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.)

Searching for Snoopy with Billy Cobham

I reached adolescence right as the nascent punk movement began to defy the established tenants of everything my friends and their older brothers had spent the last few years teaching me.  As a twelve-year-old, I'd accepted the conventional wisdom of my peer group that the elite musicianship displayed by bands like Kansas and Emerson, Lake & Palmer were among rock's finest achievements.

These suburban pundits explained that jazz fusion giants like Bill Bruford and Billy Cobham were even more evolved.  I bought into it.  The majestic sounds seemed to elevate my mundane existence.  Then I discovered girls and the Ramones.  The boys' club of smoke and Allan Holdsworth jams immediately lost its appeal.

I traded away the majority of my prog-rock and fusion collection.  Cobham's Spectrum stayed.  The amazingly prescient 1974 album anticipated Thriller, synth-pop and hip-hop. (Aerosmith, Earth, Wind & Fire, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and my dad's country albums never left my rotation.)

I suffered a few pangs of nostalgia when I learned that a "lost" Billy Cobham album would be issued this week.  That sensation turned to queasiness as I listened to  Compass Point.  The lengthy 1997 session is solid, but I'm not satisfied by the middle ground between blustery fusion and blissed-out smooth jazz.

That said, "Snoopy's Search/Red Baron" will always be my jam.


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James "T-Model" Ford has died.

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"Fragile", a new song by Tech N9ne featuring Kendrick Lamar, is great.

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Here's a professionally-produced video documenting ZZ Ward's June 29 performance at 7th Heaven on Troost.

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St. Joseph's Dsoedean has issued Continue To Move.  RIYL: Modest Mouse, the Killers, the Shins.

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"Hive" is Earl Sweatshirt's best song to date.

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James Cotton's fine new album Cotton Mouth Man is consistently entertaining.  Even so, the beautifully-recorded project gives me the blues.  Cotton's lost his voice, so his stand-ins include Joe Bonamassa, Gregg Allman, Keb Mo, Darrell Nulisch, Ruthie Foster and Delbert McClinton.  While that's great news for Alligator Records' sales team, it's a drag for people who want the sort of raw and nasty blues Cotton made decades ago.  The cancer-stricken Cotton does the vocal work on the final track "Bonnie Blue."  It's easily the best song on the album.

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Kid the Wiz appears to be the next big thing.  RIYL: 2024 (the year), "Let Me Clear My Throat," "Jam On It."

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The boys in Fidlar put the rock portion of my record collection (circa 1981) in their bags at Amoeba Records.

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Beck's two new singles- "Defriended" and "I Won't Be Long"- are really good.

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Reuben Fowler's new big band album Between Shadows is RIYL: Tom Harrell, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Maria Schneider.

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Andrew W.K. is among the people subjected to a brutal beating in the gruesome video for Run the Jewel's "'36' Chain."

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Here are two new songs by Torche.  RIYL: Husker Du, Thin Lizzy, Sleep.

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Care to confirm every cliche about Portland's music scene?  Here you go.  Speaking of stereotypes, I monitored chatter in the "Indie While You Murder" room at turntable.fm about the comparative merits of skiing in Jackson Hole versus Aspen as DJs played Girls and Surfer Blood.  Ugh.

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In response to Big Steve NO's recent comment, I'm glad I made auditioning the Pet Shop Boys' Electric my musical priority on Tuesday.  Not only is it shockingly good, Electric made me realize that my beloved Magnetic Fields is really just a Pet Shop Boys tribute band.  The track-by-track commentary at Spotify is illuminating.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)