. The Wilders- The Wilders

The 25 Best Songs of 2011
The radio is one of the few things that still works in my 17-year-old car. The majority of these songs served as my favorite driving companions in 2011.


1. Tyler, the Creator- "Yonkers"


2. Kelly Rowland- "Motivation"


3. Jay-Z and Kanye West- "N- in Paris"


4. Ha Ha Tonka- "Usual Suspects"


5. Ledisi- "Pieces of Me"


6. Lil Wayne- "6 Foot 7 Foot"


7. ASAP Rocky- "Purple Swag"


8. Seether- "Country Song"


9. Pistol Annies- "Hell on Heels"


10. Jason Aldean- "Dirt Road Anthem"

11. Deathgrips- "Guillotine"
12. Avery Sunshine- "Ugly Part of Me"
13. Manchester Orchestra- "Simple Math"
14. Miranda Lambert- "Baggage Claim"
15. M83- "Midnight City"
16. R. Kelly- "Number One Hit"
17. Tuneyards- "Bizness"
18. Jose James- "Trouble"
19. Vybz Kartel featuring Sheba- "You & Him Deh"
20. Eric Church- "Put a Drink In My Hand"
21. Rihanna- "We Found Love"
22. Mary Mary- "Walking"
23. Spoek Mathambo- "Control"
24. Meek Mill- "Tupac Back"
25. DJ Khaled- "I'm On One"

I conducted similar recaps for 2010, 2009, 2007 and 2006. My favorite live performances of 2011 are listed here.

(Original image of Pat Green by There Stands the Glass.)

The 36 Best Live Performances of 2011

"The night life ain't no good life, but it's my life." I will have taken in over 365 individual performances in 2011 by New Year's Eve.. The following list of my favorite ten percent of these shows is deceptive. While hip hop is the dominant force in popular music, the genre is underrepresented. Only the charisma and vibrant catalogs of Weezy, Black Elvis, Tech and Ye and Jay allowed them to overcome their otherwise sketchy presentations. The reverse is true of jazz. Kansas City's jazz renaissance is, if anything, underrepresented here. Matt Otto and Jeff Harshbarger, pictured in the accompanying photo, are my second and third favorite musicians in Kansas City. And finally, how is it possible that Knuckleheads, the region's best venue, didn't make the cut?

1. KC Sound Collective- Blue Room

2. Deftones- VooDoo Lounge

3. Daniel Johnston with Capybara- Beaumont Club

4. Janelle Monae- Independence Events Center

5. An Evening with Virgil Thomson- Helzberg Hall

6. Matt Otto Quartet- Blue Room

7. My Morning Jacket- Uptown Theater

8. Diverse with Tony Tixier- Grant Recital Hall

9. Lil Wayne- Sprint Center

10. Joe Lovano & Us Five- Gem Theater

11. Goitse- Washington Square Park

12. Civil Wars- Crosstown Station

13. A Perfect Circle- Kansas Speedway

14. People's Liberation Big Band- RecordBar

15. Jay-Z and Kanye West- Sprint Center

16. Bon Iver- Uptown Theater

17. Motley Crue- Sprint Center

18. Tedeschi Trucks Band- Crossroads KC

19. Deborah Brown- Gem Theater

20. Enter Shikari- Sandstone

21. Pat Metheny and Larry Grenadier- Liberty Hall

22. Kool Keith- Czar Bar

23. Old Crow Medicine Show- Crossroads KC

24. Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience- VooDoo Lounge

25. Clutch- Midland Theater

26. Del McCoury with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band- Lied Center

27. Stone Sour- Penn Valley Park

28. Ingrid Fliter and the Kansas City Symphony- Lyric Theater

29. Grisly Hand- Plaza Art Fair

30. Marilyn Maye- Jardine's

31. Jonathan Butler- Gem Theater

32. Hearts of Darkness- Crosstown Station

33. Micah Herman Quintet- RecordBar

34. Tech N9ne- Midland Theater

35. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra- Helzberg Hall

36. Guns N' Roses- Sprint Center

I conducted similar exercises in 2010 and 2009.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

The Top 25 Kansas City Music Videos of 2011

While I'm a bit embarrassed that a twee pop song tops a list loaded with gangsta rappers, I simply can't resist Hidden Pictures' suffocatingly cute video.

