Concert Review: Adia Victoria at the Riot Room

I attended Adia Victoria’s show at the Riot Room last Monday on a hunch.  While I was underwhelmed by the recordings of the Nashville based artist as I researched a preview I wrote for her Kansas City debut, I suspected that I was missing something. 

My hunch paid off. 

I was one of about three dozen people in attendance for what’s certain to be one my favorite performances of 2016.  Backed by an impressive band of Nashville cats, Victoria prowled the stage like the feral grandchild of Howlin’ Wolf and Dolly Parton. 

Victoria repeatedly suggested that she was playing the blues.  Accordingly, a noisy cover of Robert Johnson’s “Me and the Devil Blues” was my favorite selection.  She was entirely credible as she insisted that she was going to “beat my man until I’m satisfied.”

I was so gobsmacked that I failed to take a decent picture.  Fortunately, Todd Zimmer documented the show with a remarkable set of photos.


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I reviewed of a new collection of 58 previously unissued Charlie Parker tracks for KCUR.

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I reviewed Brian Wilson’s concert at Muriel Kauffman Theatre.

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I reviewed a concert by Duran Duran, Chic and Tokimonsta.

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I previewed Drake’s return to Kansas City for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I reviewed a concert by Shinedown, Halestorm and Black Stone Cherry.

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I talked up Rooftop Vigilantes 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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The last 132 Hastings stores have been shuttered.  I spent a significant portion of my life in Amarillo soliciting the buyers of the once-powerful chain.  By and large, my contacts at the Hastings headquarters were good folks.

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I’m all about Revocation’s Great Is Our Sin.  RIYL: Exmortus, metallic hooks, Lamb of God.

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The unfortunately named Dinosaur exemplifies the look and sound of modern jazz.  (For the record, I dig the London ensemble.)

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Many readers of There Stands the Glass are vocal advocates of Goat.  Requiem, the band’s new album, will be released in October.

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Grady Champion’s preposterously old-school ”Move Something” just might be my favorite song of 2016.  (Not kidding.)  RIYL: Marvin Sease, dance songs, Mel Waiters.

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The things I liked about Z-Ro’s purple-drenched Houston rap are largely absent on Drankin’ & Drivin’.  Z-Ro knows it.  He raps “if you don’t like my new sh*t you can go back to my old sh*t… gotta get this money, man.”  RIYL: 2Pac, the slickness, UGK.  Here's "My Money".

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Give It Away Give It Away Give It Away Now

My social media feeds are clogged by heartfelt confessions inspired by recent events.  In that spirit, I’ll reveal one of my deepest prejudices: I involuntarily roll my eyes when I spot a dude in a Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt.  My eye muscles get a workout at almost every non-classical concert I attend that attracts a throng of white guys.  I’m not sure why the fashion choice bugs me.  I’ve always been down with the band.  Like the members of RHCP, I fell under the spell of George Clinton while attending high school in the 1980s.  I admire much of RHCP’s work, including the new Danger Mouse-produced The Getaway.  Come to think of it, maybe I should buy one of those shirts the next time I’m at Target.


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I reviewed Trampled Under Foot’s marathon reunion show at Knuckleheads on Friday.  I also highlighted the concerts on KCUR last week.

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I reviewed the first day of the Buzz Beach Ball festival at Children’s Mercy Park.  I also wrote an extended preview of the event 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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Alan Vega of Suicide has died.

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Bonnie Brown of the Browns has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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I’m happily stuck in the quagmire of Rich the Factor’s Smile.

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I’m still over the moon about catching a performance by trumpeter Kirk Knuffke a couple weeks ago.  Fierce Silence, his new duet album with drummer Whit Dickey, is nice and skronky.

(Original image of Buzz Beach Ball by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Mark Chesnutt- Tradition Lives

I grew increasingly frustrated as I watched Mark Chesnutt perform with Lorrie Morgan and Joe Diffie at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in January.  My subsequent review was positive, but I longed to be transported to a proper Chesnutt concert at a honky-tonk in his home state of Texas.

Rather than gripping a notepad and a penlight, I wanted to hold a longneck in one hand and the waist of my dance partner in the other.  My daydream of careening across a dance floor to “Brother Jukebox” was heavenly. 

Tradition Lives, Chesnutt’s first album in six years, is filled with sturdy country songs about drinking, cheating and heartbreak.  “So You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore,” an ode about a breakup with booze, is my favorite track. 

