Album Review: Vince Staples- Big Fish Theory

Several obsessive listening sessions with the difficult Big Fish Theory compels me to paraphrase a familiar saying: it’s not the Vince Staples album I want, but it may be the Vince Staples album I need.  Electronica-based production choices presented the initial hurdle.  Where the melange of jazz, funk and R&B employed by Kendrick Lamar- Staples’ most worthy hyper-ambitious California art-rap peer- immediately resonates with me, Big Fish Theory draws on sonics that are outside my wheelhouse.  As for Staples’ lyrical concerns, well, they’re not a lot of fun.  Lamar provides resolution for his apprehensions.  Staples is more ambiguous.  The contrast make Lamar’s entrance on “Yeah Right” the most electrifying moment on an album of challenging music for unsettled times.


---
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony’s concert at Crossroads KC was wack.  Here’s my review.

---
I named Making Movies KCUR’s Band of the Week.

---
In a dazzling display of poor judgement, I put off listening to Hudson, the new collaboration between John Scofield, John Medeski, Larry Grenadier and Jack DeJohnette.  The prospect of hearing them cover the likes of “Woodstock” didn’t appeal to me.  I shouldn’t have doubted the brilliant men.  The excellent album isn’t the least bit portentous.  Here’s the title track.

---
Tigran Hamasyan’s An Ancient Observer is an enchanting piano-based album.  Here’s "Markos and Markos".  RIYL: Brad Mehldau, Armenia, Ethan Iverson.

---
Sometimes I dodn’t know if I should envy the cool kids or laugh at them.

---
Outside the Echo Chamber, an astounding collaboration between Coldcut and On-U Sound, overflows with ideas.  RIYL: No Doubt, dub, Lee Perry.

---
Even though I think it’s a pointless exercise, I’d be lying if I claimed not to derive great pleasure from Ala.Ni’s You & I.  RIYL: Madeleine Peyroux, fine wine, Blossom Dearie.  Here’s ”Cherry Blossom”.

---
Pop Makossa- The Invasive Dance Beat of Cameroon 1976​-​1984 sounds like an exuberant remix of Nile Rodgers’ discography.  In other words, it’s an instant party.  (Tip via Big Steve.)

---
A viable new contender for the title of the worst song of all time features one of the best artists of the moment.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Ain’t Nobody Praying For Me: Music Midway in 2017

 

The Top Songs of 2017 (So Far)
Three topics that have unsettled my home during the last six months- faith, sobriety and formulating an appropriate response to the new political climate- are addressed on Brother Ali’s hopeful anthem.(Spotify playlist)

1. Brother Ali- “Own Light (What Hearts Are For)”
2. Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos- “Slide”
3. Kendrick Lamar- “Humble”
4. Valerie June- “Astral Plane”
5. Sunny Sweeney- “Bottle by My Bed”
6. Lorde- “Liability”
7. Rick Ross featuring Young Thug- “Trap Trap Trap”
8. Young Fathers- “Only God Knows”
9. Future- “Mask Off”
10. Ibibio Sound Machine- “Give Me a Reason”

11. Fat Joe and Remy Ma- “Spaghetti”
12. Alejandro Fernandez- “Agridulce”
13. José James- “To Be With You”
14. Craig Finn- “God in Chicago”
15. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit- “Hope the High Road”
16. Mark Eitzel- “The Last Ten Years”
17. Adriel Favela- “Me Llamo Juan”
18. Stik Figa- “Cold”
19. Rodney Crowell- “It Ain’t Over Yet”
20. Migos- “T-Shirt”

21. Chronixx- “Majesty”
22. Motionless in White- “Loud”
23. Carlos Vives- “Al Filo de Tu Amor”
24. Chief Keef- “Reefah”
25. Ledisi- “High”


The Top Albums of 2017 (So Far)
No contest- 2017 belongs to Kendrick Lamar.

