Mods and rockers. East coast or west coast hip hop. Acoustic Miles and Dylan versus the plugged-in versions of the icons. The seemingly mandatory obligation to pick a side confounds me. I never understood why punk/indie-rock and metal had to be mutually exclusive genres. I love Husker Dü and Judas Priest, Fugazi and Van Halen. That's why bands like Rodan appeal to me. Rodan's three-year existence ended in 1994, before subgenres like metalcore and mathrock became [...]
Allow me to share an anecdote from my last trip to Rome. The simple continental breakfast provided by a budget hostel was offered in a windowless room near the laundry facility. The lights were automatically extinguished every time someone exited the room, requiring a guest to get up and manually flip a switch. The Japanese and African travelers pretended to ignore the inconvenience. The German and English tourists muttered amongst themselves. A Californian couldn't restrain herself after the tenth blackout in about twenty minutes. "F**king Italians," she screamed. [...]
Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell? Let me whisper in your ear. I've been holding out on readers of There Stands the Glass for years. I'll finally divulge one of the choicest music-related secrets in Kansas City. The event calendar of UMKC's Conservatory of Music and Dance is a hidden treasure trove for music lovers. Dozens of recitals take place all over town near the end of each semester. On Wednesday the calendar led me to Immanuel Lutheran [...]
Jama Ko , the new album by Bassekou Kouyate , is currently ranked #2,809 on Amazon's music sales chart. That's a respectable achievement for a Malian musician, but I'm rooting for it to become a true crossover hit along the lines of King Sunny Adé's Juju Music and Ali Farke Touré's Talking Timbuktu . Most of the plentiful rave reviews of Jama Ko - an album as stunning as it is enjoyable- emphasize the project's awful backstory. Here's a typical analysis. Knowledge of the terribly disturbing Malian [...]
When Reach insistently repeats the refrain "Hip Hop Is Alive" on his new album Live at RecordBar , he isn't celebrating the latest success of Wale or 2 Chainz. Reach is a true believer in the original purist ideals of hip hop. The new release- his fourth full-length album- serves as affirmation of Reach's principles. Supported by the funk/jam band Mouth , DJ Ataxic and vocalists Schelli Tolliver, Sausha Brooks and Vance Ashworth, the well-recorded collaboration brings out the best in each participant. Live at RecordBar [...]
Much of the Kansas City music community is rightfully engaged in self-congratulatory praise inspired by the notably strong showing of new releases in 2013. A comment made by Matt of Jeopardy of Contentment at this site last week compelled me to join the chorus. Here's a list of my twenty favorite Kansas City-related new releases of the past four months. I created a Spotify playlist that includes all but five of my selections. 1. Mark Lowrey- Tangos For 18th Street ( review at Plastic Sax) 2. [...]
The King is Gone (And So Are You) . George Jones has died . I detest seeing the man's career reduced to a single song and quick references to boozing, no-shows and heartbreak. Sure, I love the tractor story as much as anyone, but overlooking the man's music would be tragic. With that in mind, here are five selections from Jones' vast catalog that had a profound impact on me. Hearing "White Lightning" and "The Race Is On" on repeat is one of [...]
Cherokee Rock Rifle enjoys an enviable status among the cool kids in Kansas City. In addition to being a good guy, vocalist Dutch Humphrey works as a bartender at one of the town's most fashionable music venues. His band, consequently, is a compulsory member of the in-crowd. That sort of reasoning has never swayed me. I regularly rip the music made by my friends and associates. I'm a jerk that way. Thankfully, I love Ta-Li , Cherokee Rock Rifle's new six-song EP, on its own merits. It [...]
I watched Safe House , a solid action flick starring Denzel Washington (and featuring Rubén Blades) on cable earlier this week. It was little different than dozens of organized crime, complex caper and government conspiracy movies I've enjoyed. I could see how it was going to play out within the first fifteen minutes. I didn't mind. Familiar formulas can provide solace. I feel much the same way about Twelve Reasons To Die , the new collaboration between Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge . [...]
Chelsea Light Moving is a flawed album. The self-titled release by Thurston's Moore's new band is loaded with cringeworthy moments. Then why do I keep listening? It's not because of Moore's lyrics. Seemingly intended as an homage to Patti Smith and Lou Reed, Moore's good intentions frequently go awry without the editorial guidance he must have received in Sonic Youth. But those guitars… In the same way classic rock and technical metal fans adore the exhibitions of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, I relish hearing Moore's scuzzy [...]
