Album Review: Roots Magic- Hoodoo Blues

I’ve spent the majority of my life under the impression that I’m the only person on the planet who considers Henry Threadgill’s ”I Can’t Wait Till I Get Home” to be one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th century.  I resigned myself to the lonely life of an isolated avant-garde jazz weirdo enthusiast years ago.  A trip to Italy might be in order.  Roots Magic is an Italian quartet that specializes in loving recreations of classic left-of-center American jazz compositions, including Threadgill’s “I Can’t Wait ‘Til I Get Home.”  How does that even happen?  Hoodoo Blues restores my zeal for life on Earth.


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I wrote an extended preview for Run the Jewels’ concert.  Alas, the show disappointed me.  Here’s my review.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink.

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A feature about Ron Carlson is among the recent Local Listen segments I’ve contributed to KCUR.

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Last week’s John Gross concert was not exactly what I had in mind.

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Duncan Burnett & the Ministry created a video for ”Junkies”.

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Strange Music released a video for Ces Cru’s ”Letterman”.

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The Xtraordinair$ made a video for ”Best Me”.

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Brian Berg has died.  I was a big fan of his roots-rock band 44 Long in the late 1990s.

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Mark Murphy has died.  I vaguely recall seeing the vocalist perform at a short-lived venue on Southwest Boulevard in the 1990s.

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Cory Wells of Three Dog Knight has died.

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The lineup of the 2016 edition of the Big EarsFestival is extremely impressive.

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Vivian Green’s Vivid is disappointingly dull.  RIYL: Marsha Ambrosius, adult R&B, Anthony Hamilton.  Here’s ”Gets Right Back to My Baby”.

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I saw Noah Preminger perform at the 55 Bar in New York seven months ago.  (My review.)  Not surprisingly, the saxophonist’s new album Pivot: Live at the 55 Bar sounds a lot like what I heard.  RIYL: late Coltrane, fury, Archie Shepp.

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I’m charmed by the Suffers’ Make Some Room.  RIYL: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Houston, the Diplomats of Solid Sound.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Arlo Guthrie at Yardley Hall

I’ve always thought of the people who listen to “Alice’s Restaurant” every Thanksgiving as intemperate masochists.  Arlo Guthrie’s signature song really doesn’t need to be heard more than once in a lifetime. 

Then again, I’ve never been an Arlo fan.  I’d succeeded in avoiding his concerts until Sunday.  I cringed as I bought the ticket that would break my winning streak.

As is often the case, I had it all wrong. 

Once I became acclimated to the nursing home odor that emanated from a few dozen members of the audience of more than 1,000 at Yardley Hall, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert.

Before Arlo and a tasteful band played his biggest hits, Sarah Lee Guthrie performed a charming opening set.  Partly because Arlo implied that he was also sick of the song, I wasn’t even inclined to flee during “Alice’s Restaurant.”  I may or may not have teared up during “Highway In the Wind,” a tribute to Arlo’s late wife Jackie.

Arlo dismissively characterized folk sing-alongs as “all that 'Kumbaya' stuff” near the end of his appearance.  It was a trap.  The sing-alongs that followed swelled my heart. 

Even so, I won’t tolerate any suggestions that “Alice’s Restaurant” be cued up in my presence on Thanksgiving.


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I reviewed the Kansas City debut of Chance the Rapper.

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I reviewed Gregg Allman’s concert at a casino.

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I wrote an extended preview about Passion Pit for Ink.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed Ron Carlson’s Kind Folk at Plastic Sax.

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The Popper made a Royals-centric remix of “I’m KC.”

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Here’s the video for Tech N9ne’s “Roadkill.”

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Here’s the video for Radkey’s “Glore.”

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Smokin’ Joe Kubek has died.

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I somehow missed the September release of John Scofield’s Past Present.  It’s so good that I’m mourning the weeks that I could have spent listening to the funky collaboration with Joe Lovano, Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart.  RIYL: Grant Green, soul jazz, Charlie Hunter.

