J.J. Cale, 1938-2013

I've been obsessed with attending performances of live music since I was about 13.  Before my tastes coalesced, I hit shows indiscriminately.  If I could get a ride and afford a ticket to a concert that admitted kids, I was there.  My inexperience and ignorance led me to a lot of unlikely places in the pre-internet era.   

I recall not knowing what to expect as I sat in the balcony of the Uptown Theater for a J.J. Cale concert.  I didn't know the difference between J.J. Cale, John Cale or John Cage at that point.  I was just glad to be part of the mix. 

My enthusiasm waned as Cale played his distinctive Tulsa shuffle on a dimly-lit stage.  That laid-back sound isn't designed to appeal to an agitated teenager.  While I've grown to appreciate Cale's contributions and enormous influence on the likes of Eric Clapton and Dire Straits, I never really acquired a taste for his music. 

Cale died last week.


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Writer and musician Mick Farren has died.

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Tim Finn chats with Tech N9ne about Something Else.

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I fell in love with Superchunk's "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo" before I even heard it.

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This could be the exact moment the jazz audience evaporated". (Via There Stands the Glass reader PF.)

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Quest's new Live In Paris album reminded me of Richie Beirach's greatness.  RIYL: Dave Liebman, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner.

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The music video for King Khan & the Shrines' "Darkness" is mesmerizing.  RIYL: the White Stripes, Percy Mayfield, Bobby Womack.

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Geoffrey Keezer's new The Heart of the Piano is a syrupy and sentimental solo piano album.  RIYL: John Lewis, Danny Wright, Ahmad Jamal.

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I suppose that suggesting Lil B is Based God an emperor with no clothes is missing the point.

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I hope to listen to the new albums by Five Finger Death Punch, Buddy Guy, Chante Moore, T. Hardy Morris, Roomful of Blues, Robin Thicke and John Zorn after spend quality time with Tech N9ne's Something Else.

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Kansas City Click: Mates of State opens for the Postal Service at the Midland on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mike Tramp of White Lion appears at Aftershock on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Going Grippy Grappa

Jay-Z kept me out of a San Diego jail this week.

My otherwise perfect vacation rental is periodically sullied by a moronic gaggle of hard-partying teens across the alley.  They break out the beer bongs at 11 a.m.  (Fine by me.)  They start doing shots at 7 p.m.  (Whatever.)  The ear-piercing screaming resumes at 11 p.m.  (That's my bedtime after a sun-soaked day.)  The kids rally for a final bout of debauchery around 3 a.m.  (Not cool.) 

Their excellent taste in music is the only reason those kids are still alive.  Although they look and act as if they'd listen to Wiz Khalifa or Mac Miller, the oblivious knuckleheads bump nothing but Magna Carta... Holy Grail.  I'm more inclined to ask them to stop shouting over Jay-Z than to impale them with beach umbrellas.

Once or twice, when I know they're in recovery mode, I've hit 'em with Grippy Grappa, the excellently-titled new album by the Cypriot band Monsieur Doumani.  Imagine Gogol Bordello and the ghost of Herbie Mann on an ouzo bender.  Check out "The System" and "Young Upwardly-Mobile Professional".  I've never been to Greece, let alone Cypress, but Grippy Grappa allows me to better relate to the people of the financially distressed region.

Here's a proper review of Grippy Grappy in Sing Out! magazine.


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Faye Hunter of Let's Active has died.

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The remix of "Bender" features Tech N9ne, Mac Lethal, Irv Da Phenom, JL, Joey Cool, Dutch Newman and Godemis.  

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Radkey is the subject of a solid feature from Noisey.

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Jordan Geiger of Hospital Ships shares a few of his favorite recordings.

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"Sauce Remix" by One is RIYL: Landmark Entertainment, The Popper, James Christos.  (Via Tony's Kansas City.)

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"Sophisticated Ignorance" is the latest offering from Steddy P and DJ Mahf.  RIYL: Cypress Hill, Kottonmouth Kings, Afroman.

