DJ E-Z Rock, 1968-2014

A framed copy of the 1988 album It Takes Two by  Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock has hung in my office for years. The well-designed art serves as an excellent conversation starter.  As far as I can tell, everybody loves the title track.  When I walked into my office a few months ago, I discovered that the frame had fallen from the wall and broken glass had gouged the cover.  DJ E-Z Rock, aka Rodney Bryce, died Sunday.


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Tim Finn wrote a comprehensive profile of Kristie Stremel.

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Accordionist Don Lipovac has died.

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Lee Dresser of the Krazy Kats has died.

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Here's footage of 17-year-old Akshay Dinaker sitting in with Roger Wilder's trio at Broadway Jazz Club.

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The eighth episode of the current season of the KC Cypher Series is unimpressive.

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The Kansas City Star provides an update on the Creepyface case.

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DJ Rashad has died.  He performed with Chance the Rapper at Liberty Hall in Lawrence last November.

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Habib Koité's Soô is very nice, but I can't completely connect with the Malian's new album.

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My infatuation with European jazz continues unabated.  Kasper Staub Trio's Havnepladen is RIYL: Tord Gustavsen, swing-free jazz, Tomasz Stanko.

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April isn't over and I've already listened to about 150 albums released in 2014.  I've skipped through many more that don't appeal to me.  My Top Albums of 2014 playlist at Spotify contains a single track from each of my 50 favorites.  St. Vincent and Kelis are currently battling for the top spot.  The rest of the playlist will almost certainly undergo dramatic transformations during the next eight months.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Takuya Kuroda- Rising Son

My refusal to disavow smooth jazz continues to shock many friends and readers.  I happily attend a handful of smooth jazz concerts every year and regularly listen to the music without a trace of irony.  The artists I most admire in the format aren't necessarily the purveyors of the stuff that's played in elevators.  Roy Ayers, the Crusaders, George Duke, Bob James and Lonnie Liston Smith are among the artists I adore.  Takuya Kuroda shares my love of the work of those musicians.  The trumpeter's soulful new album Rising Son includes an exceptional cover of Ayers' "Everybody Loves the Sunshine."  Reclassifying the music as acid jazz hasn't done much to revive the form's popularity.  In spite of solid promotion by Blue Note Records, the new album's current sales ranking at Amazon is #13,382.  Here's the EPK for the unfairly neglected recording.


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I reviewed Sevendust's concert Thursday at the Midland theater.

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Latenight Callers made a beautiful video for "Tourniquets"

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The Strive created a video for "Keep Dreaming".

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"Bye Felicia" is a new track by MarksMyBarber & Kansas Smitty.

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Duck Sauce's Quack is RIYL: "Disco Duck," K-Tel, "Disco Inferno."  And Barry Gibb help me- I really like it.

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The Encyclopedia of Arto promises to be a handy guide to the work of Arto Lindsay.

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Neneh Cherry's new album doesn't do much for me, but "Everything" indicates that she still knows how to make a striking video.

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Hood Internet's "Digital Humpty" tickles my pleasure centers.

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Kris Bowers' "History of Jazz Piano" is pretty great.

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1987 forever!  The feedback-laden squall of Perfect Pussy's Say Yes To Love appeals to my nostalgic side.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

All the Young Punks

I've yet to tell Steve Pick that he was once one of my heroes.

Soon after I became obsessed with bands like the Sex Pistols, the Specials, the Buzzcocks and most significantly, the Clash, I encountered Jet Lag at a record store.  With internet and cable still in the future and with mainstream media yet to acknowledge the underground, the commentary in the St. Louis-based fanzine served as a treasure map that led me to new sounds.

Pick recalls this era in a new interview.

"In those days, you could be beaten up, attacked, because you liked the Sex Pistols or the Clash or Elvis Costello. If you weren't beaten up or attacked, you would be threatened, or called a 'fag.' It was that dramatic." 

It's true.  I endured many beatdowns in high school that were ostensibly based on a skinny tie or PiL t-shirt.  I never disavowed my allegiance to the locker room staples of Led Zeppelin and Van Halen but my open affection for "new wave" was a punishable offense.  My love of Michael Jackson, Lakeside and Donna Summer further antagonized my adversaries. 

My taste in music has since diverged with Steve's, but this post serves as a belated acknowledgment of his influence during my formative years.


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My notes on Saturday's outing by the Brad Mehldau Trio are at Plastic Sax.

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The Kansas City Business Journal reports on the unlikely transformation of El Torreon.

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Live and B Sides is the latest release by Quiet Corral.

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Forgive the blasphemy: Caetano Veloso sounds as if he's following rather than leading on Abracaco.  RIYL: failed experiments, St. Vincent, geniuses living in the moment. 

