Concert Review: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Crossroads KC

I'd worked up a mean thirst by the time Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit hit the stage at Crossroads KC last night.  Yet I'd already determined that I wasn't going to have a single drink.

After writing a few of the most harrowing songs about substance abuse of the past twenty years, Isbell has gone straight.  An excellent profile in The New York Times examined Isbell's recovery.  Out of respect for Isbell's bold change of course (as well as for the sake of my bank account), I abstained.

Based on the strength of the new album Southeastern, I knew Isbell and his band would be solid.  I wasn't sure, however, if he'd be willing to dip into his past work.  Much to my delight, he sang the disturbing ode to suicide-in-slow-motion "Goddamn Lonely Love" from the Drive-By Truckers' classic The Dirty South album with conviction.  "Codeine" and "Outfit" were similarly exceptional examinations of the dark side of life. 

As if to offer further proof that he wouldn't let his new perspective prevent him from addressing songs about decadence, he and his band covered the Stones' sordid "Can't You Hear Me Knocking."  Isbell is a hero.


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A remarkable footnote regarding last night's concert: Almost 1,000 people paid $18 or more to hear Isbell, American Aquarium and the Turnpike Troubadours even though the show conflicted with two free performances by country notables- current Nashville hit-makers Gloriana at the KC Live! stage and BR549's Chuck Mead at a suburban shopping center.  Kansas City really loves its country.

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Slim Whitman has died.  His 1951 version of "Indian Love Call," of course, is one of the most amazing documents of the 20th century.  And gee, does anyone else remember these Whitman infomercials?

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Let You Tell It is Stik Figa's new three-song EP.  RIYL: Mos Def, Tech N9ne, Topeka.

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The Guardian takes notice of Radkey.

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TIm Finn checks in with the Pedaljets.

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The jazz trio of Massot, Florizoone and Horbaczewski is RIYL Astor Piazzolla, Howard Johnson, travel.

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Regular reader BGO shared an amazing document with There Stands the Glass.  In an essay published by Negro Digest in 1961, Duke Ellington suggests that "Rock-and-roll is the most raucous form of jazz, beyond a doubt; it maintains a link with the folk origins, and I believe that no other form of jazz has ever been accepted so enthusiastically by so many."

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Are we living in the golden age of French pop music?  Maître Gims' "J'me tire" is RIYL: Akon, Wyclef Jean, Justin Timberlake.

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Have you heard ELEW, aka Eric Lewis? RIYL: Scott Joplin, Art Tatum, Brad Mehldau.

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Bill Frisell's Big Sur is spectacular.  RIYL: string quartets, Charlie Haden, Eric Dolphy.

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Gummy Soul created a mashup of Big Boi and Otis Redding.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Terri Lyne Carrington- Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue

When you get into popularity then you're talking about money, not music. -Duke Ellington

Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue is the sort of high-concept album that music geeks adore.  In a nutshell: three of today's most accomplished jazz musicians reinterpret a classic jazz album with bold political perspectives and contemporary sounds.  I applaud the audaciousness of the project.

A core group of drummer and bandleader Terri Lyne Carrington, bassist Christian McBride and pianist Gerald Clayton employ a few additional likeminded musicians and a slew of provocative spoken word samples about economics.  The original Money Jungle- a 1963 collaboration between Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach- merely implied what Carrington and her cohorts make explicit. 

The risk of a project of this nature is that the wealth of ideas could easily outshine the music.  That's not the case here.  The album is consistently entertaining.  Its sole fault is that two or three of the piano trio tracks more closely resemble the Ray Brown Trio than the legendary original Money Jungle assemblage.  There are worse things, of course, than hearing McBride emulate his Ray Brown.

Clark Terry's slurry scat on "Fleurette Africain” is just as articulate as the sampled monetary quotes from figures including Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Ron Paul and Condoleezza Rice that are sprinkled throughout the album.   The neo-soul of "Backward Country Boy Blues," featuring vocalist Lizz Wright, is superior to most of Esperanza Spalding's disappointing Radio Music Society.  Mainstream jazz fans may object to these updates, but Carrington's versatility is in line with the progressive inclinations of Ellington, Mingus and Roach.

It's difficult not to interpret Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue as a commentary on today's dismal jazz economy.  This is an essential album made by some of the biggest names in jazz.  Yet it only stands an outside chance at breaking into sales of five figures.  Only a handful of critics have yet to even acknowledge the album's existence.  Amazon's current sales ranking of the February 5 release is #1,178. 

The album closes with Herbie Hancock reading the Ellington quote posted above.  Was Ellington right?  Or was he making a self-serving excuse for the diminished role jazz plays in American culture? 


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I reviewed performances by Willy Moon, Shiny Toy Guns, the Beautiful Bodies and IAmDynamite at the Midland last Friday.

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The KC Cypher Series just got real.  The latest episode features Stik Figa, Riv Locc and Young Fate. Ron Ron (at the 7:37 mark) makes the most interesting appearance. 

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Flatlands Country Music Festival anyone?

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Here he goes again- Mac Lethal's "I Gotta Pee But I'm Too Comfortable To Get Up".

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RCA is pawning off 29 Van Cliburn discs for $80.  EMI is selling 11 Boris Christoff discs for $35. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…"

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I don't care what anyone says- I think Frank Ocean's weird Grammy performance was brilliant.

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The very existence of a hopelessly esoteric new release from Arhoolie Records fills me with joy.  The Wall Street Journal offers perspective.

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Last night I dreamed that I was married to the daughter of Irma Thomas.

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Kansas City Click: Ex-Cult are Tuesday's headliners at the RecordBar.

Lonnie McFadden performs at WestChase Grille on Wednesday.

Carrie Rodriguez returns to Knuckleheads on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)