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Corky Carrel wrote a beautiful review of Guy Clark's new album.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Care to know what's not cool or played-out in hip-hop?  Here's a "Banned Artists/Track List for a room at turntable.fm.  I like over a third of the banned items on the elitists' list.

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The collaboration between Elvis Costello and the Roots sounds exactly like you'd think it would sound.

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George Duke's Dream Weaver has sublime moments mixed among the cheese.  (And I kind of like the cheese.)  RIYL: George Duke, Al Kooper, George Clinton.

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The music video for Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" flies over my head.

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Willie Sugarcapps is a new semi-supergroup of Americana artists including Will Kimbrough and Grayson Capps.  "Gypsy Train" is pretty.  RIYL: Mary Gauthier, Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt.

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Jim Pepper Fest will include a "reunion of the Free Spirits," the "world's first jazz-rock fusion band (1965-1967)" featuring Larry Coryell and Rakalam Bob Moses.

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Swimm's excellent Feel EP is available as a free download at Bandcamp.  RIYL: U2, INXS, T. Rex.

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As soon as I summon enough courage, I'll listen to Van Dyke Park's new album Songs Cycled.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Searching for Snoopy with Billy Cobham

I reached adolescence right as the nascent punk movement began to defy the established tenants of everything my friends and their older brothers had spent the last few years teaching me.  As a twelve-year-old, I'd accepted the conventional wisdom of my peer group that the elite musicianship displayed by bands like Kansas and Emerson, Lake & Palmer were among rock's finest achievements.

These suburban pundits explained that jazz fusion giants like Bill Bruford and Billy Cobham were even more evolved.  I bought into it.  The majestic sounds seemed to elevate my mundane existence.  Then I discovered girls and the Ramones.  The boys' club of smoke and Allan Holdsworth jams immediately lost its appeal.

I traded away the majority of my prog-rock and fusion collection.  Cobham's Spectrum stayed.  The amazingly prescient 1974 album anticipated Thriller, synth-pop and hip-hop. (Aerosmith, Earth, Wind & Fire, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and my dad's country albums never left my rotation.)

I suffered a few pangs of nostalgia when I learned that a "lost" Billy Cobham album would be issued this week.  That sensation turned to queasiness as I listened to  Compass Point.  The lengthy 1997 session is solid, but I'm not satisfied by the middle ground between blustery fusion and blissed-out smooth jazz.

That said, "Snoopy's Search/Red Baron" will always be my jam.


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James "T-Model" Ford has died.

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"Fragile", a new song by Tech N9ne featuring Kendrick Lamar, is great.

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Here's a professionally-produced video documenting ZZ Ward's June 29 performance at 7th Heaven on Troost.

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St. Joseph's Dsoedean has issued Continue To Move.  RIYL: Modest Mouse, the Killers, the Shins.

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"Hive" is Earl Sweatshirt's best song to date.

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James Cotton's fine new album Cotton Mouth Man is consistently entertaining.  Even so, the beautifully-recorded project gives me the blues.  Cotton's lost his voice, so his stand-ins include Joe Bonamassa, Gregg Allman, Keb Mo, Darrell Nulisch, Ruthie Foster and Delbert McClinton.  While that's great news for Alligator Records' sales team, it's a drag for people who want the sort of raw and nasty blues Cotton made decades ago.  The cancer-stricken Cotton does the vocal work on the final track "Bonnie Blue."  It's easily the best song on the album.

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Kid the Wiz appears to be the next big thing.  RIYL: 2024 (the year), "Let Me Clear My Throat," "Jam On It."

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The boys in Fidlar put the rock portion of my record collection (circa 1981) in their bags at Amoeba Records.

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Beck's two new singles- "Defriended" and "I Won't Be Long"- are really good.

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Reuben Fowler's new big band album Between Shadows is RIYL: Tom Harrell, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Maria Schneider.

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Andrew W.K. is among the people subjected to a brutal beating in the gruesome video for Run the Jewel's "'36' Chain."

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Here are two new songs by Torche.  RIYL: Husker Du, Thin Lizzy, Sleep.

