Album Review: Virgil Thomson- Complete Chamber Works

I vowed to become fully conversant in the life and work of Virgil Thomson after attending an ambitious concert dedicated to the Kansas City native at Helzberg Hall in 2011.  There just hasn’t been enough time.  There’s never enough time.  I read only 50 pages of Music Chronicles 1940-1954 when I borrowed the 1,177 page collection of Thomson’s music criticism from a library earlier this year.  Monadnock Music’s Complete Chamber Works, a 160-minute set billed as “the first recording of the complete chamber works by Pulitzer Prize winner Virgil Thomson on one album,” was released on December 3.  The inclusion of three “world premiere recordings” is also notable.  My woefully untrained ears hear Complete Chamber Works as a mixed bag.  Relatively conventional works including String Quartet No. 1 don’t move me.  Yet the release is sprinkled with ingratiatingly peculiar pieces such as “A Portrait of Georges Hugnet” that sound as if they could have been composed yesterday.  Further investigation would undoubtedly provide commensurate rewards.  Based on my pitiful track record, it’s unlikely to happen.

Concert Review: Mary Lattimore at the Lied Center

Original image of Walt McClements and Mary Lattimore by There Stands the Glass.

LAAND, the organization responsible for Mary Lattimore’s concert at the Lied Center in Lawrence on Saturday, December 12, got it wrong when it promoted the event as “a blissed out evening.”  Lattimore wields a harp, but her instrumental music has little to do with insipid New Age contrivances.  The sonic landscapes she created for an audience of about 125 conveyed an imperiled sense of beauty, like laments for a utopia destined to succumb to hostile combatants.

Walt McClements joined her on a couple selections.  The accordionist’s earlier solo outing sometimes sounded like an inebriated priest riffing on Johann Sebastian Bach on his church’s dusty pipe organ.  The rewarding showcase of innovative ambient music began with a pleasing set by Jackson Graham.  The vibraphonist resembled an anxious millennial version of Gary Burton.

Lattimore explained one composition was inspired by her concern that an astronaut’s extended space voyage would inevitably be followed by a comparatively tedious earth-bound existence.  I felt a similar form of melancholy as I left the stellar exhibition of (un)easy listening.  Spending two ethereally edgy hours with the music of Lattimore, McClements and Graham may make other sounds seem mundane.

Original image of Jackson Graham by There Stands the Glass.

Concert Review: Béla Fleck at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I’d almost forgotten about hippies.  Béla Fleck’s concert at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland on Tuesday, December 9, reacquainted me with the subculture.  The show was the first hippie-dominated event I’ve attended in at least 20 months.  

A funny smell permeated the air, many members of the audience of about 2,000 looked as if they were models at a sustainable clothing fashion show and yes, uninhibited noodle dancers frolicked in the balcony.

The stage production was almost nonexistent.  Far more significantly, the low volume was wholly inadequate for the cavernous room.  The speakers broadcasting the performance in the men’s room were louder than the sound field in the balcony.

The acoustic newgrass played by Fleck, guitarist Bryan Sutton, mandolinist Sam Bush, fiddler Stuart Duncan, dobroist Jerry Douglas and bassist Edgar Meyer was difficult to hear.  The maddening disappointment at the pricey concert was enough to transform peace-loving hippies into brick-hurling punks.

A Tough Pill to Swallow: The Top 50 Songs of 2021

Screenshot of Injury Reserve’s “Knees” video by There Stands the Glass.

My ranking of the fifty new songs I loved most in 2021 bears little resemblance to There Stands the Glass’ Top Albums of 2021 list.  The disparity is intentional.  A forthcoming accounting of the 50 best live performances I caught in 2021 will contain further deviations.  Injury Reserve’s disquieting “Knees” meant the most to me in recent months.  The rest of the songs are sequenced by personal preference with a bit of flexibility for optimal playlist appeal.  Here’s the Spotify playlist.


