The Bourgeois Bumpkin

When Michael Stern began his defense of the placement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 2 on the program to the audience of about 1,400 at Helzberg Hall on Sunday afternoon, I was embarrassed for the Music Director of The Kansas City Symphony.  I felt that his apparent need to justify the presence of the occasionally jarring and overtly Leninist composition amid the “Beethoven sandwich” of “Meersstille und glückliche Fahrt” and Symphony No. 9 was patronizing.  Then I heard the piece for the first time and loved every minute of it.  Stern’s conciliatory spiel enhanced my appreciation of the work.  I suppose that makes me a bourgeois bumpkin.


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I reviewed a concert by Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Tech N9ne, Rich The Factor and Stevie Stone.

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I reviewed a concert by Fantasia and Anthony Hamilton.

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I reviewed a concert by Béla Fleck & the Flecktones.

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I selected songs by Krizz Kaliko, Logan Richardson, Psychic Heat, Kanye West, Carrie Rodriguez and Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom for my appearance on Best Music of 2016 (So Far) show on KCUR’s Up To Date.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I documented my visit to SoJo Summerfest at Plastic Sax.

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"If You Ask Me Again (I Do)", the new single by Soul Revival, the Kansas City duo of Derick Cunigan and producer Desmond Mason, is lovely.  RIYL: John Legend, marriage, Chrisette Michele.

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The Kansas City rapper Farout’s new song “Guns” is shocking.  And I like it.

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Attrell Cordes of P.M. Dawn has died.

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Gojira’s Magma is RIYL A Perfect Circle, French metal, Lamb of God.  Here’s ”Silvera”.

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Death Grips’ Bottomless Pit is RIYL El-P, true punk, Karlheinz Stockhausen.  Here’s the title track.

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Brandy Clark’s Big Day in a Small Town sounds like money.  Almost every song could have been a hit for Miranda Lambert or Kenny Chesney.  Here’s ”Girl Next Door”.

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I’m not on the Car Seat Headrest bandwagon.  Teens of Denial leaves me cold.  I’ll stick to my dusty collection of albums by Pavement and the Fall.

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I’m pretty sure I can find the perfect theme song for my next podcast on The Odd Tape.  Oddisee strikes a winning balance between jazz and hip-hop on his latest effort.  Here’s ”Brea”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Speaking to God in Public

My two favorite albums of 2016 are by Chicago rappers.  Here’s the kicker: Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book are gospel albums.  West insists that “this is a God dream.”  Chance avers that “I speak to God in public.”  Their testimonials aren’t negated by the inclusion of raps about inebriation, pride, lust and avarice.  The name of this site indicates that I’m sympathetic to their imperfections.  As a person of faith, I neither seek nor require categorical spiritual validation from artists.  Nevertheless, the praise songs on The Life of Pablo and Coloring Book inspire me.


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I reviewed a Florence + The Machine concert.

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KCUR published my review of Go, the new album by the underappreciated Kansas City musician Krizz Kaliko.

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I reviewed Andrew W.K.’s concert on Saturday.

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I logged eight hours at the Westport Roots Festival.  Here are my notes for The Kansas City Star.  I also wrote a preview of the annual event.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I admire Logan Richardson’s momentous homecoming concert at Plastic Sax.

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The Kansas City rapper Gee Watts created a video for ”Hallelujah”.

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The eponymous album by the young Tuareg band Imarhan is exciting.  Here’s a video for the title track.

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I’ve long appreciated David Bazan.  Blanco is RIYL: despair, the Magnetic Fields, lo-fi synths.

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Black Mountain might be trolling on IV.  RIYL: Dio, ‘80s nostalgia, the Tubes.  Here’s ”Mothers of the Sun”.

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I don’t enjoy playing the role of a fussbudget, but Robert Glasper's revision of Miles Davis’ music on Everything’s Beautiful is a bummer.  RIYL: Erykah Badu, jokers who like to shout “remix!”, Marcus Miller.

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A Love Electric’s exciting Psychmonde is RIYL Chris Whitley, drugs, Ziggy Stardust.

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I’ll cop to liking Otep’s dystopian pop-metal.  Generation Doom is RIYL: Nine Inch Nails, Hot Topic apparel, Korn.   Here’s ”Down”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

The Top Ten Kansas City Music Videos of 2013

The Grisly Hand's "Country Singles" joins Making Movies' "Tormenta" (2010), Hidden Pictures' "Anne Apparently" (2011) and SSION's "Earthquake" (2012) as the obvious choice for There Stands the Glass' top video of the year by a Kansas City-area artist.  I added current YouTube view counts to provide a bit of context regarding the relative popularity of each act.

