Review: A Celebration of the Poetry of Langston Hughes at White Recital Hall

I've written more than my fair share of tepid reviews.  I'm therefore unable to object to the lukewarm response a critic for The Washington Post gave to a Vinson Cole recital two months ago. 

Yet the famed vocalist's performance for an audience of about fifty at White Recital Hall on Sunday was as dazzling as anything I've heard in recent months.  Cole's affecting renditions of John Musto's "Litany" and Margaret Bond's "Minstrel Man" during a free concert titled A Celebration of the Poetry of Langston Hughes stirred my soul.

The majority of the concert was dedicated to the work of William Averitt.  The composer was in attendance.  The notes he wrote for the program refer to the blues, gospel and jazz inflections in his compositions.  I didn't hear much of that.  In fact, his settings were antithetical to this treatment of Hughes' work. 

I was struck by the way in which Averitt's treatments successfully placed the poetry of Hughes in contemporary classical settings.  The performances by the 24-member Conservatory Singers under the direction of Robert Bode and the accompaniment by pianists Lee D. Thompson and Melissa Loehnig were splendid.


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I reviewed the audio version of Pat Metheny's The Orchestrion Project at Plastic Sax.

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Steve Paul wrote an extensive profile of Prairie Village native Joyce DiDonato.

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Erik Voeks' new album Sandbox is RIYL Tommy Keene, Marshall Crenshaw, Young Fresh Fellows. (Initial tip from There Stands the Glass reader Gary.)

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Kutt Calhoun's Black Gold was released today.  "Self Preservation" is a representative track.

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Kenny Clutch, the Kansas City-affiliated rapper who was killed in the highly-publicized shooting on the Las Vegas strip, was clearly influenced by Rich the Factor. (Tip about the local connection via Tony's Kansas City.)

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Electric Word, the new album by the Relatives, is RIYL if you like the Holmes Brothers, church, the Black Keys.

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I'm slated to appear on KCUR's Up to Date program at 11 a.m. CST on Friday. 

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Kansas City Click: Sleepy LaBeef is slated to perform Tuesday at Knuckleheads.

The Blue Room hosts a tribute to J Dilla on Wednesday.

Todd Clouser performs at the Brick on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Soweto Kinch- The Legend of Mike Smith

Every so often an album is released that seems to have been made exactly to my idiosyncratic specifications.  Ornette Coleman's harmolodics?  Check.  Intellectually ambitious hip hop?  Check.  Sprawling narrative?  Check. 

I'm compelled to believe that Soweto Kinch crafted his new The Legend of Mike Smith with me in mind.  Can there really be anyone else in the universe who loves The Streets' A Grand Don't Come for Free, Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, Ornette Coleman's In All Languages, Steve Coleman's Sine Die and the first Run the Road grime compilation?

The Legend of Mike Smith is the story of a day in the life of an aspiring rapper in which the seven deadly sins lay a series of traps.  Kinch employs instrumental jazz and uncommonly eloquent hip hop to track Smith's saga over the course of 140 minutes.  While kept separate, the album explicates the natural symbiosis between the two forms.  Even so, I wonder if the absence of a single representative track will cause the album to get overlooked.  It's my understanding that the recording is a spinoff of a theatrical production.  And it's possible that those elements- despite my immediate enthusiasm- will ultimately prevent the project from standing up to repeated listening.

For now, at least, I'm over the moon for The Legend of Mike Smith.  The album inspires me to make grandiose comparisons.  It's the British answer to Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City!  It's the Sandinista! of the new millennium!  Or how about this- it's There Stands the Glass' 2013 album of the year.


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Magic Slim has died.  He was one of my favorite touring artists during the last great blues boom.  Howard Reich wrote a fine obituary.

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Kevin Ayers, best known for his work with Soft Machine, has died.

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"Roses" is a track from Red Line Chemistry's forthcoming album.

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The ACBs have a gory video for "Television."

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After shoveling snow for ninety minutes on Thursday, I unthawed to Nicola Benedetti's Silver Violin.  Nodding out to the often syrupy album with the violinist's visage dancing through my head was exceedingly pleasant.  I may make crossover classical albums my new thing.

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I'm digging these new reissues: Leon Thomas' The Creator 1969-1973: The Best Of The Flying Dutchman Masters and Pied Piper Presents - A New Concept In Detroit Soul.

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Inspectah Deck's Czarface gets my seal of approval.

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Chicago Red, the new release by Brad Goode, contains much of the same rhythmic funk and guitar skronk of Christian Scott's exemplary 2012 album Christian aTunde Adjuah.  So good.

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Euphoric Defilement!