The veteran traditionalist has no use for crossover pop moves or for the sort of arty innovations that made Sturgill Simpson a sensation among the NPR set.  Yet formalism doesn’t seem stodgy in the hands of Chesnutt.  I favor hip-hop, jazz, metal and R&B these days, but hardcore country like Tradition Lives will always sound like home to me.


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I reviewed Twenty One Pilots’ sold-out concert at the Sprint Center.

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I wrote an extended preview of Flight of the Conchords’s show at Starlight Theatre 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 continue to drive the Matt Otto bandwagon at Plastic Sax.

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Marc Meyers reports that jazz pianist Don Friedman has died.

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”How Many” is Miguel’s response to recent events.  (Tip via BGO.)

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If I manage to embrace the distortion that makes speakers sound as if they’re blown out, Mike Dillon’s Functioning Broke might become one of my favorite jazz-based albums of 2016.  RIYL: Steve Reich, Elliott Smith covers, early Keith Jarrett.

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I get choked up by Allen Toussaint's cover of Paul Simon’s “American Tune” at the conclusion of his lovely posthumous album American Tunes.

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In 2014, I suggested that Schoolboy Q's Oxymoron resembled "a poor man's version of Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city."  The rapper's new  Blank Face LP sounds like a bankrupt response to To Pimp a Butterfly.  The project also has the dubious distinction of housing “That Part”, arguably Kanye West’s worst-ever feature.

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The messy mix on the reissue of Van Morrison’s ...It’s Too Late to Stop Now doesn’t spoil the fun.

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Hiromi’s Spark is RIYL: bombast, Rush, being buried by notes.

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BadBadNotGood’s IV is mildly disappointing.  RIYL: Mulatu Astatke, hype, John Klemmer.

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At his best, Kenny Garrett is among the most essential living jazz musicians.  He’s astoundingly awful at his worst.  Do Your Dance! runs the gamut.  RIYL: John Coltrane, embarrassingly amateurish cover art, middle school talent shows.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Kandace Springs- Soul Eyes

I recently selected Kandace Springs’ Soul Eyes as background music in an attempt to establish a romantic mood on a date with my life partner.  I’d hoped for smooches.  Instead,  I was mocked for my taste in music.  My Anita Baker-loving spouse found Soul Eyes syrupy and overly sentimental.  Her analysis may be valid, but I just can’t help myself.  Springs’ languid album is in the sophisticated supper club tradition of Nancy Wilson and Donny Hathaway.  I’m entranced.  Here’s Springs’ interpretation of Shelby Lynne’s ”Thought It Would Be Easier”.


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I still don’t understand why my forthright review of the Dave Matthews Band’s concert in Bonner Springs is controversial.

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

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I admired Brewer & Shipley on KCUR’s Up To Date program last week.

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I wrote an extended preview about Brand New for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I reported on Bobby Watson’s participation in the Black Archives’ Community Stories series at Plastic Sax.

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Sir Mack Rice has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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As the regional sales rep for Scotty Moore’s 1997 album All the King’s Men, I enjoyed backstage access for a related SXSW showcase at the Austin Music Hall that included guest appearances by Dwight Twilley, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rojas, Joe Ely, Tracy Nelson, and Rocky and Billy Burnette.  Moore died last week.

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Rob Wasserman has died.  The bassist last performed in Kansas City in 2014 with Bob Weir’s Ratdog.  His 1989 appearance at Memorial Hall as a member of Lou Reed’s band was probably the first time I saw him perform.

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Maxwell’s BLACKsummers’night was my favorite album of 2009.  I’m not sure that blackSUMMERS’night is worth the seven-year wait.  The new release is merely very good.  RIYL: Marvin Gaye, soul giants, Prince.  Here’s ”Gods”.

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Spoek Mathambo’s hypnotic Badimo EP is RIYL: Sister Sledge, the almighty beat, FaltyDL.  (Tip via Big Steve NO.)

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Marquis Hill bested Kansas City’s Hermon Mehari in the the 2014 Thelonious Trumpet Competition.  The eclectic The Way We Play indicates that Hill a formidable talent.

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Manu Katché's excellent Unstatic is RIYL: Paul Motian, genuinely smooth jazz, Jack DeJohnette.

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I get inordinately excited every time the words “jazz” and “punk” are commingled.  I’m invariably disappointed.  I don’t care for Melt Yourself Down’s Last Evenings On Earth.

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The first set of Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom at the Blue Room last week was one of the most exciting things I’ve heard in 2016.  I posted a clip to Instagram.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Pop Life

Even though I acknowledged the awful news in April, I hadn’t shed a single tear over Prince’s death until last night.   The magnitude of the loss finally hit home as the There Stands the Glass favorite Bilal delivered a libidinous version “The Beautiful Ones” on the broadcast of the BET Awards.  By performing with lust rather than grief, Bilal’s effort was the only one of the many tributes I’ve seen in the last ten weeks that caused me to crack.


