The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Sprint Center

I found a lover's rendezvous.

_ and I had only one interest in common when we first met.  Girl-crazy 15-year-olds, we pursued imprudent dalliances with a determination that mystified our less amorous classmates. 

I got some beer and the highway’s free.

We bonded after I introduced _ to alcohol and Bruce Springsteen.  He never got his fill of either. 

I took a wrong turn and I just kept going.

While alcohol has never been more than an amusing diversion for me, _ drank constantly.  My passion for Springsteen stalled with the 1984 release of Born in the U.S.A. but  _ went on to write his senior thesis about the artist’s response to the Reagan era.  He also caught more than two dozen Springsteen concerts.

I’m a rocker.

I dubbed _’s copy of The River on the day the album was released in 1980.  I can’t quite remember what we illegally consumed before and during Springsteen’s 1981 concert in support of the album at Kemper Arena in the West Bottoms of Kansas City, but I recall that it was a massive night.

Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse?

We gradually drifted apart, partly because I just couldn’t hang.  It took me a full day to recover after each of the handful of occasions we reunited during his last years. 

The price you pay.

I brought a boombox and a copy of The River to _’s room in a hospice two days before his body gave out.  He was coherent enough to indicate that he appreciated the gesture.

My brain takes a vacation just to give my heart more room.

The tears that streamed down my face at Thursday’s concert at the Sprint Center, consequently, didn’t come as a surprise.  I cried for myself during “Independence Day” and lost it while thinking of _ as the band performed “Wreck on the Highway.” 

They can’t touch me now.

Had I not been sober and in the arms of the woman I love, I might not have made it through the night.

(Tim Finn wrote a proper  review of the concert. Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Céu- Tropix

Summer has arrived.  I first felt the supremely relaxed sensation that I associate with the combination of sunburn, sangria and a refreshing evening breeze when I encountered ”Perfume do Invisível”, the opening track of Céu's Tropix.  She mixes campy lounge music with contemporary electronic grooves on the intoxicating new album.  Tropix sounds as if Seu Jorge, Beck and Elis Regina passed out on inflatable rafts in the same Brazilian swimming pool.


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I reviewed Matt Otto’s Soliloquy for KCUR.  There’s a corresponding audio feature at the link that doubles as a case study in Asperger syndrome.

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I wrote an extended preview of Gary Clark Jr.’s concert at the Uptown Theater.

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My review of a concert by Pablo Ziegler’s Quartet for New Tango is posted at Plastic Sax.

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Gato Barbieri has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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For the Imperfect, For The Dilligent, the latest effort from the Kansas City duo BLKFLANL, is RIYL: J Dilla, backpacks, Madlib.

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Have I no shame?  I’m horrified by my affection for Babymetal’s Metal Resistance.  Here’s ”Karate”.

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

Album Review: Into It Over It- Standards

A few years after our graduation, a former classmate spotted copies of our high school yearbooks on a bookshelf in my apartment.  He spent the next hour pouring over the volumes as he reminisced about the good old days.  I threw the books in the trash the next day.  Even though I’ve always been more interested in tomorrow than yesterday, Into It Over It’s new album Standards makes me feel like a giddily confused 17-year-old.  And I like it.  RIYL: The Get Up Kids, teenage kicks, Ben Gibbard.


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I reviewed the touring production of A Night With Janis Joplin.

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I admired Tinashe’s career in advance of her show at the Granada.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I discussed the Conquerors with Steve Kraske on KCUR last week.

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I take note of Gerald Spaits' Sax & Violins at Plastic Sax.

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Herb Palmer, a longtime fixture on Kansas City’s music scene, has died.  Here’s a related article written by CJ Janovy in 2004.

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Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest has died.

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The gospel star Daryl Coley died earlier this month.  Here’s ”He’s Preparing Me”.

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What I’m Feelin’, the first Anthony Hamilton studio album (aside from a Christmas project) in five years, makes me feel disappointed, depressed and angry.  Even the album’s best songs are tedious.  Hamilton has ceded the title of the best traditional male R&B vocalist of the new millennium.  Here’s ”Amen”.

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Henry Threagill’s new works inspire me.  Old Locks and Irregular Verbs will be released on April 1.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Walker Family Singers- Panola County Spirit

Friends know that I throw myself into the Lenten season with gusto.  The deprivations I’ve endured (it’s day 41, but who’s counting?) have seemed inconsequential this year.  The Walker Family Singers’ Panola County Spirit is partly responsible for guiding me through this period.  The new album is an a cappella gospel gem that brings tears of gratitude to my eyes.  Here’s a frustratingly brief promo video.


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I reviewed a thoroughly engaging concert by Nightwish, Sonata Arctica and Delain.

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Patti Austin’s concert at the Gem Theater was a mess.  Here’s my review.

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I discussed David Cook's career on KCUR last week.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I wrote an extended preview for Brian Fallon’s performance at the Riot Room.

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I reviewed the Paul Shinn Trio’s Into That Good Night at Plastic Sax.

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Steve Young has died.  ”It’s Not Supposed to Be That Way” is my favorite Young composition.

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Julian Lage’s Arclight is excellent.  RIYL: Django Reinhardt, loud twang, Chet Atkins.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: UFO at the VooDoo

While countless people marked news of the death of George Martin by playing albums by the Beatles last Wednesday, I joined about 400 aging rockers at a concert by the British hard-rock band UFO at the VooDoo at Harrah’s Casino.  Martin produced UFO’s 1980 album No Place to Run.

Much of the nearly two-hour outing possessed a punchy, melodic attack that wasn’t too far removed from the Beatles songs like “Hey Bulldog,” “The Night Before” and “Taxman.”

Aside the showy guitar solos of Vinnie Moore (every one of his statements would have benefited from extensive pruning), UFO resembled a commendably humble pub rock band.  Renditions of “Only You Can Rock Me,” “Rock Bottom” and “Shoot Shoot” were transformed into beery singalongs.

The unpretentious tone was accentuated by the goofy antics of vocalist Phil Mogg.  He joked that his beer was “best glass of urine I’ve ever had,” mocked his wardrobe and feigned indifference about the band’s discography.

Andy Parker, the drummer who co-founded UFO with Mogg in 1969, ambled to Mogg’s microphone at the conclusion of the concert to acknowledge the passing of a legend with four words: “God bless George Martin.”



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I discussed Maria the Mexican on Local Listen last week.