1. Injury Reserve- "Knees"

2. Coi Leray- "No More Parties"

3. J Balvin and Skrillex- “"In Da Ghetto"

4. Tokischa and Rosalía- "Linda"

5. Priya Ragu- "Lockdown"

6. Little Simz- "Rollin' Stone"

7. Cake Pop, Pritty, Aaron Carter and Ravenna Golden- "Satin Bedsheets"

8. The Streets- "Who's Got the Bag"

9. Celeste- "Tonight Tonight"

10. Billie Eilish- "Lost Cause"

11. Badbadnotgood- "City of Mirrors"

12. Chlöe- "Have Mercy"

13. Sir the Baptist featuring Anthony Hamilton- "Jesus in the Ghetto"

14. Rod Wave- "Tombstone"

15. Remi Wolf- “Anthony Kiedis”

16. Blackstarkids- "Juno"

17. Shannon & The Clams- "Year of the Spider"

18. Olivia Rodrigo- "Brutal"

19. Amyl and the Sniffers- "Freaks to the Front"

20. Willow featuring Cherry Glazerr- “¡Breakout!”

21. Elle King and Miranda Lambert- “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)”

22. Roman Alexander featuring Ashley Cooke- "Between You & Me"

23. Tinashe- "Bouncin'"

24. Megan Thee Stallion- "Thot Sh*t"

25. IDK with Swae Lee and Rico Nasty- "Keto"

26. Jungle- "No Rules"

27. Jana Rush- "Disturbed"

28. Nightmares on Wax- "Miami 80"

29. Earl Sweatshirt- "2010"

30. Slowthai featuring James Blake and Mount Kimbie- "Feel Away"

31. Pooh Shiesty featuring Gucci Mane- "Ugly"

32. Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar- "Family Ties"

33. Saweetie featuring Doja Cat- "Best Friend"

34. City Girls- "Scared"

35. Kevin Gates- "Plug Daughter 2"

36. Maxo Kream- “Cripstian”

37. Tony Allen and Danny Brown- "Deer in Headlights"

38. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss- "High and Lonesome"

39. Samantha Fish featuring Tech N9ne- "Loud"

40. Rauw Alejandro and Anitta- “Brazilera”

41. Céu - “Chega Mais”

42. Adele- "All Night Parking"

43. Cécile McLorin Salvant - "Ghost Song"

44. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis- “Albuquerque”

45. Willie Nelson- "Too Sick to Pray"

46. Brittney Spencer- "Sober & Skinny"

47. Lauren Alaina- "It Was Me"

48. Moby, Mark Lanegan and Kris Kristofferson- "The Lonely Night"

49. Loretta Lynn- “I Don’t Feel at Home Anymore”

50. Sarah Brand- "Red Dress"


Links to 16 previous year-end There Stands the Glass surveys begin here.

Concert Review: Brentano Quartet at Lincoln Recital Hall

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Brentano Quartet wasn’t my first choice on Friday night in Portland on December 4.  I’d been looking forward to finally catching Thievery Corporation. My hopes were dashed when the band’s concert at Roseland Theater sold out.  I made new plans when I learned that the program for Brentano Quartet’s recital at Lincoln Hall would begin with "Quietly Flowing Along" from John Cage’s Quartet in Four Parts.  The weirder the better for me.

Sure enough, a distinguished matron near the front row seat I claimed amid an audience of about 125 responded in horror to an interpretation of Igor Stravinsky’s discordant Concertino for String Quartet that followed the opening salvo of Cage.  I almost fell out of my chair laughing to Dmitri Shostakovich’s devious "Polka". And Barbara Sukowa’s recorded recitations of Amy Lowell’s Stravinsky-inspired poems were enlightening.

I felt as if a light had been turned on in an unevolved chamber of my brain.  Experiencing the cheeky noise being created just eight feet away seemed to transport me into the consciousnesses of the late composers.  Unfortunately, the Carlo Gesualdo and Ludwig van Beethoven pieces that followed an intermission extinguished my metaphysical reveries.  I started thinking about Thievery Corporation just five minutes into an uninspiring version of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16.

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Take What You Want: The Top Albums, EPs and Reissues of 2021

The Top 50 Albums of 2021

1. Kanye West- Donda

My review.

2. Irreversible Entanglements- Open the Gates

My review.

3. Mathias Eick- When We Leave

My review.

4. Molly Herron- Through Lines

My review.

5. Pino Palladino and Blake Mills- Notes with Attachments

My review.

6. Tyler, The Creator- Call Me If You Get Lost

7. The Metropolitan Opera- Philip Glass’ Akhnaten

8. Nala Sinephro- Space 1.8

My review.

9. Lana Del Rey- Chemtrails Over the Country Club

My podcast analysis.

10. Lise Davidsen- Beethoven Wagner Verdi

My review.

11. Sleaford Mods- Spare Ribs

My review.

12. Sons of Kemet- Black to the Future

13. St. Vincent- Daddy's Home

14. Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion- Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part

15. Evan Parker Quartet- All Knavery & Collusion

16. Turnstile- Glow On

My podcast analysis.

17. Marianne Faithful and Warren Ellis- She Walks in Beauty

18. Fire-Toolz- Eternal Home

My podcast analysis.

19. Benoît Delbecq- The Weight of Light

My review.

20. Summer Walker- Still Over It

21. Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble- Now

22. Brockhampton- Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine 

23. Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson- Searching for the Disappeared Hour

24. Behzod Abduraimov- Debussy Chopin Mussorgsky 

My review.

