Album Review: Eddie Palmieri- Full Circle

I blew my travel budget on an Eddie Palmieri show in New York last year.  By Kansas City standards, I spent crazy money to catch the salsa legend at the Blue Note.  As a snippet of footage I posted to Instagram suggests, he was worth every penny.   The octogenarian and his expansive band revise salsa classics on the joyous new album Full Circle.   Not only does the project substantiate my enthusiasm for the Blue Note show, its life-affirming jubilance provides precisely the sort of consolatory tonic I need this summer.


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I reviewed Shania Twain’s return to the Sprint Center for The Kansas City Star.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I take note of the fine new album by Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 at Plastic Sax.

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The title of the Internet’s Hive Mind is unintentionally ironic.  Me-tooers have heaped praise on the return of Syd the Kid’s stylish soul group.  Telling the truth is unfashionable, but I don’t mind being the bad guy.  Here goes: Hive Mind is a terrible disappointment.  Aside from the sublime bass lines, there’s little to admire about the dreary project.

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Decade, a collaboration between 90-year-old Lee Konitz and 36-year-old pianist Dan Tepfer, is a mystical mind-meld.  RIYL: chess, Sam Rivers, astrophysics.

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Protoje’s A Matter of Time is a solid roots-rock-reggae album.  RIYL: Chronixx, getting past Legend, Burning Spear.  Here’s “Bout Noon”.

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I’d long ignored friends as they've touted footwork.  What a mistake!  Since R.P. Boo’s new I’ll Tell You What! turned my head, I’ve been astounded by almost every track on footwork playlists including Spotify’s Footwork Fever.  Better late than never.

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As a grown man, I’m disinterested in rap beefs and internecine heavy metal skirmishes.  I don’t particularly care why the metal community is divided by Skeletonwitch’s Devouring Radiant Light, I just know that I’m down.  RIYL: Deafheaven, sore throats, Revocation.  Here’s “Fen of Shadows”.

(Original image of Eddie Palmieri at the Blue Note by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Troyka- Ornithophobia

My defenses were down when I happened upon Troyka last week.  The British trio combines the prog-rock wankery of King Crimson, the geeky jazz fusion of Billy Cobham and the fluid modern jazz of Flying Lotus.  I melted within minutes.  To quote an irritating meme: “shut up and take my money.”  The trailer for the new album Ornithophobia and the snippets streaming at Amazon reveal the source of my latest guilty pleasure. 


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I reviewed Chris Brown’s concert at the Sprint Center.

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Miguel's outing at the Midland theater last night is likely to be favorite concert of 2015. Here's my review.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment about Lonnie McFadden to KCUR.

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I laud Hmph and the Jorge Arana Trio at Plastic Sax.

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I’ve never seen the Colombian star Carlos Vives perform.  His new live album indicates that I’m really missing out.  Here’s an exciting version of the irresistible “Como Le Gusta a Tu Cuerpo”.

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Tokyo Adagio, a duet featuring Charlie Haden and Gonzalo Rubalcaba recorded in 2005, is predictably enchanting.

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The Internet’s Ego Death sounds incredible.  Too bad Syd tha Kid can’t write a decent song.  Or am I wrong?  Here’s ”Girl”.  RIYL: Frank Ocean, headphones, Teena Marie. 

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Pictures and Paintings, Charlie RIch’s last recorded statement, is one of my favorite albums.  Boz Scaggs’ A Fool to Care is a similarly sentimental work.  RIYL: James Booker, fond farewells, Curtis Mayfield.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)