1. The Grisly Hand- "Country Singles" (481 views)

2. Tiny Horse- "Ride" (877 views)

3. Tech N9ne- "Straight Out the Gate" (3,986,084 views)

4. Josh Berwanger- "Time Traveler" (1,414 views)

5. Krizz Kaliko- "Why Me" (276,203 views)

6. Cowboy Indian Bear- "Let It Down" (98 views)

7. Gee Watts- "Nasty" (45,963 views)

8. Minden- "What's More Than Appropriate?" (1,250 views)

9. The ACBs- "Television" (4,372 views)

10. Rich the Factor- "I'm Hustlin'" (121,029 views)

I conducted similar exercises in 2012, 2011 and 2010.

Concert Review: The Mavericks at Knuckleheads

I anticipated that I'd be a part of a coterie of a few hundred nostalgic fans of The Mavericks as I drove to Knuckleheads last Thursday.

After all, the concert was competing against two free high-profile country shows.  Charlie Daniels was playing the kickoff concert of the Flatlands Music Festival.  Outlaw Jim and the Whiskey Benders were on the KC Live! stage at the Power & Light District.  Who'd be willing pay an exorbitant amount of money ($40 in advance and $45 day of show) to see a band that peaked almost twenty years ago when free entertainment was on tap?

It turns out that Kansas City is home to over 1,000 moneyed alternative country fans who probably wouldn't be caught dead at a Charlie Daniels show and wouldn't feel comfortable patronizing the Power & Light District.

And man, these people loved the Mavericks.   Trampoline may be one of my favorite albums of all time, but I couldn't begin to join the majority of the audience in singing along to most every song Thursday.  This rough fan footage captures the atmosphere.

I'd attended a couple of front man Raul Malo's solo performances in recent years, but I hadn't seen the Mavericks since a 1990s gig at Guitars & Cadillacs.   The recently reunited band was supplemented by a horn section, an accordionist and two or three additional multi-instrumentalists.  The large band played over two hours.

Yeah, I got my money's worth.  Here's Tim Finn's proper review.


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Miranda Lambert won me over at the Flatlands Country Music Festival.  Here's my review.

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Ray Dolby has died.

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Patrick Neas interviewed Joyce DiDonato in advance of her performance in "The Capulets and the Montagues" at the Lyric Opera.

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Here are videos for Tech N9ne's "Dwamn" and Krizz Kaliko's "Night Time".

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Jim James participated in Lawrence High School's Classroom Sessions program.

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Roscoe Mitchell's Not Yet is RIYL: Anthony Davis, John Cage, Anthony Braxton.

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Essential Tremors,  the new album by J Roddy Walston & the Business, is RIYL: Jack White, Jerry Lee Lewis, Led Zeppelin.

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I dig British hip-hop.  The Menagerie's "Are You Serious?" is RIYL: The Streets, Dizzee Rascal, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

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A recent 70-minute performance by the Dave King Trio is streaming at YouTube.

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Roy Smeck shreds.  (Via There Stands the Glass reader Phil.)

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This week's new releases of special interest to There Stands the Glass include Avicii, Bill Callahan, Carcass, Todd Clouser, Elvis Costello & the Roots, Crystal Stilts, Kenny Garrett, Garland Jeffreys (!), Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King, Mark Lanegan, the Del McCoury Band, MGMT, MMG, Nightmares On Wax, Gregory Porter, Sidi Touré, Why?, Windhand and the 1975.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Julian Waterfall Pollack Trio- Waves of Albion

For a guy who claims to have had his fill of piano trios, I'm spending a lot of time listening to the format in 2013.  The passing of Cedar Walton served as a bittersweet excuse to dig out a few of the pianist's recordings from the Museum of Dead People located in my dusty basement.  Hearing Walton work with David Williams and Billy Higgins on the sublime Manhattan Afternoon soothed my troubled soul. 

Walton's lyrical work helped me gain an even deeper appreciation of Waves of Albion, the excellent new album by Julian Waterfall Pollack.  Pollack and his colleagues don't attempt to replicate the work of Walton, Williams and Higgins.  Instead, they work in the entirely different conception associated with Brad Mehldau and Esbjörn Svensson. 

With Waves of Albion, Pollack contributes something new to the stylish sound of the new millennium.  A sense of deep spirituality pervades the album.  Elegiac versions of "Amazing Grace" and "Shenendoah" serve as its emotional core.  Jazz pianists including Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams have explored sacred music.   Yet to my knowledge, Pollack is the first of the new wave of pianists to explore religious themes. 

While the title of "I Don't Believe In Love Anymore" indicates that Pollack had other things on his mind as he composed the mournful piece, I hear it as a spiritual elegy.  Even a cover of Bon Iver's "Flume" sounds like a devotional exploration.  As with the recordings of Mehldau and Svensson, the sound field of Waves of Albion places each musician on equal footing.  Bassist Noah Garabedian propels each selection with no less force than Pollack or drummer Evan Hughes. 

How sweet the sound, indeed.