1. Kendrick Lamar- Damn
2. Matt Otto- Ibérica
3. Orchestra Baobab- Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng
4. Future- Future
5. Sunny Sweeney- Trophy
6. Tinariwen- Elwan
7. Juana Molina- Halo
8. Víkingur Ólafsson- Philip Glass: Piano Works
9. Bobby Watson- Made In America
10. Migos- Culture

11. Miguel Zenón- Típico
12. Future- Hndrxx
13. Making Movies- I Am Another You
14. Brother Ali- All the Beauty In This Whole Life
15. Wavves- You’re Welcome
16. Samantha Fish- Chills & Fever
17. Omar Souleyman- To Syria, With Love
18. Syd- Fin
19. Yelena Eckemoff- Blooming Tall Phlox
20. Gorillaz- Humanz

21. Uniform- Wake In Fright
22. Oleta Adams- Third Set
23. Jessi Colter- The Psalms
24. Willie Nelson- God’s Problem Child
25. Lorde- Melodrama


The Top Shows of 2017 (So Far)
My cousin the opera star made me wince from laughing so hard in my front row seat at the Folly Theater.  Eric Owens one-upped him by causing me to sob.

1. Lawrence Brownlee and Eric Owens- Folly Theater
2. Charlie Wilson, Fantasia and Johnny Gill- Sprint Center
3. A Place to Bury Strangers- Madrid Theatre (opening for the Black Angels)
4. Donny McCaslin Trio- Folly Theater
5. Salif Keita- Town Hall (New York City)
6. Greg Tardy Trio- Blue Room
7. Danilo Pérez’s Jazz 100- Yardley Hall
8. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and Strand of Oaks- Uptown Theater
9. Halestorm- Rockfest at Kansas Speedway
10. Jack DeJohnette Trio- Gem Theater

11. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood- Sprint Center
12. Ramsey Lewis- Gem Theater
13. Patti LaBelle- Muriel Kauffman Theatre
14. Joseph- Madrid Theatre
15. Jessica Care Moore- Black Archives of Mid-America
16. Soundgarden and Dillinger Escape Plan- Starlight Theatre
17. Alaturka- Polsky Theatre
18. Lalah Hathaway- Kansas City Jazz & Heritage Festival in the Jazz District
19. Pure Disgust- Encore Room
20. Jimmy LaFave- Folk Alliance at the Westin Crown Center

21. Tech N9ne- Midland theater
22. Punch Brothers- Crossroads KC
23. Motionless in White- Midland theater
24. Simone Porter- Folly Theater
25. George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic- Boulevardia in the Stockyards District

(Original image of Lalah Hathaway by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit- The Nashville Sound

By evoking peak-era Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band during Ink’s Middle of the Map Festival at the Uptown Theater in May, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s concert at the Uptown Theater momentarily restored my faith in the viability of traditional rock and roll.  The best songs on the setlist- “If We Were Vampires” and “Hope the High Road”- acted as previews of the forthcoming The Nashville Sound.  It’s a drag, consequently, that those songs are far and away the album’s best tracks.  I’ll probably listen to “If We Were Vampires and “Hope the High Road” for the remainder of my life, but I’m just not down with the rest of The Nashville Sound.


---
I wrote a feature about Oleta Adams for KCUR.

---
I reviewed Ann Wilson’s concert at the Uptown Theater.

---
I reviewed George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic’s appearance at the Boulevardia festival.

---
Willie Nelson was rained out on Saturday, but I reviewed opening sets by Dwight Yoakam and Robert Earl Keen.

---
Concerts by John Legend and Portugal. The Man were my shows of the week for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

---
I named My Brothers & Sisters the KCUR Band of the Week.

---
I take note of Gerald Spaits latest release at Plastic Sax.

---
My weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star are here and here.

---
Prodigy of Mobb Deep has died.

---
Ben Goldberg School’s The Humanities is RIYL Henry Threadgill, the combination of clarinet and accordion, Don Byron.

