Concert Review: Drive-By Truckers at the Truman

Drive-By Truckers gave a 1,000 rubberneckers an unflinching tour of "Buttholeville" on Friday.  Hearing the Southern rock band tear into the song about a desperate man cleared the cobwebs in my head, snapped me out of a post-vacation malaise and restored my faith in rock and roll.

While I wasn’t quite as forlorn as the resident of “Buttholeville” who is “tired of my job and my wife Lucille, tired of my kids Ronnie and Neil” and fantasizes about the “day I'm gonna get out of Buttholeville, gonna reach right in, gonna grab the till, buy a brand new hat and a Coupe de Ville” when I bought a $28 ticket at the Truman, I was in a pitiful state.  Unshowered, unshaven and feeling like the meanest man in Kansas City, I was questioning my decision to hear similarly grizzled middle-aged men play outmoded music.

Yet when Patterson Hood hugged his bandmates at the conclusion of the wooly rendition of “Buttholeville,” I was inclined to jump the barrier to embrace the Alabama man for not only redeeming my night, but for redirecting me to the path of righteousness.


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The Ben Miller Band’s Choke Cherry Tree is a roots-rock tour de force.  RIYL: Drive-By Truckers, the Ozarks, ZZ Top.  "Akira Kurosawa" is my jam.

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Chris Dave and the Drumhedz is the initial viable contender for my favorite album of 2018.  RIYL: Erykah Badu, sidemen made good, Anderson Paak.

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I’ll never be too cool to admire the moldy fig swing of saxophonist Scott Hamilton.  The lovely trio recording Live at Pyatt Hall is RIYL Ben Webster, feeling unfashionable, Johnny Hodges.

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An outing by the Marmozets was my #14 show of 2014.  The new album Knowing What You Know Now nearly replicates the band’s ferocity.  Here’s "Major System Error".  RIYL: Bring Me the Horizon, convulsions, early Paramore.

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Chinese Butterfly, the absurdly convivial 95-minute recording by the Chick Corea + Steve Gadd Band, is fusion-licious.  Lionel Loueke’s fresh contributions make the throwback sound work.  RIYL: Return To Forever, excess, Billy Cobham.  Here's "Like I Was Sayin'".

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Misterioso

My professional affiliation with the Kansas City venue Green Lady Lounge isn’t a secret.  Nor do I attempt to hide my ambivalence about the organ-based orientation of the bookings in the jazz club’s main room.  While I genuinely enjoy some of the organ jazz specialists who regularly appear at Green Lady, I rarely listen to the form for pleasure.  My passion for organ jazz began and ended during the era in which Milton’s served thirsty underaged punks who were eager to be schooled on the likes of Jack McDuff by the scofflaw bartenders who manned the dive’s turntable.  Yet Organ Monk Blue, a bracing new album by organist Gregory Lewis, guitarist Marc Ribot and drummer Jeremy "Bean" Clemons, is anything but stale.  The reckless trio makes Monk sound wonderfully strange again. 


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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I featured Lonnie McFadden in my weekly segment for KCUR.

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Hugh Masekela has died.  It’s possible that “Grazing in the Grass” was the first jazz-oriented song I encountered as a child.

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Mark E. Smith has died.  I distinctly remember the hullabaloo that accompanied the release of the Fall’s Live at the Witch Trials in 1979.  I never bought in.

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Rapper Fredo Santana has died.

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Sir shamelessly cribs Miguel and Frank Ocean on the solid November.  I can’t say I blame him.  Here’s “Summer in November”.

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John Surman’s stately Invisible Threads is RIYL Jimmy Giuffre, chamber jazz, Anouar Brahem.

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I’m embarrassed by how easily I was seduced by the deliriously gimmicky pop songs on The Go! Team’s Semicircle.  Here’s “All the Way Live”.

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I’m amused by Avatar’s Avatar Country.  Here’s “The King Wants You”.

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When I went through a funk-punk phase in the early 1980s, I subjected everyone around me to the Contortions, the Bush Tetras and James “Blood” Ulmer.  Shopping revives the style on The Official Body.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Whoa

I watched surfers from a beachside dive while on vacation in San Diego yesterday.  The soundtrack was similar to the sounds I’d heard at multiple Southern California establishments this week.  Rather than irritating me as they do when I encounter them in my Midwestern home, new millennium reggae songs from the likes of  Rebelution, Sbid, Iration and Damian Marley tickled my ears in an unfamiliar way.  Otherwise subdued barflys banded together for a hearty singalong when the 311 hit “Amber” popped up on the playlist.  I may have joined in.


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I shared tracks by Deborah Brown, Matt Otto with Ensemble Ibérica, Samantha Fish, Lee Ann Womack, Future and Alejandro Fernández on a KCUR program titled “From Kansas City And Beyond, The Best Music Of 2017”.  Bonus: I made a case for Rich the Factor as my favorite Kansas City artist.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed Lonnie McFadden’s Live at Green Lady Lounge at Plastic Sax.

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Denise LaSalle has died.

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“Fast” Eddie Clarke of Motörhead and Fastway has died.

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Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries has died.

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The crossover gospel artist Edwin Hawkins has died.

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The press materials for Suss’Ghost Box imply that the New York group’s “ambient country” concept is groundbreaking.  It’s not.  Calexico, Bill Frisell and B.J. Cole are among the artists that have previously explored the Ennio Morricone-influenced terrain.  That observation doesn’t mean that I don't take enormous pleasure in Ghost Box.

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The albums Jack Antonoff produced for Lorde, Taylor Swift and his band Bleachers provided satisfying pop kicks in 2017.  Børns’ Blue Madonna offers a similar sort of immediate gratification.  Here’s “I Don’t Want U Back”.