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Kevin Eubank's new album The Messenger is a nice surprise.  RIYL: Weather Report, Charlie Byrd, Dave Holland.

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The zeitgeist: Miranda Lambert's "Time To Get a Gun".  ("I could afford one if I did just a little less drinkin'.")

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: The Bronx- IV

I never fell in love with the Foo Fighters.  Sure, the band's back story is amazing and I share the rest of the world's affection for Dave Grohl.  But whenever I hear one of the band's hits I wish it was just a little dirtier and bit less corporate.  The Bronx have made that sound in my head a reality with their new album IV.  It's precisely the sort of big, obvious anthemic rock that will always have a place of honor in my rotation.


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Hey, look!  Here's documentation of a 2006 show by the Bronx at the RecordBar.  And lest you forget, the Bronx's alter ego is pretty amazing.

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I reviewed concerts by Kenny Garrett and Kurt Elling last weekend.

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I reviewed the debut album by Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle at Plastic Sax.

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Coming to terms with the death of Donald Byrd is just too much for me to deal with right now.  I'll simply note that I bought a "Walking In Rhythm" 45 when I was a kid.

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Alice Russell's new song "Twin Peaks" is RIYL Amy Winehouse, Dusty Springfield, Adele.

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Oh, for f***'s sake!  Check out the lineup for Jazz Aspen Snowmass.

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Here's a list of the releases for Record Store Day 2013.  Put me down for Husker Du (7"), Sir Douglas Quintet (7") and Eric Church (LP).

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Michelle Rosewoman's new project looks great, but asking for $23,000 seems like a bit much even if Oliver Lake is in the mix.

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The debut album by the new "supergroup" Pinnick Gales Pridgen is RIYL Robin Trower, "Sunshine of Your Love, the 1970s.  (That said, I genuinely want to see 'em live.)

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I hate to sound like a whiny twit, but the decision to make the new "Bryan Ferry" album sound as if it was recorded in 1928 doesn't work for me.

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SSION just dropped a stunning video for "High".  RIYL: mullets, Arthur Baker, creepy basements.

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Kansas City Click: Max Groove returns to the Green Lady Lounge on Tuesday.

Torn the F*** Apart appears at the Riot Room on Wednesday.

Cantus sings at the Folly Theater on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

I'll Spot You

My lifelong dream has been fulfilled.  Thanks to a new phone that works almost seamlessly with a streaming music service, I enjoy instant access to a significant portion of the world's recordings from any location.  By paying Spotify $9.99 a month, I can listen to Thelonious Himself at the dentist's office.  Rihanna is there for me on the treadmill.  Rocket To Russia makes standing in line at the post office more bearable.  I can take a midnight stroll with Igor Stravinsky.

It's a far cry from the years I in which I made a weekly trip to one or two record stores to spend all the money I could spare- usually just $10 or $20- on a handful of albums. 

A friend characterizes Spotify as an updated version of Napster.  And to be sure, Spotify's interface isn't appealing.  Unlike my friend's allegiance to the social aspects of the competing streaming service Rdio, using Spotify is a solitary affair.  Yet in spite of glaring holdouts like the majority of the ECM Records catalog, I'm attracted to Spotify's superior selection. 

I'm using Spotify's playlist feature to track my favorite music of 2013.  I've already listened to 39 new albums in their entirety.  My favorites are listed in order here.  A list of my favorite songs of 2013 is here.


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John Medeski overthinks his forthcoming solo piano album.

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The surviving members of Big Boys reflect on their careers and the evolution of American punk.

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Who's in for Rocklahoma?  (It's only 234 miles from KC…)

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Neither his charisma nor Earl can salvage Tyler, the Creator's disappointing new "Domo 23".

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Erik Voeks puts a Lindsay Buckingham-esque spin on Bad Company Blue Oyster Cult's "Burnin' For You".

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 2 Chainz!

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Terri Lyne Carrington- Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue

When you get into popularity then you're talking about money, not music. -Duke Ellington

Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue is the sort of high-concept album that music geeks adore.  In a nutshell: three of today's most accomplished jazz musicians reinterpret a classic jazz album with bold political perspectives and contemporary sounds.  I applaud the audaciousness of the project.

A core group of drummer and bandleader Terri Lyne Carrington, bassist Christian McBride and pianist Gerald Clayton employ a few additional likeminded musicians and a slew of provocative spoken word samples about economics.  The original Money Jungle- a 1963 collaboration between Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach- merely implied what Carrington and her cohorts make explicit. 