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I reviewed a free Public Enemy concert.

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I reviewed a concert by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

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I discussed the late Little Hatch and the return of the Kansas City Kansas Street Blues Festival on KCUR last week.

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I scrutinize a pet peeve at Plastic Sax.

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Ralph Stanley has died.  I last saw the pioneer at Starlight Theatre in 2002. 

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Chips Moman has died.

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Amjad Sabri was murdered.

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Freddy Powers has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns has died.

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Bernie Worrell has died.

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Katy Guillen & the Girls’ Heavy Days is RIYL: Mountain, boogie, Foghat.

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Dâm-Funk’s entry for the !Z7 label’s DJ-Kicks series is my jam.  George Clinton, DJ mix tapes, Reggie B.

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The New Breed, the new album by the Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker is RIYL: the Lounge Lizards, anti-jazz, Marc Ribot.

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DJ Shadow's The Mountain Will Fall doesn’t disappoint.  RIYL: possibilities, Pimp C, space.

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It seems quaint that albums like the Bill Charlap Trio’s Notes From New York are still being made.  I’m charmed in spite of myself.  RIYL: Barry Harris, anachronisms, Tommy Flanagan.

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YG’s Still Brazy is RIYL: Dr. Dre, 1993, Tha Dogg Pound.  Here’s ”Gimmie Got Shot”.

(Original image of Sheila E. by There Stands the Glass.)

The Bourgeois Bumpkin

When Michael Stern began his defense of the placement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 2 on the program to the audience of about 1,400 at Helzberg Hall on Sunday afternoon, I was embarrassed for the Music Director of The Kansas City Symphony.  I felt that his apparent need to justify the presence of the occasionally jarring and overtly Leninist composition amid the “Beethoven sandwich” of “Meersstille und glückliche Fahrt” and Symphony No. 9 was patronizing.  Then I heard the piece for the first time and loved every minute of it.  Stern’s conciliatory spiel enhanced my appreciation of the work.  I suppose that makes me a bourgeois bumpkin.


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I reviewed a concert by Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Tech N9ne, Rich The Factor and Stevie Stone.

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I reviewed a concert by Fantasia and Anthony Hamilton.

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I reviewed a concert by Béla Fleck & the Flecktones.

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I selected songs by Krizz Kaliko, Logan Richardson, Psychic Heat, Kanye West, Carrie Rodriguez and Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom for my appearance on Best Music of 2016 (So Far) show on KCUR’s Up To Date.

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

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I documented my visit to SoJo Summerfest at Plastic Sax.

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"If You Ask Me Again (I Do)", the new single by Soul Revival, the Kansas City duo of Derick Cunigan and producer Desmond Mason, is lovely.  RIYL: John Legend, marriage, Chrisette Michele.

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The Kansas City rapper Farout’s new song “Guns” is shocking.  And I like it.

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Attrell Cordes of P.M. Dawn has died.

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Gojira’s Magma is RIYL A Perfect Circle, French metal, Lamb of God.  Here’s ”Silvera”.

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Death Grips’ Bottomless Pit is RIYL El-P, true punk, Karlheinz Stockhausen.  Here’s the title track.

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Brandy Clark’s Big Day in a Small Town sounds like money.  Almost every song could have been a hit for Miranda Lambert or Kenny Chesney.  Here’s ”Girl Next Door”.

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I’m not on the Car Seat Headrest bandwagon.  Teens of Denial leaves me cold.  I’ll stick to my dusty collection of albums by Pavement and the Fall.

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I’m pretty sure I can find the perfect theme song for my next podcast on The Odd Tape.  Oddisee strikes a winning balance between jazz and hip-hop on his latest effort.  Here’s ”Brea”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

This Is a God Dream: Music Midway in 2016

I’ll share my enthusiasm for the best music released so far in 2016 on KCUR’s Up To Date program on Friday, June 17.  The following lists of my favorite albums, songs and performances will provide my detractors with fresh ammunition.  I hope that that everyone else will make a few gratifying discoveries.


Top Albums
Even though it’s Kanye West’s weakest album, The Life of Pablo is a revelation.  (Spotify playlist.)