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I intended to bail on Anderson East’s Encore until I recognized the opening lyric of the album’s fifth song.  His surprising cover of Ted Hawkins’ “Sorry You’re Sick” is a nice surprise.  Even so, does the world need another painfully sincere blue-eyed soul singer in the vein of Ray LaMontagne, Allen Stone and Amos Lee?  Here’s
“Girlfriend”.

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”Do you like it hardcore?” Yes, Fools Gold and Masayoshi Iimori, I do.

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Listening to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Wrong Creatures is the rock and roll equivalent of rewatching the anodyne John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club.  RIYL: the Black Angels, vinyl reissues of the Velvet Underground, the Kills.  Here’s “Little Thing Gone Wild”.

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The video for Inara George’s lovely chamber-pop song “Young Adult” is charming.

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New Stravinsky!  The world premiere recording of the recently rediscovered “Chant Funébre” by Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra on Stravinsky: Chant funŠbre; Le Sacre de Printemps is a swirling mind-bender.

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Umphrey’s McGee’s It’s Not Us is a typically frustrating affair.  The jam band is best during noisy freakouts that evoke King Crimson’s Discipline.  The group is intolerable when it sounds like a third-tier version of the Police.

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I’m invariably delighted on the rare occasions when I encounter a music enthusiast who is even geekier than I.  Cole Cuchna pores over every note and lyric of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy on the second season of his Dissect podcast.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Ready Ornette

I’ve long been curious about the ludicrously cheap European reissues of classic American jazz material.  My recent purchase of Complete Albums Collection: 1958-1962 allowed me to examine the quality of the packaging and sound of one such release.  The four CD set consisting of Ornette Coleman’s first eight albums set me back $11.99.  I didn’t really need it- I already owned physical copies of several of the albums and each is available on streaming services- but the price proved irresistible.  The skimpy liner notes don’t supply song credits, but Coleman’s co-conspirators including Don Cherry and Charlie Haden come through loud and clear on the wholly acceptable sonics that are housed in a surprisingly sturdy jewel case.  As I rang in the new year with five hours of crucial skronk that was recorded before I was born, I was struck by the marginalization of Coleman’s innovations.  Aside from an occasional rendering of “Lonely Woman,” I almost never detect Coleman’s influence emanating from a bandstand in Kansas City.


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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I named Edison Lights the KCUR Band of the Week.

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I reviewed Danny Embrey’s Dues Blues at Plastic Sax.

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Tim Finn quoted my 2016 review of a Bonnie Raitt concert in a story about her upcoming tour with James Taylor.

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Maurice Peress has died.  From his obituary in The New York Times: He led the Kansas City Philharmonic from 1974 to 1980, which proved to be an unhappy period. “The audience didn’t want to hear much new music,” he told The Christian Science Monitor in 1989. “I would introduce a new piece, and they would start booing and hissing.”

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Ironic listening is one of my pet peeves.  Even so, I can’t stop marveling at this hellish Brazilian knockoff of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass.

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I had hoped that it would have cleared up by now, but I'm still infected by an unhealthy obsession with Tigran Hamasyan. The odd tone poem “Rays of Light” is from the prolific maverick’s next album.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Kauffman Blues

I celebrated when I purchased a half-price seat in the front row for Philip Glass’ appearance at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in 2012.  In hindsight, I should have shed a tear.  The necessity to sell tickets to a recital by one of the most celebrated living composers at a steep discount may have triggered a shift in the tenor of the Kauffman Center Presents bookings.  Concerts by the prestigious likes of Glass have been replaced by the most middlebrow fare imaginable.  Forthcoming bookings include the soft rock master Peter Cetera, the former country hitmaker Sara Evans, the kitschy “Riverdance- The 20th Anniversary World Tour” and the Glenn Miller Orchestra ghost band.

Concerts by Johnny Mathis, Engelbert Humperdinck, the Oak Ridge Boys, Frankie Valli, Patti LaBelle, Kenny G, Michael McDonald, Kansas, Blondie, David Sanborn and Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson have also been part of the Kauffman Center Presents series in recent years.  (Appearances by Sweet Honey in the Rock and Herbie Hancock have been among a handful of welcome exceptions to the banal bookings.)  I don’t have a fundamental objection to any of those artists.  In fact, I gladly attended a handful of the shows.  Cheese- particularly when marinated in nostalgia- can be delicious.  It’s what’s not being booked at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts that saddens me.

While the Lyric Opera, the Kansas City Symphony, the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and the Harriman-Jewell Series regularly present substantial fare on the magnificent venue’s two stages, I harbored high hopes for the Kauffman Center’s in-house presentations.  Before the Kauffman Center opened, organizers intimated that it would usher in a new era of elevated arts in Kansas City.  The ambitious experiment didn’t last long.  I once expected to attend concerts by heralded geniuses such as Nico Muhly, Sonny Rollins and Gilberto Gil.  Instead, I’ll have to make do with ”Glory of Love”.


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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I named the Chris Burnett Quintet the KCUR Band of the Week.

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I pondered the alarming lack of critical attention for Kansas City’s jazz artists at Plastic Sax.

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Rick Hall of Muscle Shoals has died.

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A few of the distressing developments addressed in an essay by Libby Hanssen have also impacted my work.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Boosie Badazz- BooPac

The incendiary Southern rapper Boosie inists that “I’m that n----- now" on his stunning new 90-minute album BooPac.  While I’m not about to challenge the assertion that he’s 2Pac's successor, I’m unable to stifle inappropriate cackles at some of the audaciously awkward lines on bangers like “Motherless Child”, “Me, Myself & I” and “Webbie I Remember”.  I’m not laughing at Boosie- I’m laughing with him.  It’s shocking that a man who’s spent a substantial portion of his life behind bars can be so guileless.


