Review: UMKC Conservatory's Brass Chamber Ensembles Concert at White Recital Hall

The floor of White Recital Hall's stage may have been the most revolting spot in Kansas City on Sunday afternoon.  Spit valves unloaded the slimy contents of trumpets, tubas, French horns, trombones and euphoniums during an otherwise lovely recital.

A few members of the audience of about 100 slept through the 80-minute showcase of students enrolled in the The Conservatory of Music and Dance.  I was riveted by the variety of  textures featured in the lively presentation.  Six student ensembles and one "graduate fellowship" group performed.  Here are a handful of observations:

• The combination of two French horns and bassoon is absolutely splendid.  I need more of that in my life.
• The ensemble with the best name was clearly Heavy Metal Task Force. 
• After performing The Nebraska Plains, a composition by "geometric khemist" Kerwin Young, the members of a quintet acknowledged Young's presence.  
• I won't divulge names or places, but I witnessed one participant sitting in with a jazz band on Saturday night. 
• A portion of the prodigious belly of a musician was exposed every time he took a breath.  I was mesmerized by the sight.

I intend to return to White Recital Hall tonight (Monday) to take in the Conservatory's "Jazz Combos" recital.  I'll be the guy who's making certain his stomach flab isn't inadvertently exposed.


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I reviewed Deborah Brown's All Too Soon at Plastic Sax.

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Cherokee Rock Rifle issued an apropos video for "Dead City Girl".

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Pig Destoyer's "The Diplomat" might be the best music video of 2012.

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Eivind Aarset's Dream Logic is enchanting.

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Riff Raff and Lil' Debbie are hilarious in "Michelle Obama".  They are trolling, arent they?

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Kansas City Click: Clint Ashlock leads the Monday jam session at the Blue Room.

Avery*Sunshine sings Tuesday at the Blue Room.

"Last Child" is on the setlist of Aerosmith current tour!  I may have to splurge on a ticket for Wednesday's concert at the Sprint Center. 

The Twilight Sad perform Thursday at the RecordBar.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: John Proulx- The Best Thing For You

When I sold prerecorded music for a living in the pre-Napster era, releases like John Proulx's new album The Best Thing For You allowed me to make a small but meaningful impact on the industry.   While my bread and butter was simply facilitating reorders of strong catalog and making bank on obvious forthcoming bestsellers, playing an active role in breaking artists provided me with a great deal of satisfaction.  The new effort by Proulx fits my parameters: 

• Can I succinctly pitch the album with genuine enthusiasm?  Yes.  John Proulx is going to the be the male version of Karrin Allyson!  Or, if you will, an earthier version of Michael Feinstein!  In fact, Feinstein is on the album!  We're going to sticker the album with that!  And if you're into jazz, you'll want to know that the album also features Sara Gazarek, Bob Sheppard, Bill Cunliffe and Joe Labarbera.  In addition to standards and originals, Proulx covers material by Billy Joel, Sarah McLachlan and "Sing"- the Joe Raposo song everyone knows from the Carpenters' version.  Let's get this title set up in every listening station and in-store play opportunity available!  Anyone who likes Michael Feinstein, Michael Franks, Basia, Sade or Oleta Adams will buy The Best Thing For You if they hear it!  Let's get behind this album and make it a hit! 
• Is the album released by a record label with marketing dollars?  Yes. MaxJazz is operated by smart people who stand behind their product.
• Is the packaging appealing?  Yes. As with all MaxJazz albums, the handsome packaging immediately conveys the type of music it contains.
• Is there a definable audience for the album?  Yes. gay/straight, male/female, black/white, ages 30-70.  People who like jazz vocals, easy-listening and smooth jazz are potential buyers.
• Does the artist tour?  Yes.  He's in Michigan, New Mexico, California and Washington this month.
• What's that?  You want to know if I like it?  Well, I respect it.  Say, let's go out for drinks before tonight's game.  What's your favorite place near the stadium? 

And it'd work.  The buyers at Borders' headquarters in Ann Arbor would buy in.  So would mom-and-pops that catered to adults throughout the Midwest.  I'd make a few hundred additional dollars.  Just as importantly, I'd feel as if I was doing something meaningful. 

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I reviewed Chase Compton's Elevated Preview.

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Steddy P's new mix tape is titled While You Were Sleeping 2: End of the World Party.

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Trampled Under Foot has a Kickstarter campaign.

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Tech N9ne is "Alone".

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The Led Zeppelin concert film Ceremony screens again on Tuesday, November 13 at Town Center 20 with IMAX- Leawood, Barrywoods 24 with IMAX and ETX- Kansas City and at Cinemark 20- Merriam.

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Elliott Carter has died.  He was 103.

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Ted Curson has died.  Dig the sound of genius.

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Vieux Farka Toure and Idan Raichel reveal What's In My Bag?.

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Here's my Record Store Day/Black Friday wish list, in case you're in a gifting mood: 7" Clark,Gene- "Echoes/I Found You", LP Judas Priest- Screaming For Vengeance [Picture Disc] and 7" White Stripes- "Fell In Love With A Girl" [Opaque Red].