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Balani Show Super Hits: Electronic Street Parties from Mali is astounding.  RIYL: Oumou Sangare, surprises, M.I.A..  (Tip via Big Steve.)

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Unreleased Led Zeppelin to the rescue.  (Of course I'm excited.)

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Ana Tijoux's Vengo disappointed me.  RIYL: Dessa, blandness, Ozomatli.

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Even though I'm a proud member of the ol' Chevrolet set, I'm charmed by Sabina's jet-setting Toujours.  RIYL: Nico, passports, Rufus Wainwright.

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Jello Biafra is featured in an episode of "Cratediggers".  I hadn't realized that he's an obsessive music nerd. (My brother!)

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Future's "I Won" is gross.

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Homeboy Sandman raps about vegetarian food on "Fat Belly".  I've given his sketchy project White Sands repeated listens, an indication that 2014 is shaping up as a terrible year for hip-hop.

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Reunited and it feels so good: Dave and Phil Alvin.

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Kelis' Food will be released tomorrow.  It's my most highly anticipated album of 2014.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Nas- Illmatic XX

A common theme in alien abduction movies is the victim's inability to account for an inexplicable loss of time.  It happened to me this week.  Instead of getting probed by lusty Martians, I simply hit play on the new reissue of Nas' Illmatic.  The wormhole effect elicited by twenty-year-old tracks like "One Time 4 Your Mind" made me oblivious to the outside world.  Hey Nas- what do you want from me?  Leave me alone!


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I saw John Cale for the first time last night.  Here's my review.

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The Museum of Dead People in my basement contains several albums and CDs by Jesse Winchester.  But I never saw the man perform and I never really connected with his music.  Only covers of Winchester's material- Ted Hawkins' rendition of "Biloxi" is a prime example- resonated with me.  Winchester died last week.

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The film portion of this weekend's Middle of the Map Fest features several music movies.

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Stik Figa released The Pookey Tape this week.

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Here's a most welcome blast from the past: live footage of BCR performing at Harlings in 1995.  The expression of the young woman dancing in front of the single camera reflects my affection for Black Crack Revue.

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When worlds collide.

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Brook Tuley of Bloodbirds released First Midnight.

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An instrumental version of Romeo Santos' Formula, Vol. 2 could conceivably make by year-end top albums list.  The blend of pop and bachata is intoxicating.  But man, I just can't take Santos's smarmy ad-libs.  The feature by Rhymes-with-Snake on the seventh track adds insult to injury.

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Vampire's self-titled album is great.  RIYL: death metal, Slayer, vampires.

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Snarky Puppy, hailed by many observers as a band capable of resurrecting interest in jazz, strikes me as an unholy mashup of Steely Dan and the Brecker Brothers.  Here's a sample (note the impressive view count).

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Chuck E. Weiss makes only three selections for "What's In My Bag?".  And it's possibly the best episode yet.

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I like what I've heard of Phronesis' new live album Life To Everything.  RIYL: Medeski Martin & Wood, the sound of people cheering for a piano trio, the Bad Plus.

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John McLaughlin's new The Boston Record is seventies-tastic.  RIYL: Mahavishnu Orchestra, solos, Jaco Pastorius.

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Woods' With Light and with Love is a righteous jam.  RIYL: If I Could Only Remember My Name, patchouli, All Things Must Pass.

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Emmure's "Like LaMotta" is this week's palate cleanser. 

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Gee Watts- 199X

Gee Watts is obsessed with Kendrick Lamar.  And why not?  Lamar is arguably the most important rapper alive. He also gave Watts' career a kick start by contributing a few bars to the Kansas City rapper's track "Watts R.I.O.T." last year.  Unfortunately, Watts' new album 199X sounds like an extended homage to Lamar's groundbreaking album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.

Worse still, Watts isn't even the star of his own album.  The poetry of Purpose on the tracks "Mourning Soul" and "Hide & Seek" provide 199X's best moments.  Only on the sorrowful "Hide & Seek" and the hip-hop collage "Deeper Than Rap" can Watts' true potential be easily discerned.

During the opening moments of 199X, Watts admits that he "feel(s) like I might have let the town down."  I can't speak for anyone else, but he let me down.  I'm not about to jump off Watts' bandwagon, but I'm convinced that he has much more to offer than than can be heard on the disappointing 199X.


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I reviewed Dream Theater's concert at the Uptown Theater on Wednesday.

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I love the fact that there's a song titled "'02 Boschee".  Unfortunately, I don't love Chase Compton's composition.

