Sedan Delivery

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I’m baffled by the prevailing practice of rereading books, watching previously viewed television programs or movies and keeping familiar music in heavy rotation.  Repetition is anathema to me.  Yet there’s a downside to my compulsion to constantly move forward.

A long-neglected friend slapped me in the face the other day.  I was bowled over by a furious reading of “Sedan Delivery” as I listened to Way Down in the Rust Bucket, a recently released 1990 live set by Neil Young and Crazy Horse.  The loopy rocker was my favorite song on the astonishing 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps.

“Sedan Delivery” hadn’t crossed my mind in more than a decade. In spite of my regular protestations that “I don’t listen to that kind of music anymore,” I love the song just as much as I did 42 years ago. My embargo on revisiting the past may need to be reconsidered.

Album Review: Pino Palladino and Blake Mills- Notes With Attachments

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Not one of you jerks turned me on to Domi and JD Beck.  I had to learn about the precocious duo through a feature in The New York Times.  I share the author’s sense of wonder about an incomprehensibly virtuosic performance video documenting the musicians’ transgressive approach to jazz.

Lawless renderings of improvised music exhibited by artists like Steven Ellison (Flying Lotus), Sam Gendel, Makaya McCraven, Georgia Anne Muldrow (Jyoti) and Kassa Overall represent one of the most interesting musical developments of recent years.  The tandem of Domitille Degalle and JD Beck advances the overdue revolution by introducing hyperpop to jazz.

Even if it’s only half as good as Pino Palladino and Blake Mills’ Notes With Attachments, Domi and JD Beck’s forthcoming debut album will be worthwhile. The inside out and upside down version of jazz created by the journeyman bassist and the sonic trailblazer on tracks like "Just Wrong" is at the vanguard of the thrilling trend.

Album Review: Gretchen Parlato- Flor

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

On March 7, 2020, I picked my life partner up at Kansas City International Airport and drove to the Folly Theater for a Luciana Souza concert.  The Brazilian bandleader’s performance with Chico Pinheiro and Scott Colley was so good my wife didn’t even mention jet lag at the end of her business trip.  Aside from a few parking lot buskers, I haven’t heard live music since.

The lingering echoes of Souza’s concert through the subsequent lost months may explain my unlikely affinity for Gretchen Parlato’s new album Flor.   I ordinarily don’t fall for sophisticated adult pop that seems tailor made for international jetsetters.

Like Souza, Parlato blends Música Popular Brasileira with the varied styles associated with artists ranging from Sade to Édith Piaf.  Much of Flor is undeniably precious, but the calming nature of the refined album is helping me avoid the temptation to inappropriately jump the vaccination line.

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Pat Metheny plays Arvo Pärt? Sold! I review Metheny’s new album Road to the Sun at Plastic Sax.

Album Review: Jimmy Edgar- Cheetah Bend

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The leaky filter allowing foolish thoughts to flow unimpeded from my lizard brain to my scratchy vocal chords regularly gets me into trouble. I inexplicably felt obliged to validate pop music in the first episode of my new podcast In My Headache. Pop doesn’t need me to defend it, particularly when innovative artists like Jimmy Edgar continue to keep the form vital. Cheetah Bend, the sound scientist’s latest full-length release, features winning appearances by like-minded collaborators including Danny Brown, Rochelle Jordan and the late Sophie. The album contains more interesting tones, textures and rhythms than the plugged-in jazz group and the extreme noise band I praise in my initial endeavor for In My Headache.

Annual Willie Nelson Appreciation Post

Original image of Austin by There Stands the Glass.

Willie Nelson has had a greater impact on me than any other musician. I was raised on his music and continue to take comfort and inspiration in his timeless songs, distinctive voice and jazz-based guitar playing. The release of each new Nelson album was a big event in my home when I was a child. Stardust expanded my worldview in 1978. Nelson’s renditions of “September Song,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” and the title track introduced me to the standards. I still love Nelson’s approach to the Great American Songbook. That's Life, Nelson’s second album of songs associated with Frank Sinatra, was released February 26. Fresh interpretations of “Cottage for Sale,” “You Make Me Feel So Young” and “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” provide new insights into the familiar songs. While excellent, That’s Life ranks in the middle of Nelson’s 71 studio albums. Long may his “world keep spinning around”.

February 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Cicely Tyson and Sammy Davis Jr. in the trailer for A Man Called Adam by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (released in February)

1. Benoît Delbecq- The Weight of Light

My review.

2. Pooh Shiesty- Shiesty Season

Brrrrd.

3. Benjamin Grosvenor- Liszt

My review.

4. Quatuor Bozzini- Alvin Lucier: Navigations

Creepy drones and controlled cacophonies.

5. Archie Shepp and Jason Moran- Let My People Go

A feast in the wilderness.

6. Femi and Made Kuti- Legacy+: Stop the Hate and For(e)ward

Family tradition.

7. Cassandra Jenkins- An Overview on Phenomenal Nature

Astral minutes.

8. Tindersticks- Distractions

Focused.

9. Pink Sweat$- Pink Planet

Softer than John Legend.