1. Hidden Pictures- "Anne Apparently"
2. Greg Enemy - "Sophisticated Goon Sh*t"
3. Hospital Ships- "Galaxies"
4. XV- "Awesome"
5. Stik Figa and Ron Ron- "Caked Up"
6. Hammerlord- "Tombstone Piledriver"
7. Big Scoob- "All I Kno is Hood"
8. The Latenight Callers- "The Tease"
9. Girls With Guitars featuring Samantha Fish- "B*tch"
10. Mac Lethal- "Something I Can Heart"
11. Ces Cru featuring Mac Lethal- "Guntitled"
12. Ron Ron- "The Ghetto"
13. The Popper feat. Tech N9ne, Ron Ron & Donta Slusha- "For the Mo"
14. Ubiquitous- "Roadwork"
15. Minden- "Gold Standard"
16. Tech N9ne- "He's a Mental Giant"
17. Dinero Fazil- "Mi Vida Escrita en Papeles"
18. Cash Image- "'Round Here"
19. Dutch Newman- "Do You Like Mine"
20. Mon EG- featuring Lil Boosie- "Dime Piece"
21. Nesto the Owner- "Man In My City"
22. Steddy P- "Live Your Life"
23. Dutch Newman- "Sean Malto"
24. Beama featuring JL and Big Ben- "Street Session"
25. Red Line Chemistry- "You Don't Get It"

Mac Lethal's "Look at Me Now" merits an honorable mention for raking in 9 million views in two weeks.

I conducted the same exercise in 2010.

Everything's Getting Older

I found my musical soulmate. Having come to the conclusion that my personal preferences in music had become so oddly deformed that no one could possibly share my love of free jazz, hip hop and metal, I discovered a year-end 50 favorite albums list that correlates with my interests. Craig Taborn and Tech N9ne? I am not alone.

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My new best friend's list does not include Everything's Getting Older, the new album by Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells. It's tentatively placed at #18 on year-end my list.

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Esperanza Spaulding, Van der Graaf Generator, Wayne Shorter and Marianne Faithful? Montreal Jazz Festival , here I come.

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Barbara Orbison and I didn't get along. She died Tuesday.

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Dobie Gray has died.

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What price loyalty? I'm taking a beating at Plastic Sax and in the real world for not aligning myself with an angry mob.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

Hubert and Howard

Life can be painful for inveterate music nerds. The spiritual and earthly highs music affords are often matched by extended periods of despair and sorrow. The last few days have been particularly difficult.

My music-related day job has been an emotional roller coaster. And a friend who owns a troubled nightclub has been vilified by many otherwise decent people. Meanwhile, many of the musicians I admire are scrambling to find alternative venues. Last night I was horrified as dozens of oblivious people spoiled otherwise exquisite acoustic performances by Brandi Carlile and the Secret Sisters. (Here's my review.)

And then there's the upsetting news of the deaths of Hubert Sumlin and Howard Tate.

I've been on Sumlin since I first heard Lindsay Shannon play Howlin' Wolf back when KCUR hosted the blues hound's weekly radio show. Exposure to Sumlin didn't make me throw away my Elton John and Aerosmith albums, but I was electrified by the ferocity of tracks like "Evil". You can imagine how magical my charmed life seemed when I soon discovered that I could sneak into the Grand Emporium to see the man who transformed American music. I never missed a chance to see Sumlin. Here are my notes and a photo documenting his final appearance in Kansas City last February.

While I probably saw Sumlin a dozen times, I don't believe I ever heard Tate sing. The great soul singer's life was complicated. I heard about Tate's initial sides from mentors like There Stands the Glass reader BGO. When he was "rediscovered" a few years ago, I snatched up Tate's recordings along with all the other hopeless crate diggers.

We're all gonna die, and expressing shock upon the deaths of old men is silly. Even so, each inevitable loss chips away at the very foundation of music nerds like me.


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Nerds compile year-end lists, and my first published entry of 2011 is up at Plastic Sax.

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Kansas City Click: New Jazz Order perform Tuesday at Harling's.

The Knux appear at the Riot Room on Wednesday. The nudity in the linked video is shocking!

Mavis Staples graces Helzberg Hall on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Jay-Z and Kanye West at Sprint Center

That sh*t cray.

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Proper photos accompany Joel Francis' official review of Tuesday's show.

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J. Blackfoot has died. (Tip via BGO.)

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2,500,00-plus views in 48 hours? More power to you, Mac Lethal.

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After managing to leave it alone for a couple months, I'm messing around at Turntable again. Let me know if you want to hang out.

