Album Review: Peter CottonTale- Catch

My life partner feared I might succumb to Jerusalem syndrome during our trip to Israel three months ago.  She was relieved by the absence of unhinged surges of spiritual intensity during our ecumenical pilgrimage to holy sites.  The ecstatic mania she expected me to exhibit at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre manifested in my living room on Friday night as I listened to Peter CottonTale’s Catch.  Not only does Jesus save, the new music He inspired interrupted my obsessive bingeing of devilish ambient music.

My profound appreciation of the gospel recording isn’t surprising.  Its tone and personnel parallel my top album of 2019 (Jamila Wood’s Legacy! Legacy!) and my #2 album of 2016 (Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book).  I adored performances by Peter CottonTale’s collective at a pair of Chance the Rapper concerts in Kansas City and in a star-studded performance by The JuJu Exchange at the Chicago Jazz Festival last year.

I anticipate finding inspiration in vital hymns like “Hi 5,” “Feels Like Church” and “Pray for Real” for the remainder of my life.  The joy-imbued Catch is a vigorous representation of the optimism at the core of my faith.  Aside from the inclusion of a brief skit, my sole grievance is the brevity of the selections.  Songs fade out moments after my delirious convulsions begin to kick in.


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I report on the results of the American Jazz Museum’s Charlie Parker Song Contest for KCUR.

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I review the Cur3’s The Anecdote at Plastic Sax.

(Original image of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem by There Stands the Glass.)

Ancient to the Future

After the Art Ensemble of Chicago scrambled my DNA at the Big Ears Festival in March, I knew that catching another date on the band’s fiftieth anniversary tour was the only way to fully recalibrate my mind and body.  A Southwest Airlines flash sale allowed me to satisfy my compulsion with a minimum of financial pain on Labor Day weekend.  The Art Ensemble of Chicago was among the 30 acts I caught during the three days I spent at the Chicago Jazz Festival.  I’ll write about the curative event in detail at Plastic Sax.  In the meantime, I’m uploading clips and photos to my Instagram account.  Here’s an initial ranking of my favorite sets.

1. Art Ensemble of Chicago
2. Ben Lamar Gay
3. The Juju Exchange
4. Eddie Palmieri Sextet
5. Jeremy Cunningham’s The Weather Up There
6. Russ Johnson Quartet
7. Christian McBride's New Jawn
8. Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet
9. Joel Ross Quartet
10. Rempis/Flaten/Ra + Baker Quartet

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My most recent concert previews for The Kansas City Star are here and here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)