Event Review: Swamp Dogg at the Lawrence Arts Center

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Swamp Dogg scared me when I became aware of him forty years ago. Confrontationally transgressive, the cult hero was disreputable in all the right ways. Much as nervously laughing along with the Chitlin’ Circuit comedian Dewey “Pigmeat” Markham seemed like a racial breach, goofing on Swamp Dogg’s infamous album covers always felt wrong.

Now 82, Swamp Dogg is an adorable survivor. The irascible crowd-pleaser charmed 200 admirers at the Lawrence Arts Center on Thursday, June 26. His aged meekness doesn’t mean he’s mild. During the profanity-filled evening Swamp Dogg addressed racial injustice, political activism and shady music industry practices.

The $20 entrance fee at the Free State Festival event included a screening of the new documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, a Q-and-A session and a sixty-minute performance. What a deal! The presence of MoogStar, the effervescent musician who is the surprise star of the film, resulted in "total destruction to my mind".

Album Review: Comet Gain- Letters to Ordinary Outsiders

The sense of surprise upon awakening is a bit more palpable each day. Gratitude for my prolonged existence is countered by wistful regrets. The members of Comet Gain explore the bittersweet sensibility on their new album Letters to Ordinary Outsiders. Opening with “The Ballad of the Lives We Led” and closing with “Maybe One Day It Will Really Happen,” the British band balances disappointment and hopefulness. The shambolic pub rock songs sound like a less anarchic Mekons or an inspired Soft Boys tribute band. The whiskey-soaked epistles of Letters to Ordinary Outsiders are woozy soundtracks for monitoring hourglasses.

Bozeman

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

How do upscale retailers sell $50 t-shirts and $400 hiking boots to wealthy locals and impulsive tourists in Bozeman, Montana? Peddlers hit ‘em with contemporary roots music, of course. Noticing a trend as I popped into shops on Main Street in the charming college town, I Shazamed songs by Caamp, Sierra Hull and Shane Smith & the Saints when I wasn’t bantering with eager clerks. Vargo’s Jazz City & Books was the exception. Ellingtonian swing set the tone at the jazz-themed bookstore (!) as I unsuccessfully attempted to fill a few holes in my collections. The only things I purchased were lunch at a food co-op and two volumes at a library book sale.

Big Sky

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I’d love to share my takes on new releases by the likes of Terri Lyne Carrington and Ches Smith, but I simply can’t break away from the squawking of magpies and the chirps of mountain bluebirds during my first trek to big sky country. And look at the hummingbird perched on a twig of a chokecherry. How would I hear its approach were I auditioning Brandee Younger’s new album? When I’m not taking in the otherworldly sights in nearby Yellowstone National Park, I’m admiring birds from the porch of my vacation rental. The music made by spotted towhees, lazuli buntings and pine siskins is my current priority.

The Top Kansas City Albums and EPs of 2025 (so far)

The 25 Best Kansas City Albums of 2025 (so far)