10. R+R=Now- Live

Genius plus hubris equals fascinating complications.

Top Ten Songs (released in February)

1. Syd- "Missing Out"

Fomo.

2. Nana Yamato- “Burning Desire’

Temperature rising.

3. H.E.R.- "Fight For You"

Throwback anthem.

4. Kevin Gates- "Plug Daughter 2"

Roadside assistance.

5. Polo G- "GNF (OKOKOK)"

I care a lot.

6. Cardi B- "Up"

Once upon a time...

7. Ariana Grande- “Test Drive”

Ride or die.

8. Cherry Glazerr- "Big Bang"

Universal.

9. Sada K- "You"

Nothing compares.

10 Nick Cave and Warren Ellis- “Albuquerque”

Stasis.

Top Ten Movies (viewed for the first time in February, in lieu of live music)

1. A Man Called Adam (1966)

Miles ahead.

2. The Silver Chalice (1954)

Astoundingly bad or exceptionally good?

3. The Golden Coach (1952)

Jean Renoir’s luminescent critique of colonialism.

4. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)

An odd but stellar interpretation of Carson McCullers’ novel.

5. It Should Happen to You (1954)

Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon are adorable.

6. Juarez (1939)

¡Viva México!

7. Native Son (1951)

Richard Wright stars in an uneven rendering of his classic work.

8. Murder, She Said (1961)

Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple is just too much.

9. Treasure Island (1934)

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.

10. His House (2020)

Political asylum as horror.

January’s recap and a link to last year’s monthly surveys is here.

In My Headache

A couple friends and I collaborated on one of the first 100 podcasts more than 15 years ago. The endeavor was such a juvenile mess that I won’t even link to it here. I’m back at it. The first episode of In My Headache, a partnership with Aaron Rhodes of Shuttlecock Music Magazine, will be available next week. The trailer is embedded above.

The Human Soul Likes to Go Away Alone

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Concerned for my welfare, my life partner insisted I meet with my favorite physician last Thursday.  The conscientiously frank doctor told me that in addition to looking ill, I was far too skinny.  I agree with her first point.

After managing adequately for nine months, I was finally broken by the quarantine in late December.  Like millions of other people, I miss seeing friends and my extended family.  I miss traveling.  I miss working.  I miss breathing fresh warm air.  Insomnia aggravates my restlessness.

Even though I’m no longer quarantine thick- I’ve dropped nine pounds in the past three weeks- I’m still 11 pounds from my weight goal.  My doctor’s insistence that a bit of extra padding is healthy won’t put me back into 32-waist pants.

Still despondent and anemic on Friday, I didn’t binge on the plethora of new music as is my weekly custom.  Instead, I watched Grand Théâtre de Genève’s exquisite production of Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in one sitting.  Filmed without an audience in January, it’s the best of the three renditions of the deliriously lethargic work I’ve seen.  The existential libretto and body contortions of the dance troupe heightened my malaise and body image issues.

I lay in bed listening to pianist Benjamin Grosvenor’s new album Liszt as my stomach growled and my head spun following Debussy’s 167-minute opera. An ignorant rube, I wasn’t familiar with Liszt’s electrifying “Années de pèlerinage II, S. 161.” I’m still reeling from the transformative enlightenment that walloped me at the 3:37 mark.

Kids at Concerts

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The death of U-Roy compelled me to excavate a favorite family photo.  The image above shows an exceedingly relaxed member of my brood at a 1996 reggae festival at Penn Valley Park in Kansas City.  If memory serves, U-Roy and Burning Spear were the headliners.

My history of dragging kids to concerts began in utero.  Upon spotting my pregnant wife dancing to Buckwheat Zydeco in 1994, the late George Myers, co-owner of the Grand Emporium, hustled us out of his fabled nightclub.  Myers was aghast at what he considered our grossly irresponsible behavior. Several months later, a pediatrician scolded us when informed we intended to take the baby to Royals Stadium.  He shrieked “will she know she’s at a baseball game?”  We dismissed his warning.

Our kids attended countless concerts without incident.  The good times ended in 2004 with simultaneous meltdowns midway through a Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson concert at a minor league baseball stadium.  I’m no longer tethered to tots, but I’m gladdened every time I spot children at events intended for adults.

I Hate Music(als)

Screenshot of Lise Leplat Prudhomme in Jeannette, l'enfance de Jeanne d'Arc by There Stands the Glass.

I was terribly mistaken when I thought trading operas for musicals would make my life easier. The majority of the 285 operas I watched last year captivated and edified me. I gain comparatively little from the musicals I’ve screened in the opening weeks of 2021. Two deeply flawed productions illustrate the distress caused by my self-imposed burden. The tawdry sexuality and dorky humor in a 1981 staging of Pippin: His Life and Times starring Ben Vereen and Chita Rivera make it one of the most insufferable shows I’ve encountered. Devil horns replace jazz hands in the loopy Jeannette, l'enfance de Jeanne d'Arc. Everything about the heavy metal musical loosely based on the childhood of Joan of Arc is ridiculous. And I love it. The 2017 film delights me as much as Pippin enrages me. In spite of my reservations, the show must go on.