The Jacka, 1977-2015

The Jacka was killed in Oakland last night.  A television news program reported the murder.  I last saw the underappreciated rapper perform at the Uptown Theater in 2010.  Here are my notes about the show.  D-Boy Era, the Jacka’s throwback hip-hop collaboration with Lee Majors, was my #12 album of 2010.  His most recent release What Happened to the World was my #21 album of 2014.  In spite of his salty persona, the Jacka was very personable when I met with him in a Midtown bar a few years ago.


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I reviewed Dominique Sanders’ astonishing new album at Plastic Sax.

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I contributed a feature about Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle to KCUR.

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La Guerre’s Sapphires is RIYL: Hospital Ships, yearning, Regina Spektor.

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The Floozies’ Do Your Thing is an invigorating dance party.  RIYL: Zapp, disco, Daft Punk.

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I loved John Doe’s recent appearance at Knuckeheads.  Tim Finn reviewed the show.

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Vinyl Community noteworthy Teddy Dibble pays tribute to his late brother.

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I’ve yet to select my favorite new jam on Charlie Wilson’s Forever Charlie. RIYL: The Gap Band, romance, the Commodores.  Here’s ”Me and You Forever”.

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I questioned what I’m doing with my life after I ingested all 153 minutes of the new live album documenting John Scofield’s collaboration with Gov’t Mule.  It’s more in line with the Allman Brothers Band than with Miles Davis. 

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Gehenna, the latest release by Danish band By the Patient, hits the spot.  RIYL: Behemoth, riffs, Vader.

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If neither Hand Over Fist’s “Prize Fight” nor any of the stunning songs on P.O.S’s Never Better failed to break through, it’s unlikely that the latest Doomtree album All Hands will alter the crew’s fortunes. 

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My high hopes for Mohammed Fairouz’s Follow, Poet were dashed when I finally heard the bloated project.  RIYL: high concept, Leonard Bernstein, sociology.

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Dawn Richard’s Blackheart is a compelling variation on post-Beyoncé R&B.  Here’s ”Blow”.

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I have yet to watch the archived performance by Our Point Of View, the all-star group featuring Robert Glasper, Ambrose Akinmusire, Marcus Strickland, Lionel Loueke, Derrick Hodge and Kendrick Scott.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

The Sickness

An ongoing battle with the flu has left me feeling like a desiccated bird.  The following loose ends are all I muster at the moment.


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I reviewed Karrin Allyson's concert at the Folly Theater.

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The Kansas City Star published a few dozen top album lists.

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Deborah Brown is Plastic Sax's Person of the Year.

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I participated in a Best Music of 2014 program on KCUR's Up to Date.  I also contributed Local Listen segments about BCR and Oleta Adams to the show.

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I lost my mind over The Gobots' D-Boy Era in 2010.  What Happened to the World, the Jacka's new album, is the best thing he's done since then.  RIYL: Mac Dre, crack, Too Short.  Here's "Gang Starz".

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I had to stop listening to Beautiful Life, Jimmy Greene's tribute to his late daughter, when a children's choir entered on "Ana's Song."

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J. Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive is entertaining radio rap.  RIYL: Wale, rappers rapping about their careers, Kid Cudi.

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I regret not listening to Sunny Sweeney's Provoked sooner.  It may be the best contemporary country album of 2014.  RIYL: Miranda Lambert, cheatin' songs, Kacey Musgraves.

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Orange Goblin's Back From the Abyss is RIYL: Motorhead, beer, Black Sabbath.

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Sleaford Mod's Divide and Exit is a hoot.  RIYL: Art Brut, getting yelled at, The Fall.

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The hilarious Stromae demonstrates his great taste in a "What's In My Bag?" segment.

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I respect the fact that a lot of my friends adore TV on the Radio's Seeds, but the album is not for me.  At every turn I expect the band to break into "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway."  RIYL: The Mars Volta, punk-prog, The Police's Synchronicity.  Here's "Happy Idiot".