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I wrote an extended preview of Basia Bulat’s appearance at the Riot Room.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I reviewed Alicia Olatuja’s concert at the Folly Theater at Plastic Sax.

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Louis Meyers has died.  The co-founder of SXSX looked fit as a fiddle when I spoke to him at the Folk Alliance conference last month.

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Nana Vasconcelos has died.

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Ernestine Anderson has died.

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Keith Emerson has died.  Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s 1977 appearance at Municipal Auditorium was one of the first rock concerts I attended.

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Nolatet, a group that features Mike Dillon, Brian Haas, James Singleton and Johnny Vidacovich, has released Dogs.  RIYL: Charles Mingus, no holds barred, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey.

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Call it revenge of the (band) nerds.  About half of the selections on Snarky Puppy’s Family Dinner, Vol. 2 are excellent.  I'll no longer mock the enthusiasm of the collective’s rabid fans.

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Jim Rotondi’s mainstream album Dark Blue tickles my fancy.  RIYL: Clifford Brown, contemporary bop that isn't boring, Claudio Roditi.

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La Santa Cecilia’s Buenaventura is RIYL: Lila Downs, the sun, Making Movies.  Here’s ”Nunca Mas”.

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Vilde Frang’s Britten/Korngold is wonderful.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review- Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin

It’s discouraging to see one of the greatest figures in American music reduced to a punchline.  The Willie-and-weed narrative was played out 20 years ago but I still encounter many more Willie-related marijuana jokes than serious discussions of his music. 

The ongoing artistic vitality of Nelson, 82, is one of the most remarkable achievements in popular music.  While his performances are ramshackle affairs, several of his recent albums are exceptional.

The gentle swing and the unabashed sentimentality of the new Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin brings tears to my eyes.  My emotional reaction is partly based in nostalgia.

My old man bought every Nelson album in the 1970s.  Willie's greatness was about the only thing he and I agreed upon.  The 1978 album Stardust introduced me to standards like “September Song” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.”  Summertime may be even better.


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I reviewed Logan Richardson’s magnificent new album Shift for KCUR.

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I reviewed Lee Fields’ impressive concert at the Granada.

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I previewed Kacey Musgraves’ concert for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I’m the gray blip that moves from the left to the right side of the stage at the 4:49 mark of the transfixing time lapse video of the Be/Non album release show at the Scottish Rite Temple.

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Some of the tracks on Kendrick Lamar’s new collection of outtakes and demos are merely footnotes to Good Kid M.A.A.D. City and To Pimp a Butterfly.  Other selections- particularly the jazz and funk selections- are stunning.

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Aki Rissanen’s Amorandom is an up-to-date acoustic piano trio album.  RIYL: Esbjörn Svensson, Finland, Brad Mehldau.

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Birds of Chicago’s Real Midnight is RIYL: Sonia Dada, nouveau hippies, Poi Dog Pondering.

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Esperanza Spalding’s wretched new album is a half-baked tribute to the collaborations between Joni Mitchell and Jaco Pastorius.

(Original image of a stagehand vacuuming the set of a Vance Joy concert by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: BJ the Chicago Kid- In My Mind

Some of the people who share my enthusiasm for Frank Ocean whine about the absence of a follow-up to his 2012 masterpiece Channel Orange.  I have better things to do.  Appreciating good-to-great albums by male R&B artists including Avant, Babyface, Bilal, D’Angelo, D.R.A.M., José James, Jodeci, R. Kelly, Miguel and the Weeknd has kept me busy during the past three years.  Add BJ the Chicago Kid to that list.  In My Mind doesn't achieve the heights of Channel Orange, but even the album's weakest tracks are enjoyable Keith Sweat, Prince and D’Angelo knockoffs.  Frank should feel free to take his time.  I’ll be in ”Church”.


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I reviewed Dwight Yoakam’s sold-out concert at the Uptown Theater.

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I featured Fullbloods on KCUR’s Local Listen.

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I wrote an extended concert preview about Wavves.

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The album release show for Be/Non’s Mystic Sunrise/Sunset Magic at the Scottish Rite Temple was mind-blowing. 

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Much of Your Friend’s Gumption resembles the vacillating sounds I heard when I suffered from night terrors as a child.

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There’s nothing I don’t like about the song and the video for Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal’s ”Parts of Man”.  RIYL: Lee Fields, not-so-silly love songs, Percy Sledge.

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Ed Motta’s delightfully odd Perpetual Gateways is RIYL: Steely Dan, LA session cats of the 1980s, Gregory Porter.

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I embraced GoGo Penguin’s 2014 album, but the British group’s debut on Blue Note Records is overly chilly.  Here’s ”Res”.

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Cian Nugent’s Night Fiction is RIYL: Sandy Bull, spacing out, the Autumn Defense.

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Rogue Waves,  five remixes of a single Miguel song, is incredibly impressive.

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Wolfmother’s Victorious is big, dumb rawk, and Leslie West help me, I like it.  RIYL: Mountain, 1972, Billy Squier.

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Brian McKnight’s sappy Better makes me happy.

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We Like It Like That, a new documentary about Latin boogaloo, looks like my kind of movie.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Folks Back Home

I reviewed 19 showcases at the Folk Alliance Conference on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  I’m not particularly enthused by dust bowl ballad revivalists, bluegrass traditionalists or fiddle champions, but I found plenty of international acts, outsider musicians and straight-up rock bands to embrace.  Video links to my ten favorite Folk Alliance acts of 2016 follow.

1. Lady Maisery (absurdly talented British trio)
2. Maarja Nuut (visionary Estonian woman)
3. Tarabband (dance band led by an Iraqi refugee)
4. Chris Bathgate (Midwestern chamber-rock)
5. WÖR (the Belgian band goes “back to the 1780s”)
6. Sutari (enchanting Polish trio)
7. Birds of Chicago (Joe Henry produced the freaky rock band’s new album)
8. Twelfth Day (Scottish art-folk duo)
9. Ben Caplan & the Casual Smokers (Canadian beardos)
10. Leyla McCalla (a former Carolina Chocolate Drop)

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I reviewed Bill Frisell’s concert at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on Sunday.

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I reviewed a concert by Vance Joy, Elle King and Jamie Lawson on Thursday.

