February Recap

Top Five Performances
1. Elton John- Sprint Center
My review.
2. Blake Shelton with Trace Adkins, Lauren Alaina, John Anderson and the Bellamy Brothers- Sprint Center
My review.
3. Ben Allison’s Think Free- Mod Gallery
My review.
4. Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7- Black Dolphin
I like it like that.
5. Heat Index- Thee Gin Mill
Sizzling fusion in the suburbs.

Top Five Albums
1. Yugen Blakrok- Anima Mysterium
A fearsome roar from the Black Panther soundtrack alum.
2. Nubiyan Twist- Jungle Run
Nourishing future jazz.
3. Drew Williams’ Wing Walker Orchestra- Hazel
The Lee’s Summit musician makes a national splash.
4. Mavis Staples- Live in London
A great American.
5. Cochemea Gastelum- All My Relations
Metaphysical jams.

Top Five Songs
1. Natti Natasha- “Pa’ Mala Yo”
Who’s bad?
2. Reggie B and the Popper- “Not Funky”
Heartland funk.
3. Tropkillaz, J Balvin, Anitta and MC Zaac- “Bola Rebola”
Balling.
4. Ariana Grande- “NASA”
Spaced out.
5. Keaton Conrad- “What Am I Supposed to Do?”
Kansas City’s Prince of Pop.

(Original image of Elton John by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Mercury Rev- Bobbie Gentry’s ‘The Delta Sweete’ Revisited

Even though it’s precisely the type of album my dad would have imposed on me when I was a kid, I’d never heard Bobbie Gentry’s 1968 song cycle The Delta Sweete until this week.  It’s absolutely bonkers!  Bobbie Gentry’s ‘The Delta Sweete’ Revisited, Mercury Rev’s exquisite interpretation of the album, is far less loopy.  Yet even as the guest vocalists including Beth Orton, Hope Sandoval, Phoebe Bridgers, Norah Jones and Lucinda Williams attempt to ratchet back the weirdness, their languid contributions are still wondrously eerie.  These creepy bedtime lullabies are the stuff of lurid Southern gothic nightmares.


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Peter Tork of the Monkees has died.

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The soul artist Jackie Shane has died.

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Kofi Burbridge, a longtime associate of Derek Trucks, has died.

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Yuck!  The circa-1985 mainstream rock production on Gary Clark Jr.’s This Land is a dealbreaker.  The bluesman’s new songs sound as if they’re intended to played alongside the Firm’s “Radioactive” and Eric Clapton’s “Forever Man.”  RIYL: corporate rock, Foreigner, groupthink.

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I don’t intend to listen to Angel Bat David’s The Oracle again, but I admire every aspect of her lo-fi sound collage.  RIYL: truth, International Anthem, Tape Op magazine.

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I expected Chris Potter’s Circuits to be a contender for my album of the year.  Boy, am I ever disappointed.  At first blush, the saxophonist’s collaboration with keyboardist James Francies, bassist Linley Marthe and drummer Eric Harland seems substantially less than the sum of its formidable parts.

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If I were king of the world, I’d mandate that the four best selections on Alicia Olatuja’s lovely Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women dominate the pop charts for the remainder of the year.  RIYL: Kandace Springs, tastefulness, Lizz Wright.

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Cochemea Gastelum’s All My Relations is a righteous jam.  RIYL: Kamasi Washington, motion, Herbie Mann.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Nubiyan Twist- Jungle Run

I came for Mulatu Astatke and stayed for the cosmic grooves.  The giant of Ethiopian jazz contributes to a selection on the new Nubiyan Twist album Jungle Run, but every track on the project fills me with a warmth that repels the excruciating winter chill.  Twining the sounds of Roy Ayers, Fela, Curtis Mayfield, Roni Size, Soul II Soul and Erykah Badu into a riveting fabric, the youthful British “future jazz/afro-dub” collective weave entirely new patterns into a comforting blanket that makes me feel more secure than Linus van Pelt.  Here’s “Tell It To Me Slowly”.


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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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Natti Natasha’s Iluminatti bumps in my whip.  RIYL: Diplo, candy, Wisin & Yandel.  Here’s “Me Gusta”.

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Hey, jerks: I’m still seeking a roommate for the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville next month.  I’m locked in for four nights at the convention hotel at the axis of the avant-garde hullabaloo.  Hit me up.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

A Line in the Sand

I was certain Florida-Georgia Line was the worst band I’d ever encountered the first time I attended a performance by the pop-country act.  The duo’s new Can’t Say I Ain’t Country is another batch of calculated bro-country gewgaws, but my antipathy toward the style has waned.  Not only does Florida-Georgia Line no longer offend me, I’ve come to respect the hustle.  Aspiring to be the country version of Maroon 5 is a savvy business decision.  And I genuinely enjoy singing the lyric “lookin’ like a line from a Vandross song” over the canned production of “Talk You Out of It.” I’m also amused by the lustiness of the Ronnie Milsap-style slow jam “Told You.”  Only the infuriating stomp-and-shout “Simple” and the crass corniness of “Women” make me want to break things.


