November Recap

Top Five Performances
1. Logan Richardson’s Blues People- Capsule
My review.
2. Wilco- Midland theater
My review.
3. Lana Del Rey- Uptown Theater
My review.
4. Bobby Watson & Horizon- White Recital Hall
My review.
5. Doubledrag- Riot Room
My review.

Top Five Albums
1. Miranda Lambert- Wildcard
My review.
2. Matt Villinger- All Day
My review.
3. Brother Ali- Secrets & Escapes
My review.
4. Terri Lyne Carrington- Waiting Game
Dreams and Desperate Measures, the 42-minute suite that concludes the contentious album, is perfect.
5. Cecilia Bartoli- Farinelli
Baroque bops.

Top Five Songs
1. José James with Ledisi and Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah- “I Need Your Love”
The collaboration of my dreams.
2. Earl Sweatshirt- “East”
West of the moon.
3. Norah Jones featuring Tarriona Tank Ball- “Playing Along”
I knew she had it in her.
4. Atmosphere- “Bde Maka Ska”
Slug takes the plunge.
5. Michael Kiwanuka- “Living in Denial”
Haunting throwback soul.

I conducted the same exercise in October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February and January.

(Original image of Wilco by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Brandee Younger- Soul Awakening

Almost everything about Brandee Younger’s new album Soul Awakening is confounding.  The jazz harpist’s project was recorded in 2012 but was self-released released five months ago.  In spite of contributions from the jazz heavyweights Ravi Coltrane and Sean Jones, Soul Awakening has received so little visibility that I only became aware of it last week.  And in spite of being as accessible and groovy as the work of crossover artists like Kamasi Washington and Sons of Kemet, it’s gained little traction on streaming services.  A stellar video of a recent concert makes it clear that Younger is a proud acolyte of the spiritual jazz icons Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane.  I don’t ordinarily fall for throwback recordings, but the potent Soul Awakening stirs me.


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I reviewed Wilco’s 25th anniversary concert for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed Lana Del Rey’s concert at the Uptown Theater for The Kansas City Star.

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I write concert previews for The Kansas City Star every week.

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I consider The State of This City, the new album by the Myers Swingset, at Plastic Sax.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Ghost Stories

Partly because I’m not a 17-year-old Twitter fiend, the most recent spat between Ghostface Killah and Action Bronson doesn’t excite me.  Yet as someone who purchased the first Wu-Tang Clan album as a new release in 1993, I’m extremely interested in Ghost’s ongoing vitality.  The longtime favorite of There Stands the Glass has released two of the best albums of 2015.  The jazz-based Sour Soul and the R&B-oriented Twelve Reasons to Die II feature Ghost’s masterful flow and hilariously imaginative lyrics set to riveting music. 


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I reviewed Phish’s concert at Starlight Theatre.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment about A.J. Gaither to KCUR.

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I write about my final visit to Take Five Coffee + Bar in Overland Park at Plastic Sax.  The August 15 closure leaves the Kansas City area with a single jazz venue that charges cover on weekends.

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Billy Sherrill has died.

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Sean Price has died.

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Black Cat, the new album from Joplin's Never Shout Never, sounds like the year's best Taylor Swift album.

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The high quality of Wilco’s Star Wars caught me by surprise.  RIYL: Lou Reed, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Guided By Voices.

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I listened to the Chemical Brothers’ Born in the Echoes the morning after spending the previous evening at a Phish concert.  Both ensembles make whimsical psychedelic party music.  The distinctions between the British duo and the Vermont noodlers are marginal.

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Lamb of God’s Sturm Und Drang is a by-the-numbers metal album.  Works for me: I like counting.  RIYL: amazing back stories, Pantera, graying metal bands.

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Wayne Horvitz’s Some Places Are Forever Afternoon is RIYL: Gil Evans, third stream, Anthony Davis.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)