---
I had a spiritual epiphany while listening to the opening selection of Ahmad Jamal’s excellent new Marseille. Here’s a music video for the fourth track.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Juana Molina- Halo

My insomnia has a soundtrack.  When my mind races like a hamster on a wheel in spite of my exhaustion, my imagination generates gentle buzzes, soothing bleeps and reassuring coos.  Juana Molina may suffer from the same curious malady.  Her enchanting new album Halo is precisely what I hear on sleepless nights.


--
I reviewed a production of “The Who’s Tommy” on Friday.

---
I reviewed “You’ve Got a Friend” at Quality Hill Playhouse on Saturday.

---
I reviewed a Punch Brothers concert at Crossroads KC on Sunday.

---
I reviewed Muse and Thirty Seconds to Mars at Starlight Theatre on Monday.

---
John Legend’s concert at Starlight Theatre is my pick of the week for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

---
I named Hembree KCUR’s Band of the Week.

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

---
Footage of the late Jimmy LaFave’s powerful performance at the Folk Alliance conference in February has emerged.

---
I hopped on the bandwagon for Gorillaz' Humanz last week.

---
Ambrose Akinmusire’s A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard doesn’t move me.  RIYL: Wallace Roney, disappointments, Roy Hargrove.

---
Benjamin Booker’s Witness is the rare roots-rock album that isn’t afraid of upsetting the apple cart.  RIYL: Gomez, powerful voices, Heartless Bastards.  Here’s ”Believe”.

---
Canned arrangements and lackluster production spoil Maysa’s Love Is a Battlefield.  RIYL: Anita Baker, romance, Ledisi.  Here’s the title track.

---
Even though I listened carefully to A Social Call, I’m compelled to reserve judgement on Jazzmeia Horn until I catch a live performance.  RIYL: Shirley Horn, jazz hype, Ella Fitzgerald.

---
I’ve never attempted to hide my unironic affection for Papa Roach.  Crooked Teeth is RIYL Sevendust, real life, Seether.

---
Heliocentrics’ trippy A World of Masks is RIYL Mulatu Astatke, groovy drones, Sun Ra.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Sour Concord Grapes

I’m not one of the three pasty men in the photograph that accompanies a The New York Times report about the latest transmutation of the entity once known as Concord Records.  While I bear a slight resemblance to the executives who oversee the conglomerate, I suppose I lack some of their business acuity.  I certainly had myriad opportunities to get in on the ground floor of the operation.  I regularly interacted with Carl Jefferson, the late founder of Concord Records, as I toiled as a sales rep for independent record labels when his company was strictly devoted to mainstream jazz recordings.  When he wasn’t scolding me about slow payments or the ostensibly light spreads of his latest releases, Jefferson and I had delightful discussions about our mutual admiration of musicians like Ruby Braff.  Even though things have worked out for me, I occasionally regret not striving to become a redoubtable music industry mogul.


---
I reviewed the 25th anniversary edition of Rockfest.

---
I reviewed Tech N9ne's return to the Midland.

---
Future’s concert at the Sprint Center was my show of the week for The Kansas City Star and
Ink magazine.

---
I gave Nick Schnebelen my KCUR Band of the Week designation.

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

---
I reviewed Hermon Mehari’s solo debut album at Plastic Sax.

---
Danny Cox recalled the summer of 1967 for The Kansas City Star.

---
Bern Nix has died.

---
The remix of Bob Marley & the Wailers' Exodus is disorienting.  Here’s ”Turn Your Lights Down Low”.

---
Mad Decent added just the right amount of production sweetening to Omar Souleyman’s music on To Syria, With Love.  Here’s ”Chobi”.

---
Cuong Vu’s Ballet is miraculous free-ish jazz.  RIYL: Bill Frisell, four (brilliant) dudes jamming, Dave Douglas.

---
Orrin Evans might be my favorite mainstream jazz pianist.  His presence elevates Sean Jones’ Live From at the Bistro.  RIYL: Hermon Mehari, the St. Louis jazz club, Terrel Stafford.

---
Rock may be dead, but the members of Greta Van Fleet are expert necromancers.  Black Smoke Rising is RIYL Led Zeppelin IV, gravedigging, Houses of the Holy.  Here’s ”Highway Tune”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)