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Mojo's Top 50 Albums of 2011 list contains only one title that appears in my tentative Top 10. Between my affinity for both popular hip hop and unpopular jazz, I'm a veritable misfit toy.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Ha Ha Tonka at the RecordBar

I'm surely not the only Midwestern music fan who instinctively compares Ha Ha Tonka to the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. While separated by about three decades, both roots-oriented acts sprung out of Springfield. Their members even bear an uncanny time-adjusted resemblance to one another.

Ha Ha Tonka's November 23 show at the RecordBar reminded me that the comparison is a bit misleading. O.M.D. had a proclivity for boogie. H.H.T.'s ramshackle rock and quiet harmony singing largely avoided that tempting trap on Thanksgiving Eve. The only false step was an annoying cover of "Pumped Up Kicks." I had so much fun that I was never even tempted to chat up the former NBA player and the boy band superstar standing just a few feet away from me.

Will H.H.T. ever have a "Jackie Blue"-style hit? O.M.D. had the support of producer Glyn Johns and the major label machinery. H.H.T.'s three albums have been issued by small but proud alt-country label Bloodshot Records. The odds against great songs like "Usual Suspects", consequently, are almost insurmountable. Even so, there's no shame in becoming the next version of The Gourds.

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I monitored the final round of Sonic Spectrum's music trivia last night. Had I been playing for keeps, I would have been tempted to overturn a table in a fit of self-loathing for failing to identify this gem.

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I'm a big fan of my Kansas City jazz blog Plastic Sax.

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Kansas City Click: You know where to find me Tuesday evening.

Max Groove appears Wednesday at Chaz.

Kinky Friedman does whatever it is he does Thursday at Knuckleheads.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Paul Motian, 1931-2011

An anecdote from Thanksgiving morning serves as a testamonial to the music of Paul Motian. I played I Have the Room Above Her at high volume as members of my compound busily prepared a Thanksgiving meal. Aside from a couple comments concerning the "angry" playing of Joe Lovano, no one complained about listening to the free jazz trio of Motian, Lovano and Bill Frisell. Even people who prefer the likes of Adele and Willie Nelson recognized that Motian's music was both artful and compelling. Motian died Tuesday.

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I interviewed Karrin Allyson at Plastic Sax.

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Andrea True has died.

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I have yet to make up my mind about the complicated hit album by Rhymes-with-snake.

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My (re)discovery of the month: Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: The Kansas City Wind Symphony at Village Presbyterian Church

Cut it out! During each of the last three concerts I've attended at Village Presbyterian Church, the bandleader apologized for his ensemble's progressive leanings. The most recent culprit was Dr. Phillip C. Posey, conductor of the Kansas City Wind Symphony.

His attempt to sell the ensemble's forthcoming "Music for the 21st Century" program featuring selections by Vaclav Nelhybel, Ron Nelson and Charles Ives sounded like a pitiful disclaimer at Sunday's jazz-themed concert.

"Yes, it's got some weird stuff on it," he said. "But it's got some wonderful stuff on it, too."

The contrite commentary by Matthew Christopher Shepard of Te Deum (my review) and the church's own Mark Bell of the Village Presbyterian Choir (my review) was similarly disappointing and entirely unnecessary.

Posey, Shepard and Bell should be proud of their bold choices. Gentlemen- you have a strong vision. Own it. I understand that some people don't want to be exposed to unfamiliar music. And sure, the way the audience of about 350 enthusiastically clapped along to J.F. Wagner's Under the Double Eagle March at Sunday's concert was unsettling on more than one level.

Don't become discouraged by the naysayers. Your desire to present interesting music is precisely why I'll continue to patronize your programs. For what it's worth, I've got your back.

I'd hoped to offer a detailed analysis of the concert, particularly pianist James Cockman's work on Rhapsody in Blue, but I was seated near an unruly toddler. The child's incessant yammering, coughing, sneezing and hiccuping didn't allow me to listen attentively.

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Here's my review of Tech N9ne's sold-out concert Saturday at the Midland Theater. Don't miss the comments.

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XV's new video is, well, "Awesome.

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The trailer for The Other F Word elicited a knowing smile out of me.

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Oh my dear Lord!

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I listened to the new Bjork album on repeat yesterday. It finally took.

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Here's the trailer for a documentary about Split Lip Rayfield. (Via Back to Rockville.)

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As the video for "The Game" by J-Young indicates, Kansas City can be a hard town. (Via Credentials Hip Hop.)

