Mulgrew Miller, 1955-2013

The day after I learned that Mulgrew Miller had died, I shuffled into my museum of dead people to inspect my collection of the pianist's works. I uncovered a ticket stub for a 1994 concert at the Folly Theater titled "Four For Phineas."  

The four-piano tribute to Phineas Newborn, Jr., included Miller and some combination of James Williams, John Hicks, Harold Mabern, Geoff Keezer and Donald Brown.  (I want to say that Jay McShann was also in the mix as a special guest artist, but a cursory search doesn't provide any evidence of that fine concept.)

The stub indicates that I paid $17.50 to attend the Sunday afternoon show.  The relatively expensive ticket reflects the tenor of those times.  Miller was a heavily promoted artist signed to a major label.   The accepted wisdom was that he'd become a major star.  The idea seems hopelessly quaint today.  The ongoing marginalization of jazz began to accelerate in the mid-'90s.  The 1994 concert might have represented Miller's commercial- if not artistic- pinnacle.

Although I enjoy his recent work for MaxJazz, I find myself drawn to Miller's material for Landmark.  (That's Kenny Garrett on sax.) 

In today's harsh climate, I wonder what kind of career awaits aspiring tradition-minded jazz pianists.  Maybe the best a young artist in possession of a portion of Miller's bluesy earthiness and sparkling intelligence could hope for is a handful of regular gigs at an upscale piano bar and a teaching position at a local college.  There's no shame in that prospect, of course, but the era in which guys could fill large concert halls playing Phineas Newborn selections in support of a major label album are long gone.


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Clarence Burke, Jr. of the Five Stairsteps has died.

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The schadenfreude that's greeted the announcement of the cancelation of Kanrocksas is discouraging.  What's with all the bitter people who can't stand the idea of others having a good time?

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Beau Bledsoe offers a fascinating peek behind the curtains at Fado Novato's successful fundraising campaign to finance an extended trip to Portugal.

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Tech N9ne is featured on Wrekonize's "Freak".

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Hodgy Beats' "Years" is impressive.  RIYL: OFWGKTA, alcohol, "Swimming Pools (Drank)."

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People continue to attempt to commiserate with me about my work at Rockfest.  They don't get it.  I relish the annual event.  Here's an anecdote from this year's edition of Rockfest.  As the Danish band Volbeat played a medley of Johnny Cash covers, I watched a pair of strangers bond over their NASCAR tattoos.  Witnessing the encounter filled me with joy. 

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Seen But Not Heard: Celebration at the Station 2013

I've never hesitated to share my affection for Celebration at the Station. The Kansas City Symphony's concert on Memorial Day weekend is one of my favorite annual events. As the embedded video from my perch near the back of the throng indicates, Celebration at the Station is becoming a victim of its own success. If you listen carefully, you might be able to make out guest artist Oleta Adams singing "Get Here" underneath the murmur of the crowd. The sound emitted by two supplemental speakers hoisted in the air by cranes isn't sufficient. I'm not complaining- the event is free and anyone who wants to appreciate the performance can either arrive early or jockey for position near the stage.

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I reviewed Cheap Trick's concert Saturday at Harrah's Casino.

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Henri Dutilleux died last week. The composer was 97.

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Drummer Ed Shaughnessy has died.

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Flamenco guitarist Niño Miguel has died. (Via Beau Bledsoe.)

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"I'm a hero in my hometown, baby!" The video for Action Bronson's "Strictly 4 My Jeeps" has to be seen to be believed.

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I almost made it to Soundset this year.

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Quartette Humaine, the new release by the acoustic quartet of Bob James, David Sanborn, James Genus and Steve Gadd, is an excellent throwback album in the vein of the Heath Brothers and Grover Washington, Jr.

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After I check out the latest album by The-Dream, I'll investigate this week's new releases by Baths, Terence Blanchard, Blood Ceremony, Tamar Braxton, Eliane Elias, John Fogerty, Hot Club of Cowtown, Kylesa, Laura Marling and Tricky.