1. Kanye West- The Life of Pablo
2. Chance the Rapper- Coloring Book
3. David Murray, Geri Allen and Terri Lyne Carrington- Perfection
4. Logan Richardson- Shift
5. Savages- Adore Life
6. Hélène Grimaud- Water
7. David Bowie- Blackstar
8. Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom- Otis Was a Polar Bear
9. Walker Family Singers- Panola County Spirit
10. Kendrick Lamar- Untitled Unmastered

11. Willie Nelson- Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin
12. Exmortus- Drive Forth
13. Adrian Younge- Something About April II
14. Volbeat- Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie
15. Céu- Tropix
16. Pat Metheny Unity Band- The Unity Sessions
17. Charles Lloyd & the Marvels- I Long To See You
18. Lecrae- Church Clothes 3
19. Conflicts- The North Slope
20. A$AP Ferg- Always Strive and Prosper

21. Anthony Hamilton- What I’m Feelin’
22. BJ the Chicago Kid- In My Mind
23. Psychic Heat- Sunshower
24. Babymetal- Metal Resistance
25. Kevin Gates- Islah


Top Songs
Chance Bennett has been reading my mind.  (Spotify playlist.)

1. Chance the Rapper- “Same Drugs”
2. Anderson Paak- “Come Down”
3. Parker Millsap- “Heaven Sent”
4. Kanye West- “Ultralight Beam”
5. Tedeschi Trucks Band- “Anyhow”
6. BJ the Chicago Kid- “Church”
7. Agoraphobic Nosebleed- “Not a Daughter”
8. Krizz Kaliko- “Didn’t Wanna Wake You”
9. Boosie Badazz- “Cancer”
10. Steve Gunn- “Ancient Jules”

11. Anthony Hamilton- “Ain’t No Shame”
12. A$AP Ferg- “Strive”
13. Regina Belle- “He’s Alright”
14. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis- “Bolo Tie”
15. Mount Moriah- “Precita”
16. Deftones- “Doomed User”
17. Margo Price- “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)”
18. Rihanna- “Love On the Brain”
19. Keys N Krates featuring Ouici- “Love Again”
20. The Philistines- “Radiation Drive”

21. French Montana, Kanye West and Nas- “Figure It Out”
22. Kvelertak- “1985”
23. Carrie Rodriguez- “Z”
24. Sturgill Simpson- “Breakers Roar”
25. Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal- “Parts of a Man”


Top Shows
I've attended about 200 individual performances since January 1.

1. Lee Fields and the Expressions- The Granada
2. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band- Sprint Center
3. Exmortus- Aftershock
4. Florence + The Machine- Providence Medical Amphitheater
5. Tortoise- The Granada
6. The Who- Sprint Center
7. Lamb of God- The Midland
8. Christian McBride Trio- Folly Theater
9. Goddamn Gallows- Riot Room patio
10. Be/Non- Scottish Rite Temple

11. Maarja Nuut- Westin Kansas City at Crown Center
12. Tedeschi Trucks Band- The Midland
13.  Logan Richardson- Blue Room
14.  Dwight Yoakam- Uptown Theater
15.  UFO- VooDoo
16.  Pablo Ziegler and the Quartet for New Tango- Polsky Theatre
17.  Les Arts Florissant- Helzberg Hall
18.  Fantasia- Starlight Theatre
19.  Roy Ayers- Blue Room
20. Matt Villinger- Orion Room at the Green Lady Lounge

21. Ebony Tusks- The Midland
22. Avant- Uptown Theater
23. Group of the Altos- The Brick
24. Midori with the Kansas City Symphony- Helzberg Hall
25. R. Kelly- Sprint Center

Top Five Opening Acts
1. A$AP Ferg, for G-Eazy- The Midland
2. Tombs, for 1349- Riot Room
3. Deafheaven, for Lamb of God- The Midland
4. OMD, for Barenaked Ladies- Starlight Theatre
5. Elle King, for Vance Joy- The Midland

(Original image of my 38th favorite performance of 2016- the Calamity Cubes at the Riot Room patio- by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Fishbone at Crossroads KC

I attended my first Fishbone concert at the Outhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, on November 1, 1986.  During the influential band’s free show at Crossroads KC last night, I realized that I’d changed a lot more than Fishbone in the last 30 years.  Older but not wiser, Fishbone remains gloriously raw.  Partly because I had yet to absorb Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain, I felt as if I’d been transported to a different planet at the 1986 show.  On Thursday, I couldn’t stop analyzing song structures. I recall ducking for cover as Angelo Moore swung from the wiring on the ceiling of the Outhouse.  As the front man showed off with cartwheels and roundhouse kicks last night, I evaluated the troubling new ache in my right ankle.