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I  reviewed Live at Pilgrim Chapel, the new album by David Basse and Joe Cartwright, for KCUR.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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Denise Matthews, the woman better known as Vanity, has died.  She was my first celebrity interview.  I met her in a hotel suite as she was promoting the action movie The Last Dragon.  I haven’t forgotten the scent of her perfume and each alluring fold of her bathrobe. 

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The EPK about Lou Tavano doesn’t convince me that I need to hear the French vocalist’s album, but her speaking voice… oh man.

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Lawrence Brownlee and Jason Moran for the win.

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Herlin Riley’s New Direction has a few nice moments.  RIYL: jazz drummers, Roy Haynes, swing.

(Original image of Chris Bathgate’s band by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Exmortus at Aftershock

Being the oldest guy in the room didn’t phase me, but I started to panic on the evening of Ash Wednesday when I realized that I might have been the feeblest person at Aftershock.  Almost every one of the 75 other people at the metal show was capable of cleaning my clock.

The hulking bill of Enforcer, Warbringer, Exmortus, Cauldron and Vanlade attracted corresponding burly people.

I documented my appreciation for Exmortus’ Ride Forth last month.  The new songs by the Los Angeles metal band sounded even better live.  The four guys in the band, incidentally, may have been the only men at the Merriam venue smaller than me. 

Kansas City’s Vanlade opened the show.  Bless their hearts.  Cauldron, a throwback metal trio from Chicago, was excellent.  Exmortus’ amazing guitarist sat in with the Los Angeles thrash band Warbringer. 

Sensing that I was pressing my luck and knowing I’d already received a great deal in exchange for my $20 investment, I didn’t stick around for the headlining set by Enforcer.  Even so, I regret not seeing a Swedish band accustomed this playing for a few dozen people in Kansas.


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I boldly predicted that the Steeldrivers would win a Grammy Award in my review of the band’s concert at the Folly Theater on Friday.  I was right.

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I reviewed a concert by Avant and Silk at the Uptown Theater.

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I have yet to hear The Life of Pablo, but I’m looking forward to digging in.  Kanye West’s previous six albums are nothing short of great.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Lecrae- Church Clothes 3

“I’m hearing screams and they saying we sold out, but I’m hearing screams from the stands ‘cause we souled out.”- Lecrae, “It Is What It Is”

Even in the insular world of Christian music, you’re nobody until you’ve attracted a congregation of haters.  Lecrae sold out a 5,800-capacity arena in his most recent appearance in the Kansas City area.  He addresses his unusual status as an explicitly Christian artist who keeps one foot planted on secular turf on “It Is What It Is,” one of many impressive tracks on his new mixtape Church Clothes 3. 

While much of his early work is corny, Lecrae has become one of hip-hop’s most vital artists during an implausible era in which the world’s most acclaimed rapper explicitly examines his Christian faith in his songs.  Like Kendrick Lamar, Lecrae is troubled by the contradictions that confront him.  A 16-minute promotional video for Church Clothes 3 includes a few of the mixtape's most conflicted moments.

When American churches scuff they Toms on our brother's dead bodies as they march to stop gay marriage... We had issues with Planned Parenthood too, we just cared about black lives outside the wombs just as much as in. -Propaganda, on Lecrae’s “Gangland”


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I reviewed Bach Aria Soloists’ The Adventures of Don Quixote concert for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed a concert by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Deafheaven and Power Trip for The Kansas City Star.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I featured Organized Crimes’ excellent “Bel Ray Flats” on KCUR’s Local Listen last week.

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I reviewed a Bukeka Shoals concert at Plastic Sax.

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The Kansas City rapper James Christos has altered his approach.  He recently released Conception as James D. Conqueror.  RIYL: Mos Def, makeovers, A Tribe Called Quest.

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My Rockfest headliner prediction was wrong.  I had expected Five Finger Death Punch, Megadeth or Volbeat to top the bill.  Instead, Disturbed is returning as the headliner.

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Earth, Wind & Fire was second only to Stevie Wonder in sparking my interest in soul when I was a kid.  The brilliant Maurice White has died.

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Dan Hicks has died.

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While King’s creamy We Are King goes down easy, I’d rather listen to my old SWV, DeBarge and TLC albums.  Here’s ”The Greatest”.

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I like Aoife O’Donovan’s In the Magic Hour when it evokes Astral Weeks and Bryter Layter.  Too much of the album, however, resembles safe coffeehouse fare.

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I suspect that my affection for Savages’ Adore Life is rooted in nostalgia.  RIYL: Gang of Four, college rock radio circa 1987, Sonic Youth.

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Tord Gustavsen freaks me out.  The EPK for the latest album by the vampire-like pianist is spooky.

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Susan Tedeschi has surpassed her hero.  I’ve heard almost every Bonnie Raitt album.  None is better than the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Let Me Get By.  The two TTB concerts I’ve attended have also impressed me more than any of four or five (post-1980) Raitt shows I’ve seen.

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Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Evolution is shockingly vital.  RIYL: Jack McDuff, monster grooves, Shirley Scott.

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“I’m Nick Saban in Alabama!”  Oh, Boosie.

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The tracks on Regina Belle’s The Day Life Began sound as if they belong on separate albums.  I adore the gospel song (“He’s Alright”) and the sophisticated uptown jazz number (“A Night of Love”). 

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I recently discovered the late vocalist Victoria de los Ángeles.  What is this sorcery?

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Black Tusk’s Pillars of Ash is every bit as solid as headbangers say it is.  RIYL: pre-rap Beastie Boys, metallic sludge, Mastodon.

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The first half of Rihanna’s Anti is embarrassingly awful.  The last several tracks are keepers.

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I didn’t know that Winston Jarrett was still among us.  A new in-studio session for KEXP is impressive.

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Technical death metal may be the most awful genre in music.  And I can't stop listening.  Obscura's Akróasis sounds like Lucifer fronting Return to Forever.  Here’s the title track.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Hélène Grimaud- Water

I listen to instrumental music as I write.  Words from vocalists and rappers disrupt my already tenuous ability to concentrate.  Dramatic orchestral works are also out of the question.  While I can’t focus as Hélène Grimaud plays a stirring rendition of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s flashy Piano Concerto No. 2, her unusual new album Water provides ideal accompaniment to my typing.  A thought-provoking and creativity-inducing combination of solo piano compositions by the likes of Leoš Janáček and electronic “transition” pieces, Water will likely provide me with conducive workplace inspiration for the remainder of 2016.