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"Things To Do In Wichita."

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There Stands the Glass readers partial to Adele, the the Shangri-Las, Duffy and Beach House will flip their lids over Kirby Kaiser.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Califone- Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People

I once spent a lot of time with the music of bands like Mercury Rev, Sparklehorse, Richard Buckner and Lambchop.

The musicians in these acts were inspired in part by what Greil Marcus called the "Old, Weird America."  For the purposes of There Stands the Glass, I'll call 'em post-Tom Waits bands.  Their dusty indie-rock draws on Beatnik jazz, the psychedelic folk of Bert Jansch, Richard Thompson and Jerry Garcia and the sonic mayhem of late-career Waits.

One of the best examples of the form is Califone's album Sometimes Good Weather Happens to Bad People.  It's just been reissued on vinyl by Jealous Butcher.  The original 2002 release compiled two separate late '90s recordings. 

Although I don't listen to the stuff much these days, the creaky, hushed, experimental music still resonates with me.


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I reviewed Primus' game-changing concert Friday at the Uptown Theater.

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I reviewed Lindsey Buckingham's solid appearance Sunday at Yardley Hall.

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I shared some of my favorite music on a program about Kansas City's music scene on KCUR's Up to Date last week.  The program is available here.

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I sat in with Chris Haghirian and Michael Byars for the most recent episode of The Mailbox.

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Here's a new song from Steddy P.

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I'm hardly an expert on the source material, but the fascinating Egyptian Project seems to be a cross-generational roots-based effort.

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Time magazine offers a feel-good story about P.O.S' kidney situation.

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Jan Garbarek, Egberto Gismonti and Charlie Haden collaborated as Magico thirty years ago.  RIYL: ECM, breathing.

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Buke and Gase are donating proceeds from sales of their new single to a hurricane relief effort in Red Bank, New Jersey.  The duo's version of "Blue Monday" is very fine.

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Here's excellent footage of Dan Deacon's recent show at the Granada.

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Kansas City Click: David Bazan will perform "Priests and Paramedics" Monday at the RecordBar.

Snuff Jazz returns to The Brick on Tuesday.

Young Guru hits the Czar Bar on Wednesday.

Candace Evans plays at EBT restaurant on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Breaking Beats with Beethoven

Perhaps I've been listening to too much electronica. 

During the free Beethoven in the Village concert at Prairie Village Presbyterian Church last Sunday, I detected elements of dubstep in Symphony No. 5. in C minor, Op. 67.  Was Beethoven the first breakbeat artist?  Something about being teased with strands of melody before getting clobbered by a massive bass drop has been lighting up the pleasure centers of human brains for centuries. 

While No. 5 invited ecstasy, a rendition of Mass in C Major, Op. 61 induced impatient squirming among the audience of about 1,000.  It seemingly goes on forever.  By the time the piece finally ended, every patron in the two pews directly in front of me had fled.  The novelty of hearing a 90-piece choir perform with an orchestra loaded with prominent musicians including violinist Elizabeth Suh Lane and percussionist Mark Lowry was no match for the church's thinly-padded seating. 

The opportunity to stand during the closing Hymn to Joy came as a blessed relief.


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Terry Callier has died.

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The new promotional video for Wakarusa 2013 makes me want to drive in the opposite direction when the annual festival takes place next spring.  I didn't realize I harbored such a visceral dislike of the combination of dirty hippies, dubstep and tie-dye today's counterculture.

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Macy Gray covered Talking Book.  And I like it.

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Arvo Part's Adam's Lament was released this week.

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I find the group-think receptions accorded to both good kid, m.A.A.d city and Kaleidoscope Dream extremely unappealing.  I eventually came around on Channel Orange- maybe that'll be the case with both of these universally acclaimed "album-of-the-year" candidates.

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Kansas City Click: Troglodyte are among Gwar's opening acts Tuesday at the Beaumont.

The Black Lillies appear at Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Mike Moreno performs at the Blue Room on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: The Sword- Apocryphon

I occasionally feel the need to be pulverized by bone-crushing riffs.  The Sword's monumental new album Apocryphon does the trick.  The album's full of pulverizing moments.  The Sword doesn't deviate from the tried-and-true formula established by Black Sabbath forty years ago.  The straightforward approach temporarily vanquishes my everyday problems and alters my consciousness more effectively than the consumption of drugs or alcohol.  Further analysis is pointless.  Rawk!


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The performance by the Vijay Iyer Trio turned my mind inside out last Friday.   Even so, missing Vicente Fernandez's final Kansas City appearance that night really hurt.  Here's Tim Finn's review.

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Try as I might, I just can't resist the allure of Regina Spektor's maudlin "How".

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Hexvessel! RIYL: Kansas, the Moody Blues, Renaissance.

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Bucket list item #791.

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A documentary on Ben Lee?