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I reviewed Elton John’s Kansas City swan song at the Sprint Center.

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I reviewed Blake Shelton’s collaboration with Trace Adkins, Lauren Alaina, John Anderson and the Bellamy Brothers at the Sprint Center.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I take note of Karrin Allyson’s Some of That Sunshine at Plastic Sax.

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“I Love a Groove”.  The “word-jazz” artist Ken Nordine has died.

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I pray that the inherent pleasures of state-of-the-art pop will never sound stale to me.  While the album is immediately gratifying, the aggrieved tone of Ariana Grande Thank You, Next makes it less enjoyable than last year’s Sweetener.  Here’s “Bloodline”.

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Shake it on down.  Signs, the latest release by the Tedeschi Trucks Band, makes me want to sell all my earthly possessions in order to follow the groovy blues/soul/rock/jam band around the globe.  RIYL: the Band, tie-dye, Leon Russell.  Here’s “Hard Case”.

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Sincerely, the P, the bittersweet finale of the longstanding Los Angeles hip-hop duo People Under the Stairs, is endearing.

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I’m pained to report that Songs of Freedom, Ulysses Owens Jr.’s well-intentioned album of socially conscious songs like “Mississippi Goddam,” has no bite.  Toothless and stuffy, the all-star project sounds as if it’s aimed at the residents of blue state nursing homes.

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I adore Kid Koala’s new ambient-oriented album Music to Draw To: Io.  RIYL: Pink Floyd, astral projection, Daniel Lanois.  Here’s “All For You”.

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Even though there’s not a single original note on Texas Queens 5, I can’t can’t stop listening to the collaboration between the Japanese roots revivalist group Bloodest Saxophone and a few Texas based vocalists.  Here’s “Losing Battle”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Twin Talk- Weaver

Twin Talk infuriates me.  The bold sound of its new album Weaver makes the output of far too many jazz artists seem passé.  Knowing that the trio of Katie Ernst, Andrew Green and Dustin Laurenzi are making startling sounds in Chicago renders the prospect of hearing their less imaginative peers gig in Kansas City clubs substantially less appealing.  While there are no exact analogies, Twin Talk’s surprising attack evokes bits of Sara Serpa, the Bad Plus and David Binney.  The trio’s connection to Bon Iver is also evident (but is never overbearing).  Here’s the title track of Weaver.


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I’m attending the Big Ears Festival next month.  Carla Bley!  Harold Budd!  Jlin!  Makaya McCraven!  Meredith Monk!  Spiritualized!  Wadada Leo Smith!  Care to join me?   Hotels in downtown Knoxville are so pricey that I’m seeking a roommate to help defray expenses.

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The soul balladeer James Ingram has died.

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Edwin Birdsong, a legend among R&B crate-diggers, has died.

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The Nashville insider Harold Bradley, the brother of Owen Bradley, has died.

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Yugen Blakrok’s Anima Mysterium is an invigorating throwback to old-school backpack rap.  RIYL: Jedi Mind Tricks, South Africa, Cannibal Ox.  Here’s “Picture Box”.

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Eleni Karaindrou’s Tous des oiseaux is unclassifiable.  The Greek composer’s new release doesn’t really qualify as classical, folk, jazz or ambient music.  The material was composed for a play and for a film, but it’s far more substantial than typical incidental sounds.  Here’s  “Encounter”.

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I respect Robert Pollock more with each passing year.  Guided By Voices’ Zeppelin over China is preposterously good.  About two dozen of the 32 songs are keepers.  RIYL: The Who’s Quadrophenia, impossible feats, the Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow.  Here’s “The Rally Boys”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Bow Down: Keaton Conrad is Kansas City's Prince of Pop

Although I’ve praised him in The Kansas City Star (here and here), Keaton Conrad remains an absurdly unheralded young Kansas City musician.  That’s about to change.  An appealing blend of John Mayer’s guitar heroics and Charlie Puth’s pop wiles make Conrad’s new album Nova irresistible.  By deftly incorporating a dash of Harry Styles’ penchant for rock grandiosity and a pinch of Shawn Mendes’ melodic charm into his expansive sound, Conrad earns the title of Kansas City’s Prince of Pop.  “I Think I Fell In Love With You” and “What Am I Supposed to Do?” sound like surefire hits.  The ‘70s-ish production of a few tracks including “Rust” is bloated and the evocation of the Bee Gees hit “Stayin’ Alive” on the chillwave jam “Introspective” is only marginally effective.  Yet even the weakest components of Conrad’s space-themed song cycle are impressively ambitious.  Bow down.


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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed Drew Williams’ Wing Walker Orchestra’s Hazel at Plastic Sax.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)