Swinging Doors: Remembering Merle Haggard

As I’ve mentioned several times in this space, I was raised on country.  A few portions of my indoctrination didn’t initially take.  Ray Price’s countrypolitan hits, for instance, struck me as corny until my hair began to gray. 

I always loved the music of Merle Haggard.  The Songs I’ll Always Sing compilation was my dad’s preferred Merle album.  And hearing the latest Hag hit on the radio pleased both of us.  One of the biggest mindblowers in my dad’s record collection was A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, my salute to Bob Wills).   The crazed Western swing broadened my horizon. 

My dad allowed me to tag along with him to a few Merle concerts when I was a kid.  When I later took dates to Merle’s shows, I desperately hoped I wouldn’t run into my old man.  That confession is especially painful now that both Merle and my dad are gone.

I reviewed Haggard’s final Kansas City show last year.


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I reviewed a concert by Joe Ely, Ruthie Foster and Paul Thorn.

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I reviewed the Christian McBride Trio’s concert at the Folly Theater.

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My favorite selection of the master’s recital by Garrett Torbert at St. John’s United Methodist Church last Friday was a reading of Aaron Copland’s ”The Promise of Living.”  Here’s a rendition by a larger group. 

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Tony Conrad has died.

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Leon Haywood has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Ralph Peterson’s ably played but entirely predictable Triangular III is precisely the sort of mainstream jazz album that causes me to question my commitment to the form.

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The EPK for In Movement, the new collaboration between Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison, is compelling.

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Maxwell’s BLACKsummer’snight was my top album of 2010.  I’m atwitter about ”Lake By the Ocean”, the lead track from the long-anticipated follow-up.

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Phronesis’ Parallax is RIYL: Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Euro-jazz, The Bad Plus.  Here’s ”Stillness”.

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Bombino’s lovely Azel is RIYL: Tinariwen, the Sahara, Terakaft.  Here's ”Inar (If You Know the Degree of My Love For You)”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Arlo Guthrie at Yardley Hall

I’ve always thought of the people who listen to “Alice’s Restaurant” every Thanksgiving as intemperate masochists.  Arlo Guthrie’s signature song really doesn’t need to be heard more than once in a lifetime. 

Then again, I’ve never been an Arlo fan.  I’d succeeded in avoiding his concerts until Sunday.  I cringed as I bought the ticket that would break my winning streak.

As is often the case, I had it all wrong. 

Once I became acclimated to the nursing home odor that emanated from a few dozen members of the audience of more than 1,000 at Yardley Hall, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert.

Before Arlo and a tasteful band played his biggest hits, Sarah Lee Guthrie performed a charming opening set.  Partly because Arlo implied that he was also sick of the song, I wasn’t even inclined to flee during “Alice’s Restaurant.”  I may or may not have teared up during “Highway In the Wind,” a tribute to Arlo’s late wife Jackie.

Arlo dismissively characterized folk sing-alongs as “all that 'Kumbaya' stuff” near the end of his appearance.  It was a trap.  The sing-alongs that followed swelled my heart. 

Even so, I won’t tolerate any suggestions that “Alice’s Restaurant” be cued up in my presence on Thanksgiving.


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I reviewed the Kansas City debut of Chance the Rapper.

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I reviewed Gregg Allman’s concert at a casino.

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I wrote an extended preview about Passion Pit for Ink.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed Ron Carlson’s Kind Folk at Plastic Sax.

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The Popper made a Royals-centric remix of “I’m KC.”

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Here’s the video for Tech N9ne’s “Roadkill.”

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Here’s the video for Radkey’s “Glore.”

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Smokin’ Joe Kubek has died.

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I somehow missed the September release of John Scofield’s Past Present.  It’s so good that I’m mourning the weeks that I could have spent listening to the funky collaboration with Joe Lovano, Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart.  RIYL: Grant Green, soul jazz, Charlie Hunter.

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I endured BET’s “Hip-Hop Awards” broadcast last week.  It was rough sledding.  As usual, the cyphers provided the highlights.  I loved seeing Casey Veggies and Vince Staples and was tickled by the efforts of Erick Sermon, Redman and Keith Murray, but the clear winner was the beat-boxing trio of Doug E. Fresh, Nicole Paris and Rahzel.

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Here’s the trailer for the B.B. King/UGK mashup that the world needs now.

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I’m just beginning to learn that the European jazz/prog releases I’ve written about in recent months aren’t anomalies.  As the kids say, it’s a thing.  My latest discovery is Samuel Hällkvist’s Variety of Live.  Men affiliated with Pink Floyd and King Crimson are among the project’s participants.  RIYL: Terje Rypdal, anti-swing, Soft Machine.

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Joe Ely has an uncommon ability to conjure colorful Tex-Mex atmospheres.  Too many of the songs on Panhandle Rambler, however, are clunky.  RIYL: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, songs about Bob Wills, Butch Hancock.  ”When the Nights Are Cold” is my favorite song on the album.

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I was so tempted by Rhymesayers’ 20th Anniversary Concert that I checked on airfare to Minneapolis.  It’s only $150....

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Alegria de Viver, a new recording featuring the duet of Brazilian vocalist Leny Andrade and New York guitarist Ari Ben-Hur, might be perfect.

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Marbin’s Aggressive Hippies is RIYL: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, DIY jazz, Mahavishnu Orchestra.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)