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: XV- Squarians, Vol. 1

I realize that allowing a free mix tape to fill me with anger, disgust and disappointment is silly.

Squarians, Vol. 1, a project released by XV three days ago, is an execrable effort that's forced me to reconsider the ways in which I've championed the Wichita-based rapper for over four years.  Popular Culture, XV's previous 2012 mix tape, was a smart, innovative and entertaining concept album.  I was convinced that XV was destined to become the most popular rapper from Kansas or Missouri for all of the right reasons.  Apparently, I was wrong.

Squarians, Vol. 1 is an extended celebration of drugs and misogyny.  He takes a shot at 2 Chainz on "Got This Year," then proceeds to be every bit as dopey on the subsequent track "Ganja and Pasta."  (Ugh!)  "That Bowl" wouldn't be worthy of Asher Roth or Sam Adams.  "Now Let's Go In" panders to the University of Kansas.  The only tolerable track is a remake of "Be There, Be Square", a song recycled from Popular Culture.

My L7s are no longer in the air.


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I reviewed Friday's concert by the Vijay Iyer Trio.

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I reviewed Hammerween on Saturday.

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The Kansas City Star offers the backstory on the death of Creepy Face.

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A  video of the Natural State performing in ankle deep water in a cave captures the band's appeal.  I reviewed a recent gig by the Natural State here.

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The video for "Sewer Dweller" has me excited about Conflicts' forthcoming EP.  

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Awful news for There Stands the Glass favorite P.O.S.- his tour is postponed to enable him to get a kidney replacement.  He talks about it here. 

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Jim Wunderle of Springfield has died.

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Manu Katché's new album sounds very nice.

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August Burns Red has released a Christmas album.

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Although they lack the support of a record label, Australia's The Rubens sure look and sound like the next big thing.  "My Gun" is RIYL Gnarls Barkley, the Black Keys, commercial radio.

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The black comedy of Mark Eitzel's Don't Be a Stranger video series continues to amuse me.

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Et tu, Death Grips?  Rapping over the original vocal tracks doesn't work for me.

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Kansas City Click: Todd Snider serves as Tuesday's headliner at Knuckleheads.

Enter Shikari are on Wednesday's bill at the Beaumont Club.

Whitey Morgan & the 78s play the Czar Bar on Thursday.

(Original image of defaced promotional poster by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Elizabeth Cook- Gospel Plow

I worshiped at St Paul's Cathedral earlier this year.  I'm a far cry from Anglican, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to get a sense of how it's done by the high and mighty.  The ceremony was beautiful.  Even so, Elizabeth Cook's 2012 release Gospel Plow is a more accurate reflection of my faith.  Raw country gospel speaks to me.  Here's a live version of "Hear Jerusalem Calling," the least appealing song on the project.  My favorite selection is a harrowing reading of Lou Reed's "Jesus," which almost certainly reveals a great deal about me.


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John Tchicai and David Ware have died.

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Maybe I should re-immerse myself in punk.  Based on this performance by No Statik, it shouldn't be difficult to get up to speed.

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I love to see real people talking about music.  In this case, the subject is Oddisee.

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The Pitch reports that Earwaxx, a record store in Gladstone, is closing.  (Via S.S.)

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: The Fresh and Onlys- Long Slow Dance

I regularly nicked 200 as one of the stars of my bowling league when I was ten years old.  Those glory days only come to mind when I drive past bowling alleys in the rain.  Just as I no longer bowl, I rarely think about the old Let's Active, Windbreakers and Lloyd Cole & the Commotions vinyl that's gathering dust in my basement.  My dormant love of '80s jangle pop requires a unique combination of esoteric stimuli to be rekindled.

Already burdened by an agonizing personal problem, I happened to stumble across The Fresh & Onlys' expertly wistful Long Slow Dance a few days ago.   Waves of repressed memories came flooding back. 

The first five tracks- including the excellent "Presence of Mind"- force me to recall everything about my life in 1986.  The remainder of the album contains a few twists that break the spell.  "Fire Alarm" throws an Ultravox-style synth into the mix while "Euphoria" brings Joy Division to mind.

Thanks for the trip, the Fresh & Onlys.  Yet because indulging in nostalgic reveries feels sinful to me, I won't spend any more time in the comforting arms of Long Slow Dance.


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My five favorite acts at Saturday's Rhythm & Ribs Jazz and Blues Festival?  Thanks for asking.  They are Brian McKnight, the McFadden Brothers, Linda Shell & the Blues Thang, the Charles Perkins and Gerald Spaits Quartet and Joe Louis Walker.  Here's my review.

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Here's the video for Super Black Market's "Dancing Drunk.  (Via Back to Rockville.)

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Matt Bauer's cover of Prince's "Under the Cherry Moon" is worth a listen.

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I just found out about Lindi Ortega.  The roots rocker is the opening act on Social D's new tour.

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It should come as no surprise to readers of There Stands the Glass that Anthony Hamilton's "Pray For Me" is one of my favorite singles of 2012.

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No.