1. Carl Allen- Tippin'
Plastic Sax review.

2. Stik Figa- A Small Fortune
The riches of maturity.

3. Hermon Mehari and Tony Tixier- Soul Song
Plastic Sax review.

4. Sandbox Percussion- Cerrone: Don’t Look Down
Elevated.

5. Samantha Fish- Paper Doll
Tougher than nails.

6. Idle Heirs- Life is Violence
Brutal beat downs.

7. Vinny Golia, Dan Clucas, Kevin Cheli and Seth Andrew Davis- Orchid
Plastic Sax review.

8. Kansas City Chorale- The Mirage Calls
Oasis.

9. TheBabeGabe- Honeypop
Toothsome.

10. The Freedom Affair- The Freedom Affair
Righteous.

11. Jake Wesley Rogers- In the Key of Love
Maximalist pop.

12. Nathan Granner- Gordon Getty: Goodbye, Mr. Chips
An opera based on James Hilton’s novel.

13. Jackie Myers- What About the Butterfly
Plastic Sax review.

14. Rich the Factor- 2K10th Street
Fresh takes.

15. Bob James and Dave Koz- Just Us
Plastic Sax review.

16. All Night Trio- Yeah Sun
Plastic Sax review.

17. Henry Scamurra- Urban Forum
Plastic Sax review.

18. Adam Larson- Push to Exit
Locked in.

19. Wire Town- Riffin’ on Grand
Plastic Sax review.

20. Eddie Moore- What Makes Us
Made men.

21. Xion Sound Waves- In This Celestial Life
New Age gospel.

22. Hot Club KC- Dream Dancing
Plastic Sax review.

23. Season to Risk- 1-800-MELTDOWN
Psychotic reactions.

24. Michael McClintock- Here and There
Plastic Sax review.

25. Brody Buster- Redemption
Confessions.

The Ten Best Kansas City EPs of 2025 (so far)

1. RMW and Maadcxmmander- Pretty Boy Swag
Crank that.

2. Greg LaFollette- Liturgical Songs, Volume One
Holy, holy, holy.

3. Rich the Factor- Snow Money
Grab a shovel.

4. Flora From Kansas- Homesick
Teen spirit.

5. Claire Adams- Passenger Seat
A trip to Laurel Canyon.

6. The Almighty Trouble Brothers- A History of Poor Decisions
Flirtin’ with disaster.

7. Reality’s Demise- Demo
Corrosive thrash.

8. Rich the Factor- Make America Grit Again
Poll numbers.

9. Jass- April Showers
Refreshing.

10. Jean & The Eclairs- the a.m. EP
Good morning.

The year-end tabulation for 2024 is here.

Album Review: Sviatoslav Richter- The Lost Tapes: Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 18, 27, 28 & 31

The nice folks from Supplemental Sound may have thought I was kidding when I told them last month that solo piano has become my music of choice. Subjected to an iffy neo-soul performance on a nearby stage at a disappointing festival, I meant what I was saying at that moment.

Taking in more than a dozen transcendent recitals by elite pianists in recent years expanded my ears. No less importantly, reading Bruno Monsaingeon’s Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations in 2023 personalized the music for me. (The book is a companion to a far less interesting documentary.)

Deutsche Grammophon added seventy-two minutes to the late Russian pianist’s unfathomably massive discography last month.The Lost Tapes: Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 18, 27, 28 & 31 consists of previously unreleased recordings from two 1965 concerts in Europe.

These performances aren’t referenced in Notebooks and Conversations, but the notoriously prickly Richter might have made self-lacerating comments about his efforts. What did he know? Richter’s bold translations of Beethoven are precisely what I need to hear right now.

May 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Festspielhaus Baden-Baden’s production of Richard Strauss’ Elektra by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of May 2025

1. Billy Woods- Golliwog
Darkness.

2. Cosmic Ear- Traces
My review.

3. Barbara Hannigan- Electric Fields
Splendor.

4. Grupo Firme- Evolución
Tijuana’s finest.

5. Arve Henriksen- Arcanum
Tomorrow is (still) the question.

6. Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons- Live in Philadelphia
Traveling turbulent spaceways.

7. Milena Casado- Reflection of Another Self
My review.

8. Morgan Wallen- I’m the Problem
Same.

9. Mike and Tony Selzer- Pinball II
Slurry.

10. James Brandon Lewis- Abstraction is Deliverance
Clearly defined.

The Top Three Reissues, Reimaginings and Broadsides of May 2025

1. Irène Schweizer- Irène’s Hot Four
At Internationales Jazzfestival Zürich in 1981.

2. Pink Floyd- Live at Pompeii MCMLXXII
Steven Wilson’s remix of the 1971 concert.

3. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band- Land of Hope & Dreams
Chimes of freedom flashing.