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Care to confirm every cliche about Portland's music scene?  Here you go.  Speaking of stereotypes, I monitored chatter in the "Indie While You Murder" room at turntable.fm about the comparative merits of skiing in Jackson Hole versus Aspen as DJs played Girls and Surfer Blood.  Ugh.

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In response to Big Steve NO's recent comment, I'm glad I made auditioning the Pet Shop Boys' Electric my musical priority on Tuesday.  Not only is it shockingly good, Electric made me realize that my beloved Magnetic Fields is really just a Pet Shop Boys tribute band.  The track-by-track commentary at Spotify is illuminating.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Orrin Evans- ...It Was Beauty

My previous post and the accusatory slings and arrows regularly fired my way to the contrary, I don't detest swing.

In fact, I'm a shameless fanboy of mainstream jazz pianist Orrin Evans.  While I don't wake up each morning eager to spend my day consuming piano trio albums, Evans' new …It Was Beauty (his twentieth release!) avoids the usual pitfalls of the format.  Only two tracks- "Dorm Life" and "Hats Off to Rebay"- fail to stave off tedium. 

Evans, one of the more intriguing theoreticians in jazz, helps keep things fresh by using several bassists, including two on a couple tracks.  A version of "African Song" is stunning.  It's one of several selections that shine with the freedom I associate with the late Esbjörn Svensson.

Fortunately, I watched the ill-advised homemade EPK for …It Was Beauty only after I'd already fallen in love with the album. 


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Sound the Alarm, Booker T's new album, is two or three bum tracks away from being an album-of-the-year contender.

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Is the world ready for Y-Love, a "black Orthodox Jewish rapper"?

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Howlin, the new throwback album by Jagwar Ma, isn't my thing.  RIYL: (the vastly superior) Tame Impala, Oasis, 1985.

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Soft Will, the new throwback album by the Smith Westerns, is my thing.  RIYL: (the vastly superior) My Morning Jacket, Badfinger, 1985.

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Young Jeezy's "It's a Cold World" is embarrassingly awful.

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I'm glad to have discovered New Zealand's Meth Drinker.  RIYL: oblivion, Black Sabbath, drinking meth.

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At a different point in my life, I might have eaten up the Restorations' new album LP2 like a cow in cabbage.  RIYL: Fugazi, Gaslight Anthem, Big Country.

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Ellery Eskelin's Mirage is an excellent new free jazz album.  RIYL: beautiful chaos, pedal steel, chess.

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Don Cavalli is a convincing French bluesman.  "Tempermental" is RIYL: JD McPherson, Lloyd Price, the Black Keys.

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I still haven't forgiven T.I. for his lackluster concert at the Sprint Center earlier this year.  Even so, I like his new "Problem" featuring B.o.B.

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"This Is the Place", a dusty slow jam from Springfield's Kansas City Express, is amazing.  Hey, BGO- can you provide any context for this forgotten relic?

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Tech N9ne is billed third- behind Insane Clown Posse and Twistid- in the highly-anticipated annual announcement video for the Gathering of the Juggalos.

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Sure, I laugh at Juggalos.  I don't laugh at Maggots.  Slipknot remains woefully under-appreciated.

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The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 Another Self Portrait?  Oof.  But yeah, I'm in.  (First spotted via a posting by Big Steve NO.)

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Of all the albums slated for release this week- the list includes titles by Ace Hood, Phil Anselmo, Court Yard Hounds, George Duke, Tom Kennedy, Peter Leitch, Mayday, Soft Metals, the Steve Swallow Quartet and A Road Leading Home: Songs By Dan Penn- I'm most interested in hearing Border Wars, the new release from longstanding There Stands the Glass favorites The Architects.

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Kansas City Click: Night Beds performs at the RecordBar on Monday.

The Green Lady Lounge hosts Steve Lambert on Tuesday.

Joe Nichols plays Kanza Hall on Wednesday.

Buckwheat Zydeco will fill the dance floor at Knuckleheads on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

What Rabbath Wrought

I've long viewed my enthusiasm for European improvised music with suspicion.  François Rabbath's astounding performance at Park College earlier this week helped me realize that my love of projects like Dan Nicholls' new album Ruins is more than a pretentious affectation.