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Kansas City Click: ZZ Top return to the Midland Theater on Tuesday.

The Riot Room hosts the Hudson Falcons on Wednesday.

Rob Scheps' Kansas City band plays at Take Five Coffee on Thursday.

The legendary Vicente Fernandez performs in Kansas City for the final time Friday at the Sprint Center.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Mike Mictlan- Snaxxx

Mike Mictlan's new mixtape Snaxxx is a drug album.   The title of this blog notwithstanding, I've recently become an anti-drug zealot.  Snaxxx, consequently, should infuriate me. 

Doomtree's Mictlan is far too talented to be easily dismissed.  Besides, Snaxxx's glorification of intoxicants is tempered by several acknowledgements of their ill effects.  On "85 Low 105 High" for instance, he raps that "15 was L.S.D., 16 was B and E, by 18 couldn't make the letters spell G.E.D."   He expresses bitterness that a childhood flame has become a successful business woman while he's barely getting by on "MCAD".

Nothing on Snaxxx is as epic as "Prizefight" or "Game Over".  And I must insist that you not watch the revolting video for "Spicy Peen". P.O.S., the biggest star of the Doomtree crew, pops up on two tracks including the old-school tribute "Syke!".  Yet Snaxxx is far more than a placeholder until P.O.S.'s new album We Don't Even Live Here comes out in couple weeks.

My conscious won't allow me to fully support the druggy project, but I encourage There Stands the Glass readers to splurge on one of the 300 limited edition Snaxxx Pizza Box packages.  Otherwise, it's available as a free download at Bandcamp.


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I reviewed Esperanza Spalding's concert at Helzberg Hall.

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Here's the video for Ebony Tusks' "Sioux Empire".

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Black Oxygen made a video for "Insane".

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Jamie Searle created a Kickstarter campaign for My Brothers and Sisters.

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Adele's "Skyfall" is stellar.  But you already knew that.

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On Wednesday, October 17, Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day will play at the following theaters in the Kansas City area: Town Center 20 with IMAX (Leawood), Barrywoods 24 with IMAX and ETX (north of the river) and Cinemark 20 (Merriam).

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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

Allow me to escort the elephant out of the room.  The Kansas City Wind Symphony doesn't perform at the same level as the Kansas City Symphony.  A "volunteer ensemble of professional and accomplished amateur musicians selected by competitive audition," the Wind Symphony plays a different repertoire and has an entirely different sensibility than Kansas City's best known classical institution. 

Over 300 people- including plenty of friends and family of the musicians- attended Sunday's free season-opening performance at Village Presbyterian Church.  Titled "Something Old: Favorites from our Past," the repertoire showcased during the 90-minute concert was pleasant but conservative.  Dr. Phillip Posey, the ensemble's conductor, made a telling comment as he surveyed the forthcoming season. 

"I promise not to play any of that weird stuff I played last year," Posey said.

My thoughts about that unfortunate attitude are posted here.

The concert opened with Paul Dukas' brief but charming "Fanfare pour Preceder La Peri."  The forced festiveness of Felix Mendelssohn's "Overture for Band" almost sent me scurrying for the exit.  I simply couldn't abide the constant chime of what I assume was a triangle.  Although some of it was a bit hazy, Percy Grainger's nostalgic "Lincolnshire Posy" showcased the entire ensemble.  Dr. Maria Harman's beautiful flute feature on Kent Kennan's "Night Soliloquy" provided the concert's most intriguing moments.  Pieces by Julie Giroux and James Barnes were less compelling. 

I'm thrilled that the Kansas City Symphony is performing to huge audiences in its second season at Helzberg Hall.  Lovers of symphonic music would be doing themselves a favor by also familiarizing themselves with the noble efforts of the Kansas City Wind Symphony.



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I reviewed a concert by Kansas, King's X and That I Guy.

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I chose the Kansas City Wind Symphony over a free Delfonics' concert on Sunday.  Based on this fan footage, I made the right call.

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Antibalas is featured in a new Tiny Desk Concert.

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Modern bluesman Nick Curran has died.

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Who needs Psy when there's Riff Raff?

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The Tord Gustavsen Quartet continues to put its spell on me.

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Kansas City Click: Say Anything, one of my favorite emo bands, plays the Beaumont on Tuesday.

Bob Log III will do bad things at Davey's on Wednesday.

Fado Novato will make its debut performance Thursday at Grunauer.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Caroline Herring- Camilla

I have yet to hear a note of Iris DeMent's Sing the Delta.  And it may be some time before I get around to listening to the new release by the hometown hero.  The only singer-songwriter album I want to hear right now is Caroline Herring's stunning Camilla.

Herring's political material is particularly potent.  It comes in the form of quiet stories that pack devastating punches.  (I highly recommend this live performance of "Camilla.")  "Maiden Voyage"- not the Herbie Hancock classic- is a bittersweet firsthand account of 2009's presidential inauguration. Herring gives voice to victims of racial hatred on "White Dress" and the title track.  In spite of an occasional outbreak of the sort of self-conscious white liberal guilt that infests much of today's folk scene, Camilla is a refreshingly original statement.