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My remembrance of Kevin Mahogany was published at Plastic Sax.

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A list of my ten favorite albums of 2017 by musicians based in the Kansas City area is part of a compilation of ballots titled best of 2017 lists from 20 KC music influencers.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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Trombonist Roswell Rudd has died.

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Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die would have figured prominently on my year-end listings had I encountered the magnificent free jazz recording before the final days of December.  RIYL: Don Cherry, purposeful chaos, Ambrose Akinmusire.

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Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, a collaboration between Travis Scott and Quavo, is unreasonably engaging.  RIYL: Migos, intoxicants, Future.  Here's “Saint Laurent Mask”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Year-End Clearance

All bets are off.  I suppose it’d be nice to act my age in 2018, but I don’t think it’s in me.  I walked out of a distinguished jazz concert on Sunday.  Blame Brockhampton.

The urgency of Saturation III, the third album of 2017 from self-professed “best boy band since One Direction” obliterated my patience for bop formalism.  How can I relish the sound of June 1964 when “Boogie” is happening in December 2017?  Saturation III isn’t perfect- the new release contains the best and worst songs of Brockhampton’s crazed career- but its vitality makes almost everything else seem stale.

N.E.R.D’s No One Ever Really Dies is similarly inconsistent.  Even so, the highs are the stuff of codeine dreams.  Had I waited another week to publish my year-end best-of lists, Saturation III and No One Ever Really Dies would have placed prominently.

I wish I also embraced Revival.  While I’m predisposed to like Eminem, his new album induces involuntary eyerolls and reflexive raspberries.  I should have known that there’d be side effects to my obsessive listening to Future all year.


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I was a guest on Chris Haghirian’s Eight One Sixty radio show on December 5.  I featured tracks by Samantha Fish, Vince Staples, Isaac Cates & Ordained, Brother Ali, Pistol Pete, Bobby Watson and Syd in the year-end best-of program.

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An article about my work on behalf of the Kansas City Jazz Calendar is in the December issue of Jazz Ambassador Magazine magazine.

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I recently named The Matchsellers, The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and The Floozies the KCUR Bands of the Week.

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John Scott of the Green Lady Lounge is Plastic Sax’s Person of the Year.

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My most recent weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star were published here and here.

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Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens has died.  He appeared to be in very poor health when the band performed at a community festival in downtown Overland Park in 2016.

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Kevin Mahogany has died.

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Johnny Hallyday has died.

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Keely Smith has died.

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The jazz guitarist Mundell Lowe has died.

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The jazz drummer Sunny Murray has died.

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Leon Rhodes of the Texas Troubadours has died.

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The Chicago jazz pianist Willie Pickens has died.

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Saxophonist Ralph Carney has died.

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Blues man Leo “Bud” Welch has died.

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After dreading the obligation for months, I finally hit play on Chuck Berry’s posthumous album Chuck.  It’s fine.

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I regret overlooking Downtown Boys’ Cost of Living this year.  RIYL: the Clash, relevant rock, Priests.

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The vintage Ghanaian party album Ebo Taylor and the Pelikans has been reissued.  RIYL: Osibisa, highlife, Fela.

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Tyler, the Creator’s Tiny Desk Concert outing is vastly superior to his recent perfunctory concert at the Truman.

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Dustin Lovelis adds a polished spin to the psychedelia of Syd Barrett and Ty Segall on Been Hit Before.  (Via S.S.)

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My former coworker Glenn Jones delivers “A Different Kind of Christmas Carol”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

The Ten Best Kansas City Music Videos of 2017

I was goaded into pledging to compile a list of my favorite locally sourced music videos of 2017 when I was a guest on Chris Haghirian’s Eight One Sixty radio show earlier this month.  I’m a man of my word.

1.
Bummer- "Freedom Cobra"
I’ll always love rock that’s big, dumb and dangerous. 

2.
Isaac Cates & Ordained- "Hold On"
Harrowing images are paired with unshakable faith.

3.
Ssion- "Comeback"
Just a wee bit over-the-top.

4.
Kawehi- "(Not Another Lame) Fight Song"
A not-so-casual stroll down Massachusetts Street.

5.
Samantha Fish- "Chills & Fever"
Cold sweat.

6.
Stik Figa- "Cold"
Top City in slo-mo.

7.
Pistol Pete- "Konichiwa"
Hijinks at an east side tavern.

8.
Wick & the Tricks- "Tough As Nails"
Party time.

9.
Aaron Alexander- "Faces"
Post-“Get Out” anxiety.

10.
Hermon Mehari- "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face"
Mehari is one of the few Kansas City jazz musicians who bothers to use visuals to promote his work.

Lend Me Your Ears and I'll Sing You a Song: The Top EPs and Reissues of 2017

In my rush to get a jump on the onslaught of year-end music lists, I neglected to include rankings of EPs and reissues in the publication of my top albums, songs and concerts of 2017.

The Top Ten EPs of 2017
1. DJ Shadow- The Mountain Has Fallen
2. Graves- Tomorrow Tape
3. Sudan Archives- Sudan Archives
4. Stik Figa- Central Standard Time
5. Momma’s Boy- Liquid Courage
6. Yaeji- Yaeji
7. Young Thug- Young Martha
8. F*cked Up- Year of the Snake
9. Mastodon- Cold Dark Place
10. Instant Karma- Trying To Find My Mind

The Top Ten Reissues of 2017
1. Mulatu Astatke- Mulatu of Africa
2. The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. Pop Makossa- The Invasive Dance Beat of Cameroon 1976​-​1984
4. Can- The Singles
5. Isaac Hayes- The Spirit of Memphis (1962-1976)
6. Prince- Purple Rain
7. Louis Armstrong- The Complete Decca Singles: 1935-1946
8. Alice Coltrane- World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane
9. Jackie Shane- Any Other Way
10. Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Sit Down. Be Humble. The Top Albums, Songs and Concerts of 2017