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I reviewed a concert by Mark Chesnutt, Joe Diffie and Lorrie Morgan.

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I contribute the weekly Local Listen segment to KCUR.  Your Friend was featured last week.

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I write weekly music and event previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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The lineup for Rockfest will be revealed on February 8.  I’ve set odds on the most likely headliners: Five Finger Death Punch (6/4), Megadeth (9/4) and Volbeat (9/1).  Bet at your own discretion.


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I look forward to spending quality time with Westend Recording Presents: "Amplify KC" Vol. 1, a collection of “heavy music” by Kansas City bands.

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Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane has died.

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Reading about the Fat White Family’s antics is more enjoyable than listening to the music created by the band of British hooligans.  Songs for Our Mothers is RIYL: exhaustion, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, hangovers.  The video for ”Whitest Boy on the Beach” is suitably messed up.

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I like Kevin Gates’ Islah in spite of myself.  Here’s 2 Phones.

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Boosie has ”Cancer”.

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I don’t particularly care for elaborate high-concept musical humor, but the David Gordon Trio’s Alexander Scriabin’s Ragtime Band is both amusing and impressive.  RIYL: P.D.Q. Bach, music school, André Previn.

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When You Wish Upon a Star, Bill Frisell’s new album of film music, is RIYL: Ennio Morricone, hillbilly jazz, Nino Rota.  I highlighted Frisell's forthcoming Kansas City show at Plastic Sax.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: 1349 at the Riot Room

The malevolent sound of 1349 wasn’t the scariest thing at the Riot Room last Thursday.  Repugnant odors were far more horrifying than the music of the Norwegian black metal band.  Combined with the acidic smell of dry ice, the stench of dank hair that filled the air as hirsute members of the audience began headbanging to 1349’s opening selection “I Am Abomination” caused me to involuntarily retch.  The rancid funk couldn’t prevent me from grinning at the band’s face paint and the ostensibly evil hand gestures made by some of 100 or so fans and thrill-seekers who paid $15 to see the show.  It looked and sounded a lot like this.  Jackson May wrote a more respectful account of the show for Mills Record Company.


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I reviewed last night’s Winter Jam festival at the Sprint Center.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine. 

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I reviewed Matt Hopper’s First Love at Plastic Sax.

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Strange but true: a band named Agoraphobic Nosebleed created my favorite song of January. "Not a Daughter" floors me.

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The self-titled album by Bloodiest is RIYL: Tool, rawk, Big Black.

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On paper, Tortoise should be one of my favorite bands.  I admire the theoretical impulse behind the music.  The reality is quite different.  Like most other Tortoise projects, The Catastrophist does little for me.  RIYL: the lack of swing, Stereolab, soullessness.

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Dave Mustaine sounds like he’s running for office on Megadeth’s Dystopia.  He doesn’t have my vote.  Here’s the title track.

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I suppose I’m obligated to have a take on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “White Privilege II”:  I prefer to atone in private.  Tying oneself up into knots in public is bound to backfire.

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Paul Westerberg and Juliana Hatfield are charming as the I Don’t Cares on the modest Wild Stab.  RIYL: The dB’s, demos, Alex Chilton.

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Adrian Younge’s Something About April II is kitschy fun.  RIYL: Isaac Hayes, blaxploitation flicks, Honey Cone.

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If Yes had been a black metal band, it would have sounded like Borknager.  Winter Thrice is RIYL: Game of Thrones, pomp, Coheed and Cambria.  The title track is glorious.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Exmortus- Ride Forth

The cover art is ridiculous, the guitar solos are garish, the vocals are generic and the production is flat.  I adore Exmortus’ Ride Forth anyway.  The band's standard-issue metallic riffing scratches one of my recurring itches.  ”For the Horde” is exactly what I need to get me through this dark month.


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I reviewed G-Eazy's sold-out concert at the Midland theater.

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I featured Jay McShann in an episode of KCUR’s weekly Local Listen and reviewed a centennial birthday concert in his honor.

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I can’t keep up with the spate of notable deaths.  The careers of Phil Everly, Paul Bley, Long John Hunter, Pierre Boulez, Clarence “Blowfly” Reid, Red Simpson and Glenn Frey may or may not be examined in this space in the weeks to come.

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As the first genuine soul man to drip sweat on me while I was on a dance floor, Otis Clay had a more profound impact on me than any of the men listed in the item above.  I first saw him pour it all out at a blues club in Chicago in the 1980s.  I also recall the late George Myers, a co-owner of the Grand Emporium, playfully delivering a nickel and a nail to the stage of his bar during a Clay performance.  Clay died on January 8.  Here’s footage from Soul Train.

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I asked McClain Johnson an “uncomfortable question” after I heard 3,000 white kids yell a racial epithet during A$AP Ferg’s performance at the Midland.  Here’s his response.

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Blackstar is solid.  Had David Bowie released the album a month earlier, Blackstar would have ranked #15 on my Best Albums of 2015 list.

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Charles Lloyd & the Marvels’ I Long To See You is dreamy.  RIYL: Bill Frisell, folk-jazz, Greg Leisz.

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Halsey’s excruciating ”New Americana” makes me want to summarily dismiss her entire generation.

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Bill Stewart’s Space Squid is RIYL: Seamus Blake, modal jazz, Paul Motian.

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Charles Bradley’s cover of Black Sabbath’s ”Changes” is a revelation.

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I’ll gladly buy a ticket to see Hinds perform, but I’ve already heard all the sounds on Leave Me Alone too many times.  RIYL: The Blake Babies, enthusiasm, Burger Records.

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The Spirio Sessions, a virtual piano duet between Uri Caine and Jenny Lin, is RIYL third stream, Keith Jarrett, high concept.

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I may grow to love the album, but my initial reaction to Anderson Paak’s Malibu is that it’s precisely one-third as good as To Pimp a Butterfly.  Here’s ”Come Down”.

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Why didn’t any of you jerks tell me about Judith Hill’s Prince-produced 2015 album Back In Time?  I would have missed the fine R&B project entirely had the bots at Spotify not insisted that I hear it.  Here’s ”Cry Cry Cry”. RIYL: Etta James, Prince media blackout, Alicia Keys.

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Moments on Baaba Maal’s wildly inconsistent The Traveller are rapturously beautiful.  RIYL: Salif Keita, production tricks, Peter Gabriel.

