Quarterly Report

I’m embarking on a brief blogging break.  Before I get out of Dodge, I’ll leave you with three arbitrary lists.

My Ten Favorite Concerts of 2017 (so far)
1. Charlie Wilson, Fantasia and Johnny Gill- Sprint Center
2. Jazz 100 featuring Danilo Pérez, Lizz Wright and Avishai Cohen- Yardley Hall
3. Joseph- Madrid Theatre
4. Patti LaBelle- Muriel Kauffman Theatre
5. Ramsey Lewis- Gem Theater
6. Ben Folds with the Kansas City Symphony- Helzberg Hall
7. Gaelynn Lea- Folk Alliance International Conference at Crown Center
8. Jessica Care Moore- Black Archives of Mid-America
9. Pure Disgust- Encore Room
10. Simone Porter- Folly Theater

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2017 (so far)
1. Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos- “Slide”
2. Valerie June- “Astral Plane”
3. Sunny Sweeney- “Bottle by My Bed”
4. Craig Finn- “God in Chicago”
5. Lorde- “Liability”
6. Young Fathers- “Only God Knows”
7. Alejandro Fernandez- “Agridulce”
8. José James- “To Be With You”
9. Brother Ali- “Own Light (What Hearts Are For)”
10. Chronixx- “Majesty”

My Ten Favorite Albums of 2017 (so far)
1. Miguel Zenón- Tipico
2. Tinariwen- Elwan
3. Yelena Eckemoff- Blooming Tall Phlox
4. Future- Hndrxx
5. Uniform- Wake in Fright
6. Mark Eitzel- Hey Mr. Ferryman
7. Víkingur Ólafsson- Philip Glass: Piano Works
8. Code Orange- Forever
9. Ibibio Sound Machine- Uyai
10. Noah Preminger- Meditations on Freedom



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I reviewed Rodney Crowell’s appearance at Knuckleheads.

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I reviewed Patti LaBelle’s concert at Muriel Kauffman Theatre.

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I reviewed the Jazz 100 concert at Yardley Hall at Plastic Sax.

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I discussed Victor & Penny on my weekly segment for KCUR.

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I wrote an extended preview of Xenia Rubinos’ concert for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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

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Craig Finn’s We All Want the Same Things is a mixed bag.  The standout tracks are “God in Chicago” and “Jester & June.”

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Tedeschi Trucks is my all-time favorite jam band.  Here’s a ten-minute interpretation of ”Keep On Growing" from Live From the Fox Oakland.

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Havok’s Conformicide is RIYL Megadeth, political metal, Revocation.  Here’s ”Intention to Deceive”.

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Spoon’s Hot Thoughts and Sinkane’s Life & Livin’ It could be the first and second discs of the same sprawling modern pop album.  RIYL: dancing, the Isley Brothers, fun.

(Original image of Charlie Wilson, Johnny Gill and band by There Stands the Glass.)

Chuck Berry, 1926-2017

Prior to buying The Great Twenty-Eight as a new release in 1982, I thought of Chuck Berry as the guy responsible for the novelty hit “My Ding-a-Ling.”  The compilation rectified that misleading impression.  The euphoric aggressiveness of Berry’s earth-shaking songs was of a piece with a few of my other favorite albums of 1982, including the Clash’s Combat Rock and George Clinton’s Computer Games.

I attended my first Berry concert a year or two later.   It was terrible.  He was clearly going through the motions.  Yet I didn’t give up.  My persistence paid off the third or fourth time I saw Berry.  Lou Whitney and his cohorts in the Skeletons and the Morells acted as Berry’s backing band at Parody Hall in Kansas City.

Fondly remembered in these parts as ”the best bar band ever”, the quality of Whitney’s group clearly surprised Berry.  The legend became increasingly elated as his exceptional pickup band survived each of his challenges.  Against his contrary inclinations, Berry went all-in on that memorable night.  I never saw him try half as hard again.  Berry died yesterday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Juke

Rather than shedding tears of grief upon learning of the death of the aged blues harmonica titan James Cotton yesterday, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for living during an era that enabled me to catch multiple performances by the luminary.  I first witnessed Cotton at the original incarnation of Antone’s in Austin. I heard him for the last time at the Uptown Theater in 2011.  Thanks to the blues scare of the late 1980s and early 1990s, I also attended plenty of gigs by John Lee Hooker, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Albert Collins, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Honeyboy Edwards, Koko Taylor, Johnny Copeland, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Z.Z. Hill and many other since-departed giants.  The blues was alright.


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I reviewed last night’s outstanding concert by Charlie Wilson, Fantasia and Johnny Gill at the Sprint Center.

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I reviewed Ben Folds’ concert with the Kansas City Symphony.

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I reviewed the Quality Hill Playhouse production “Unchained Melody.”

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

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I named Everette DeVan the KCUR Band of the Week.

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I wrote an extended concert preview about Ariana Grande for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I reviewed the one-man play Live Bird at Plastic Sax.

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Evan Johns has died.

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Joni Sledge has died.

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Tommy LiPuma has died.

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New albums by the Kansas City based artists Samantha Fish, Hermon Mehari and Matt Otto were released today.

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The heavy Kansas City rock band Hyborian is off to an auspicious start with ”As Above, So Below”.

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Based on the stellar quality of the three advance tracks from Valerie June’s new album The Order of Time, I was hoping for a modern-day Astral Weeks.  It’s not even close.  The remainder of The Order of Time is merely good.  RIYL: Van Morrison, celestial boogie, Iris DeMent.