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I endured BET’s “Hip-Hop Awards” broadcast last week.  It was rough sledding.  As usual, the cyphers provided the highlights.  I loved seeing Casey Veggies and Vince Staples and was tickled by the efforts of Erick Sermon, Redman and Keith Murray, but the clear winner was the beat-boxing trio of Doug E. Fresh, Nicole Paris and Rahzel.

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Here’s the trailer for the B.B. King/UGK mashup that the world needs now.

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I’m just beginning to learn that the European jazz/prog releases I’ve written about in recent months aren’t anomalies.  As the kids say, it’s a thing.  My latest discovery is Samuel Hällkvist’s Variety of Live.  Men affiliated with Pink Floyd and King Crimson are among the project’s participants.  RIYL: Terje Rypdal, anti-swing, Soft Machine.

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Joe Ely has an uncommon ability to conjure colorful Tex-Mex atmospheres.  Too many of the songs on Panhandle Rambler, however, are clunky.  RIYL: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, songs about Bob Wills, Butch Hancock.  ”When the Nights Are Cold” is my favorite song on the album.

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I was so tempted by Rhymesayers’ 20th Anniversary Concert that I checked on airfare to Minneapolis.  It’s only $150....

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Alegria de Viver, a new recording featuring the duet of Brazilian vocalist Leny Andrade and New York guitarist Ari Ben-Hur, might be perfect.

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Marbin’s Aggressive Hippies is RIYL: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, DIY jazz, Mahavishnu Orchestra.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: The 18th & Vine Jazz and Blues Festival

Jazz can seem like an afterthought at the American Jazz Museum’s 18th & Vine Jazz and Blues Festival.

After spending more than nine hours at the annual event on Saturday, I came away with only three jazz performances to document at my Kansas City jazz blog Plastic Sax.  Much of the remainder of my time was dedicated to listening to R&B and blues cover bands.  My notes on a few of the performances are listed in the order of my appreciation.

Jamii
Children playing R&B classics with enthusiasm?  Sold!  Rather than pointing out Jamii’s obvious limitations, I’ll note that I smile at the thought of the cherubs knocking out the Isley Brothers’ “Footsteps in the Dark.”  (Here’s representative footage of a previous performance.)

John Paul and the Hellhounds
The longstanding blues quartet doesn’t do anything that hasn’t done countless times before; they just do it better.

Charlotte Fletcher & Soigné
I’d try to book this band for my wedding reception if I was getting married.  The group’s covers of hits by Labelle, the Crusaders and a Taste of Honey were celebratory.

Langston and Prototype
I appreciated hearing a faithful rendition of Tyrese’s “Shame”, one of my favorite songs of 2015, and samples of Jazmine Sullivan’s undervalued catalog.

Dwele
Prior to Saturday, I thought of Dwele as the vocalist who delivered the hooks on Kanye West classics like ”Flashing Lights”.  I’ll now remember him as loquacious guy who performed only three or four songs during the 30 minutes I spent watching his set. 

Popa Chubby
A lot of people adore burly boogie.  I’m not one of them.


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I reviewed Seether’s concert at the Midland theater last week.

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I’ve never written about music to curry favor with stars, but it’s nice nonetheless that Chance the Rapper has embraced my extended preview of his concert at the Midland theater.

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Here’s the latest batch of the weekly music previews I write for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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Billy Joe Royal has died.

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I feel like a rich man when I listen to Janet Jackson’s Unbreakable.  The airy production sounds like a billion dollars.  RIYL: Michael Jackson, money, Celine Dion.

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I need to find a way to get to a performance by the Malian band Songhoy Blues.

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Youth Lagoon’s Savage Hills Ballroom sends me back to the era in which I reverently listened to albums by the likes of Mercury Rev and Sparklehorse.  RIYL: drugs, St. Vincent, weeping.  Here’s ”Highway Patrol Stun Gun”.

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Does liking Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott’s Songs From the Arc of Life and Lang Lang’s Live In Paris make me a middlebrow ninny?

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Rolando Villazón’s Treasures of Bel Canto failed to rouse me.