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I’m not disappointed that Esperanza Spalding has turned to psychedelic funk-rock. Instead, I’m disappointed that she’s turned to pedestrian psychedelic funk-rock.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Watch That Man: David Bowie, 1947-2016

David Bowie died yesterday.  Here’s an incomplete timeline of his impact on my life:

1978-80: As a misfit kid in the pre-internet era, determining who and what I was became easier once I discovered David Bowie.  I studied his back catalog as if it was a musical hidden treasure map.  The aggressive glam-rock of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars blew my mind.  The application of jazz on Aladdin Sane made a profound impression on me.  Low remains my favorite Bowie album.

1980-81: Two or three of my high school friends insisted that Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) be utilized as the soundtrack for several hazy high school experiences.  (Maybe that’s why I never acquired a taste for the album.)

1982: I talked my way into a Stevie Ray Vaughan rehearsal for Bowie’s Let’s Dance project at Billy Bob’s Texas.

1983-84 Bowie’s Let’s Dance became a mainstream pop sensation.  I was thrilled when “normal” girls would dance with me as Bowie songs played.

1990-93: I was a sales rep for Rykodisc as the record label rolled out reissues of Bowie’s catalog.  I was awarded the autographed poster pictured above at a sales conference.

2015: I was pleased but not surprised upon learning that Bowie was collaborating with the jazz musician Donny McCaslin for what would become his final album.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Lemmy Kilmister, 1945-2015

Motörhead knew only one song.  Thankfully, it was a great one.  The running time of my collection of physical copies of Motörhead albums and CDs is more than six hours.  Talk about overkill... 

I never had any use for Hawkwind, but Lemmy Kilmister’s Motörhead meant a lot to me.  I came upon the Ramones and Motörhead at about the same time.  Like a lot of self-conscious teenagers, I had been under the foolish impression that image had meaning.  Lemmy and his partners in crime helped me to understand that the barriers between punk and metal were artificial constructs.

My bones were rattled at several Motörhead performances.  The group’s 2006 concert at the minor league baseball stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, is ranked #19 on my 2009 list of The Best Shows of the Decade.

Kilmister died last week.


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I reviewed Tech N9ne’s Strangeulation for KCUR.

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Natalie Cole has died.  Her live version of ”Something Got a Hold On Me” is my favorite Cole performance.

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Craig Strickland has died.  The member of Backroad Anthem last performed in the Kansas City area at Kanza Hall on Jan. 15, 2015.

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Nicole Mitchell’s Artifacts is the first entry on what’s sure to be a long list of unintentional omissions from my Top 50 Albums of 2015 post.   Check out the skronky combination of flute, fiddle, bass and drums on ”The Clowns”.

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The soundtrack for The Revenant is RIYL: Tangerine Dream, isolation, Nico Muhly.

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Posted without commentary: footage of Osa Johnson, the native Kansan who traveled the world with her husband Martin, dancing to jazz with African pygmies.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Let’s All Get Up and Dance to a Song

One of the most most delightful aspects of my holiday season was watching the eldest member of my brood rediscover the Beatles catalog during her brief visit to her childhood home.  On the day the band’s music was made available to streaming services, I observed her reactions to relatively deep tracks like “Your Mother Should Know” and “Dig a Pony” and sang along with her to old favorites like “Blackbird” and “In My Life.”  All together now...


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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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Tim Finn of The Kansas City Star compiled a few dozen year-end album and song lists.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

He Was a Friend of Mine

You don’t want to be my friend.

Four of my closest high school pals are dead.  I haven't spoken to a few others in years.  Maybe that’s why I reacted so poorly when a former classmate I’ve loved since the day we met in 1979 dropped a disheartening bomb on me during a break at last week’s appearance by Adam Lambert at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.

While I discussed the merits of Pentatonix with his child, my friend casually mentioned that it was the first live music event he’d attended since he accompanied me to a 2001 show by Prince at Municipal Auditorium.

I responded by inviting the girl to move into my home to escape her unsound living conditions.  What’s worse- my failure to insist that my friend join me at any given show during the past 14 years or his inability to maintain a balanced life?

Then again, maybe the joke’s on me.  While I’ve spent much of my adult life listening to loud music in dark rooms, my friend has become a successful attorney and a prominent community leader.

What have I done?


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I reviewed a concert by Adam Lambert and Pentatonix.

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I played songs by Samantha Fish, Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle, Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7, Kendrick Lamar, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Lila Downs during my appearance on KCUR’s Up To Date last week.  Here’s the podcast.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I contribute weekly Local Listen segments to KCUR.

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I took notes at a performance by the Brian Scarborough Quintet at the Westport CoffeeHouse.

(Original image of Lemony Snicket at the Plaza Library by There Stands the Glass.)

Hi, How Are You?

The second season of the Amazon series Transparent traumatized me.  It’s not the show’s primary theme of malleable gender identity that rattled my nerves.  A straight male character named Josh Pfefferman induced unwelcome flashbacks to the years I spent as a music distribution sales rep.  Josh, a self-centered weasel who intends to launch a record label, closely resembles a subset of men I once dealt with every day.  Listening to entitled guys almost exactly like Josh demand that albums by developing acts like the fictional folk-pop band Fussy Puss be stocked on shelves of Wal-Mart was the bane of my existence. 


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I reviewed Tech N9ne’s sold-out concert at the Midland theater.

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I reviewed Todd Rundgren’s return to the VooDoo.

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In what may most be my most subversive act of the year, I played punk rock (Radkey), jazz (Matt Villinger), rap (Tech N9ne), hip-hop (Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment), R&B (Jill Scott) and pop (Rihanna) during my guest appearance on the AAA station 90.9 The Bridge last week.  You can stream or download a podcast version of my misbehavior here.  I suppose I owe the staff and the listeners of the non-commercial radio station an apology.

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Scott Weiland died last week.  I ranked the reunited Stone Temple Pilots’ headlining appearance at the 2008 edition of Rockfest as one of the best concerts of the decade.  I also reviewed the first concert of Weiland’s 2009 solo tour.  The buzz in advance of that show was extremely negative but Weiland was great that night.

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Four of the top five releases in No Depression’s year-end reader’s poll have black-and-white or sepia-toned album covers.

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Jon Benjamin Well, I Should Have…* is amusing for about five minutes.  The premise- a comedian plays piano with a legit jazz band- gets old in a hurry.  The trailer is funnier than the album.

