Album Review: Dave Holland- Uncharted Territories

Dave Holland has ruined everything.  Again.  Uncharted Territories, the 69-year-old British bassist’s monumental new collaboration with saxophonist Evan Parker, keyboardist and electronic manipulator Craig Taborn and drummer Ches Smith, makes all other improvised music seem woefully inferior.  (I could hardly be bothered to write a review of a mainstream album by a highly respected musician for the Kansas City jazz blog Plastic Sax yesterday.)  Uncharted Territories is a searing modern masterpiece of room-clearing skronk and heartbreakingly subtle beauty.  The musicians extemporaneously play as a quartet and in “every possible subset of duo and trio configurations.”  Each of the 131 minutes is stunning.  Holland’s 1973 album Conference of the Birds is revered by free jazz enthusiasts.  Uncharted Territories is no less magnificent.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Yelena Eckemoff- Blooming Tall Phlox

Transfixed by the 98-minute album, I listened to Blooming Tall Phlox twice before researching the backstory of the unheralded but startlingly brilliant new release.  I discovered that each of the selections is intended to evoke a different scent that Yelena Eckemoff recalls from her childhood in Russia.  Whatever.  I’m far more interested in the ingenious arrangements and stellar playing of Eckemoff and the young band of Finns who realize her vision.  The cringey album trailer doesn't reflect the project's dazzling qualities.


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I suggest at Plastic Sax that a reading by poet Hanif Abdurraqib ruined jazz for me.

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I reviewed a disappointing Alexis y Fido concert.

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I reviewed “I Got Rhythm” at Quality Hill Playhouse.

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I featured A La Mode on my weekly segement on KCUR.

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

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I wrote an extended concert preview about Eric Church’s return to the Sprint Center for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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Maggie Roche has died.

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Overend Watts of Mott the Hoople has died.

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Jaki Liebezeit of Can has died.

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Butch Trucks has died.

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Kid Koala’s wondrous Music To Draw To: Satellite is RIYL floating, Björk, dreaming.

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Cherry Glazerr’s Apocalipstick is a rockin’ good time.

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Nicky Jam’s new album Fénix goes on forever.

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Bash & Pop’s quaint Anything Could Happen is RIYL: Pleased to Meet Me, Keith Richards’ solo career, Isolation Drills.

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Craig Taborn’s Daylight Ghosts has that new ECM smell.

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Wells Fargo’s Watch Out, an archival release by an obscure rock band from Zimbabwe, is RIYL the Faces, electric guitars, Jefferson Airplane.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

George Jones, 1931-2013

The King is Gone (And So Are You).

George Jones has died.  I detest seeing the man's career reduced to a single song and quick references to boozing, no-shows and heartbreak.  Sure, I love the tractor story as much as anyone, but overlooking the man's music would be tragic.  With that in mind, here are five selections from Jones' vast catalog that had a profound impact on me.

• Hearing "White Lightning" and "The Race Is On" on repeat is one of my earliest childhood memories.  My dad loved the Possum.
• Jones' adult-themed duets introduced me to the wild side of life when I was an impressionable kid.  He gets kinky with Melba Montgomery on "Let's Invite Them Over".
• I've always resented the countrypolitan production that came to characterize his work, but no amount of schmaltz can negate Jones' emoting on weepers like "These Days (I Barely Get By)".
• Okay, I'll give you one stereotypical drinking song. "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)".
• Jones' faith shouldn't be whitewashed from his legacy.   His sly personality is ideally suited to the scathing "Would They Love Him Down In Shreveport?"

"You know this old world is full of singers but only a few are chosen to tear your heart out when they sing.- "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes"


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Bob Brozman has died.  It's my understanding that Bob was the brother of Jack Brozman, the co-founder of Streetside Records.  Can a There Stands the Glass reader confirm this connection?

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The video for Dead Voices' "Dream Notes" is quite good.

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The Soft Reeds performed on KSHB's morning show.

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Gurf Morlix's Gurf Morlix Finds the Present Tense is RIYL Lucinda Williams, sadness and the truth.

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"He's my rebel guy that wouldn't hurt a fly."  Rachelle Spector, the wife of Phil Spector, created a video for "PS I Love You", a tribute to her incarcerated husband. Trust me- it's worthy of your attention.  (Via Jazz Wax.)

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I listened to the entirely of Love Has Come For You, the new collaboration between Steve Martin and Edie Brickeill, without becoming annoyed or exasperated.  A song titled "Shawnee" won me over.

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"I'll never sell out."  Ha ha!  The Dream tells jokes on his preposterous new hit "Slow It Down".

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Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu's Tiny Desk Concert set is gorgeous.

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The best moments of Owiny Sigoma Band's Power Punch are as good as anything that's been released in 2013.  The worst moments, however, are pure dreck.  RIYL: "Kumbaya," Damon Albarn and Tony Allen. 

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Here's the "ECM Player" for the Craig Taborn Trio's Chants.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)