Robert Lee Nighthawk- My Friend Has Forsaken Me

Friends no more.

My seemingly perverse obsession with the state of jazz has placed me on the periphery of today's fierce "Can Jazz Be Saved?"-related infighting. While it has also seen better days, the blues is no such mortal danger. It will never die. The immediate appeal of this track, recorded in Aurora, Illinois in 1937, remains universal. Twenty-five early sides by Robert Nighthawk, a.k.a. Robert Lee McCoy, are featured on this compilation. And everyone simply must see this incredible footage. Nighthawk's tough performance- "I'm gonna murder my baby..."- is fantastic, but it's the crowd's response that's completely mesmerizing. (For the record, I dance like the guy at 3:03.)

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A new video from Miles Bonny was filmed at several of Kansas City's most scenic locations.

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Call me square and old-fashioned. I love Anthony Hamilton's "The Point of It All".

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The 2nd Annual International Conference on Minimalist Music begins next week in Kansas City.

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After much deliberation, I've decided not to feature the late Rashied Ali. I simply don't possess the right music for a There Stands the Glass post. Go here instead. The remarkable jazz drummer died August 12.

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Kansas City Click: Young jazz act Diverse perform at the Blue Room on Friday.

Two concurrent events- the Yardbird Jazz & Film Festival and the Bird Lives Festival- take place Saturday in the vicinity of 18th & Vine. Details are here.

The legendary Lee "Scratch" Perry is at the Beaumont on Sunday.