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Kansas City Click: Chelsea Crowell performs Tuesday at Knuckleheads.

The RecordBar hosts the Detroit Cobras on Wednesday.

Malachy Papers return to the Brick on Thursday. (Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

(Original cinematography by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: George Strait- Love Is Everything

If I add up incidental listening at bars, the homes of family and friends, retail outlets and radio play in addition to the spins I've given my own formidable collection of albums and CDs, I reckon I've spent as much time listening to George Strait as any single musician.  I'm fine with that.

And I'm hardly alone.  Billboard magazine just reported that the new release Love Is Everything is "Strait's 18th top 10 album on the Billboard 200" and is his 25th album to top the country chart. 

Strait is nothing if not consistent.  Love Is Everything may lack a stone-cold classic like "Chill of an Early Fall", but new tracks including "I Just Can't Go On Dying Like This" and "Sittin' On the Fence" are as good as mainstream country gets in 2013.  Even the most cliché-ridden songs contain pleasing subtleties.  "I Believe", a paean to faith, isn't about Jesus as much as it is a candid acknowledgment of crippling pain. 

It's high time for me to quit taking King George for granted.


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I reviewed Soundgarden's sodden appearance at the Midland.

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Tim Finn's 10 of the Year's Best Local Music Releases (so far) alerted me to a couple projects that weren't on my radar.  My similar entry is here.

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I'm entranced by Fabrice Sotton's absurdly obscure new Le pas du guépard.  RIYL: Erik Satie, Ibdullah Ibrahim, Mark Isham. 

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Free Melvins if you should choose to live that lifestyle: here.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: C.J. Boyd at Psychfest

I was the first paying customer through the door at the 2013 edition of KC Psychfest.  I was excited to see the kickoff set by C.J. Boyd.  I was also eager to soak up the same sort of positive vibes emitted at last year's inaugural event.  The energy was so welcoming that I wasn't the least bit perturbed that Boyd's performance was delayed.  (I got the impression that he and the organizers were waiting for the blinding sun streaming through the west windows of the event's "HQ" to go down.)  Boyd played loop-based drones that sounded like Mike Watt on a Charles Mingus bender.  And yeah, he was as good as that combination of references implies.


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I'd like to think that I immediately began goofing on Jim Morrison's vocals and lyrics the first time I heard "Light My Fire."  Yet Morrison's effort is kept credible by those astonishing keyboards.  When I went through my obligatory Doors phase as a teen, I was more attracted to the sonic feel of "Touch Me," "Peace Frog" and "Soul Kitchen" than the vocalist's bellowing.  I never bought into the mystique of the Lizard King, but I really dug the feel of the band.  Ray Manzarek's subsequent production work with bands like X indicated that he truly "got it."   (He's captured here performing with X last year.)  Manzarek died yesterday.

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House producer and vocalist Romanthony has died.

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I harp on the "where's-the-audience" theme for the umpteenth time in my review of one of last weekend's performances by the Matt Otto/Alan Ferber Quartet.

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Here's a free KC Psychfest 2013 sampler.

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WBGO captured the Miguel Zenon Quartet last week at the Village Vanguard.

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Why, yes, I am tantalized by the prospect of another groundbreaking Kanye West album.  Thanks for asking.

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I'll make time for this week's new releases by Airbourne, JC Brooks & Uptown Sound, Daft Punk, Bob James/David Sanborn, French Montana, The National and Darius Rucker as soon as I get my fill of Tap: John Zorn's Book of Angels, Vol. 20 by Pat Metheny.

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Kansas City Click: Oklahoman John Fulbright returns to Knuckleheads on Tuesday.

Greg Enemy is part of Wednesday's bill at the RecordBar.

Antiseen plays Thursday at Davey's.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Rodan- Fifteen Quiet Years

Mods and rockers.  East coast or west coast hip hop.  Acoustic Miles and Dylan versus the plugged-in versions of the icons.  The seemingly mandatory obligation to pick a side confounds me.  I never understood why punk/indie-rock and metal had to be mutually exclusive genres.  I love Husker Dü and Judas Priest, Fugazi and Van Halen. 

