Sing Me Back Home

The insistent thump of Waylon Jenning’s bassist often rattled the floorboards of my home on Saturday and Sunday mornings when I was a kid.  My dad enjoyed blasting his favorite country albums by the likes of Waylon, Willie and Merle as he gave me marching orders.  I was reminded of those bygone days when I unexpectedly encountered a performance by Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys at a farmer’s market on Saturday morning.  I almost broke down when the honky-tonk band revived “Little Ole Wine Drinker Me,” a song I closely associate with my old man.


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I wrote a lengthy examination of the previously uncharted career of the underground Kansas City rap legend Rich the Factor for KCUR.

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I reviewed a concert by Death Cab For Cutie, Chvrches, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and the Greeting Committee. 

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Candido renewed my faith in humanity last week.  My notes are posted at Plastic Sax.

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

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Chance the Rapper’s return to the Midland theater is my show of the week for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I discussed the reunion of the Anniversary on KCUR last week.

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Lou Merenstein, the producer of Astral Weeks, has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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A young quartet of British geeks has released one of the best jazz albums of 2016.  Together, As One by Laura Jurd’s Dinosaur, is RIYL flouting convention, Esbjörn Svensson Trio, prog-rock.

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I have a hard time appreciating the music of Sigur Rós, but I’m all in on Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Orphée.

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“Do the funkro dance!”  Even when they’re terribly flawed, the obscurities on Nigeria Soul Fever: Afro Funk, Disco And Boogie: West African Disco Mayhem! give me enormous pleasure.  (Tip via Big Steve.)

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Two or three excellent songs are hidden among the dreck of Usher’s Hard II Love.  Here’s ”No Limit”.

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Something about Ben Wendel’s What We Bring, the mainstream jazz album of the moment, repels me.  RIYL: Gerald Clayton, jazz consensus, Kneebody. Here’s ”Song Song”.

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A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie doesn’t do anything for me. Artist is RIYL generic radio rap, Bobby Shmurda, hype.  Here’s ”Friend Zone”.

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Touché Amoré’s Stage Four is a contender for my favorite rock album of 2016.  RIYL: Kvelertak, rawk, Red Fang.  Here’s ”Palm Trees”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Westport Roots Festival

An acquaintance was appalled to learn that I paid the $25 admission charge to Westport Roots Festival on Saturday.  I suppose I could have weaseled my way in, but that’s not my style. 

I feel like I got my money’s worth even though I was impressed by only two of the nine acts I heard during the four hours I spent at the one-day event. 

Luke Bell played in the rain on the patio of the Riot Room.  The young honkytonk traditionalist from Wyoming appears to be the genuine article.

Kansas City’s Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys performed on the same stage before the rain hit.  I hadn’t seen the country band in years.  I hope to catch the sturdy ensemble again in the next couple weeks.


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I reviewed a production of “Million Dollar Quartet.”

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I reviewed Big Sean’s concert at the Midland theater.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment about Cadillac Flambé to KCUR.

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Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear’s Skeleton Crew sounds like a 1965 album on Vanguard Records.  RIYL: Richard and Mimi Farina, the Greenwich Village folk scare, Ian & Sylvia.

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Bruce Lundvall has died.

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Marcus Belgrave has died.

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Bob Belden has died.

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Murs throws his backpack under the bus on Have a Nice Life.  The new approach doesn’t always work for me.  The pop-tinged ”No More Control” is one of the album’s best songs.

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Big Steve, one of There Stands the Glass’ most dedicated readers, asked for my opinion of Shamir’s Ratchet.  He came to the right guy.  I’m more excited about an upcoming show by The First Ladies of Disco than any other oldies concert this summer.  Rather than representing anything new, Ratchet is a loving tribute to the ‘80s sounds of Mantronix, the Weather Girls and Newcleus.  So Steve, you’ll appreciate Ratchet if you share the fetish for creaky electronic funk and campy disco that Shamir and I harbor.