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I reviewed a concert by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

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I wrote an extended preview of A$AP Ferg's return to the Midland.

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

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Fishbone, Montgomery Gentry and KT Tunstall headlined free concerts in the Kansas City area last night.  The perpetually beleaguered owners of live music venues have it rough.

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The Kansas City garage rock band Psychic Heat released a video for ”Elixir”.

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Steve Gunn’s Eyes On the Lines is RIYL Richard Thompson, indie-rock guitar heroes, Television.  ”Ancient Jules” is pretty great.

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The Brad Mehldau Trio reminds listeners that it can play mainstream jazz with exquisite nuance on Blues and Ballads.  RIYL: the Bill Evans Trio, beauty, Ahmad Jamal Trio.  Here’s ”Little Person”.

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Peter Bjorn and John’s Breakin’ Point is RIYL Paul McCartney, unadulterated pop circa 1975, Paul Carrack.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Volbeat- Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie

The boy can’t help it.  I just can’t get enough of Volbeat’s Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie.  The Danish band’s sixth studio album gives me the same sort of cheap thrills I get from big dumb rock albums ranging from ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres and Def Leppard’s Hysteria.  It’s as unchallenging as it is gratifying.  ”The Bliss” is representative of the simple-minded fun.


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I reviewed Roy Ayers’ appearance at the Blue Room.

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I discussed the Kansas City jazz guitarist Matt Hopper on KCUR.

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I analyzed M83’s concert at the Midland.

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I reviewed the incongruous triple-bill of Barenaked Ladies, OMD and Howard Jones.

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

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I put my faith in Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner of the American Jazz Museum in an essay at Plastic Sax.

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I examined the work of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in an extended preview of the duo’s return to Kansas City.

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Dave Swarbrick has died.

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The Kansas City rock band the Philistines made a video for ”A Twitch of the Death Nerve”.

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The Kansas City duo Tidy Hippy has a video for ”French American Spanish Whatever.

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William Bell’s This Is Where I Live is a nice late-career statement by the soul veteran.  RIYL: Solomon Burke, made in the U.S.A., Charlie Rich.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Speaking to God in Public

My two favorite albums of 2016 are by Chicago rappers.  Here’s the kicker: Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book are gospel albums.  West insists that “this is a God dream.”  Chance avers that “I speak to God in public.”  Their testimonials aren’t negated by the inclusion of raps about inebriation, pride, lust and avarice.  The name of this site indicates that I’m sympathetic to their imperfections.  As a person of faith, I neither seek nor require categorical spiritual validation from artists.  Nevertheless, the praise songs on The Life of Pablo and Coloring Book inspire me.


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I reviewed a Florence + The Machine concert.

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KCUR published my review of Go, the new album by the underappreciated Kansas City musician Krizz Kaliko.

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I reviewed Andrew W.K.’s concert on Saturday.

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I logged eight hours at the Westport Roots Festival.  Here are my notes for The Kansas City Star.  I also wrote a preview of the annual event.

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

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I admire Logan Richardson’s momentous homecoming concert at Plastic Sax.

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The Kansas City rapper Gee Watts created a video for ”Hallelujah”.

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The eponymous album by the young Tuareg band Imarhan is exciting.  Here’s a video for the title track.

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I’ve long appreciated David Bazan.  Blanco is RIYL: despair, the Magnetic Fields, lo-fi synths.

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Black Mountain might be trolling on IV.  RIYL: Dio, ‘80s nostalgia, the Tubes.  Here’s ”Mothers of the Sun”.

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I don’t enjoy playing the role of a fussbudget, but Robert Glasper's revision of Miles Davis’ music on Everything’s Beautiful is a bummer.  RIYL: Erykah Badu, jokers who like to shout “remix!”, Marcus Miller.

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A Love Electric’s exciting Psychmonde is RIYL Chris Whitley, drugs, Ziggy Stardust.

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I’ll cop to liking Otep’s dystopian pop-metal.  Generation Doom is RIYL: Nine Inch Nails, Hot Topic apparel, Korn.   Here’s ”Down”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Whale Songs

Even in the age of unlimited streaming sounds, inspecting a physical library of prerecorded music thrills me.  The property I rented on the coast of Oregon last week was equipped with a fine library of classical, jazz and folk CDs.  I thoroughly enjoyed playing selections by Yo-Yo Ma, Dave Brubeck and Leonard Cohen on the cliff-side cabin’s excellent stereo as I looked for the gray whales that occasionally caroused several hundred yards below.


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I previewed a Florence + The Machine 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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Two of the four most recent posts at Plastic Sax extol new recordings by Pat Metheny.