The Top 50 Albums of 2017
1. Kendrick Lamar- Damn
2. Vince Staples- Big Fish Theory
3. Big K.R.I.T.- 4eva Is A Mighty Long Time
4. Lee Ann Womack- The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone
5. Miguel Zenón- Típico
6. Tarkovsky Quartet- Nuit Blanche
7. Matt Otto and Ensemble Ibérica- Ibérica
8. Brockhampton- Saturation II
9. Lorde- Melodrama
10. Bobby Watson- Made In America

11. Víkingur Ólafsson- Philip Glass: Piano Works
12. Carlos Vives- Vives
13. Future- Hndrxx
14. Orchestra Baobab- Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng
15. 2 Chainz- Pretty Girls Like Trap Music
16. Aruan Ortiz- Cub(an)ism
17. Tinariwen- Elwan
18. JD McPherson- Undivided Heart & Soul
19. Yelena Eckemoff- Blooming Tall Phlox
20. Gorillaz- Humanz

21. King Krule- The Ooz
22. Rob Luft- Riser
23. Brother Ali- All the Beauty In This Whole Life
24. Wavves- You’re Welcome
25. Migos- Culture
26. Syd- Fin
27. Jonas Kaufmann- L’Opéra
28. Future- Future
29. Sunny Sweeney- Trophy
30. Uniform- Wake In Fright

31. Tyler, the Creator- Flower Boy
32. Rudresh Mahanthappa and the Indo-Pak Coalition- Agrima
33. Miguel- War & Leisure
34. CyHi the Prince- No Dope On Sundays
35. Brockhampton- Saturation
36. Spoek Mathambo- Mzansi Beat Code
37. Thundercat- Drunk
38. Juana Molina- Halo
39. Samantha Fish- Chills & Fever
40. Omar Souleyman- To Syria, With Love

41. Shabazz Palaces- Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines
42. Future and Young Thug- Super Slimey
43. St. Vincent- Masseduction
44. Taylor Swift- Reputation
45. Rich the Factor- El Factor
46. Willie Nelson- God’s Problem Child
47. Avishai Cohen- Cross My Palm With Silver
48. Lil Uzi Vert- Luv Is Rage 2
49. Juanes- Mis Planes Son Amarte
50. Jay-Z- 4:44


The Top 50 Songs of 2017
(Spotify playlist)
1. Brother Ali- “Own Light (What Hearts Are For)”
2. Kendrick Lamar- “Humble”
3. Lil Uzi Vert- “XO Tour Lif3”
4. Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos- “Slide”
5. Valerie June- “Astral Plane”
6. Vince Staples- “Yeah Right”
7. Lorde- “Liability”
8. Sunny Sweeney- “Bottle by My Bed”
9. Young Fathers- “Only God Knows”
10. Future- “Mask Off”

11. Craig Finn- “God in Chicago”
12. Ibibio Sound Machine- “Give Me a Reason”
13. Fat Joe and Remy Ma- “Spaghetti”
14. Alejandro Fernandez- “Agridulce”
15. Rick Ross featuring Young Thug- “Trap Trap Trap”
16. José James- “To Be With You”
17. Brockhampton- “Junky”
18. LCD Soundsystem- “Emotional Haircut”
19. Mark Eitzel- “The Last Ten Years”
20. Isaac Cates & Ordained- “Hold On”

21. Cardi B- “Bodak Yellow”
22. Eli Young Band- “Skin & Bones”
23. Marvin Sapp- “Close”
24. Stik Figa- “Cold”
25. Sam Smith- “Pray”
26. Alan Jackson- “The Older I Get”
27. Princess Nokia- “Tomboy”
28. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit- “Hope the High Road”
29. Hermon Mehari featuring Kevin Johnson- “Cold”
30. Adriel Favela- “Me Llamo Juan”

31. The Roots featuring Bilal- “It Ain’t Fair”
32. Kodak Black featuring Xxxtentacion- “Roll in Peace”
33. Bruno Major- “On Our Own”
34. Future and Young Thug- “Feed Me Dope”
35. Pokey Bear- “I Can’t Be Faithful”
36. Carlos Vives- “Al Filo de Tu Amor”
37. Migos- “T-Shirt”
38. Rich the Factor- “Luther”
39. Queens of the Stone Age- “Un-Reborn Again”
40. Jonwayne- “These Words Are Everything”

41. A Boogie Wit da Hoodie- featuring Kodak Black “Drowning”
42. Bonobo featuring Rhye- “Break Apart”
43. Chronixx- “Majesty”
44. Pokey LaFarge- “Riot In the Streets”
45. Karriem Riggins with Jessica Care Moore- “Suite Poetry”
46. Pistol Pete- “2bad2good”
47. Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee- “Despacito”
48. Deborah Brown- “Ask Me Now”
49. Rodney Crowell- “It Ain’t Over Yet”
50. J Balvin- “Mi Gente”


The Top 50 Concerts of 2017
1. Lawrence Brownlee and Eric Owens- Folly Theater
2. Salif Keita- Town Hall (New York City)
3. Donny McCaslin Trio- Folly Theater
4. Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band- Gem Theater
5. Arcade Fire- Silverstein Eye Centers Arena
6. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit- Uptown Theater
7. Marilyn Maye- Quality Hill Playhouse
8. Fantasia- Sprint Center
9. Municipal Waste- Providence Medical Center Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
10. Eddie Palmieri- Blue Note (New York City)