Alongside Mary Gauthier's Mercy Now and Gillian Welch's Time (The Revelator), Camilla is one of the most immediately striking contemporary folk albums of the new millennium. 


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Kutt Calhoun's "Bottle Service" fails to make me thirsty.

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Here's the video for Making Movies' "Hangover Blues."  (First spotted at Wayward Blog.)

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R.B. Greaves has died.

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The realization that you have to laugh to keep from crying makes Mark Eitzel a sad clown.  And there's more black comedy where that came from.

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The video for OFF!'s "Cracked" is perfect.

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A new remix of Robert Glasper's version of David Bowie's "Letter to Hermione" is captivating.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

Also, Cadillac Flambe, Diverse, Victor & Penny and Betse Ellis with Jason Beers will perform at the opening reception for Prairie Logic on Friday, October 5.  Music is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at "Kansas City's newest public art project and performance venue."

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Nellie McKay at Polsky Theatre

As about 5,000 of her contemporaries filed into Starlight Theatre for a concert by the Ben Folds Five on Friday evening, the similarly acerbic piano-based singer-songwriter Nellie McKay entertained about 300 senior citizens and a few dozen younger folks at Polsky Theatre.

Largely because she prefers Cole Porter to Elton John, McKay works in relative obscurity.  The 31-year-old songwriter may not sell many albums, but I'll put my money on "Ding Dong" over Folds' "Battle of Who Could Care Less" in a contest of bitter songs about alienation.

Friday's concert opened with a seductive reading of "Sentimental Journey."  During "Crazy Rhythm," McKay verbalized an internal dialogue.  "Only the best for Overland Park!" she squeaked.  A rendition of "A Tisket a Tasket" emphasized the absurdity of the song.  Not every standard was soothing.  "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue," for instance, is a difficult song for a blonde 31-year-old Manhattanite to cover.  A take on the Beatles' "I'm So Tired" exposed the song's murderous intent.  She dedicated a straightforward version of the Loretta Lynn hit "One's On the Way" to Planned Parenthood.

McKay's interpretive skills and clever songs suggest that just a couple tours opening for the likes of Regina Spektor and Rufus Wainwright might afford her a more commercially substantial career.  Yet Stephen Holden has a different idea.  His examination of the state of cabaret in The New York Times  suggests that McKay is one of a group of under-40 performers who "occupy the middle ground behind cabaret’s haute and demimondes."  (Link via Emily Jones Behrmann.)


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I reviewed Saturday's concert by Gary Burton, Chick Corea and the Harlem String Quartet.

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Wicked Wayz was scheduled to open for horrorcore rapper Brotha Lynch Hung at Aftershock on Friday, September 28.  Instead, a candlelight tribute was held on State Avenue for a member of the rap crew.   Chad Ford, a.k.a. Creepy Face, was killed in what The Kansas City Star characterized as a "rolling gun battle" in Kansas City, Kansas, earlier in the week.  KCTV5's report has the genuinely shocking details.  The context couldn't be more chilling.  (Initial tip via Tony's Kansas City.)

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Hearing Lupe Fiasco's "B*tch Bad" on KPRS is like being offered a bottle of water in a whiskey bar.  (Yes, I'm a hypocrite.)

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Kansas City Click: R. Stevie Moore appears Monday at the RecordBar.

Dr. Orpheus Project performs Tuesday at the Riot Room.

Wolfgang Van Halen and Mark Tremonti play the Beaumont on Wednesday.

Knuckleheads hosts JD McPherson on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: 101 Crustaceans- Train Bolt Roller

A publicity sheet for a forthcoming album included this text:

How to reconcile John Lennon and Cecil Taylor.  Or Heinrich von Kleist and Captain Beefheart.  Or Donovan and Warne Marsh.  CCR and Ligeti.

I obviously had to check it out.  Having spent some time with Train Bolt Roller, the forthcoming album by 101 Crustaceans, I'll add a couple more combinations to the PR firm's list:

David Bowie's Aladdin Sane and James Blood Ulmer's Part Time.  Marc Ribot and Raymond Scott.

The New York-based collective creates a self-consciously arty blend of jazz, rock and noise.  Willfully obscure, 101 Crustaceans is an acquired taste.

While I love the poetic lyrics, I simply can't tolerate the petulant vocals.  Had the singing duties somehow been assigned to any number of powerful and soulful vocalists ranging from, say, Bettye LaVette to Corey Taylor, Train Bolt Roller might be one of my favorite albums of 2012.  Instead, I'll continue to get my new art-noise fix from the slightly more conventional tandem of Neneh Cherry & the Thing.


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I reviewed performances by Slash, Foxy Shazam and the Follow last night. 

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Frankie Valli's concert at the Muriel Kauffman Theatre was most peculiar.  Here's my review.

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Here's Radkey's first video.  Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling the young men in the Kansas City band have heard of the Misfits.