The risk of a project of this nature is that the wealth of ideas could easily outshine the music.  That's not the case here.  The album is consistently entertaining.  Its sole fault is that two or three of the piano trio tracks more closely resemble the Ray Brown Trio than the legendary original Money Jungle assemblage.  There are worse things, of course, than hearing McBride emulate his Ray Brown.

Clark Terry's slurry scat on "Fleurette Africain” is just as articulate as the sampled monetary quotes from figures including Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Ron Paul and Condoleezza Rice that are sprinkled throughout the album.   The neo-soul of "Backward Country Boy Blues," featuring vocalist Lizz Wright, is superior to most of Esperanza Spalding's disappointing Radio Music Society.  Mainstream jazz fans may object to these updates, but Carrington's versatility is in line with the progressive inclinations of Ellington, Mingus and Roach.

It's difficult not to interpret Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue as a commentary on today's dismal jazz economy.  This is an essential album made by some of the biggest names in jazz.  Yet it only stands an outside chance at breaking into sales of five figures.  Only a handful of critics have yet to even acknowledge the album's existence.  Amazon's current sales ranking of the February 5 release is #1,178. 

The album closes with Herbie Hancock reading the Ellington quote posted above.  Was Ellington right?  Or was he making a self-serving excuse for the diminished role jazz plays in American culture? 


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I reviewed performances by Willy Moon, Shiny Toy Guns, the Beautiful Bodies and IAmDynamite at the Midland last Friday.

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The KC Cypher Series just got real.  The latest episode features Stik Figa, Riv Locc and Young Fate. Ron Ron (at the 7:37 mark) makes the most interesting appearance. 

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Flatlands Country Music Festival anyone?

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Here he goes again- Mac Lethal's "I Gotta Pee But I'm Too Comfortable To Get Up".

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RCA is pawning off 29 Van Cliburn discs for $80.  EMI is selling 11 Boris Christoff discs for $35. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…"

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I don't care what anyone says- I think Frank Ocean's weird Grammy performance was brilliant.

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The very existence of a hopelessly esoteric new release from Arhoolie Records fills me with joy.  The Wall Street Journal offers perspective.

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Last night I dreamed that I was married to the daughter of Irma Thomas.

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Kansas City Click: Ex-Cult are Tuesday's headliners at the RecordBar.

Lonnie McFadden performs at WestChase Grille on Wednesday.

Carrie Rodriguez returns to Knuckleheads on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Phil Neal & the Wornalls- Lonely Tonight

Every eighteen months or so I find myself digging through my music vault in search of albums by the Records, Bram Tchaikovsky and Brinsley Schwartz.  There's a certain nostalgic itch that can only be scratched by the power pop and pub rock of another era.  Given everything that's transpired in the past three decades, it's impossible for today's musicians to match that gloriously naive sound.

Or is it?  Lonely Tonight, the latest release by Kansas City's Phil Neal & the Wornalls, is a pitch-perfect throwback to that era.  Its eight songs are untouched by time. 

Neal comes by the sound honestly.  He led the power pop movement in Kansas City thirty years ago.  The videos for his minor hit "Standard Question" and "2 Time Loser" are essential artifacts of Kansas City music history.    

While dealing with more mature themes, Neal remains true to those roots.  Sure, Lonely Tonight has a few pitch problems, but that's precisely why it works.   The complete lack of affectation and a steadfast commitment to old-school production values are charming.  Lonely Tonight doesn't contain an ounce of pretension.

The next time I get a hankering to binge on power pop and pub rock I may just reach for the delightfully anachronistic Lonely Tonight.  Better still, I may head to a live performance.  The band plays an unplugged show at Nica's 320 on February 16. 


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My previews for ten of the acts at the Middle of the Map festival are published here.

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The advance word on Richard Thompson's new album was that he was taking a different musical approach.  Lies!  Electric sounds exactly like at least a half dozen other Thompson albums.  And that's great news for his cult dedicated fans.  I'm not really feeling this sound right now, but "Another Small Thing In Her Favor" hits me where it hurts.

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Mod revival, anyone?  Check out Paradise's "Humans and Stars".

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Lightning Swords of Death!

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May the jazz gods strike me down- Danilo Perez's contributions are my favorite component of Wayne Shorter's fine new Without a Net album.

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I'm a little late to the Sinkane party.  RIYL: Diplo, Ali Farka Toure, the future.

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I'm not feeling the lead electric guitarist on this otherwise exquisite video of Fatoumata Diawara's performance at Globalfest. 

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Cult of Luna's Vertikal is my favorite metal album of 2013 so far.  Here's the representative "Mute Departure".

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I honestly don't know if I'm man enough to book passage on the Kid Rock Cruise.