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Guy Clark has died.  The Texan was extremely shaky during an appearance at the Folly Theater a couple years ago, but I named a 2005 concert at the Uptown Theater as one of the best shows of the decade. 

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Joe Temperley has died.  I last heard the Scottish saxophonist perform with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at Helzberg Hall in 2011.

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Bluegrass musician James King has died.

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Until I learned of his death today, I didn’t realize that Nick Menza of Megadeth also played jazz fusion.  Here’s footage of Menza with his band OHM.

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Emilio Navaira has died.  According to my records, the Tejano musician last performed in Kansas City 12 months ago.

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Theo Croker’s Escape Velocity may be the culmination of what so many young jazz musicians have been driving at in recent years.  The album possesses an up-to-date groove without forsaking tradition.  RIYL: Herbie Hancock, the now, Roy Hargrove.

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Musiq Soulchild successfully catches up to Drake, Miguel and Frank Ocean on Life On Earth while retaining his old-school sound.  Here’s ”I Do”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Tortoise at the Granada

I attended my first Tortoise concert last night.  More than 25 years into the Chicago collective’s career, I finally understand what all the fuss is about.  The songs that had always struck me as theoretical post-jazz abstractions came to life during Tortoise’s 90-minute performance at the Granada.  The paltry crowd of about 150 (including at least 20 women!) didn’t dampen my enthusiasm.  I drove to Lawrence and purchased a $25 ticket on a whim.  My impulsive act may have permanently transformed the way I think about music.


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My five favorite performances at Ink’s Middle of the Map Fest were by Group of the Altos, Ebony Tusks, Gallant, Jorge Arana Trio and Manchester Orchestra.  I contributed to The Kansas City Star’s reviews of the event on Friday and Saturday.

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I discussed Ida McBeth with Steve Kraske on KCUR yesterday.

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I ponder cultural appropriation in my preview of Disclosure’s concert at Crossroads KC.

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

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The new incarnation of recordBar at 1520 Grand Blvd. reminds me of the Slowdown in Omaha.  That’s a good thing.

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I felt like a proper German as I swooned over Robert Schumann’s third symphony during the Midwest Chamber Ensemble’s concert at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on Sunday.

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The bawdy blues artist Candye Kane has died.

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The Kansas City rapper Young Devi D has a video for ”Don’t Judge Me”.

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I’m pleased by the critical consensus for Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor's Guide to Earth.  The solid album deserves much of the acclaim.  Weeks before the release of Simpson’s album, a friend insisted that I’d love Shooter Jennings’ Countach (For Giorgio).  He was right.  The completely bonkers project opens with a sample of Waylon’s "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand."  The track gradually morphs into a disco/techno banger in the vein of Giorgio Moroder.  Jennings also transforms the warhorse I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone into a throbbing electro-twang dance track and a fiddle battles Marilyn Manson for supremacy on a delightfully campy version of David Bowie’s “Cat People.”  That's what being an outlaw is all about.

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I’m always surprised when people tell me that they’ve never heard the song “There Stands the Glass.”  TSTG pal and honky tonk authority BGO thought that this site’s readers might enjoy David Ball’s rendition of the standard.

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

He Believes He Can Fly

It may take me the rest of the year to process everything I heard and saw at R. Kelly’s bizarre outing at the Sprint Center on Saturday.  I hadn’t attended a Kelly concert in nine years, a period in which the Pied Piper of R&B made several essential additions to his vast discography.

The first 30 minutes of his maddeningly inconsistent appearance were so disheartening that I cursed myself for wasting $67 on the cheapest available ticket. My interest grew as the concert became increasingly odd. 

An abbreviated list of Kelly’s foibles: He spent a few minutes watching television from an easy chair (pictured).  A woman in the front row ostensibly massaged his crotch for about a minute (thankfully, my view was obstructed).  After his microphone was wrested away during a foray into the audience, Kelly was propositioned by a self-described “thick midget.”  Kelly had an extended discussion with a drone/blimp.  A video demonstrating his prowess as a trick shot hoop star was screened.  A man with an anemic t-shirt cannon shot objects into the audience.

Kelly’s rhapsodic voice belied these oddities throughout the disjointed show.  He sounded phenomenal even though it was unclear whether he was singing over prerecorded tracks or with a live band.  He paid tribute to Prince by playing a recording of “Purple Rain” as he hung his head.   Prince’s tragic death moves Kelly, a man already known as The King of R&B,  to the top rung of a category I’ll call “Most Vital and Brilliant Veteran R&B Artist.” 