Through both his innate brilliance and his willingness to disregard established conventions, the Syrian-born and Paris-based Rabbath creates music without boundaries.  (Here's my review.)

Why then, I asked a colleague last night, don't more area musicians follow his lead by ignoring the formal mandates of the classical, folk and jazz worlds?  My friend brought me back to earth by suggesting that most professional musicians in Kansas City are forced to make their livings by playing music that conforms to established forms.  He's right.  I suppose that playing "Someone To Watch Over Me" in a cocktail lounge night after night might extinguish the creative spark.

In addition to being free from the American cultural mandate to swing, many experimental European musicians are also immersed in international folk and classical traditions.  And that's how a restless music obsessive ends up listening to At Home, the new album by Polish trumpeter Maciej Fortuna, as he folds laundry in Kansas.


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I reviewed Friday's concert by Matchbox Twenty, the Goo Goo Dolls and Kate Earl.

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I reviewed Dave Alvin's debut at Knuckleheads.

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Toshi Seeger has died.

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KCPT chats with Kerwin Young.

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Here's footage of Radkey performing at the Bottleneck this week.  ("Maybe the Misfits...")

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An Olathe man was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer outside a Chief Keef concert in Oklahoma City.

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I hadn't clued in to Lake Street Dive until a dude at last month's Los Lobos concert raved about the band. 

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Confession time- I actually bought Ellen Foley's Spirit of St. Louis album in 1981.  Here's the video for the cringeworthy lead track.

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A person I don't know intended the following Facebook comment as a compliment to both bands: "Jethro Tull was the Radiohead of the '70s."  I concur (for entirely different reasons).

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Counting Nickels and Dimes With Jay-Z

A lot of the critical backlash directed at Jay-Z's Magna Carta... Holy Grail is undeserved.  Many critics are feigning surprise at the rapper's gloating.  They're  shocked (shocked!) that a hip-hop album would include such content.  Magna Carta... Holy Grail sounds like a million bucks to me. 

I don't begrudge Jay-Z his success.  He earned the right to brag about buying museum-quality art.  My idea of wealth revolves around the ability to buy ten-dollar beers at concerts and sporting events without flinching.  (I'm a long way from achieving that level of financial security.)

The uproar over Jay-Z's so-called excesses parallels one of my pet peeves.  A lot of people conflate artist's personas with the quality of their music.  That's ridiculous.  Just as horrible people make great music, nice people regularly produce inferior sounds.  I don't want or expect Jay-Z to be my friend.  As he suggests of "Nickels and Dimes", the relationship couldn't possibly be healthy anyway.

For that matter, I don't really have any interest hanging out with musicians.  I expect a lot- everything, really- from music.  I don't expect or demand any personal connection with the people who produce those sounds.


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That said, I'd be willing to throw back a Guinness or two with Ian McLagan.  I reviewed his appearance at Danny's in Lenexa on Saturday night.

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The video for Trampled Under Foot's "Bad Bad Feeling" looks great.  The band's Badlands album is released on July 9.

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All the cool kids are raving about Laura Mvula.  I remain unconvinced.

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Reminder- Plastic Sax is my other music blog.

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I covet the new The Chicago Blues Box: The MCM Records Story.

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I'm looking forward to hearing this week's new releases by Ciara, Donell Jones, King Tuff, Omar and the Howlers, Robert Pollard, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Thundercat and Chucho Valdes.  First, however, I expect to be enlightened by In Search of the Miraculous.

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Kansas City Click: Deafheaven hit the RecordBar on Monday.

Mindless Behavior appear Tuesday at the Midland.

Marcia Ball returns to Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Big B opens for the Dirty Heads at the Midland on Thursday.

Take Five Coffee + Bar hosts Todd Strait on Friday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: King Carnage- Ounce of Mercy, Pound of Flesh

A lot of people think I’m kidding when I profess my affection for black metal.  The truth is that I pretty much love everything.  I have a special affinity, however, for the extreme sounds associated with black metal.  The bludgeoning provided by Ounce of Mercy, Pound of Flesh, the new album by the obsure King Carnage, hurts so good.  This is precisely the sort of unforgiving malevolence that adds a necessary balance to my spiritual and earthly existence. 


