Jock Jams

I dedicated much of a recent vacation in Portland to watching men’s college basketball games at the Moda Center.  Teams representing Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina and Gonzaga were among the elite squads competing in the PK80 tournament.  Attending 12 games in three days became a tedious chore, but the soundtrack in the arena was far from tiresome.  Customary jock jams by the likes of Gary Glitter, Bon Jovi and C+C Music Factory weren’t aired.  Instead, crowds were treated to a vibrant playlist of hip-hop and rap hits that included Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble,” Kanye West’s “Power,” Post Malone’s “Rockstar” and Diddy’s “Watcha Gon’ Do.”  Seeing thousands of seated sports fans and a handful of players warming up on the court chanting “percocet, molly, percocet” in unison to Future’s “Mask Off” was one of the most surreal moments I’ve experienced in 2017.


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I wrote a profile of Edison Lights’ Chris Doolittle for KCUR.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I named Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear the KCUR Band of the Week.

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I reviewed the Matt Cook Collective’s Along Those Lines at Plastic Sax.

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Jon Hendricks has died.

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Tommy Keene has died.

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Wayne Cochran has died.

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Jim Nabors has died.

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I felt as if I was trapped in an episode of Portlandia when I caught a set by The Minders at Turn! Turn! Turn! in Rip City last week. 

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CyHi the Prynce’s No Dope On Sundays is a minor masterpiece.  RIYL: Pusha T, the dirty South, Big K.R.I.T.  Here’s “God Bless Your Heart”.

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Björn Meyer’s Provenance is RIYL Steve Tibbets, meditation, Terje Rypdal.

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I love Lizz Wright.  I loathe her new album.  Grace is RIYL Ruthie Foster, naps, Shawn Colvin.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Freakin' Weekend

As I gave each of my favorite releases a final run-through before I submitted a top ten album list to The Kansas City Star last weekend, I was indignantly reminded that not everyone in my compound is eager to hear language that most people consider objectionable.  I’ve become so inured to lurid content that it takes a lot to shock me.  It’s noteworthy, consequently, that R. Kelly’s new song ”Marching Band” is way too much for me to handle.


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After impatiently watching the Family Stone riff for 15 minutes as it attempted to solve what I assumed was a stage monitor issue at last month’s 18th & Vine Jazz and Blues Festival, I gave up and went to the Blue Room to secure a good seat for an appearance by Kahil El'Zabar.  Cynthia Robinson was probably on the stage with the Family Stone, but because my notes at There Stands the Glass and Plastic Sax are seemingly the only reviews of the festival, I may never know for certain.  I encountered ”Dance to the Music” long before I was exposed to “Peter and the Wolf”.  The song taught me about the sonic components of pop.  And Cynthia Robinson’s cry of “all the squares, go home” was one of the most exciting things I’d ever heard.  Robinson died last week.


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A segment about the Roseline is among my recent contributions to KCUR’s weekly Local Listen feature.

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Should jazz be treated with kid gloves?  I don’t think so.

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Andy Johns has died.

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“Food” is my favorite song by Ces Cru since the duo has been signed to Strange Music.  Here’s the video.

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Joey Cool made a video for “All Hail.”

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Teddy Dibble issued a 36-minute jazz vinyl missive today.

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Romain Collin’s Press Enter strikes me as overly polite.  RIYL: Esbjörn Svensson, Euro jazz, the Bad Plus.

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The slick folk that infects Lizz Wright’s Freedom & Surrender doesn’t appeal to me.  RIYL: Natalie Merchant, Lilith Fair, k.d. lang.

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I caught Dave Douglas’ current group at the New York venue this year, but I’m not I’m prepared to buy all eight hours of Brazen Heart Live at Jazz Standard.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)