11. Garth Brooks- Sprint Center
12. A Place to Bury Strangers- Madrid Theatre
13. Danilo Pérez’s “Jazz 100”- Yardley Hall
14. Thundercat- Granada
15. The Lyric Opera’s “Eugene Onegin”- Muriel Kauffman Theatre
16. Jack DeJohnette Trio- Gem Theater
17. Clutch- Uptown Theater
18. Halestorm- Kansas Speedway (Rockfest)
19. Alaturka- Polsky Theatre
20. Patti LaBelle- Muriel Kauffman Theatre

21. Lecrae- The Truman
22. Motionless in White- Midland theater
23. Sheer Mag- Kaiju (Louisville)
24. DJ Shadow- Madrid Theatre
25. Willie Nelson- Starlight Theatre
26. Aaron Neville and Michael Goods- City Winery (New York City)
27. Lou Donaldson- Tompkins Square Park (New York City)
28. Tech N9ne- Midland theater
29. Rich the Factor- 7th Heaven
30. Xenia Rubinos- RecordBar

31. Queens of the Stone Age- Crossroads KC
32. Marco Antonio Solís- Sprint Center
33. Gerald Spaits’ Sax and Violins- Westport Coffeehouse
34. Hudson- Yardley Hall
35. St. Vincent- Uptown Theater
36. Matt Otto Trio with Anthony Wilson and Shay Estes- Blue Room
37. Ramsey Lewis- Gem Theater
38. Raipillan- Festival Vallarta Azteca del Folclor Internacional (Puerto Vallarta)
39. Chris Brown- Sprint Center
40. Greg Tardy Trio- Blue Room

41. Flying Lotus- Midland theater
42. Janet Jackson- Sprint Center
43. Nick Lowe with Los Straightjackets- Knuckleheads
44. The Lyric Opera’s “Everest”- Muriel Kauffman Theatre
45. Lage Lund with the Albert Marques Trio- Cornelia Street Cafe (New York City)
46. PussyVision- Davey’s
47. Pure Disgust- Encore Room
48. Katy Guillen & the Girls- Boulevardia festival
49. Jimmy LaFave- Folk Alliance Conference
50. Soundgarden- Starlight Theatre

(Original image of Lage Lund by There Stands the Glass.)

Don’t You Wonder Sometimes About Sound and Vision

My eyes and ears played tricks on me yesterday.  The day of disorientation began when I encountered a gif that prompts an auditory hallucination.  My lunch break was stranger still.  I’ve mocked Taylor Swift’s irritating artifice for years, yet I quickly succumbed to the tactical pop brilliance of her chart-topping Reputation during the noon hour.  I surrender!

I was torn between concurrent concerts by Kodak Black at the Midland theater and the Wood Brothers at the Truman as darkness fell and a bitter wind beset Kansas City.  There are few things I love more than attending shows by artists at their artistic and commercial peak.  I suspect that’s the case with the young rapper behind the momentous “No Flockin’”.  Yet I went with the Wood Brothers, in part because I heard John Medeski- Chris Wood’s bandmate in Medeski Martin & Wood- perform with Hudson in October (my review).

The stab at symmetry failed.  Even though I admired the Wood Brothers’ effort and approach, the trio left me cold.  I felt as if the audience of about 600 was listening to an outstanding backing band akin to Booker T. and the M.G.s or the E Street Band riffing while waiting in vain for Otis Redding or Bruce Springsteen to show up.  David Bowie rescued me on the drive home.  “Sound and Vision” popped up soon after I hit shuffle on a 16-hour playlist of my favorite songs.  At the end of an unsettling day, I needed his admonition to appreciate the resplendent “gift of sound and vision.”


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I revealed my favorite jazz albums and jazz performances of 2017 at Plastic Sax.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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Björk’s Utopia resembles the soundtrack to a fully immersive experience at Disneyland in the year 2033.

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Aida Cuevas’ Arrieros Somos: Sesiones Acusticas is charming.  RIYL: Juan Gabriel, corridos, Yolanda Del Rio.

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A concert featuring Ron Miles and Bill Frisell almost put me to sleep in April.  Miles’ I Am a Man, an album that features Frisell, Thomas Morgan and Brian Blade, is entirely invigorating.

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Even when paired with magnificent talent, noble intentions don’t necessarily make for good music.  Mavis Staples’ cloying If All I Was Was Black is RIYL Sweet Honey in the Rock, resistance, Curtis Mayfield.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Jock Jams

I dedicated much of a recent vacation in Portland to watching men’s college basketball games at the Moda Center.  Teams representing Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina and Gonzaga were among the elite squads competing in the PK80 tournament.  Attending 12 games in three days became a tedious chore, but the soundtrack in the arena was far from tiresome.  Customary jock jams by the likes of Gary Glitter, Bon Jovi and C+C Music Factory weren’t aired.  Instead, crowds were treated to a vibrant playlist of hip-hop and rap hits that included Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble,” Kanye West’s “Power,” Post Malone’s “Rockstar” and Diddy’s “Watcha Gon’ Do.”  Seeing thousands of seated sports fans and a handful of players warming up on the court chanting “percocet, molly, percocet” in unison to Future’s “Mask Off” was one of the most surreal moments I’ve experienced in 2017.


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I wrote a profile of Edison Lights’ Chris Doolittle for KCUR.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I named Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear the KCUR Band of the Week.

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I reviewed the Matt Cook Collective’s Along Those Lines at Plastic Sax.

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Jon Hendricks has died.

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Tommy Keene has died.

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Wayne Cochran has died.

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Jim Nabors has died.

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I felt as if I was trapped in an episode of Portlandia when I caught a set by The Minders at Turn! Turn! Turn! in Rip City last week. 

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CyHi the Prynce’s No Dope On Sundays is a minor masterpiece.  RIYL: Pusha T, the dirty South, Big K.R.I.T.  Here’s “God Bless Your Heart”.

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Björn Meyer’s Provenance is RIYL Steve Tibbets, meditation, Terje Rypdal.