The Top Ten Songs of May 2025

1. Badbadnotgood and V.C.R- “Found a Light (Beale Street)”
Illuminated.

2. Brandee Younger- “Gadabout Season”
Flittering.

3. Kali Uchis- “Sugar! Honey! Love!”
Sweet.

4. Lizzie Berchie- "Happiness"
It’s possible.

5. Karol G- “Milagros”
Yet another minor miracle.

6. HiTech featuring Lovesexy- “Empty Bus Stop”
Decadence.

7. Bruiser Wolf- “Air Fryer”
High comedy.

8. Stereolab- “Vermona F Transistor”
Spare parts.

9. Evan Bartels- "Montana"
My review.

10. Hardy- “Girl with a Gun”
Hands up.

The Top Ten Performances of May 2025

1. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet at the Folly Theater
My Instagram snapshot.

2. Speed, Whispers, Spine and Stakes Is High at the Ship
My Instagram clips here and here.

3. Maria Ioudenitch and Navo Chamber Orchestra at Southminster Presbyterian Church
My Instagram snapshot.

4. Bachathon at Village Presbyterian Church
My Instagram clip.

5. Rod Fleeman, Gerald Spaits and Ray DeMarchi at Green Lady Lounge
My Instagram clip.

6. Stephanie Larsen, Maria Crosby, Duncan Steele and Sunho Kim at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
My Instagram snapshot.

7. Vine Street Rumble at Shawnee Town 1929 Museum
My Instagram snapshot.

8. The Kansas City Symphony’s Mobile Music Box at Meadowbrook Park
My Instagram clip.

9. Aztlan at Guadalupe Center
My Instagram clip.

10. Ken Stringfellow at Knuckleheads
My Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly recap is here.

Album Review: Cosmic Ear- Traces

A chaotic mess, Live in Philadelphia is precisely the album I wanted from 101-year-old Marshall Allen. Traveling the spaceways with a large cast of avant-jazz luminaries for 82 turbulent minutes, Allen seems much more himself than on his straightlaced February release New Dawn.

At 83, Christer Bothén is a comparative spring chicken. The multi-instrumentalist demonstrates he’s also worthy of late-career recognition on the impeccable new album Traces. Along with Cosmic Ear cohorts including the free jazz standout Mats Gustafsson, Bothén achieves an elevated form of spirituality.

Whereas Allen honors Sun Ra, Cosmic Ear’s north star is Bothén’s former collaborator Don Cherry. Traces contains things I treasure most in improvised instrumental music: intercontinental grooves, bursts of skronk and electronic shivers in a quest for divine communion.

EP Review: Evan Bartels- To Make You Cry

What was supposed to be a quick outing at a matinee show at a famous Kansas City honky tonk descended into prolonged dissipation with a companion earlier this week. The evening began to turn sideways during an argument about the merits of country music. I recall my spirited defense of the gospel albums of Johnny Cash and the Nickelback-meets-Chesney ditties of Morgan Wallen. My pal insisted on acquiring additional fortification to fuel further debates about music and politics at a different establishment. I’m wondering if sending a link to Evan Bartels’ new EP To Make You Cry as a peace offering might be misconstrued as a mean-spirited provocation. "Lula" and "Montana" are among the unspeakably sad Nebraska-inspired ballads capable of ruining an evening. My country-averse friend probably doesn’t share my predilection for pain songs.

Album Review: Milena Casado- Reflection of Another Self

Brace yourself for a brief burst of hyperbole. Reflection of Another Self sounds for all the world like an all-time-great debut album. Milena Casado, a Spanish-born and Berklee-trained trumpeter and bandleader, flouts moribund conventions on the bold 43-minute statement issued by a jazz record label. Plugged-in and pop-adjacent, the album features notables such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Morgan Guerin, Nicole Mitchell, Meshell Ndegeocello and Brandee Younger. Yet Casado doesn’t seem to be following fashion or hiding behind established stars. An appealing individualism surfaces throughout a project that delivers more than mere promise.