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Ramona the cat, the namesake of Hospital Ships' "Oh, Ramona", has died.

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Steve Wilson, friend of There Stands the Glass, is a rocker.

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Lisa Hannigan and Joe Henry participated in a new session of the 78 Project.

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The EPK for the Preservation Jazz Hall Band's St. Peter & 57th St (A 50th Anniversary Celebration) is excellent.

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Faithful There Stands the Glass reader BGO is advocating for Canadian hip hop collective The Caravan.  I like it.  BGO may also appreciate F. Stokes.  The rapper has been booked at the American Jazz Museum's Rhythm & Ribs festival on October 13.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: The Natural State at the Plaza Art Fair

I was mesmerized the first time I heard "Indian Giver," the first track on the Natural State's Live Demos offering at Bandcamp.  The authentic joy captured on the hazy recording possesses a striking level of sincerity.  Who were these people, I wondered, and could they possibly conjure a similar sort of elusive earnestness on stage? 

I'm delighted to report that the Natural State met my expectations when I saw the band perform on the Ink Stage at the Plaza Art Fair yesterday.  The Natural State is more or less just as I'd imagined- three young women and a guy on cello.  And my goodness- they were absolutely adorable!  Playing with the guileless enthusiasm of children, the quartet's disheveled set was unprofessional in the best sense of the word.  I never stopped smiling.

Don't get me wrong- I still find today's wimp- twee folk-rock movement led by Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons distasteful, but on Sunday, at least, the Natural State transcended the genre.  Not even a Mumford cover broke the band's sweet spell.  Darn right, I'm smitten.


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I reviewed T.J. Martley's new album at Plastic Sax.

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Midwestern Audio Vol. 1, a new compilation of 41 area acts, is available as a free download.  Artists responsible for my favorite tracks include Cowboy Indian Bear, Diverse, the Conquerors and the Empty Spaces.

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Kendrick Lamar's current hit "Swimming Pools" sounds like a Strange Music release. 

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The unrelated video doesn't do anything for me, but Aesop Rock's "ZZZ Top" is a smart analysis of popular music's role in teen rebellion across generations and cultures.

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Kansas City Click: Mark Lowrey performs Monday at the Blue Room.

Franke Valli visits the Muriel Kauffman Theatre on Tuesday.

Mono plays the Riot Room on Wednesday.

Will Nick Lowe play my favorite pub rock song Thursday at Knuckleheads?

(Original image of the Natural State by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Dena DeRose- Travelin' Light

I have a villainous reputation among jazz vocalists in Kansas City.  My criticism in print and at my jazz blog has dismayed far more artists than it's pleased.  I don't hesitate to call out tuneless dilettantes, boorish behavior or dated cliches.  I don't subject jazz vocalists to a higher standard.  Unfortunately, very few rise to the level of the top instrumentalists.  If memory serves, only performances by Marilyn Maye and Dee Dee Bridgewater have received my highest praise. 

Word of my supposed bias apparently hasn't reached St. Louis.  The St. Louis-based MaxJazz record label sent me a copy of Dena DeRose's new album.  I'd only heard of DeRose from mentions at Dean Minderman's St. Louis Jazz Notes.  Travelin' Light is my introduction to the artist. 

Performing solo in front of a "hand-picked" audience in Antwerp, the album is an astoundingly authoritative statement.  DeRose's piano work is very nice and her demure voice conveys worlds of emotion.  DeRose references Shirley Horn in the liner notes (housed in the usual premium MaxJazz packaging), and the legend's spare yet emotional approach seems to serve as DeRose's model.  "'S Wonderful," "East of the Sun" and "I'm Old Fashioned" aside, the repertoire is fresh.  Genuine grown-folks music, the back-to-back selections "Portrait In Black and White" and "Why Did I Choose You?" floored me. 

As with the aforementioned Maye, DeRose is more of a cabaret act than a jazz artist.  But categories are meaningless when music is this good  Travelin' Light is highly recommended to anyone who appreciates Bobby Short, Patricia Barber or the The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Album.

I guess the staff at MaxJazz knew what it was doing after all. 


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Delfeayo Marsalis, Sean Jones, Bobby Watson, Richard Johnson, Jeremy Boettcher and Winard Harper thrilled me last night at the Blue Room.  Here's my review.

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I reviewed Bryan Adams' concert Wednesday at the Uptown Theater.

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The main stage lineup Friday at Columbia's Roots n Blues n BBQ- Joe Lovano's Us 5, Rodriguez and Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives- is a There Stands the Glass dream show. 

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Phil Spector's 1965 appearance on the Merv Griffith show is unreal.  (Via JazzWax.)

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I like everything about the Empty Spaces' "Holidays Are Nice and Warm".

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A KU student wrote a compelling essay about hip hop that explores issues of race, class and technology.