That's why bands like Rodan appeal to me.  Rodan's three-year existence ended in 1994, before subgenres like metalcore and mathrock became codified.  It's easy to suggest that the members of Rodan were simply in thrall of Sonic Youth and fellow Louisville band Slint, but I hear Rodan's music as a bracing hybrid of metal and punk that contains traces of both the Minutemen and Megadeth.

A press release for Fifteen Quiet Years notes that "the "collection includes the 1994 BBC Peel session, together with all of Rodan's long-out-of-print 7"s and compilation tracks."  It will be released on June 11.  A new interview with the surviving members of Rodan in The Village Voice provides additional context on the project.

Fifteen Quiet Years is highly recommended to listeners nostalgic for the era in which left-of-the-dial college radio served as a vital lifeline and for a slightly younger audience eager to explore the sounds that inspired bands like the Appleseed Cast and Cursive.


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Marva Whitney's God, the Devil & James Brown: Memoirs of a Funky Diva was published last month.

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"No Touching" is putting OoberGeek on the map. (Via the Mills Record Company Blog.)

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The video for Hospital Ships' "Servants" is messed up (in a good way).

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The Grisly Hand is giving away a live version of "Chucky".

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I misjudged Rittz.  The Strange Music signee sounds pretty good with Mike Posner on "Switch Lanes".

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Myron & E's "If I Gave You My Love" is RIYL Northern Soul, 1968, Jerry Butler.

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Howard Reich wrote a profile of Bob Koester.

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"… but the little girls understand."  I Heart Local Music documents Thursday's sold-out show headlined by Marina and the Diamonds.

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Scout Niblett's "Gun" is remarkable.  RIYL: Heartless Bastards, Liz Phair, Lenny Kaye.

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Wut.

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Chuck D is angry.  (And I like it.)

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review- Dalla In Jazz

Allow me to share an anecdote from my last trip to Rome.

The simple continental breakfast provided by a budget hostel was offered in a windowless room near the laundry facility.  The lights were automatically extinguished every time someone exited the room, requiring a guest to get up and manually flip a switch.  The Japanese and African travelers pretended to ignore the inconvenience.  The German and English tourists muttered amongst themselves.  A Californian couldn't restrain herself after the tenth blackout in about twenty minutes.

"F**king Italians," she screamed. 

The Italian experience can prove maddening to outsiders.  It's enchanting and annoying, beautiful and grating, lovely and obnoxious, sublime and confrontational.  That's how I feel when I listen to Dalla In Jazz.

The collection contains smooth jazz, smarmy lounge jazz, adventurous improvisational sounds worthy of Soul Note and ECM, Serge Gainsbourg-style sleaze (that's a good thing) and a couple selections with a Tunisian twist.  It's fair to say that I have no idea what's going on.  I had no prior awareness of Lucio Dalla when I began listening to the tribute album.  I'm only vaguely familiar with a couple of the musicians, but among the interesting aritsts now on my radar are Vinicio Capossela, Gegé Telesforo and the adventurous trumpet/accordion duo of Fabrizio Bosso and Luciano Biondini.

I love Italy.


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I reviewed Rockfest.

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Antennas Up made an amusing video for "Coming On".

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Footage of Reach and an excellent band opening for Talib Kweli features drummer Ryan Lee on keyboards.

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Helker may represent the future of rock and roll.  RIYL: Dio, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest.

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I'm pleased to introduce you to LeCroix Winget.  RIYL: Michelle Shocked, Lightinin' Hopkins, Kimya Dawson.  (Via Beau Bledsoe.)

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Last week I wrote that I was looking forward to hearing Joshua Redman's new album Walking Shadows.  Well, I loathe it.  The strings don't bother me.  The extreme conservatism, however, grates on me.

