Album Review: Nicole Mitchell- Maroon Cloud

I almost bailed on Nicole Mitchell’s Maroon Cloud after ten disorienting minutes.  Acclimating to the maelstrom created by the flutist’s drummer-less quartet is challenging.  The initial rough sledding serves to heighten the ultimate payoff.  Mitchell, vocalist Fay Victor, pianist Aruán Ortiz and cellist Tomeka Reid revive the most experimental aspects of the Sun Ra Arkestra and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.  Victor insists that “sometimes a sound represents eternity” on “Sound.”  She’s right.  Maroon Cloud has all the earmarks of a timeless avant-garde album.


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I created an four-minute audio feature about Lajon Witherspoon of Sevendust for KCUR.

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I reviewed the Marcus Lewis Big Band’s Brass and Boujee album at Plastic Sax.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I yakked about Open Spaces on KCUR.

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The American Jazz Museum held a press conference to promote a Randy Weston concert in 2010.  Only a television cameraman and I showed up.  Here are my notes documenting the odd event.  The jazz legend died Saturday.

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I relate to the locale of the Netflix series Ozark as much as the next Midwestern yokel.  Return, the forthcoming album by William Blackart, acts as a supplemental soundtrack to Ozark.  The Arkansas based singer-songwriter makes hardscrabble roots-rock in the vein of John Moreland.  Blackart’s current tour of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri includes a stop at the Westport Saloon in Kansas City on September 26.

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I didn’t want to invest time in Cyrus Chestnut’s Kaleidoscope, but there’s just no denying a piano trio album that ranges from Erik Satie to Deep Purple.

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Bruce Soord of the Pineapple Thief didn’t make much of an impression on me when I heard him open a concert for Steven Wilson in 2016.  Dissolution, the new album by the Pineapple Thief, does little to alter that perception.  RIYL: second-tier Roger Waters, dyspeptic pomp, a poor man’s Peter Gabriel.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Takuya Kuroda- Rising Son

My refusal to disavow smooth jazz continues to shock many friends and readers.  I happily attend a handful of smooth jazz concerts every year and regularly listen to the music without a trace of irony.  The artists I most admire in the format aren't necessarily the purveyors of the stuff that's played in elevators.  Roy Ayers, the Crusaders, George Duke, Bob James and Lonnie Liston Smith are among the artists I adore.  Takuya Kuroda shares my love of the work of those musicians.  The trumpeter's soulful new album Rising Son includes an exceptional cover of Ayers' "Everybody Loves the Sunshine."  Reclassifying the music as acid jazz hasn't done much to revive the form's popularity.  In spite of solid promotion by Blue Note Records, the new album's current sales ranking at Amazon is #13,382.  Here's the EPK for the unfairly neglected recording.


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I reviewed Sevendust's concert Thursday at the Midland theater.

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Latenight Callers made a beautiful video for "Tourniquets"

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The Strive created a video for "Keep Dreaming".

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"Bye Felicia" is a new track by MarksMyBarber & Kansas Smitty.

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Duck Sauce's Quack is RIYL: "Disco Duck," K-Tel, "Disco Inferno."  And Barry Gibb help me- I really like it.

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The Encyclopedia of Arto promises to be a handy guide to the work of Arto Lindsay.

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Neneh Cherry's new album doesn't do much for me, but "Everything" indicates that she still knows how to make a striking video.

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Hood Internet's "Digital Humpty" tickles my pleasure centers.

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Kris Bowers' "History of Jazz Piano" is pretty great.

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1987 forever!  The feedback-laden squall of Perfect Pussy's Say Yes To Love appeals to my nostalgic side.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)