Dust in the Wind

I enjoyed every minute of Kansas’ 16th studio album The Absence of Presence last weekend.  Even though the band retains only two members from its 1970s heyday, the new release is an impressive facsimile of the majestic pomp of Kansas’ prime.  Receiving the awful but not unexpected news of the death of my friend R. prompted the listening session.

R. was my best friend for three or four years ending in 1977.  He loved prog-rock and jazz-fusion.  R’s unusually kind and accommodating father escorted us to my first large-scale rock concert in 1976.  Fleetwood Mac, R.E.O. Speedwagon, Heart, Head East and Henry Gross were on the bill of Summer Jam at Royals Stadium, but R. was all about Kansas’ set.  We’d later see concerts by the likes of Genesis and Emerson, Lake & Palmer together.  Encountering another kid in my new neighborhood with a similarly severe music obsession altered the trajectory of my life.

Although I always preferred Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Earth, Wind & Fire and the country music I was raised on, R. expanded my horizons.  An aspiring drummer, Bill Bruford, Billy Cobham, Phil Collins, Jack DeJohnette, Carl Palmer and Tony Williams were among his favorite musicians.  Watching R. attempt to play along with tracks like “Nuclear Burn” and “Tank” introduced me to jazz and classical music.

My bond with R. inevitably decayed after my family moved again.  Our infrequent communication in the intervening years focused on girlfriends, wives and work rather than music.  R.’s death leaves me with only one surviving close male friend from my childhood and teen years.  As with my other pals, R. succumbed to substance abuse.  Dust in the wind, indeed.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Cretin Hop

Punk may have won several battles during the past few decades, but it's clearly lost the war against mainstream rock. 

I visited a friend who runs the vinyl department at 7th Heaven on my way to Starlight Theatre for last night's concert by Boston and Kansas.  He told me that young vinyl enthusiasts are purchasing scads of Boston records. 

Sure enough, I spotted several groups of teens among the audience that almost filled the venue. 

Boston and The Ramones were both released in 1976.  Thirty-eight years later, Tom Scholz faithfully recreates "Peace of Mind" for thousands of admirers while every original member of the Ramones is dead.  A new album by the post-Boston metal band Godsmack topped Billboard's album charts this week. 

Punk's defeat doesn't bother me much.  While I prefer "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" to "Peace of Mind," I've always liked "More Than a Feeling" more than "Smells Like Teen Spirit."


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I reviewed a concert by Chrisette Michele and Raheem DeVaughn.

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I reviewed Joan Sebastian's first and final appearance in Kansas.

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Ziggy Marley performed at Crossroads KC this week.  Here's my review.

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Here's my review of Boston and Kansas.

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I contributed Local Listen segments to KCUR's "Up To Date" featuring The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and Nuthatch-47.

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Dwight Frizzell's "Slippages" is very nice.

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Kasai Allstars' Beware the Fetish may be my favorite groove-based album of the year.

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Falty DL's In the Wild is as fresh as everyone says.  RIYL: Pole, vertigo, Flying Lotus.

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A lot of people enjoy making fun of Godsmack.  I'm not among them. The new album 1000hp is RIYL: Disturbed, life outside an ivory tower, Shinedown.  Here's the title track.

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Baxter Dury looks and sounds uncannily like his pop in the video for "Pleasure".

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Captain Black Big Band's Mother's Touch is RIYL: Orrin Evans, relevant swing, Charles Mingus.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)