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Slowly Rolling Camera created an appealing video for "Dream a Life".  RIYL: Portishead, jazz that's not jazz, Soul II Soul.

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Cloud Nothings' Here and Nowhere is RIYL: Japandroids, college radio in 1987, Fugazi.

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Free Aesop Rock!

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I think Steel Panther is hilarious.  (I'm a 14-year-old boy at heart.)

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I realize that it's an ignorant thing to suggest, but Tinariwen's Emmaar is a bit, um, samey.  RIYL: John Lee Hooker, repetition, Ali Farka Touré. 

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Originality isn't the strong suit of Black Label Society.  I adore Catacombs of the Black Vatican anyway.  RIYL: Ozzy, sledgehammers, Slash.

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Ibibio Sound Machine's self-titled album is RIYL: Angélique Kidjo, world parties, Antibalas.

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I'm unable to resist the charms of Tune-Yard's "Wait for a Minute".  RIYL: Graceland, tomorrow, Reflektor.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Surface Noise at Ink's Middle of the Map Fest

I don't share the musical sensibilities of the organizers of Ink's Middle of the Map Fest.  That doesn't mean that I couldn't find plenty to enjoy last weekend.  I caught at least two sets at each of the event's six stages in the 17 hours I logged at the festival.  All of my favorite performances, however, took place at the Riot Room.  Here's the top five:

• Wolf Eyes- searing noise
• Reggie and the Full Effect- a glorious mess
• Bummer- Olathe grunge
• Shabazz Palaces- interstellar hip-hop
• Josh Berwanger Band- Kansas power-pop

Some of my commentary is incorporated into reports here and here.


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Your Friend's session for KJHK at the KU Natural History Museum is impressive. 

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I ponder Mike Dillon's Band of Outsiders at Plastic Sax.

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Wayne Henderson of the Jazz Crusaders has died.

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Atmosphere's "Kanye West" is a bit disappointing.

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The European piano trio Phronesis is doing interesting things.

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Dave Koz's rendition of the "Game of Thrones" theme has gone viral.

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B.B. King's performances continue to deteriorate.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image of James Dewees by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Shearwater, Death Vessel and Jesca Hoop at the Horseshoe Tavern

Tourism bureaus take note- music tourism isn't limited to major festivals.

On my first trip to Toronto in 1999, I saw Royal Trux at the famous El Mocambo in Toronto.  Fifteen years later, I made a beeline for the renowned Horseshoe Tavern to catch a triple bill of Shearwater, Death Vessel and Jesca Hoop.  (I also visited Massey Hall and the Sony Centre.)

Along with about 225 Canadians, I paid $15 to enter the room that looks a lot like the 39th Street version of Kansas City's Parody Hall.  Hoop, a former nanny for Tom Waits' brood, opened the show with a flighty solo set.  Her dusky voice is her strongest asset.

Death Vessel was the primary musical draw for me.  Blind Pilot and Bon Iver excepted, Death Vessel is the best chamber folk band I've seen.  Joel Thibodeau, the band's primary vocalist, resembles a young Paul Simon.  (Don't believe me? See for yourself.)  The remainder of the ensemble is similarly intriguing.

I've never been able to get into Shearwater.  I left thirty minutes into the headliner's set.


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I reviewed St. Vincent's concert Monday at Liberty Hall and Todd Rundgren's appearance at the VooDoo Lounge on Thursday.

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The sixth installment of the second season of the KC Cypher Series is salvaged by the Phantom.

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Stik Figa and DJ Sku go "Back 2 Kansas".

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John Velghe & the Prodigal Sons were captured in a 909 session.

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House music pioneer Frankie Knuckles has died.

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Here's a portion of Kelis' amazing performance at SXSW.

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I've yet to encounter a compilation of Bob Dylan covers on which I didn't find at least something to appreciate.  The new collection Bob Dylan in the 80's: Volume One contains several gems.  I immediately skipped to the slam dunk of Craig Finn interpreting "Sweetheart Like You," but other keepers include Carl Broemel's version of "Death Is Not the End" and Gene Ween and Slash's take on "Wiggle Wiggle."

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It's nice to see Carlene Carter back on the scene.

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Range of Light, S. Carey's delicate new chamber folk album, is RIYL: Bon Iver, the Garden of Eden, Iron & Wine.

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A few tracks on Beats Antique's A Thousand Faces - Act 2 are delightful.  RIYL: Renaissance fairs, Bassnectar, Cirque du Soleil.

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Before Jesca Hoop performed at the Horseshoe Tavern, the Mekons' "Empire of the Senseless" boomed through the sound system.  I watched three guys Shazam the great song as I realized I haven't listened to Rock 'n' Roll in years.  My priorities are all screwed up.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)