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Kansas City Click: New Jazz Order return to Harling's on Tuesday.

I once worked in a warehouse with a member of Foxy Foxy/Sacrifice Isaac. I guess the band(s) has reformed, because an act by that name(s) is performing at The Riot Room on Wednesday.

Thanksgiving breakfast dance returns to Kansas National Guard Armory on Thanksgiving! Due to an unfortunate incident following Millie Jackson's show three years ago, I've been permanently banned from attending these magical functions.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Jackie Leven, 1950-2011

I used the sad news of the passing of Jackie Leven as an excuse to go crate digging in my own basement. I knew I had at least one album by Leven's band Doll by Doll in my dank subterranean storage space. The sticker on the album's Jem Imports sleeve indicates that I picked up Doll By Doll's Gypsy Blood at Kief's in Lawrence for 99 cents. I'm too lazy to load it up on my USB turntable and none of the streaming services I use has the album. At least Rdio offers a lengthy positive review. I remember it as a sincere collection of overwrought pub rock, sort of like a roots-oriented version of Phil Lynott. In fact, it's exactly like this.

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It's a good thing I'm not creeped out by dead spiders. I did become mortified in my basement as I was reminded of my misguided habits as a formerly obsessive record collector. Why did I feel compelled to own every album by wildly inconsistent artists like Graham Parker and Smokey Robinson? And the hundreds of flyers I took in cutout bins yielded as many misses (Sea Level anyone?) as hits (Garland Jeffreys).

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I still don't get Google Music.

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Laura Kennedy of the Bush Tetras has died. (Tip via BGO.)

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I know this is sacrilege, but Aimless Love is my favorite John Prine album.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Te Deum Chamber Choir at Village Presbyterian Church

Do you suppose that astral travel is possible? Based on the camera angles he or she selected, the person who shot this footage of Te Deum performing at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a believer. I experienced a momentary out-of-body experience at Village Presbyterian Church as Te Deum performed Bach's Jesu, Meine Freude on Sunday afternoon.

Bach's righteous evocation of God inspires transcendental thoughts, especially when performed with the exquisite mastery demonstrated by Te Deum. Aside from a tendency for the sopranos to overwhelm the rest of the ensemble, Te Deum was perfect. The Rosicrucian text featured in Britten's A.M.D.G. was startling, but the program's primary attraction for me was James MacMillan's Te Deum. Matthew Christopher Shepard, Te Deum's Artistic Director and Conductor, prepared conservative members of the audience for the discordant elements of the 2001 composition.

"I assure you that whatever you hear them sing is accurate," he warned. "Although it may not seem so."

The amazing performance showcased the power of the choir's powerful voices and the chapel's excellent acoustics. It's too bad that so few people under the age of fifty were among the audience of about 300. Kansas Citians who enjoy Bjork and Sigor Ros should consider investigating Te Deum. The ensemble's next performances are March 24-25, 2012.

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I reviewed Friday's concert by Iris DeMent and Greg Brown.

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In my former life as an indie label sales rep, I was often expected to entertain and accommodate touring musicians. I loathed that aspect of my job. Jock-sniffing and babysitting were never my things. Every once in a while, however, I'd encounter a musician who was neither needy nor insecure. Kind, smart and funny, Doyle Bramhall was one of the most impressive musicians I've met. He died Saturday.

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I didn't laugh when I saw that someone posted that Guns N' Roses' appearance Saturday at Sprint Center was the best concert they'd ever seen. Nor would I roll my eyes if another person claimed that Saturday represented the worst music experience they'd ever endured. I'd planned to catch the Jayhawks at the Beaumont that night, but when a Groupon deal reduced the price of admission for Guns N' Roses's big show to $25, I reluctantly opted for Axl. No regrets. Here's Tim Finn's review.

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The Weezer Cruise!

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Is Steel Panther hilarious or just a sign that the end time is nigh?

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I intend to stay home for the first time in five days to watch college basketball and listen to the highly-anticipated new album by rhymes-with-mistake tonight. (I've received a D.M.C.A. notification from Google every time I've merely mentioned the star's actual name at There Stands the Glass.)

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Kansas City Click: Mates of State perform Tuesday at the RecordBar.

Lydia Loveless returns to Davey's on Wednesday.

Dax Riggs is booked at the Czar Bar on Thursday.

(Original image of Te Deum at Village Presbyterian Church by There Stands the Glass.)