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I’m not the least bit embarrassed to admit that I’m partial to Buckcherry’s sleaze-rock.  Rock 'n' Roll is RIYL: Kiss, STDs, Aerosmith circa ‘76.  Here’s ”Tight Pants”.

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The recent reissue of Gloria Ann Taylor material doesn’t live up to the hype.  RIYL: psych guitar noodling, Big Brother and the Holding Company, forced vocals.

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Much of Van Hunt’s murky The Fun Rises, The Fun Sets makes even the biggest disappointments of Sly Stone and Prince seem competent.

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Archy Marshall’s A New Place 2 Drown is RIYL: Young Fathers, gloom, King Krule.

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Cam’s Untamed is acceptable mainstream country.  RIYL: Miranda Lambert, Nashville, Sunny Sweeney.  Here’s ”Burning House.

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The use of an accordion in an experimental jazz context sounds entirely natural to me on Old Time Musketry’s Drifter.

(Original image of Daniel Johnston-inspired graffiti by There Stands the Glass.)

Woke Up an Optimist: The Best Albums, Songs and Shows of 2015

The 50 Top Albums of 2015 (Spotify playlist)

1. Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp a Butterfly
2. Jill Scott- Woman
3. Rudresh Mahanthappa- Bird Calls
4. Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle- Live in Kansas City
5. Vince Staples- Summertime ‘06
6. Valentina Lisitsa- Plays Philip Glass
7. Ghostface Killah and Badbadnotgood- Sour Soul
8. Torche- Restarter
9. Lalah Hathaway- Live
10. Tech N9ne- Special Effects

11. Bilal- In Another Life
12. Marc Cary- Rhodes Ahead, Vol. 2
13. Mark Ronson- Uptown Special
14. Young Fathers- White Men Are Black Men Too
15. Jodeci- The Past, The Present, The Future
16. Mbongwana Star- From Kinshasa
17. Matthew Shipp Trio- The Conduct of Jazz
18. Jazmine Sullivan- Reality Show
19. Action Bronson- Mr. Wonderful
20. Alabama Shakes- Sound & Vision

21. Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba- Ba Power
22. The Game- The Documentary 2 and The Documentary 2.5
23. J.D. McPherson- Let the Good Times Roll
24. Downtown Boys- Full Communism
25. Bob Dylan- Shadows In the Night
26. Viet Cong- Viet Cong
27. Charles Gayle Trio- Christ Everlasting
28. Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment- Surf
29. Donny McCaslin- Fast Future
30. Dead Sara- Pleasure to Meet You

31. Charlie Hunter- Let the Bells Ring On
32. Matt Kane & the Kansas City Generations Sextet- Acknowledgement
33. Carlos Vives- Más Corazón Profundo Tour: En Vivo Desde La Bahía De Santa Marta
34. Miguel- Wildheart
35. Dwight Yoakam- Second Hand Heart
36. Seattle Symphony- Dutilleux 2
37. Thunderbitch- Thunderbitch
38. Chris Stapleton- Traveller
39. Angie Stone- Dream
40. Dominique Sanders- A True Story Based On…

41. Myra Melford- Snowy Egret
42. The Grisly Hand- Flesh & Gold
43. Omar Souleyman- Bahdeni Nami
44. The Cox Family- Gone Like the Cotton
45. Earl Sweatshirt- I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside
46. Deafheaven- New Bermuda
47. Tony Bennett and Bill Charlap- The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern
48. Kamasi Washington- The Epic
49. Samantha Fish- Wild Heart
50. Wilco- Star Wars

The Five Top EPs of 2015
1. Thundercat- Beyond/Where the Giants Roam
2. Myra Melford- Live At the Stone
3. Bummer- Spank
4. Ces Cru- Recession Proof
5. Wondaland Presents: The Eephus

The Five Top Reissues and Compilations of 2015
1. The Supreme Jubilees- It’ll All Be Over
2. Miles Davis- At Newport: 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
3. Next Stop Soweto: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco and Mbaqanga 1975-1985
4. Bob Dylan- The Cutting Edge 1965-1966
5. Thomas Mapfumo- Lion Songs: Essential Tracks in the Making of Zimbabwe

The 50 Top Songs of 2015 (Spotify playlist)

1. Kendrick Lamar- “Alright”
2. Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment- “Sunday Candy”
3. Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney- “FourFiveSeconds”
4. Tyrese- “Shame”
5. Tyler, the Creator with Kanye West and Lil Wayne- “Smuckers”
6. Lila Downs- “Balas y Chocolate”
7. Butch Walker- “21+”
8. Mark Ronson with Mystikal- “Feel Right”
9. Future- “Commas”
10. The Popper- “I’m KC”

11. Kenny Lattimore and Lalah Hathaway- “Nothing Like You”
12. Action Bronson with Chance the Rapper- “Baby Blue”
13. Bomba Estéreo- “Fiesta”
14. John Moreland- “Cherokee”
15. Courtney Barnett- “Dead Fox”
16. Venom- “Long Haired Punks”
17. Kanye West- “All Day”
18. Charlie Wilson- “Touched By an Angel”
19. Joywave- “Nice House”
20. Chedda Da Connect- “Flicka Da Wrist”

21. Miguel- “Coffee”
22. The Weeknd- “Can’t Feel My Face”
23. Big Sean with Drake and Kanye West- “Blessings”
24. Kim Burrell- “Thank You Jesus (That’s What He’s Done)”
25. The Go! Team- “The Scene Between”
26. Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear- “Silent Movies”
27. Chris Stapleton- “Whiskey and You”
28. Yelawolf- “Whiskey in a Bottle”
29. Fetty Wap- “My Way”
30. Lyfe Jennings- “#Hashtag”

31. Missy Elliott- “WTF (Where They From)”
32. E-40- “Choices (Yup)”
33. Youth Lagoon- “Highway Patrol Stun Gun”
34. Emily King- “Distance”
35. Ryan Bingham- “Fear and Saturday Night”
36. La Maquinaria Norteña- "Para Qué Amarte"
37. Father John Misty- “The Ideal Husband”
38. Dr*ke and Future- “Diamonds Dancing”
39. David Banner- “My Uzi”
40. Justin Bieber, Skrillex and Diplo- "Where Are Ü Now" 

