Listen, Do You Want To Know a Secret?

Do you want to know a secret?  Do you promise not to tell?  Let me whisper in your ear. 

I've been holding out on readers of There Stands the Glass for years.  I'll finally divulge one of the choicest music-related secrets in Kansas City.

The event calendar of UMKC's Conservatory of Music and Dance is a hidden treasure trove for music lovers.  Dozens of recitals take place all over town near the end of each semester.

On Wednesday the calendar led me to Immanuel Lutheran Church to witness Michael Shults' doctoral recital.  The performance indicated that Branford Marsalis isn't the only jazz saxophonist capable of applying jaw-dropping technique to classical selections.  I'm still recovering from Shults' authoritative rendition of Luciano Berio's pernicious "Sequenza".  Shao Zhang's appearance at White Recital Hall this evening is also tempting.

Several factors contribute to the rewarding nature of these concerts.  They're usually free and almost always take place in pristine listening environments.  The modest audiences consisting largely of classmates, family, friends and faculty allow plenty of room for curious interlopers like me.  The Conservatory's faculty includes geniuses like Zhou Long and Bobby Watson.  The students' recitals, not surprisingly, are invariably excellent.  

Mum's the word.


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Zoo of B. Hood has died.

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I'm the subject of an interview with Chris DeLine of Mills Record Company.  Meanwhile, David Hudnall spoke to DeLine.

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Tech N9ne is featured on Harry Fraud's "Rising".

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Erik Voeks' new four-song EP is titled Finulu.  RIYL: the dB's, Eric Matthews, Shoes.

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77 Jefferson created a handy preview video for its new Rarities, Vol. 2 album.  RIYL: the Blue Riddim Band, Gregory Isaacs, Black Uhuru.

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The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is holding its annual conference in Kansas City on May 15-18.
(Tip via TSTG reader Gary.)

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Presented without commentary: "Meek Mill concert presented by the Jamaal Charles Foundation".

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José James shows how it's done on an absurdly sexy rendition of Al Green's "Simply Beautiful".

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The video for the Burnt Ones' "Web"  was "shot on glorious VHS."  RIYL: Ty Segall, Nuggets, tape hiss.

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Pat Martino is still tearing it up.

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I wish that I didn't have an intimate understanding of Drive-By Truckers' "Heathens".

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Kanye West's production on Pusha T's "Numbers On the Boards" is amazing.

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"Had a dream last night about you, my friend."

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Ces Cru- Constant Energy Struggles

I've been tracking Ces Cru's gradual ascendence on Kansas City's hip hop scene at There Stands the Glass for over five years.  I was happy for the duo when they signed to Strange Music.  It's the big break they deserve.  So what does Ces Cru rap about about on the new album Constant Energy Struggles?  They rap about about the big break they deserve.  The dominant subject matter of the album is disappointing.  I have limited tolerance for self-absorbed careerist raps.  The first five songs on Constant Energy Struggles are about Ces Cru's status in the hip hop community.  What a waste.  The superlative production and dazzling flows of Godemis and Ubiquitous are markedly superior to most of the competition.  I don't need Ces Cru to overstate the obvious.  "When Worlds Collide" is representative of the album's best and worst qualities.


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Bobby Rush's outing at the Living Room in Knuckleheads might be my favorite performance of 2013.  Here's my review.

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UMKC created a fine tribute to Aaron Markarian, the Conservatory of Music and Dance student who was recently murdered in his off-campus apartment.

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"If You Say So", a song from the Grisly Hand's forthcoming Country Singles album, is RIYL Lone Justice, X, Gram and Emmylou. 

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A friend insists that Wavves' Afraid of Heights is "the most important album in fifteen years."  Nope.  It sounds like a really good album by the Get Up Kids, Green Day or Weezer.  And that's good enough for me.

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Fred Eaglesmith chides Johnny (Cash)-come-latelys. 

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"So you guys are into jazz?"  Wolf continues Tyler, the Creator's ongoing troll.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: A Celebration of the Poetry of Langston Hughes at White Recital Hall

I've written more than my fair share of tepid reviews.  I'm therefore unable to object to the lukewarm response a critic for The Washington Post gave to a Vinson Cole recital two months ago. 

Yet the famed vocalist's performance for an audience of about fifty at White Recital Hall on Sunday was as dazzling as anything I've heard in recent months.  Cole's affecting renditions of John Musto's "Litany" and Margaret Bond's "Minstrel Man" during a free concert titled A Celebration of the Poetry of Langston Hughes stirred my soul.

The majority of the concert was dedicated to the work of William Averitt.  The composer was in attendance.  The notes he wrote for the program refer to the blues, gospel and jazz inflections in his compositions.  I didn't hear much of that.  In fact, his settings were antithetical to this treatment of Hughes' work. 

I was struck by the way in which Averitt's treatments successfully placed the poetry of Hughes in contemporary classical settings.  The performances by the 24-member Conservatory Singers under the direction of Robert Bode and the accompaniment by pianists Lee D. Thompson and Melissa Loehnig were splendid.


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I reviewed the audio version of Pat Metheny's The Orchestrion Project at Plastic Sax.

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Steve Paul wrote an extensive profile of Prairie Village native Joyce DiDonato.

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Erik Voeks' new album Sandbox is RIYL Tommy Keene, Marshall Crenshaw, Young Fresh Fellows. (Initial tip from There Stands the Glass reader Gary.)

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Kutt Calhoun's Black Gold was released today.  "Self Preservation" is a representative track.

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Kenny Clutch, the Kansas City-affiliated rapper who was killed in the highly-publicized shooting on the Las Vegas strip, was clearly influenced by Rich the Factor. (Tip about the local connection via Tony's Kansas City.)

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Electric Word, the new album by the Relatives, is RIYL if you like the Holmes Brothers, church, the Black Keys.

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I'm slated to appear on KCUR's Up to Date program at 11 a.m. CST on Friday. 

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Kansas City Click: Sleepy LaBeef is slated to perform Tuesday at Knuckleheads.

The Blue Room hosts a tribute to J Dilla on Wednesday.

Todd Clouser performs at the Brick on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)