It’s a shame that Kelly doesn’t have someone on his team with the authority to help him properly showcase his immense talent.  Here’s Tim Finn’s review of Saturday’s concert.



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I previewed the Middle of the Map Fest’s lineup of Zhu, Vince Staples, Gallant, Ebony Tusks and Blk Flanl.

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I talk about music with Steve Kraske on KCUR every Wednesday at 11:55 a.m.

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My $40 ticket to the Who was- please forgive me- a bargain, the best I ever had.  It took less than ten minutes for the band to eradicate my ill-placed skepticism.  Here’s Tim Finn’s review.

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Terrace Martin’s Velvet Portraits seems to go on forever.  Even so, the best tracks are first-rate.  RIYL: K-Dot, noodling, Curtis Mayfield.

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I recently praised Snarky Puppy at There Stands the Glass.  A few tracks on the live session Family Dinner, Vol. 2 tricked me into believing that the collective was more than the 21st century version of the Stan Kenton Orchestra.  I was wrong.  The new album Culcha Vulcha is RIYL: high school band camp, Doc Severinsen, transcribing solos.

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My friend S. raved to me about Parker Millsap several months ago.  I joined S. on the young Oklahoman’s bandwagon when I heard  the new album The Very Last Day last weekend.  RIYL: Steve Forbert, next-big-(folk)-things, Greg Brown.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Les Arts Florissants at Helzberg Hall

I couldn’t afford not to go to the Les Arts Florissants concert at Helzberg Hall last Saturday.  The 80% discount the presenter offered to everyone on its mailing list reduced the price of the ticket I purchased in the back row of the room to $4. 

At that absurdly low sum, I was willing to bail at intermission if the show wasn’t entertaining.  Rather than finding Les Arts Florissants tiresome, I wished that the vocal and instrumental ensemble that specializes in playing baroque music on period instruments would have performed all night.

An exceedingly sober review of the concert bears the headline “Consistency, grace, good taste.”  Those words don’t reflect my reaction to the presentation.  I’d go with “Sexy, steamy, fun” instead.  Vintage footage of a Les Arts Florissants show captures only a bit of the ensemble’s sultry side that enthralled this bargain-hunter on Saturday.


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I reviewed a concert by the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

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I reviewed a concert by Magic Man, the Griswolds and Panama Wedding.

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My friends don’t call me Rain Man for nothing.  My stilted commentary is featured in an audio review of Logan Richardson’s Shift that was aired by KCUR on Wednesday.

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I chatted about Duncan Burnett with Steve Kraske on KCUR last week.

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I wrote an extended concert preview about the Arcs.

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I wrote an extended show preview for R. Kelly’s return to the Sprint Center.

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

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Lonnie Mack has died.

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Billy Paul has died.

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Papa Wemba has died.

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The Kansas City band Making Movies created a video for “Ready For the Rain.”

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Nihil Novi, the wonderful album by Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life, is a post-Kamasi Washington, post-Robert Glasper project.  RIYL: Randy Weston, groovin’, Meshell Ndegeocello.  The 15-minute album trailer contains a few interesting insights.

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Most of Mind of Mine, the solo debut album by former One Direction member Zayn Malik, is an unabashed homage to R. Kelly.  In other words, it’s pretty good.  Here’s ”Befour”.

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George Coleman’s A Master Speaks is a treat.  RIYL: octogenarians, Jackie McLean, standards.

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The press release for the Yellowjackets’ Cohearence suggests that the band offers a “modern take on Weather Report.”  If by “modern” the publicist meant “watered down,” the assertion is spot-on.  And I’m not even going to pretend that I’m too cool for sophisticated elevator music.  The Yellowjackets are one of my favorite contemporary jazz groups.

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Levitation Room’s Ethos is an almost perfect neo-garage-rock album.  RIYL: The Electric Prunes, “Pushin’ Too Hard,” the Pretty Things.

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Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom- Otis Was a Polar Bear is delightful.  RIYL: Jenny Scheinman, giving the drummer some, Myra Melford.  Here’s a promotional video.

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A$AP Ferg’s Always Strive and Prosper is immensely entertaining.  RIYL: Wu-Tang Clan, glossy production, Danny Brown’s XXX.  The uplifting ”Strive” may be my favorite song of 2016.

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Black Stone Cherry’s Kentucky is RIYL: Lynyrd Skynyrd, boogie, Kid Rock.  Here’s “Soul Machine”.

(Original image of a facade in Kansas City’s jazz district by There Stands the Glass.)