41. Rihanna- “B*tch Better Have My Money”
42. Wolf Alice- “You’re a Germ”
43. Radkey- “Le Song”
44. Sleater-Kinney- “Bury Our Friends”
45. Beach Slang- “Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas”
46. José James- “Lover Man”
47. Sarah Ross- “Shotgun”
48. Young Thug with Birdman- “Constantly Hating”
49. Alan Jackson- “Angels and Alcohol”
50. Pops Staples- “Better Home”

The 50 Top Shows of 2015

1. Miguel- Midland theater
2. Chance the Rapper- Midland theater
3. Mark Dresser, Myra Melford and Matt Wilson- Take Five Coffee + Bar
4. Charlie Wilson- Sprint Center
5. Lee Konitz with the Dave Douglas Quintet- Jazz Standard (NYC)
6. Juan Gabriel- Sprint Center
7. The Rolling Stones- Arrowhead Stadium
8. Sufjan Stevens- Midland theater
9. Bobby Watson Quartet- Folly Theater
10. Tech N9ne- Rockfest at Penn Valley Park

11. Joyce DiDonato with the Philadelphia Orchestra- Carnegie Hall (NYC)
12. Merle Haggard- Uptown Theater
13. Tropicalisimo Apache- Barney Allis Plaza
14. Teddy Riley- Starlight Theatre, opening for Keith Sweat
15. Chris Brown- Sprint Center
16. Wichita Grand Opera’s Turnadot- Yardley Hall
17. Helmet- RecordBar
18. Diana Krall- Midland
19. Lauren Krum with the Project H- Westport Coffee House
20. Sleater-Kinney- Uptown Theater

21. Four Fists- Riot Room
22. Julian Davis- Living Room
23. Avishai Cohen, Tal Mashiach and Nasheet Waits- Take Five Coffee + Bar
24. Max Raabe and Palast Orchester- Helzberg Hall
25. Crobots- Rockfest at Penn Valley Park
26. Luke Bell- Riot Room patio
27. Ben Miller Band- Uptown Theater, opening for Blackberry Smoke
28. Bill Frisell- White Theatre
29. Peter Schlamb’s Electric Tinks- RecordBar
30. Hellyeah- Midland theater

31. Maroon 5- Sprint Center
32. Counterparts- Aftershock
33. Ebony Tusks- Riot Room patio
34. Delbert McClinton- Paola Roots Fest
35. Failure- Liberty Hall
36. Doug E. Fresh- Municipal Auditorium, for opening for Guy
37. Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7- Green Lady Lounge
38. Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle- Take Five Coffee + Bar
39. John Doe- Knuckleheads
40. Boots- Midland theater, opening for Run the Jewels

41. Noah Preminger Quartet- 55 Club (NYC)
42. Kansas City Symphony with Yafim Bronfman- Helzberg Hall
43. Duncan Burnett and the Ministry- Riot Room patio
44. Gregg Allman- Ameristar Casino
45. Radradriot- Records With Merritt
46. People’s Liberation Big Band- RecordBar
47. Smashing Pumpkins- Midland theater
48. Robert Randolph & the Family Band- Town Center Plaza
49. Todd Rundgren- VooDoo
50. Drop a Grand- The Brick

I compiled composed similar lists in 2014, 2013 (albums, songs and shows), 2012 (albums and songs and shows), 2011 (albums and songs and shows), 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 (albums, songs and shows) and 2006.

(Original image of Juan Gabriel by There Stands the Glass.)

Freakin' Weekend

As I gave each of my favorite releases a final run-through before I submitted a top ten album list to The Kansas City Star last weekend, I was indignantly reminded that not everyone in my compound is eager to hear language that most people consider objectionable.  I’ve become so inured to lurid content that it takes a lot to shock me.  It’s noteworthy, consequently, that R. Kelly’s new song ”Marching Band” is way too much for me to handle.


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After impatiently watching the Family Stone riff for 15 minutes as it attempted to solve what I assumed was a stage monitor issue at last month’s 18th & Vine Jazz and Blues Festival, I gave up and went to the Blue Room to secure a good seat for an appearance by Kahil El'Zabar.  Cynthia Robinson was probably on the stage with the Family Stone, but because my notes at There Stands the Glass and Plastic Sax are seemingly the only reviews of the festival, I may never know for certain.  I encountered ”Dance to the Music” long before I was exposed to “Peter and the Wolf”.  The song taught me about the sonic components of pop.  And Cynthia Robinson’s cry of “all the squares, go home” was one of the most exciting things I’d ever heard.  Robinson died last week.


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A segment about the Roseline is among my recent contributions to KCUR’s weekly Local Listen feature.

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Should jazz be treated with kid gloves?  I don’t think so.

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Andy Johns has died.

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“Food” is my favorite song by Ces Cru since the duo has been signed to Strange Music.  Here’s the video.

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Joey Cool made a video for “All Hail.”

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Teddy Dibble issued a 36-minute jazz vinyl missive today.

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Romain Collin’s Press Enter strikes me as overly polite.  RIYL: Esbjörn Svensson, Euro jazz, the Bad Plus.

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The slick folk that infects Lizz Wright’s Freedom & Surrender doesn’t appeal to me.  RIYL: Natalie Merchant, Lilith Fair, k.d. lang.

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I caught Dave Douglas’ current group at the New York venue this year, but I’m not I’m prepared to buy all eight hours of Brazen Heart Live at Jazz Standard.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Blame It All On My Roots

Self awareness can be crippling.  It’s a little late in the game to be discovering myself.  Only now am I beginning to comprehend that there’s no hiding the ancestral dirt under my fingernails.

I eagerly cued up Benjamin Clementine’s At Least For Now after it won the Mercury Prize last week.  I found his art-rock so irksome that I was compelled to retreat to the latest albums from Toby Keith and George Strait. 

By most critical measures neither 35 MPH Town nor Cold Beer Conversation are superior to At Least For Now.  Yet the conventional country albums are part of my musical DNA.

I sometimes envy the rarefied people who were raised on Kurt Weill and the Brandenburg Concertos even though growing up on Waylon Jennings and Stevie Wonder probably better prepared me for the world.  While my passion for forms like free jazz is genuine, it’s self-taught.

Keith and Strait, consequently, sound like my home turf while Clementine strikes me as a pretentious twit.  It can’t be helped. 

Jason Isbell seems to be singing to me on the opening track of Something More Than Free:  “I got too far from my raisin’, I forgot where I come from.”