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I love Lizz Wright.  I loathe her new album.  Grace is RIYL Ruthie Foster, naps, Shawn Colvin.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Della Reese, 1931-2017

I marveled at the tart voices of Patti LaBelle and Fantasia on consecutive evenings in March.  Unconventional stylists with piercing voices who value expressiveness more than pretty notes, LaBelle and Fantasia work in the tradition of offbeat R&B shouters like Della Reese and Dinah Washington.  Here’s Reese’s show-stopping reading of “Lonelyville” in the 1958 flick Let’s Rock.  Reese died on November 19.


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I reviewed St. Vincent’s concert at the Uptown Theater.

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I reviewed the Kansas City debut of Flying Lotus for Plastic Sax.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I featured TJ Hooker-Taylor in my weekly KCUR segment.

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I hope you enjoy using the Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

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Malcolm Young has died.  I’m so glad that I was able to see him with AC/DC one last time in 2009.

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The country star Mel Tillis has died.

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Jazz drummer Ben Riley has died.

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The former teen idol David Cassidy has died.

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The music industry titan George Avakian has died.

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Banda Magda’s upcoming dates with Snarky Puppy should help the international fusion band secure a much larger audience in North America.  Tigre is RIYL Dengue Fever, futuristic cocktail lounge music, Pink Martini.  Here’s “Le Tigre Malin”.

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Maciej Obara Quartet’s Unloved is RIYL: Euro jazz, Tomasz Stanko, contemplating loss.

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Lettuce’s Witches Stew, a faithful recreation of tracks from Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way, is as pointless as it is impressive.

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Talk about Russian meddling- I’ve become obsessed with the Tarkovsky Quartet’s Nuit Blanche.  The latest release by the chamber quartet named for the Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky is RIYL despair, Jóhann Jóhannsson, contemplating death.

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Sometimes, you really can judge an album by its cover.  Star vocalist Cecilia Bartoli and cellist Sol Gabetta collaborate on festive baroque music on Dolce Duello.  (I don't like it.)

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Sharon Jones’ swan song Soul of a Woman is wonderful.

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I was certain that I would embrace Anouar Brahem’s Blue Maqams.  After all, the imaginative oud player is supported by pianist Django Bates, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette.  Alas, I’m nonplussed.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Carlos Vives- Vives

The early darkness imposed by last week’s time change and the predominantly gloomy weather in Kansas City have threatened to turn me blue.  Yet I don’t need a mood therapy light when I have Vives.  The sunny music on Carlos Vives’ tenth studio album plays like a greatest hits collection.  Each of its perfectly constructed 18 tracks is irresistible.  It’s no accident that the colorful video for “La Bicicleta”, the Columbian’s lustrous Latin pop duet with Shakira, has been viewed more than a billion times.  The corny video for “Al Filo de Tu Amor”, one of my favorite tracks, has a measly 41 million views.  The therapeutic sonic sunshine of Vives has rescued me.


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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I featured Stevie Stone on my weekly KCUR segment.

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I bought a $35 ticket to sit in the upper balcony of Muriel Kauffman Theatre to see the Lyric Opera’s production of Joby Talbot's “Everest” last night.  The vertical stage set was reminiscent of the innovative production for Kanye West’s Yeezus tour.  And “Everest” sounded more like “Tommy” than “Turandot.”  So why was I one of the youngest people in the half-full room?

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My review of the Victor Wooten Trio’s appearance at the Madrid Theatre is at Plastic Sax.

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Lil Peep has died.

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Guitarist Dan Devine, a new addition to the Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band, completely changes the dynamic of  the ensemble on the slightly disappointing Body and Shadow.  RIYL: early Pat Metheny, placidity, Ralph Towner.

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Syleena Johnson, the daughter of Syl Johnson, spelled “rehash” wrong in the title of her unnecessary Rebirth of Soul album.  RIYL: Ruth Brown, the good ol’ days, Solomon Burke.  Here’s “Make Me Yours”.

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Yaeji’s self-titled EP is worlds of fun. RIYL: chillout rooms, The XX, alcohol.  Here’s ”Guap”.

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God bless Protomartyr.  I love the vibe of Relatives in Descent even though the songwriting is suspect.  RIYL: the Fall, inebriation, the Hold Steady.  “Don’t Go To Anacita” is the best song.

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ECM Records’ new pact with streaming services makes me feel as if I received an unexpected check in the mail.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

I Spit My Heart Out, Looking Out For My Best Interests

The king is dead.  Long live the kings.

Following last night’s slightly disappointing concert by Tyler, the Creator, I’m officially switching my primary deviant hip-hop allegiance to Brockhampton.  Tyler behaved like a semi-responsible adult at the Truman.  That’s not what I want from the disruptive artist I fell hard for in 2011. 

Brockhampton is right on time.  ”Junky” is among the thrillingly subversive anthems on the mind-boggling Saturation 2.  (Saturation, the first album the Texas collective issued in 2017, isn’t quite as transcendent.)

The so-called boy band is loaded with transgressive young talent.  I fully expect two or three of its members to become mainstream stars who will inevitably disappoint me a few years from now.  Until then, the thrill isn’t gone.


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I reviewed Tyler, the Creator’s concert at the Truman for The Kansas City Star.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I named Katy Guillen & the Girls the KCUR Band of the Week.

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Blaque Dynamite’s Killing Bugs is an insanely dense experimental funk album.  RIYL: Flying Lotus, the low end, Thundercat.

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Jerry Granelli’s Dance Hall is like Hudson 2.0.  Veteran jazz cats- in this case a group that includes drummer Granelli, guitarists Robben Ford and Bill Frisell- cover classic rock, blues, jazz and R&B staples by the likes of Bob Dylan, Charles Mingus and Fats Domino.  It’s redundant fun.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Take Me to the River at the Folly Theater

A concert starring the veteran soul and blues men William Bell, Charlie Musselwhite and Bobby Rush was undercut by tedious speechifying and a galling parade of lesser talent at the Folly Theater on Friday.