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I reviewed a concert featuring Peter Frampton, B.B. King, Sonny Landreth and Davy Knowles.

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Pianist Marian McPartland has died.

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Albert Murray has died.

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Allen Lanier of Blue Oyster Cult has died.

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"Scars" is the latest video from Krizz Kaliko.

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Here's an EPK for Samantha Fish's Black Wind Howlin' album.

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I've only listened to Earl Sweatshirt's Doris twice.  It's going to take time to decide if the dense album is a classic, a disjointed mess or merely an interesting experiment.  RIYL: Bob Dylan, OFWGKTA, The Chronic.

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Derrick Hodges' disappointing Live Today sounds more like a resume than a proper album.  RIYL: Robert Glasper, Stevie Wonder, Stanley Clarke. 

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King Krule's "Easy Easy" picks up where the Jam and the Arctic Monkeys left off.  (Tip via S.S.)

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Jashwha Moses' fine roots-rock-reggae album No War On Earth is RIYL: Burning Spear, Black Uhuru, Augustus Pablo.

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Diarrhea Planet's I'm Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams is a shockingly great.  RIYL: Green Day, Tame Impala, Fidlar.

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My friend at The Daily Record turned me on to Terrace Martin's 3ChordFold. Guests include Kendrick Lamar, Robert Glasper and Snoop Dogg.  The lush production is recommended to fans of those artists.

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Gosh!  Bakersfield, the 2013 album by Vince Gill and Paul Franklin, contains worlds of fun.  RIYL: Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Chris Hillman.

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Volto!'s Incitare is a solid jazz fusion album.  RIYL: Tool, instrument shops, Billy Cobham.

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A recent interview with Orrin Keepnews about the early days of Riverside Records is pretty great.

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Minimal research alert. Good Vibrations appears to be a movie about the Undertones, the troubles in Ireland and a music retailer.

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What a huge week for exciting new releases!  The list includes A$AP Ferg, Belle & Sebastian, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, Stefano Bollani and Hamilton de Holanda, Crocodiles, Devildriver, Diarrhea Planet, Bob Dylan's Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10, Earl Sweatshirt's Doris, Tim Easton, Robbie Fulks, Philip Glass, the Greencards, Juicy J, Krizz Kaliko's Son of Sam, King Krule, Black Joe Lewis, No Age, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Ty Segall and Superchunk.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: The Pitch Music Showcase

The annual Pitch Music Showcase is one of my favorite events of the summer.  Friday's party was no exception.  Here are the three best things I took in during the three-and-a-half hours I spent in Westport.

1. Gee Watts at the Riot Room patio
I was charmed by the way in which the young rapper adapted his performance to the pitifully meager audience of about a dozen members of his entourage and 20 unrelated onlookers.  He set the tone by referring to the intimate setting as a "poetry reading."  Although he performed a few off-color selections like "Nasty", his low-key delivery on wrenching material like  "Premature Hate" floored me.  Between selections, Watts shared his views on God, capitalism and friendship.  He even broke down one or two of his songs in the style of Rap Genius.

2. La Guerre at the RecordBar
I've seen Katlyn Conroy perform several times as a member of Cowboy Indian Bear.  I've also enjoyed her recordings.  Not until I witnessed her sing for about a dozen people at the RecordBar, however, did I grasp that her voice is a truly magnificent instrument.

3. Info Gates at the Riot Room patio
Info Gates, a hip-hop producer, songwriter and performer, was joined by Ubiquitous, Godemis and Les Izmore.  It looked and sounded a lot like this.


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I reviewed Saturday's concert by the Killers, Queens of the Stone Age, Gogol Bordello and the Virgins.

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Strange Music continues to crank out product.  "Why Me", is a track on Krizz Kaliko's new Son of Sam album, his fifth in six years.

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Mills Record Company provides a nice analysis of the significance of the Get Up Kids' Four Minute Mile.

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Mary Halvorson's stellar set at last weekend's Newport Jazz Festival is available as a free download.  RIYL: Henry Threadgill, Marc Ribot, Charles Mingus.

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I'm looking forward to hearing this week's new releases by Gary Burton, the Civil Wars, Chick Corea, Iwrestledabearonce, Christian McBride, Old Crow Medicine Show, the Polyphonic Spree, Elvis at Stax: Deluxe Edition, Revocation, Terje Rypdal, Beating The Petrillo Ban: The Late December 1947 Modern Sessions and Mutazione - Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground 1980 - 1988

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Kansas City Click: Amon Amarth open for Rob Zombie at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater on Monday.

The Floozies perform Tuesday at Crossroads KC.

T.J. Martley performs with Bill McKemy and Matt Leifer at Unity of Kansas City North on Wednesday.

John Velghe & the Prodigal Sons appear at Knuckleheads on Thursday.

(Original image of Gee Watts by There Stands the Glass.)