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The lineup for the 27th annual JazzReggae Fest doesn't include a single jazz artist.  Even so, I approve of any festival that presents both Barrington Levy and Common.

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After I listen to the new album by Red Line Chemistry, I'm going to check out this week's new releases by Anamanaguchi, Jason Boland, Will Calhoun, the Del-Lords, Dillinger Escape Plan, Eve, Juan Luis Guerra, Immolation, Jaga Jazzist, Glenn Jones, Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood, Christian McBride, Laura Mvula and George Strait.

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Kansas City Click: Hansel und Gretyl appear at the Riot Room on Tuesday.

Scribbling Idiots are part of Wednesday's bill at the RecordBar.

Alan Ferber and Matt Otto perform Thursday at the Westport Coffee House.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Listen, Do You Want To Know a Secret?

Do you want to know a secret?  Do you promise not to tell?  Let me whisper in your ear. 

I've been holding out on readers of There Stands the Glass for years.  I'll finally divulge one of the choicest music-related secrets in Kansas City.

The event calendar of UMKC's Conservatory of Music and Dance is a hidden treasure trove for music lovers.  Dozens of recitals take place all over town near the end of each semester.

On Wednesday the calendar led me to Immanuel Lutheran Church to witness Michael Shults' doctoral recital.  The performance indicated that Branford Marsalis isn't the only jazz saxophonist capable of applying jaw-dropping technique to classical selections.  I'm still recovering from Shults' authoritative rendition of Luciano Berio's pernicious "Sequenza".  Shao Zhang's appearance at White Recital Hall this evening is also tempting.

Several factors contribute to the rewarding nature of these concerts.  They're usually free and almost always take place in pristine listening environments.  The modest audiences consisting largely of classmates, family, friends and faculty allow plenty of room for curious interlopers like me.  The Conservatory's faculty includes geniuses like Zhou Long and Bobby Watson.  The students' recitals, not surprisingly, are invariably excellent.  

Mum's the word.


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Zoo of B. Hood has died.

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I'm the subject of an interview with Chris DeLine of Mills Record Company.  Meanwhile, David Hudnall spoke to DeLine.

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Tech N9ne is featured on Harry Fraud's "Rising".

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Erik Voeks' new four-song EP is titled Finulu.  RIYL: the dB's, Eric Matthews, Shoes.

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77 Jefferson created a handy preview video for its new Rarities, Vol. 2 album.  RIYL: the Blue Riddim Band, Gregory Isaacs, Black Uhuru.

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The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is holding its annual conference in Kansas City on May 15-18.
(Tip via TSTG reader Gary.)

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Presented without commentary: "Meek Mill concert presented by the Jamaal Charles Foundation".

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José James shows how it's done on an absurdly sexy rendition of Al Green's "Simply Beautiful".

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The video for the Burnt Ones' "Web"  was "shot on glorious VHS."  RIYL: Ty Segall, Nuggets, tape hiss.

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Pat Martino is still tearing it up.

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I wish that I didn't have an intimate understanding of Drive-By Truckers' "Heathens".

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Kanye West's production on Pusha T's "Numbers On the Boards" is amazing.

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"Had a dream last night about you, my friend."

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Bassekou Kouyate- Jama Ko

Jama Ko, the new album by Bassekou Kouyate, is currently ranked #2,809 on Amazon's music sales chart.  That's a respectable achievement for a Malian musician, but I'm rooting for it to become a true crossover hit along the lines of King Sunny Adé's Juju Music and Ali Farke Touré's Talking Timbuktu.  Most of the plentiful rave reviews of Jama Ko- an album as stunning as it is enjoyable- emphasize the project's awful backstory.  Here's a typical analysis.  Knowledge of the terribly disturbing Malian siege adds context to Jama Ko, but the music transcends all political and social considerations.   The official 85-second EPK doesn't really get the job done.  A gorgeous music video for the title track is much more effective at conveying the sensuous quality of the album.


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Cedric Brooks of the Skatalites has died.