Apparently intended as an old-school soul revue with an educational component, Take Me to the River was a well-intentioned but woefully misguided presentation that often resembled a patronizing infomercial designed to appeal to PBS viewers who favor Celtic dance specials.  For dedicated roots music aficionados, the show was excruciatingly frustrating.

Despite the presence of organist Charles Hodges and bassist Leroy Hodges- members of the storied Hi Records rhythm section- the first 45 minutes of the show were forgettable.  The Memphis rapper Al Kapone was the only featured entertainer in the opening segment who wasn’t appallingly mediocre.

Each of the three stars was allotted about 15 to 20 minutes.  Even without the dancers that help make his lascivious concerts memorable, Rush, 83, was an astounding force of nature.  Musselwhite affirmed that he’s the greatest living blues harp player.  Bell- the reason I bought $35 rear balcony tickets to the show (I’d never seen him)- looked and sounded half his 78 years.  His set included “I Forgot to Be Your Lover,” but not “Born Under a Bad Sign” or “Private Number.”

Organizers probably hoped that members of the audience of about 700 rushed home to watch the Take Me to the River documentary on Netflix.  That’s the last thing I’ll do after enduring the poorly conceived and extremely disappointing show.  Instead, I’ll begin making plans to catch a proper performance by Bell in 2018.


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I reviewed Marilyn Maye’s return to Quality Hill Playhouse on Sunday.

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Honestly isn’t the album I wanted or expected from Lalah Hathaway.  The glitchy beats and her astounding voice make for an odd pairing, but I suspect I’ll come to embrace the surprising sound.  RIYL: Robert Glasper, legacies, Kelela.  The politically charged video for the title track doesn’t make much sense.

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Enjoying Sam Smith’s The Thrill of It All is a lot like tearing up during sentimental television commercials.  I confess to committing both transgressions in recent days.  RIYL: Dusty Springfield, pablum, Adele.  Here’s ”Pray”.

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I didn’t expect to appreciate Fever Ray’s Plunge, but the album is even more preposterously affected than I anticipated.  RIYL: nails on chalkboards, Björk knockoffs, playing yourself.  Here’s “Mustn’t Hurry”.

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Vincent Herring’s Hard Times is the all-too-rare jazz album that’s capable of connecting with listeners who embrace both Cannonball Adderley and Donny Hathaway.  I’d love to catch this band- saxophonist Herring, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Carl Allen- playing these songs in a crowded club on a Saturday night.

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In theory, Mostly Other People Do the Killing is one of my favorite bands.  The reality is far different.  Loafer’s Hollow, the brainy ensemble’s latest effort, is an attempt to bring avant-garde concepts to trad jazz.  It should be thrilling.  Instead, it’s merely irritating.

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Guitarist Rez Abassi is joined by saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, pianist Vijay Iyer,  bassist Johannes Weidenmueller and drummer Dan Weiss on Unfiltered Universe.  RIYL: John McLaughlin, geniuses, Weather Report.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

No Future

Anyone who has listened to Future more than me in recent months probably has a nasty codeine habit.  The Atlanta artist has overwhelmed his admirers with an avalanche of high-quality, opiate-laced music in 2017.  My addiction is problematic.  As a guy who recently reminded readers of his affinity for overtly Christian rappers, it’s a blessing that I don’t always comprehend Future’s lyrics.  Even so, mesmerizing tracks like ”Feed Me Dope” from Future’s new collaboration with Young Thug match my current mindset.  The audaciously synthetic sound will almost certainly sound hopelessly dated in a year or two, but at this moment, I’m a hopeless fiend for Future.


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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I named the MGDs the KCUR Band of the Week.

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I put Changing the Tune: The Kansas City Women’s Jazz Festival, 1978-1985 into context at Plastic Sax.

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Muhal Richard Abrams has died.  I’m horrified that I never heard the jazz giant perform.  I need to get serious about checking the likes of Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill and James “Blood” Ulmer off my bucket list.

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L’Orange’s The Ordinary Man packs 16 tracks into 39 minutes.  The ratio doesn’t make for a fluid listening experience.  Each track ends just as the groove begins to sink in.  RIYL: spoken word samples, 9th Wonder, short attention spans.

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I’m predictably elated by Kanye West’s verse on CyHi’s “Dat Side”.

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I overlooked Move Upstairs, the wondrous new album by the Como Mamas, when it was released several months ago.  RIYL: Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens, salvation, the Staple Sisters.  Here’s “Count Your Blessings”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Nick Lowe at Knuckleheads

I had no intention of attending Nick Lowe’s concert at Knuckleheads when I woke up last Wednesday.  My itch for nostalgia had been thoroughly sated at the previous week’s Janet Jackson’s concert.  My life partner wasn’t having it.  In an uncommon role reversal, she dragged me to see the Jesus of Cool.  The opening salvo of “So It Goes,” “Ragin' Eyes” and “Without Love” compelled us to shimmy in front of the stage like it was 1987.  The masked surf-rock ensemble Los Straitjackets, Lowe’s backing band, struck the proper balance between reverence and relevance.  I’m pleased as punch that the bride still rock-and-rolls.


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The production at Arcade Fire’s appearance in Independence was the most impressive display I’ve encountered since Kanye West’s Yeezus tour touched down at the Sprint Center in 2013.  Here’s my review for The Kansas City Star.

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George Young, a genuine rock Zelig, has died.  Many of his obituaries fail to mention his role in Flash and the Pan’s forgotten 1976 hit “Hey, St. Peter”.