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St. Germain reduces Malian music to smooth jazz.  And I like it.

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Sullivan Fortner’s Aria is about three notches too polite for me.  RIYL: Branford Marsalis, bespoke suits, Jon Batiste.

(Original images of Jamii, above, and festival grounds, below, by There Stands the Glass.)

Song For Sisyphus: A Remembrance of Phil Woods

Phil Woods was the first angry jazz musician I encountered.  He certainly wasn’t the last.

I recall being titillated by the rage Woods unleashed on impolite people on blankets and in lawn chairs at a free concert sponsored by Kansas City, Missouri, in the mid-’70s. 

I’d never seen a performer act like that. 

As a kid who managed to talk a parent who didn’t have any interest in jazz into driving him to the show (I recall that it was near our home north of the river), I didn’t have much context for what I was witnessing.  But I could tell that it was good.

I was riveted. 

In hindsight, it’s clear to me that Woods’ fiery outing and a free concert by the elegant Roland Hanna at Crown Center in the same time period ignited my tempestuous obsession with jazz.

An appearance at the Folly Theater in 2012 was the last of several times I saw Woods.  I admit to crying in my review of his bittersweet performance.  Woods died on September 29.


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I reviewed the Grisly Hand’s new Flesh & Blood album for KCUR.

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I reviewed a Zappa Plays Zappa concert.

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I wrote an extended preview about KC Psych Fest for Ink magazine.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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My review of Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle’s Live in Kansas City album is on page 27 of the October issue of JAM magazine.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment about Mark Lowrey to KCUR.

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I reviewed Matt Villinger’s All Night at Plastic Sax.

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Kansas City’s music nerds have been posting fond recollections about the RecordBar in response to the venue’s tenth anniversary and pending relocation.  One friend claims to have taken in more than 700 performances at the RecordBar.  I don’t keep meticulous records; my number is probably around 225.  I haven’t appreciated everything I’ve seen in the room.  For instance, I detested Mumford & Sons when I caught the soon-to-be-massive band in the club in 2010.  Here are my ten favorite performances at the RecordBar:  Nikka Costa (2006), The National (2005), The People’s Liberation Big Band (2012), V.V. Brown (2010), Marijuana Deathsquads (2014), Mission of Burma (2012), Peter Schlamb’s Electric Tinks (2015), American Music Club (2008), Blind Pilot (2009) and Helmet (2015).

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The Buhs created a representative promotional video.

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Wilton Felder of the Crusaders has died.

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Pop quiz: which two artists have had two #1 albums on Billboard’s Top 200 chart in 2015?  Why, it’s D---e and Future, of course.  As I detailed in my notes about his 2013 concert at the Sprint Center, I loathe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  Even so, I have to admit that I enjoy much of his latest chart-topper What a Time To Be Alive. 

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I admire Ron Carter’s big band album My Personal Songbook.  Note that I didn’t say I liked it.  RIYL: Oliver Nelson, swangin’, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

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I recently discovered The Milken Archive, "the largest collection of American Jewish music ever assembled."  I’ve heard almost none it, an oversight I intend to rectify.

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Children of the Light features Wayne Shorter’s band without their leader.  The trio of Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade is in top form.

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A recent appearance in Olathe reminded me that Shemekia Copeland is really smart.  That’s partly why I can’t help but think that she’s patronizing the blues audience on Outskirts of Love.  I like it anyway.

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Evan Parker performed in St. Louis last week.  There’s not an audience for the British free jazz artist in Kansas City.  Ninth Square, Parker’s new album with Joe Morris and Nate Wooley, is RIYL: skronking, Sonny Sharrock, screeching.

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I’d been looking forward to the release of the New Mastersounds’ Made For Pleasure, but now that it’s here I’m just not feeling it.  RIYL: St. Paul & the Broken Bones, nice tries, the Budos Band.

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I can’t resist the cheap nostalgia of Graveyard’s Innocence & Decadence.  RIYL: Thin Lizzy, 1975, UFO.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)