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I reviewed Jackson Browne’s concert at the Music Hall.

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I reviewed Diana Krall’s return to the Midland theater.

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I wrote an essay about Adele and Allen Stone for Ink magazine.

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P.F. Sloan has died.

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Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba's Ba Power is wondrous.  RIYL: Malian music, Ali Farke Touré, life.

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The bland pop of Julieta Venegas’ Algo Sucede saddens me.  Here’s the title track.

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The trailer for the new documentary “Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story” is promising.

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Julien Baker’s Sprained Ankle is RIYL: Michelle Shocked’s The Texas Campfire Tapes, tears, Joni Mitchell’s Blue.

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The Matthew Shipp Trio plays it straight on The Conduct of Jazz.  RIYL: Thelonious Monk, a semblance of structure, Cecil Taylor.

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Stop the presses- Con Funk Shun has released a new album!  The video for ”More Than Love” is… something.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Allen Toussaint, 1938-2015

Like most people, I was introduced to the brilliance of Allen Toussaint through hits by other artists.

Hearing his suggestive production on Labelle's lurid "Lady Marmalade" and Robert Palmer's downright nasty version of his song "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" exposed me to the concepts of prostitution and adultery when I was an impressionable kid. 

I would later binge on Toussaint's monstrously funky collaborations with New Orleans vocalists like Lee Dorsey and Ernie K-Doe and I heard a lot of colorful Toussaint stories from record clerks and buyers when I represented his NYNO record label in a territory that included New Orleans in the '90s. 

Toussaint's impeccably formal demeanor and elegant presentation during his concerts at the Folly Theater in 2010 and 2014 contrasted starkly with the vignettes of street life associated with his work in the 1960s and 1970s.  Discovering that the man responsible for a large swathe of the sultriest American music looked and acted like an investment banker was shocking.

I reviewed his concerts at the Folly Theater in 2010 and 2014.  Tim Finn quotes one of those critiques in a tribute to the great man.


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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I wrote an extended concert preview about Murs.

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My enthusiastic notes about a concert of egghead jazz by Drew Williams and John Blevins is posted at Plastic Sax.

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Phil Taylor, the former drummer of Motorhead, has died.

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Gene Norman once yelled at me on a regular basis.  The entrepreneur died last week.  I’m saddened by his passing.

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The chorus of Tech N9ne’s ”PBSA” is unfortunate.

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Steddy P made a video for ”Perfect”.

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The video for Shades of Jade’s ”That One” looks as if it's sponsored by a PR firm representing Kansas City’s Crossroads district.

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Counterparts’ performance at Aftershock on Saturday looked and sounded almost exactly like this.  Acacia Strain and Fit for an Autopsy also spurred miniature riots.  In spite of the chaos, I witnessed only two injuries and a single ejection.  And since I established an unfortunate precedent in my notes about Arlo Guthrie’s concert last month, it’s only fair to note that vape smoke, passed gas, spilled beer and blood-streaked sweat made the show the smelliest concert I’ve attended in 2015.

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The wondrous tracks on The Cutting Edge 1965-1966 remind listeners that Bob Dylan has always been a tinkerer.

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Angie Stone’s enchanting Dream is RIYL: The Supremes, real life, the Honey Cone.

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I’d better not hear any of the people who are extolling Grimes' Art Angels disparage the similar output of Justin Bieber.

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D-Stringz, the latest collaboration between Stanley Clarke, Bireli Lagrene and Jean-Luc Ponty, makes me drowsy.

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I’ve always had a weak spot for Pieces of a Dream.  All In is RIYL: candlelight, Najee, wine.

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Bobby Caldwell’s new Cool Uncle project makes me smile.  RIYL: Freddie Jackson, step dancing, Boz Scaggs.  Here’s ”Never Knew Love Before”.

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I recently came across footage of a 75-minute performance by Henry Threadgill’s Zooid.

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Boots was fantastic when he opened for Run the Jewels at the Midland theater last month, but his new album Aquaria doesn’t do much for me.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

An Anniversary Toast

A few observations about the legacy of Ted Hawkins launched this site on November 14, 2005.  I’m still at it ten years later. 

No amount of unwarranted DMCA take-down notices, desperate link-sharing requests from short-lived sites, shameless swagger-jacking by professional music journalists and snarky comments from friends and strangers have dissuaded me from posting music commentary.  This is entry #1,387 at There Stands the Glass.

I realize that the layout is tired- it hasn’t changed in ten years.  In an era in which design is more highly valued than substance, I recognize that There Stands the Glass is hopelessly dingy.  I’m clearly not motivated by fashion or trends. I don’t even accept guest list invitations.

Initially a MP3 blog that showcased obscure gems from my collection of albums and CDs, There Stands the Glass now acts as a musical diary.  (I’ve also documented Kansas City’s jazz scene at Plastic Sax since 2007.)

The longevity of There Stands the Glass isn’t a mystery.  I don’t care if anyone is reading.  Unlike the sad sot in Webb Pierce's 1953 hit, I'm not "wondering where you are tonight."

I’m not going anywhere.


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A broad smile never left my face on Saturday night.  Here's my review of Juan Gabriel’s concert at the Sprint Center for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed Mike Metheny’s new album at Plastic Sax.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I wrote at length about Lindi Ortega in a preview of her appearance at Knuckleheads.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment about guitarist Will Matthews to KCUR.

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I didn’t fall in love with Lalah Hathaway’s voice until it buckled my knees at a free concert last year.  (My review.)  Hathaway’s new live album is an homage to her father Donny- it opens with ”Little Ghetto Boy”- and acts as an exciting document of her immense talent.

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Lionel Loueke kicks out the jams on Gaia.  I like the abrasiveness but detest the indulgence.  RIYL: James “Blood” Ulmer, guitar pyrotechnics, Jimi Hendrix.

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The playing of saxophonist Tim Berne and tubist Dan Beck make Ingrid Laubrock’s Ubatuba a jazz joyride.  The album is superior to Laubrock’s fine show at the RecordBar last year.  (My notes.)  RIYL: Henry Threadgill, skronk, Julius Hemphill.

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”#Hashtag” is the standout track on Lyfe Jennings’s Tree of Lyfe.  RIYL: Charlie Wilson, the ghost of Marvin Gaye, Anthony Hamilton.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)