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I thought I’d outgrown 1980s college rock, but the Rolling Blackouts' The French Press makes me swoon in spite of myself.  RIYL: The Windbreakers, 1985,  the Go-Betweens.  Here’s ”Julie’s Place”.

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Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives’ Way Out West is a showcase for guitarist Kenny Vaughan.  RIYL: Dick Dale, spaghetti westerns, Marty Robbins.  Here’s the title track.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Ibibio Sound Machine- Uyai

So-called “world music” radio programming in the pre-internet era frustrated me.  The majority of the specialty DJs on college and public radio stations condescendingly prized rigid stylistic purity.  Performers like Angelique Kidjo who dared to incorporate contemporary styles into their sounds were dismissed in favor of “authentic” artists.  Selections like ”Give Me a Reason” on Ibibio Sound Machine’s Uyai that betray the influence of acts ranging from Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band to Thomas Dolby would never would have been played by those patronizing gatekeepers.  And that’s a large part of what makes Uyai wonderful.


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I reviewed Art Garfunkel’s concert at Helzberg Hall.

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I reviewed Joseph’s concert at the Madrid Theatre.

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

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I wrote an extended concert preview about Sunny Sweeney for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I commended the popularity of the Elders on KCUR.

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Dave Valentin has died.

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Tommy Page has died.

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The Kansas City rapper CB channels Atlanta on his latest track.

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Would you rather be an elite name in an esoteric realm or a mid-tier performer in a more popular format?  José James has opted for the latter.   He discards almost every trace of the sound that once made him a rising star in the jazz world on his fine neo-soul album Love In a Time of Madness.  RIYL: Robin Thicke, successful transitions, Ledisi.

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No matter how hard I try, I just can’t get with the new wave of stylish rock-informed jazz bands led by Snarky Puppy.  Kneebody’s Anti-Hero makes me wish I was listening to my old James “Blood” Ulmer, Billy Cobham or King Crimson albums instead.

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Chicano Batman’s Freedom Is Free may be my all-time favorite Grateful Dead album.  Here’s ”Friendship (Is a Small Boat in a Storm”.

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Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s Plata O Plomo is old-school fun.  RIYL: Big Pun, 2000, New York.  Here’s “Money Showers”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Simone Porter at the Folly Theater

Almost every one of the dozens of children and teenagers who made up about half of the audience in the back of the balcony of the Folly Theater on Sunday afternoon were riveted by the performance of Simone Porter.  The young violinist’s ability to transfix kids impressed me almost as much as her sterling readings of works by Mozart, Janáček, Pärt and Brahms during the free concert in the venerable Harriman-Jewell Series.  Even the boys who played video games at intermission were silent as Porter and pianist Armen Guzelimian played the challenging selections.  I won’t pretend to understand how the star-making machinery works in the classical realm, but the poise and artistry Porter displayed on Sunday made her a commendable celebrity in the eyes and ears of hundreds of young devotees in Kansas City.


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I reviewed Stik Figa’s Central Standard album for KCUR.

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

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I wrote an extended concert preview about Lee Fields for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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My review of Alaturka’s concert at Polsky Theatre is posted at Plastic Sax.

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I discussed Poor Bishop Hooper on KCUR this week.

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Horace Parlan has died.

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”Freedom Cobra” is the rawk song I’ve long wanted from the Kansas City band Bummer.

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David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors is the Donald Fagen of indie-rock.  That makes Dirty Projectors’ new self-titled album the equivalent of Aja.

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Much like Dirty Projectors, Thundercat’s Drunk is the eccentric brainchild of a California man who’s often too smart for his own good. Drunk is much better on paper than in practice.  RIYL: Frank Zappa, concept albums, Van Dyke Parks.  ”Walk On By” is the best track.

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And much like Drunk, Karriem Riggins’ Headnod Suite indulges the occasionally whimsical impulses of a master musician.  RIYL: Clyde Stubblefield, drumming lessons, Garageband.

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The sense of fun that’s often absent in jazz abounds on the hilarious Loafer’s Hollow, the latest effort from Mostly Other People Do the Killing.  RIYL: Louis Armstrong, audacity, Henry Threadgill.

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The spacey R&B on Kingdom’s Tears in the Club is RIYL Jhene Aiko, spacing out, SZA.  Here’s ”Nothin’”.

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Although Stormzy overshares on the schizophrenic Gang Signs & Prayer, the angry tracks are genuine bangers.  Here’s ”Big For Your Boots”.

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A few of my pals will lose their minds over Brokeback’s instrumental guitar album Illinois River Valley Blues.  RIYL: Link Wray, imaginary movies, the Coctails.

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Until I ingested Man Vs. Sofa last week, I hadn’t listened to a new Adrian Sherwood album in years.  He’s still great.  RIYL: bass, Lee “Scratch” Perry, dub.

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Víkingur Ólafsson’s Philip Glass: Piano Works is stunning.

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Pissed Jeans’ relentless Why Love Now is RIYL testosterone, F8cked Up, angry white men.  Here’s ”The Bar Is Low”.

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I wondered how Future expected to fill arenas on his forthcoming tour after issuing an inaccessible self-titled album two weeks ago.  The immediate follow-up Hndrxx solves the problem by serving as the vehicle for several likely hits.

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I wanted to love Los Campensinos!’s Sick Scene, but it’s about four notches too subdued for me.  Here’s ”The Fall of Home”.

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I can almost imagine an alternate universe in which Son Volt is my favorite band.  Notes of Blue is RIYL consistency, Furry Lewis, the Midwest.

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Even though I won’t spend much time listening to Little Big Town’s The Breaker for pleasure, I’m awed by its seamless merger of pop, country and classic rock.  Here’s ”Better Man”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)