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Prediction #1- The new album The Electric Word will make 2013 a breakout year for the Relatives. RIYL: the Holmes Brothers, Lee Fields, Jesus.

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Meaningless prediction #2- The dude behind Night Beds is going to be a star.  RIYL: Fleet Foxes, wimp-folk, beauty.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Cecil Womack, 1947-2013

When I was footloose and fancy free, music played a significant role in facilitating my romantic life.  Their brilliant music wasn't the only reason I spent a lot of time listening to Michael Jackson and Prince.  But even geniuses can get played out.  The appeal of the Gap Band and Rick James diminished away from the dance floor.  And there's only so much Lionel Richie and Luther Vandross a guy can take.  I was on the prowl for new music that could set the mood even as it stimulated my brain.  Enter Womack and Womack.  Love Wars, Radio M.U.S.C. Man and Conscious were my extremely helpful jams.  Cecil Womack died February 1.  An obituary in The Telegraph offers further evidence that truth is stranger than fiction.  (Tip via BGO.)


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Womack and Linda (Cooke) also cowrote one of the best songs of the 20th century. 


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I reviewed Kid Rock's concert at the Sprint Center.

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Reg Presley of the Troggs has died.

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I discovered the Diablos Del Ritmo: Colombian Melting Pot compilation via There Stands the Glass reader Big Steve.  I hadn't even realized that my life had been incomplete until I heard Myrian Makenwa's essential "Amampondo" for the first time this week.

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Lenny Kaye likes Rory Gallagher?  That's just one of the many surprises of his new "What's In My Bag" segment.

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I'm constantly reminded of my limitations.

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Sometimes I just have to let myself go.  I recently listened to every second of Trinidad James' Don't Be S.A.F.E.  And I enjoyed it for what it is.  The new remix of the project's big hit features the brain trust of T.J, T.I., 2 Chainz and Young Jeezy. 

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Deerhoof makes me smile.

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Kasey Anderson, a musician who's received positive attention at There Stands the Glass, is in a heap of trouble.

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Merzbow continues to confuse me.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  Have you seen Genesis P-Orridge lately?

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Here's a video for Solas' "Lay Your Money Down."  RIYL: Flogging Molly, alcohol, Philadelphia.

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I can't locate an EPK at YoutTube, so you'll have to watch the essential footage of Chick Corea talking about the latest Miles Davis official boot of 1969 recordings at the retail link.  Spotify has also made the album difficult to find.  Here you go.

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Kansas City Click: Cam'ron appears at the Riot Room on Tuesday.

The Steepwater Band play Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

The Brick hosts Mike Dillon on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: La Busta Gialla- Il Sogno del Marinaio

Like thousands of dudes in my generation, I love Mike Watt.  Not everything he's done since he played a role in forever altering my perception of the possibilities of rock music has been to my taste, but I've always been eager to keep tabs on him.

I get the impression that not many people still share my enthusiasm.  A cursory search turns up only two reviews of La Busta Gialla, Watt's new album with Il Sogno Del Marinaio.  The trio of Watt and an Italian guitarist and drummer create the sort of jazz-punk-world hybrid that I'm predisposed to like.

One of the two reviews was published at an influential site.  The criticism in Pitchfork's thoughtful analysis is valid.  The album is a bit "rickety" and it does contain "loosely formed grooves."  The site slapped a 5.7 on the project.  I find Il Sogno Del Marinaio's slapdash approach endearing.  That's why There Stands the Glass hails La Busta Gialla as a scientist rock worthy of a rating of 8.3.


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I reviewed Sweet Honey In the Rock's concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

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Guitarist Jef Lee Johnson, who performed in Esperanza Spalding's band at Kansas City's Helzberg Hall last October, has died.

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Blues woman Ann Rabson has died.

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Butch Morris has died.

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Joplin rocks.  Check out "Exteriors" by Missouri metal band Remnants.

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You have to check out the 2:03 mark of this fan footage of the Darkness at the Uptown Theater.

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I don't condone a single sentiment contained on Fidlar's self-titled album. But I have to admit that I concur with the critical consensus.  Fidlar is very good.  RIYL: The Ramones, Johnny Thunders, Intervention.

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There's something about Violeta Vil.  The Venezuelan band's Lápidas y Cocoteros streams here.  RIYL: My Bloody Valentine, Oz Mutantes, life.

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Salina's Chad Kassem always kills me. (Don't miss the inane banter by the talking heads at the conclusion of the segment.)

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Maybe the frigid temperatures have addled my mind, but I think the initial Warped Tour band list for 2013 looks great.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)