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I just learned of Elina Duni.  What is this? The Albanian's new album Matanë Malit will be released by ECM in October.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.  I also hope to spend at least a couple hours at the Ink Stage at the Plaza Art Fair this weekend.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Kreator, Accept and Swallow the Sun at the Beaumont Club

A few of my associates- including the people responsible for at least two of the blogs linked in the column to the right- traveled from Kansas City to Columbia for a Wilco concert yesterday.  Fools!  One of the best rock shows of the year transpired in their own backyard last night.

My misguided friends might suggest that the triple bill consisting of two German metal bands past their commercial prime and a relatively obscure Finnish doom band is either ripe for mocking or best ignored.  They're wrong.  Kreator, Accept and Swallow the Sun haven't garnered an iota of the critical accolades that Wilco has received.  So what?  Respectability, after all, isn't very rock and roll.

My regret about missing the local openers evaporated during Swallow the Sun's first song.  The Finnish sextet frustrated would-be moshers with slow jams like "Cathedral Walls".  The band put a spell on me.

Accept is associated with one gloriously dumb anthem ("God bless ya!… hey!").  Fans know that there's a lot more where that came from.  I realize this is heresy, but I prefer Accept's poor man's version of Judas Priest to the real thing.  Accept was truly great.

Kreator was no less vital.  The first thirty minutes of the thrash band's set were every bit as good as recent area performances by Slayer and Anthrax.  Kreator's power didn't surprise me.  New material like "Phantom Antichrist" indicates the band is in top form.

The Beaumont Club can be an uncomfortable place during crowded shows.  Yet when just a few hundred people are in the room it strikes an ideal balance between spaciousness and intimacy.  All 350 metalheads at the Beaumont Club on Sunday- including at least a dozen women!- were totally into it.  And the sound was superb.  Come to think of it, last night's concert made me so giddy that I still feel just like this.  (Hey, I love Wilco too.)


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Bob Dylan's Tempest is the funniest  album I've heard in ages.  Most of the time I laugh with Bob.  Sometimes I laugh at him.  Tempest is ridiculous.  And I love it.

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Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to The Pharcyde, the latest extended mashup by Gummy Soul, is available as a free download.  RIYL: A Tribe Called Quest and the Pharcyde, obviously.

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I just learned of the retro act William Pilgrim and the All Grows Up.  RIYL: JD McPherson, Bonnie Raitt.

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I'd been looking forward to catching Ram Herrera, Jay Perez and David Lee Garza at Union Station last weekend.  Yet Expo America's unwillingness or inability to post set times prevented me from attending the festival.

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Kansas City Click: Godemis returns to the RecordBar on Monday.

Ron Pope plays the Czar Bar on Tuesday.

Swans perform at the Beaumont Club on Wednesday. 

(Original image of Kreator by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Jóhann Jóhannsson- Copenhagen Dreams

As Radiohead's least passionate fan, I just can't muster much enthusiasm for the forthcoming release by Atoms for Peace.  Even so, I've been subjected to "Default" several times in the past week.  It's good, I suppose, but I prefer the entrancing soundtrack to Copenhagen Dreams. 

Jóhann Jóhannsson's recently released set of compositions is less hurried, but it employs many of the same principles.  The jittery "The Jewish Cemetery on Mollegade", for instance, might easily be embraced by any self-respecting advocate of Atoms for Peace.

Jóhannsson is an Icelandic post-classical composer who is known among rockists through his releases on the 4AD label.  I find Copenhagen Dreams too engaging to serve as background music for reading, but it makes for excellent company on my late-night strolls.  Rather than musing "Here, They Used To Make Ships", however, I think, "here, they used to subjugate Native Americans."


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I reviewed a concert by Jason Mraz and Christina Perri.

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Here's new live footage of Reverend John Wilkins.  The filmmakers' Kickstarter campaign solicits funding for a documentary about their ongoing effort to record "modern musicians on a 1930s Presto direct-to-disc 78rpm field recorder."

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Plastic Sax reader Gary alerted me to the new documentary A.K.A. Doc Pomus.  The trailer brings tears to my eyes.  It plays at the Kansas International Film Festival on October 11.

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Have you heard Miley Cyrus' reading of "Lilac Wine"?  RIYL: Amy Winehouse, Shelby Lynne, Matraca Berg.  (Tip via S.S.)

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"F*ck Your Stuff" is the second video from P.O.S.' forthcoming album.  "Scuffin' up your Nikes/Spittin' on your whip!"

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I've long relished the raunchy blues of ZZ Top's pre-MTV albums.  That sound is back on the fine new Rick Rubin-produced La Futura.  

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Tim Finn implies that my freelance colleagues and I are less than "half a person" in an interview on KCUR's KC Currents.  (He's right.)

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I extol the neglected early work of Doug Carn at Plastic Sax.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Lionel Loueke- Heritage

As a nascent jazz fan in the pre-internet era, I purchased Wayne Shorter's 1974 album Native Dancer a few years after its release.  I'd hoped for experimental noise. Boy, was I ever disappointed!  An angry teenager, I wasn't receptive to the subtlety and beauty forged by Shorter and Milton Nascimento.  My tastes have since expanded.  I now embrace Native Dancer.  I also know enough about fusions of world musics to pronounce Lionel Loueke's new album Heritage as this decade's equivalent of the classic Native Dancer.    At once meditative and startling, Heritage is an essential album.  An EPK includes commentary from co-producer Robert Glasper.