News of Jimmy Dawkins ' passing caused me to reflect on my relationship with the blues. During the last big blues scare I avidly consumed the music. I frequented gigs by the likes of Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Little Hatch and Jimmy Rogers and avidly kept tabs on the new release schedules of labels like Delmark Records. Money is tighter these days and I have to deal with the real-life challenges faced by most adults. While I have plenty of reasons to embrace the blues, the form no [...]
Going to Coachella? You’re a Loser and Part of the Problem and Probably Fat , an essay currently making the usual social media rounds, amused me. Still a bit punch-drunk from the 24 hours I logged at the three-day Middle of the Map festival, I'm sympathetic to the sentiment expressed in the cynical screed. The truth, however, is that I relish excess. I embrace the novel opportunity to take in performances by honky tonk, punk and hip hop acts within a single hour. Putting up with chatty Cathys and drunk Daves who [...]
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry after I witnessed a professional music presenter lament the diminishing "culture of supporting live music" earlier this week. My friend was addressing an audience of less than two dozen people as he introduced a five-piece band. An hour later I began jostling for position at several crowded nightclubs in Westport. Elsewhere in Kansas City that evening, Icelandic band Sigur Rós performed to a reported 4,500 fans at Starlight Theatre while the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, an ensemble that regular attracts 1,000 people at its concerts, appeared at Helzberg Hall. [...]
Every nine months or so, I visit the back room of a restaurant in a suburb of Kansas City to hear musicians play an oddly stifled but nonetheless appealing version of Dixieland and traditional jazz. I'd attend more often if the technically masterful musicians attempted to fuse Dixieland's wild polyphony with more progressive concepts. That's precisely what clarinetist Ben Goldberg and cohorts including saxophonist Joshua Redman and trumpeter Ron Miles do on Subatomic Particle Homesick Blues . I construe the recording as Dixieland filtered through Oliver Nelson, Thelonious Monk [...]
I've been tracking Ces Cru 's gradual ascendence on Kansas City's hip hop scene at There Stands the Glass for over five years. I was happy for the duo when they signed to Strange Music. It's the big break they deserve. So what does Ces Cru rap about about on the new album Constant Energy Struggles ? They rap about about the big break they deserve. The dominant subject matter of the album is disappointing. I have limited tolerance for self-absorbed careerist raps. The first five songs [...]
I'm genuinely looking forward to hearing Joe Sample perform at White Recital Hall tonight. As a member of the Crusaders and as a solo artist, Sample played a pivotal role in putting the "smooth" into jazz. Sample has a lot to answer for. And what of it? Sample may have perfected the smooth jazz template, but he shouldn't be held responsible for the sins of his musical descendants. Even his funk-pop hits like the Crusaders' "Street Life" were indelibly smooove. Besides, context [...]
Bebo Valdés died yesterday in his adopted home of Stockholm. The native Cuban had quite a life. I've enjoyed Bebo Rides Again since its release in 1995. The crystalline sound quality continues to astound me. Yet I've come to prefer his scratchy pre-revolution recordings from the 1950s. Hearing the life-affirming stuff causes me to wonder why I bother listening to anything else. --- I reviewed Jimmy Webb's outing at Knuckleheads last night. --- Jeneé Osterheldt wrote an excellent [...]
If my 18-year-old self knew that I would willingly buy a $40 ticket to a concert by Yes in 2013, I may have spitefully cut off my callow ears. I bought into the idea that the overblown music of Yes represented everything that was "wrong." At this late date, however, such dated musical turf battles seem silly. Two recent events compelled me to join the audience of about 2,000 at the Midland on Monday. Peter Banks , a founder of Yes, died March 7. He was 65. Secondly, Animal Collective postponed a [...]
My worst concert-going experience in recent memory transpired Tuesday at Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village, Kansas. It wasn't the un-amplified performance of the Kansas City Chorale that caused me grief. The ensemble was wonderful. At least, I assume it was. The problem was the boorish behavior of an alarming portion of the attendees. Apparently compelled to hear the Chorale in the wake of the blitz of positive publicity that followed the receipt of another Grammy Award last month, the capacity audience included a few dozen people [...]
I used to think about love, mortality and God as I listened to the Goldberg Variations . Not anymore. A concert at Polsky Theatre on Monday may have forever altered the associations I'll make when I hear Bach's famous work. A performance by the Owen/Cox Dance Group accompanied Kairy Koshoeva as she played the variations in its entirety. Jennifer Owen's creative choreography managed to make the composition seem like a natural modern dance soundtrack. The sole flaw occurred at the conclusion of a few segments as Koshoeva's otherwise stellar playing [...]
There Stands the Glass
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