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Graham Parker and the Rumour’s Mystery Glue isn’t all that great but at this late date I can’t resist its pub rock charms.

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The Robert Glasper Trio's cover of Jhene Aiko's "The Worst" (my #20 song of 2014) combines two of my favorite things.

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Los Cardencheros de Sapioriz is billed as “the last performing group of an a capella Mexican slave song tradition.”  A few modern flourishes at the end of the recording break the magical spell of the group’s Un Amor Pendiente.

(Original image of pedal steel guitarist Nate Hofer’s boots by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Jodeci- The Past, The Present, The Future

Several weeks after attending an embarrassingly inept concert featuring Guy, K-Ci & JoJo, El DeBarge and Doug E. Fresh at Municipal Auditorium, I cued up Jodeci’s comeback album with great trepidation. 

Against all odds, The Past, The Present, The Future is amazing.  The sex songs are sexy and the love songs are dreamy.  The new effort is clearly superior to the band’s 1991 debut album.

Instead of jeering when K-Ci and JoJo spoke about a forthcoming Jodeci reunion during their outing at Municipal Auditorium, I should have applauded.

Here’s a video for ”Every Moment”.


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Hearing David Lindley in a concert hall setting was a nice change of pace.  I reviewed his concert at Johnson County Community College.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment about Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys to KCUR’s Up To Date.

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GlassField’s The Answer’s In the Pit of Your Stomach is RIYL: Fleet Foxes, Missouri indie-folk, Iron & Wine.

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Stik Figa and Leonard Dstroy have a video for ”More Or Less”.

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Loyal readers of There Stands the Glass will recall that I fell head over heels for José James’ No Beginning No End.  The smooth, innovative project was my fifth favorite album of 2013.  James’ followup album was a funky mess.  Aside from the rendition of “Strange Fruit” that closes the recording, the new Yesterday I Had the Blues: The Music of Billie is as straightforward as a Tony Bennett album.  I can’t imagine anyone not liking it.  Yet I doubt I’ll ever love it.

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I’m worried for myself.  I was repeatedly moved to the brink of tears as I listened to Valentina Lisitsa’s solo piano album Plays Philip Glass. 

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Donny McCaslin’s fascinating electro-jazz album Fast Future is RIYL: the Pat Metheny Group, 2015, Nile Rodgers.

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Hilary Hahn’s new Mozart set is nice.

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After viewing their ”What’s In my Bag” segment, I want to hang out with the Decemberists.

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Danya Stephens’ Reminiscent is uneventful.  RIYL: Walter Smith III, Blue Note blowing sessions, Ravi Coltrane.

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I can’t stand Ben Goldberg’s Orphic Machine, but I suspect a few There Stands the Glass readers will adore the hybrid of jazz and art-rock.  RIYL: Bjork, intellectuals, Becca Stevens.  Here’s an EPK.

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Pending the availability of cheap flights, I might attend the Free Press Summer Festival in Houston.  The lineup that includes R. Kelly, Slim Thug, Pentagram, Yung Lean, Mastodon, Z-Ro, Chance the Rapper, Sturgill Simpson, Lecrae, Charles Bradley, Bun-B, Diarrhea Planet, Ilovemakonnen and Paul Wall is calling my name.

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I didn’t have high expectations for Kaleo’s set at the Tank Room last Thursday but I didn’t expect generic blues-rock from the Icelandic band.  It’s not the worst show I’ve seen in 2015, but it’s certainly among the most disappointing.

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As I was appreciating the Norwegian tubist Daniel Herskedal’s excellent Slow Eastbound Train, a resident jazz-hater suggested that he admired the sound and asked “what kind of music is this?”  I didn’t have a good answer.  I suppose it’s contemporary Nordic classical music.

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I freely admit that Sufjan Stevens’s Carrie & Lowell is quite good.  RIYL: Iron & Wine, hushed indie folk, Alexi Murdoch.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)