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Little Willie Littlefield, the man who behind the original version of “Kansas City,” has died.  One of the great controversies in popular music centers on the provenance of the song.  Did Littlefield write it, as he maintained, or do Leiber and Stoller deserve the official credit they've been given? 

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Here’s a video for Schwervon!’s “Cyclone.”

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The video for Despistaos’ ”Kansas City” is the visual equivalent of a love letter to the town.  (Via Tony’s Kansas City.)

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Atmosphere’s excellent new song ”Bob Seger” isn’t really about the Detroit rocker.

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Euclid Records' new arrivals videos never fail to mesmerize me. 

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I’ve been involuntarily exposed to a terrestrial classic rock station for several hours a day for the past week.  The twenty year period beginning in 1965 is reduced to a 500-song playlist.  What a travesty.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Dessa- Parts of Speech

I pondered the fleeting nature of fame as I watched Paula Cole perform three weeks ago.  Cole won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1998.  So how did she end up playing a free concert at a suburban shopping mall for a few hundred curiosity seekers 15 years later?  Cole hasn't lost any of her talent or good looks.

Part of every popular artist's challenge is fending off the relentless waves of fresh talent.  One significant “new” contender is Dessa.  Part of the prodigiously gifted Doomtree crew from the Twin Cities, Dessa updates the confessional singer-songwriter rock associated with Cole and other Lilith Fair-style musicians on her latest solo album. 

Because that sensibility isn’t my thing, I most appreciate the tracks on Parts of Speech that hew most closely to hip-hop.  ”Warsaw” is my favorite song while ”Call Off Your Ghost” does nothing for me.  A sparkling interpretation of Bruce Springsteen’s “I'm Going Down,” not surprisingly, delights me.

It's a strong effort, but there’s probably not a “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?”-size hit on Parts of Speech.  Those coveted shopping mall gigs are going to have to wait. 


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A triple bill of Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys and Alejandro Escovedo exceeded my expectations.  Here’s my review of Saturday's concert at Knuckleheads.

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The three free new songs by Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 are RIYL: “Suit & Tie,” Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson. 

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The Abnorm’s new mixtape is titled The Soular Powered Project.

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I’ve met several members of Bloodstone and I’ve had extensive dealings with a one-time manager of the Kansas City-based band.  But until a few days ago, I never knew that Bloodstone starred in a movie.  Here’s the  trailer for “Train Ride to Hollywood.”

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Telarc Records will issue Trampled Under Foot’s new album this month.  Here’s an excellent  EPK.

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The video for Cowboy Indian Bear’s “I Want a Stranger’s Heart” is effective.

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Here’s a nice video recap of the 2013 edition of the Middle of the Map festival.

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Here’s murky footage of Mayor Sly James singing “It’s Not My Cross to Bear.”

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Steve Paul filmed a portion of “a mid-afternoon show of santeria/conga/rumba music” on a recent trip to Cuba.

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Sunday’s BET Awards was the most entertaining music-themed award show I’ve watched in years.  The segments featuring Charlie Wilson and R. Kelly were excellent.  I loved the performances by Janelle Monae, Robin Thicke, Tamela Mann and Kendrick Lamar. 

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I’m not too proud to admit my affection for In a Warzone, the entirely derivative new album by the Transplants.  RIYL: Rancid, Blink-182, Slightly Stoopid. 

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I have absolutely no reservations about sharing my enthusiasm for Otis Clay’s new album Truth Is.  It’s first-rate soul-blues.  ”All That’s Missing Is You” is my jam.  RIYL: Sharon Jones, Tyrone Davis, Jerry Butler.

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This week’s most compelling new releases include albums by Akkilles, Deap Vally, The Fall, the Joe Farrell Quartet and Joe.  The latest from John Scofield is at the top of my list.

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Kansas City Click: Diarrhea Planet is on Tuesday’s bill at the Riot Room.

The Bottle Rockets perform at Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Matt Stillwell appears on the KC Live! stage on the Fourth of July.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)