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I'm enjoying Around the Way, the new release by Blaxel Rose and Ace Fadal.  RIYL: ASAP Rocky, 7th Heaven, Wu-Tang. (Tip via the Mills Record Company blog.)

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"Give me back my pyramid- I'm trying to free Kansas City!"  It would seem that the world is catching up with Janelle Monae.  Here's "Q.U.E.E.N.".

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Who's willing to join me at the Missouri Big Ass Rock Festival?

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In hindsight, I should have been even harsher in my review of T.I.'s April concert at the Sprint Center.  He phoned it in.  The show would have so much better if T.I. and B.o.B could have been bothered to perform the strong new "Memories Back Then".

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"Down In the Dirt" is the first new Black Flag song in over two decades.

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"My name is Trevante- I'm a singer."  Ha ha!  "Bad Girl" is absurd.

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I'll be darned if Volbeat's Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies isn't one of the most listenable rock albums of 2013.  RIYL: Social Distortion, melody, Metallica's radio hits.

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Operation Northwoods' The Bureau of Fiction is RIYL: ECM, forests, Bill Frisell.

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I'm six weeks late to the 50 Cent/Kendrick Lamar party.  "We Up" is almost good.

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Howl is "Demonic".

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I'll audition this week's new albums by James Cotton Mikal Cronin, Patty Griffin, Havoc, Talib Kweli, Lady Antebellum, Ivan Lins, Natalie Maines, the Pistol Annies, Cassie Taylor and Uncluded after I fully absorb Joshua Redman's Walking Shadows.

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Kansas City Click: iamdynamite is Tuesday's headliner at the RecordBar.

The Riot Room hosts Andre Nickatina on Wednesday.

Chris Thomas King returns to Knuckleheads on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Reach- Live at RecordBar

When Reach insistently repeats the refrain "Hip Hop Is Alive" on his new album Live at RecordBar, he isn't celebrating the latest success of Wale or 2 Chainz.  Reach is a true believer in the original purist ideals of hip hop.  The new release- his fourth full-length album- serves as affirmation of Reach's principles.  Supported by the funk/jam band Mouth, DJ Ataxic and vocalists Schelli Tolliver, Sausha Brooks and Vance Ashworth, the well-recorded collaboration brings out the best in each participant.  Live at RecordBar represents most everything I respect but too rarely encounter in live hip hop performances.


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Gov't Mule was good on Tuesday.  Here's my review.  Diana Krall was great on Wednesday.  Here's my review.

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Jeff Hanneman of Slayer has died.

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Chris Kelly, better known as Mack Daddy of Kriss Kross, has died.

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Sid Selvidge has died.  Listen to "The River" from his 2003 album A Little Bit of Rain if you're in need a good cry.

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The single best live performance I witnessed last week was a rendition of Teri Quinn's "Shanafelt" at the senior recital of Sarrah Cantrell at UMKC's White Recital Hall.

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Betse Ellis performed "Straight to Hell" on KDHX.

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As I watched the attractive, well-heeled and diverse audience of about 10,000 take in Quixotic's sublime Surfaces performance last Sunday at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, it occurred to me that the event was the antithesis of Rockfest.  And in truth, I'm more of a Rockfest kind of guy.

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Les Izmore was a guest on KCUR's Central Standard.  (Not to be a stickler, but the "new" solo album in question was released in 2011.)

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I reviewed Matt Kane's Suit Up! at Plastic Sax earlier this week.

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De La Soul's new "Get Away" is impressive.

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I'm not prepared to endorse The Uncluded, the new partnership between Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson, but it's entirely possible that I'll come around.  RIYL: parallel universes, primitivism, schizophrenia. 

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Dag- the lineup of Soundset 2013 goes from Atmosphere to Tech N9ne. 

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Two or three of you crusty old bastards highly-valued readers will be glad to hear that Spider John Koerner's new What's Left of Spider John is a lot of fun.  RIYL: Minnesota, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Mississippi John Hurt. 

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Questlove is quite possibly the best person alive.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)