Prince, 1958-2016

I wore out the grooves on all four sides of 1999 in the months following the release of the album.  It’s a tribute to the universal appeal of the music that none of the guys in my college dorm ever complained.

Such was the power of Prince.  He changed everything.

The six albums beginning with Dirty Mind and ending with Sign o’ the Times is one of the greatest strings of consecutive brilliant releases in pop music history.

In terms of altering both the musical and cultural landscapes, Prince’s feat is matched by only a handful of artists including the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Sly and the Family Stone and Kanye West.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

David Murray: An Appreciation

Although the designation doesn’t have any impact on my estimation of the man, I’m glad that Henry Threadgill won a Pulitzer Prize yesterday.  In his self-congratulatory report, Howard Reich notes that Ornette Coleman was awarded a Pulitzer in 2007.  David Murray could be the next titanic jazz saxophonist and composer to be similarly honored.  Perfection, Murray’s new collaboration with pianist Geri Allen and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, is the latest entry in a massive discography that was already loaded with thrilling music.  Unlike the output of most supergroups, Perfection doesn’t disappoint.   With a previously unrecorded Coleman composition as its centerpiece, the album shot past Logan Richardson’s Shift as my favorite jazz release of 2016.


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I reviewed a concert by the Bad Plus Joshua Redman at the Gem Theater.

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The most recent rounds of the weekly music previews I write for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine are here and here.

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I wrote an extended show preview about the Tedeschi Trucks Band for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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The Kansas City rapper Gee Watts created a video for ”Grammys”.

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Gib Guilbeau, an integral part of the West Coast country-rock revolution, has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Phil Humphrey of the Fendermen has died.  The group’s version of “Mule Skinner Blues” was a  hit in 1960.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Loyalty is good.  Nostalgia is bad.  That’s why I don’t entirely trust my affection for Deftones’ Gore.  Combining Boy-era U2 and Disintegration-era the Cure with thrash elements makes my heart go pitter-patter, but I’m inclined to dismiss the approach as a cynical parlor trick.  Pals who suggest that I need to get in the “right frame of mind” to properly appreciate Gore are undoubtedly right, but I’m on a straight-and-narrow tip at the moment.  Here's "Prayers/Triangles".

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Hayes Carll’s Lovers and Leavers is a spot-on evocation of the moment in the 1970s when Billy Joe Shaver, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker and Guy Clark were at their artistic peaks.

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The Black Sabbath cover that serves as the colossal title track of Charles Bradley’s Changes is the album’s best song.  RIYL: O.V. Wright, emoting, Wilson Pickett.

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Yeah, I like Aesop Rock.  Wanna make something of it?  Here’s a live reading of ”Lazy Eye”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Swinging Doors: Remembering Merle Haggard

As I’ve mentioned several times in this space, I was raised on country.  A few portions of my indoctrination didn’t initially take.  Ray Price’s countrypolitan hits, for instance, struck me as corny until my hair began to gray. 

I always loved the music of Merle Haggard.  The Songs I’ll Always Sing compilation was my dad’s preferred Merle album.  And hearing the latest Hag hit on the radio pleased both of us.  One of the biggest mindblowers in my dad’s record collection was A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, my salute to Bob Wills).   The crazed Western swing broadened my horizon. 

My dad allowed me to tag along with him to a few Merle concerts when I was a kid.  When I later took dates to Merle’s shows, I desperately hoped I wouldn’t run into my old man.  That confession is especially painful now that both Merle and my dad are gone.

I reviewed Haggard’s final Kansas City show last year.


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I reviewed a concert by Joe Ely, Ruthie Foster and Paul Thorn.

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I reviewed the Christian McBride Trio’s concert at the Folly Theater.

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My favorite selection of the master’s recital by Garrett Torbert at St. John’s United Methodist Church last Friday was a reading of Aaron Copland’s ”The Promise of Living.”  Here’s a rendition by a larger group. 

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Tony Conrad has died.

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Leon Haywood has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Ralph Peterson’s ably played but entirely predictable Triangular III is precisely the sort of mainstream jazz album that causes me to question my commitment to the form.

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The EPK for In Movement, the new collaboration between Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison, is compelling.

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Maxwell’s BLACKsummer’snight was my top album of 2010.  I’m atwitter about ”Lake By the Ocean”, the lead track from the long-anticipated follow-up.

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Phronesis’ Parallax is RIYL: Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Euro-jazz, The Bad Plus.  Here’s ”Stillness”.

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Bombino’s lovely Azel is RIYL: Tinariwen, the Sahara, Terakaft.  Here's ”Inar (If You Know the Degree of My Love For You)”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

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.)