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

The Kendrick Conundrum

Where in tarnation is my album of the year?  I've found plenty to like but little to love among the hundreds of albums I've heard in 2014.  (Perhaps my lack of focus plays a role in this conundrum.)  I prefer the top seven titles in my year-end 2013 list in the column to the right to anything I've encountered during the past nine months.  Where's the stuff that turns my world upside down?  Kendrick Lamar's disappointing new song "i" sent me into panic mode.  C'mon Kanye.

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I reviewed concerts by Spoon and Living Colour.

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Here's the video for Josh Berwanger's "Enemies".

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Kenny Wheeler has died.

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George Hamilton IV, a staple of the Opry, has died.

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Highway Robbery, the new album by Freeway and the Jacka, is RIYL: J. Stalin, thug life, Messy Marv. The Real Rick Ross and Freddie Gibbs are in the video for "Cherry Pie".

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Jerry Douglas, Rob Ickes and the late Mike Auldridge sound great on The Three Bells.  RIY:: dobro, Gene Wooten, pickin' and grinnin'. 

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Goat's formula- equal parts the Doors, the Velvet Underground, Tinariwen and Toumani Diabaté- is irresistible on Commune.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Opry Lament

The Grand Ole Opry took a lot of my money in the 1990s.  I felt like a doofus every time I joined the throngs of tourists for the Opry's cheesy skits in the soulless environs of the Opryland Hotel complex.  Yet those were the only times I saw legends including Roy Acuff, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jack Greene, Jimmy C. Newman, Johnny Russell, Hank Snow and Porter Wagoner perform.  Newman died on June 21.  Here's scratchy old footage of "Alligator Man."


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I reviewed Monday's concert by Peter Murphy, Ringo Deathstarr and Cinemaphonic.

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Why isn't Charlie Hunter a star?  Hunter and Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey performed at the Brick last Thursday.  Here's my review.

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"Hometown", a collabo between Kansas City's Skiem Hiem and Oakland's the Jacka, may be the definitive Kansas City music video of 2014.

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Stik Figa represents Topeka in the video for "Knowhere."

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Take me to the river.  Mabon "Teenie" Hodges has died.

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I comment on the late Horace Silver's connection to Kansas City here. 

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Gerry Goffin has died.

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I adore songs about God, Satan and Elvis.  Nick Cave's performance at the Midland on Wednesday, consequently, made me deliriously happy.  Tim Finn reviewed the show.

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I would pay good money to watch a comment reconstruction depicting the moronic chatter attached to a video of T.I. and Iggy Azalea's "No Mediocre".

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A lot of critics are hailing Willie Nelson's Band of Brothers as a comeback album.  Longtime readers of There Stands the Glass know that I'm quite fond of many of his recent releases.  Band of Brothers is merely adequate.  Here's the video for the title track.

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The Roots' …and then you shoot your cousin is a strange album. RIYL: N.E.R.D, middle age, De La Soul.

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"Release your wiggle!"  Big Freedia's Just Be Free is RIYL: 5th Ward Weebie, New Orleans, Sissy Nobby.

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José James' No Beginning, No End was my #5 album in 2013.  I have yet to make up my mind about his new While You Were Sleeping.  RIYL: Roy Ayers, risk takers, War.

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Because I've long admired Ian McLagan, I'm predisposed to love everything about his (average) new album. United States is RIYL: pubs, the Faces, taverns.

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Joshua Redman's Trios Live is fire.  RIYL: Sonny Rollins, live albums, James Carter.

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Raise your hand if you've been waiting decades for Jonathan Richman to quit goofing around and finally make another album in the vein of the Modern Lovers.  The members of Parquet Courts have taken matters into their own hands.  Sunbathing Animal is RIYL: Lou Reed, wondering what happened to Jonathan Richman, Pavement.

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Die Antwoord's transgressive Donker Mag is surely a sign of end times.  RIYL: Rob Zombie, drone strikes, 2 Live Crew.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)