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Chuck Blackwell, the Tulsa based drummer who performed with the likes of Leon Russell and Joe Cocker, has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Martin Ain of Celtic Frost has died.

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I prefer Lee Ann Womack’s throwback country on The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone to Margo Price’s more progressive All American Made.  Unconcerned with- and probably indifferent to- the current climate, Womack evokes dusty albums by the likes of Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and Glen Campbell.  Price sounds as if she’s consciously competing with Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton.  Here are Womack’s “Sunday” and Price’s “Weakness”.

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Big K.R.I.T.’s 4eva Is A Mighty Long Time recalls the era in which the Dirty South ruled hip-hop.  RIYL: T.I. country, Killer Mike.  Here’s “Keep the Devil Off”.

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The rough-and-tumble blues-rock set by Cinderella’s Tom Keifer at Rockfest was one of the year’s most pleasant surprises.  Although The Way Life Goes is substantially cleaner than the show in June, it still impresses me.  Here’s the representative “The Way Life Goes”.

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Kim Wilson’s Blues and Boogie is wild-eyed barroom blues.  RIYL: James Cotton, carousing, Little Walter.

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Not surprisingly, I’m smitten by Agrima, the new album by Rudresh Mahanthappa and the Indo-Pak Coalition.

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I had a violently allergic reaction to Live in Montreal, a duet album by Edgar Castaneda and Hiromi.  RIYL: leaf blowers, Friday Night in San Francisco, ostentatiousness.

(Original image of Nick Lowe by There Stands the Glass.)

Fats Domino, 1928-2017

I’ll share an extremely unflattering anecdote as I note the passing of Fats Domino.  I sat next to the noted New Orleans based music journalist Jeff Hannusch, the author of I Hear You Knockin: The Sound of New Orleans Rhythm and Blues, on a bus during a music industry convention in the 1990s.  When the conversation inevitably turned to Domino, I told Jeff that I regretted my recent purchase of the icon’s four-CD, 100-song box set that includes his expansive liner notes.  I explained that the single disc compilation I already owned was more than enough Fats for any reasonable person.  I think Jeff might have quit talking to me.  Not only was I a jerk, I was wrong.  There could never be enough of the Fat Man’s seminal American music.


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I’ve partnered with the Green Lady Lounge to revive The Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I named Freight Train Rabbit Killer KCUR’s Band of the Week.

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My review of a performance by the Owen/Cox Dance Group and the People’s Liberation Big Band at Polsky Theatre is at Plastic Sax.

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Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s The Emancipation Procrastination may be the best of the three albums the polarizing jazz artist has issued in 2017.

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I’ve long been enamored of Chanté Moore.  The Rise of the Phoenix is a delight.  Here’s ”Something to Remember”.

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I lost my taste for Magnetic Fields somewhere along the way.  I’m sure I’d admire a handful of songs on 50 Song Memoir, but I’m not willing to invest the time to find them.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

A Besieged Rhythm Nation

Curious pacing and lousy sound didn’t prevent me from thoroughly enjoying Janet Jackson’s appearance at the Sprint Center on Thursday.  Frontloaded with most of her biggest hits, the concert often resembled a low-budget 1980s music video.

I was unable to ascertain if Jackson’s singing was canned, partly because most of the rhapsodic women who surrounded me in the cheap seats were superior vocalists.  And that was the point of the concert- the real action took place in the stands, where thousands of my valiantly optimistic comrades continued to embrace the tragically neglected message of Jackson’s 1989 hit:

With music by our side to break the color lines

Let's work together to improve our way of life

Join voices in protest to social injustice...

We are a part of the rhythm nation.

It may not have been the show I wanted, but it was the show I needed.  Here’s Tim Finn’s review.


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I reviewed Queens of the Stone Age’s concert at Crossroads KC for The Kansas City Star.

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My review of Hudson’s concert at Yardley Hall is at Plastic Sax.

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I named Roman Numerals KCUR’s Band of the Week.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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Sign of the times: I listened to Memento Mori, the impressive new album by the Kansas City rapper Aaron Alexander, before I auditioned the Tech N9ne album that was also released last week.  RIYL: J. Cole, potential, Schoolboy Q.  Here’s ”Faces”.

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I’m not credited on the compelling piece, but my enthusiastic tip resulted in KCUR’s Story of the Song segment about Isaac Cates and Ordained’s rendition of “Hold On (Just a Little While Longer).”

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I hear St. Vincent’s Masseduction as an Adrian Belew-era King Crimson album.  Here’s ”Los Ageless”.

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If Raymond Scott, Fats Waller and Frank Zappa collaborated on a Brazilian jazz album in a celestial afterlife, their collusion might sound something like Hermeto Pascoal’s kooky No Mudo dos Sons.

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Miley Cyrus has a magnificent voice and a free spirit.  I won’t be surprised if her name eventually appears on one of my year-end album lists.  Moments of Younger Now floor me, but most of the good ideas aren’t fully realized.  RIYL: K.D. Lang, nice tries, Chris Isaak.  ”Week Without You” is the album’s best song.

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Led Zeppelin’s legacy is enhanced by the high quality of each new solo endeavor by Robert Plant.  Carry Fire is RIYL John Renbourn, aging gracefully, Fairport Convention.  Here’s “The May Queen”.

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Marquise Knox’s live Black and Blue is a fine modern blues album.

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King Krule prattles like a dazed combination of Linton Kwesi Johnson, Allen Ginsberg and John Cooper Clarke on The Ooz.  (That’s a compliment.)  RIYL: sizzurp, DJ Screw, quaaludes.  ”Half Man Half Shark” may be the album’s least interesting song.

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Oh snap!  Every line of Alan Jackson’s new single ”The Older I Get” rings devastatingly true.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)