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My notes on the 2012 edition of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival are posted at Plastic Sax.

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Dorothy McGuire of the McGuire Sisters has died.

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A couple of my musical worlds collided when Enter Shikari covered "Call Me Maybe."  (Alas, it's not very good.)

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Why, of course I watched MTV's VMA Awards!  Frank Ocean and Green Day gave the only two worthwhile performances.  A soggy rendition of Alicia Keys' atrocious new single was a bitter disappointment.

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There Stands the Glass reader P.F. shared the interesting backstory of "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" with me over the weekend.

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Kansas City Click: Bassist Ben Leifer of Diverse hosts Monday's jam session at the Blue Room.

Negative Approach is at the RecordBar on Tuesday.

The Riot Room plays host to Heartless Bastards on Wednesday.

Slim Cessna's Auto Club stops at Davey's on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Joe South, 1940-2012

To understand Joe South's music is to understand my childhood.  I was raised on a steady diet of Jerry Reed, Charlie Rich, Ray Price, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings.  I vividly recall my dad singing along to Lynn Anderson's "Rose Garden" and Billy Joe Royal's "Down In the Boondocks."  Only later did I learn that South wrote both songs.  Upon acquiring the excellent anthology pictured above a few years ago, I discovered that most everything aficionados say they like about Elvis Presley's Memphis Sessions is even more true of South's best recordings.  A few of South's songs- including "All My Hard Times" (check out Joe Simon's version)- are amalgamations of all my favorite influences. South died Wednesday.


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I reviewed Pat Metheny's stunning concert Thursday at the Folly Theater.

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Kelly Clarkson's performance in Independence on Wednesday floored me.  Here's my review.

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Dedication 4, Lil Wayne's new mix tape, is atrocious.

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Tech N9ne's new song is titled "Earregular".

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I learned about the death of Larry Boehner of Lincoln's Zoo Bar from BGO.  Here's a documentary about the famous Midwestern venue.

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Tim Heidecker recorded an amusing spoof/tribute of Bob Dylan's new Titanic song.

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The video for the Fresh & Only's "Presence of Mind" is revoltingly hilarious.

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I listened to the new Cat Power album for the first time today.  After cursing the new "modern" approach for the first fifteen minutes, I came around.  It's lovely.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Sober, Sulky and Soaking at the 2012 KC Irish Fest

I almost pitched a fit Saturday at the Kansas City Irish Fest.  I had rearranged my weekend in order to catch McPeake's 1 p.m. set.  Only after arriving did I discover that the Isaac-related storm soaking the region had delayed the Belfast band's appearance.  The act's road manager told me he wasn't certain when they'd play. 

A reasonable man would have consoled himself with a few beers and a shot or two of Jameson.  Unlike the majority of fun-loving festival-goers, I refused to slake my thirst. 

I pouted in the rain as the solid Nebraska-based duo Ellis Island played.  A pleasing outing by the durable Kansas City institution Eddie Delahunt improved my mood. 

McPeake put me back in the dumps.  The band with an illustrious past finally began playing shortly before 3 p.m.  The new generation of McPeakes is very talented.  Its pleading for Facebook likes (a pet peeve) and a boast about a recent collaboration with someone associated with Michael Bublé turned me off.  The band seems to have Hollywood- or at least Michael Flatley- in its sights.  I wish it luck, but that's just not my thing. 

My disappointment in McPeake and my misguided teetotalism affected my response to Goitse.  I fell in love with the young traditionalists at the festival's small Park Stage last year.  Goitse's performance on the significantly larger Miller Lite Stage just didn't connect with me.  The band seemed much more calculated than I remembered.  I executed an Irish goodbye when the sun revealed itself as the versatile Canadian band Scythian entertained its lubricated fans.

The takeaway?  Leaving whiskey in the jar was a mistake. And Eddie Delahunt wins again.


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I reviewed Hearts of Darkness' Shelf Life at Plastic Sax.

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Hal David has died.  "I Say a Little Prayer" is my favorite Bacharach and David song. No, wait- it's "This Guy's in Love with You."  Or maybe it's "Wives and Lovers."

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"Face To the Sky" is the second promotional video for John Cale's forthcoming Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood album.

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A recent Euclid Records blog post almost causes me to miss my stint in music retail.  Almost.

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The excellent New Albion label has called it a day.

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My doppelgänger does a nice version of "Suspicious Minds"

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I'm the subject of light-hearted smack talk around the 24:00-minute mark of the latest edition of the The Mailbox podcast.

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Kansas City Click: Horace Washington hosts Monday's jam at the Blue Room. 

Everette DeVan performs every Tuesday at the Phoenix. 

Dirty Bourbon River Show plays Wednesday at Trouser Mouse.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)