25. Artifacts- …And Then There’s This

26. Max Richter- Exiles

27. Chris Thile- Laysongs

28. Danish String Quartet- Prism III

29. Alan Jackson- Where Have You Gone

30. Migos- Culture III

31. Les Filles de Illighadad- At Pioneer Works

32. Angel Bat Dawid- Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1 Doxology

33. Morgan Wallen- Dangerous: The Double Album

34. Borderlands Trio- Wandersphere

My review.

35. Pat Metheny- Road to the Sun

My review.

36. Patricia Brennan- Maquishti

37. Yola- Stand For Myself

38. Roscoe Mitchell- Dots: Pieces for Percussion and Woodwinds

39. Karol G- KG01516

My podcast analysis.

40. Craig Taborn- Shadow Plays

41. Moor Mother- Black Encyclopedia of the Air

My podcast analysis.

42. Georgia Anne Muldrow- Vweto III

43. Dopolarians- The Bond

My review.

44. Sara Serpa- Intimate Strangers

45. Abstract Mindstate- Dreams Still Inspire

My review.

46. Chynna- Drug Opera

47. La Arrolladora Banda el Limón- En Contra De Mi Voluntad

48. Lana Del Rey- Blue Banisters

49. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra- Promises

My review.

50. Drake- Certified Lover Boy

The Top 25 EPs of 2021

1. Benny the Butcher- The Plugs I Met 2

My podcast analysis.

2. Caroline Shaw- Narrow Sea

3. Vince Staples- Vince Staples

4. Lyle Mays- Eberhard

5. The Alchemist- This Thing of Ours

6. Aida Cuevas- Antología de la Música Ranchera, Vol. 2

7. F*cked Up- Year of the Horse (four installments)

8. Rachika Nayar- Fragments

9. Wanda Jackson- Encore

10. Burial- Shock Power of Love


11. Los Dos Carnales- Corrido Pa’ la Historia

12. Benny the Butcher- Pyrex Picasso

13. Bummer- Dead Horse

14. Dare- Against All Odds

15. YoungBoy Never Broke Again- Sincerely, Kentrell

16. Benjamin Mørk and Arve Henriksen- The Valleys

17. Rudimentary Peni- Great War

18. Portrayal of Guilt- We Are Always Alone

19. María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir- Kom Vinur

20. Gatecreeper- An Unexpected Reality


21. Melvin Gibbs- 4 +1 Equals 5 for May 25

22. A Place to Bury Strangers- Hologram

23. Ryoji Ikeda- EP

24. Charlie Hunter- Kick, Snare, Baritone Guitar

25. Rosie Lowe and Duval Timothy- Son

The Top 25 Reissues, Reimaginings and Compilations of 2021

1. Hasaan Ibn Ali- Retrospect In Retirement Of Delay: The Solo Recordings

My review.

2. John Coltrane- A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle

3. Sun Ra- Lanquidity (Definitive Edition)

4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds- B-Sides & Rarities, Part II

5. Bob Dylan- Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16, 1980-1985

6. Nubya Garcia- Source ⧺ We Move

7. Toumani Diabaté and the London Symphony Orchestra- Kôrôlén

8. Alice Coltrane- Kirtan: Turiya Sings

9. Various- The Boys From Nairobi: 80s Benga & Rumba

10. The Beatles- Let It Be (Super Deluxe)

11. Wild Up- Julius Eastman, Vol. 1: Femenine

12. Lee Morgan- The Complete Live at the Lighthouse

My review.

13. Julius Hemphill- The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony 1977-2007

14. The Beach Boys- Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions, 1969-1971

15. Johnny Cash- Bear’s Sonic Journals: Live at the Carousel Ballroom, April 24, 1968

16. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey- Winterwood Revealed: Live Vipers & Studio Doves

17. Hailu Mergia and the Walias Band- Tezeta

18. J Dilla- Welcome 2 Detroit: The 20th Anniversary Edition

19. Prince- Welcome 2 America

20. PJ Harvey- Is This Desire?: Demos


21. Dyke & The Blazers- I Got a Message Hollywood: 1968-1970

My review.

22. Hasaan Ibn Ali- Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album

23. Neil Young and Crazy Horse- Way Down in the Rust Bucket

24. The Weeknd- The Highlights

25. The Rolling Stones- Tattoo You: 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition

Links to 16 previous annual There Stands the Glass surveys begin here.

Concert Review: José James at Old Church Concert Hall

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

José James characterized himself as “the black Mel Tormé” at Old Church Concert Hall in Portland on Thursday, December 2.  He was kidding, but the flippant characterization is apt.  James’ interpretation of Tormé’s “The Christmas Song” during the holiday-themed concert echoed the Velvet Fog’s sensibility while adding intimations of contemporary R&B.     

The stylish update of conventional crooning delighted the well-heeled audience of about 250. (I paid $36 for a general admission ticket at the door).  James’ considerable charisma, compelling stories and honeyed voice elicited several standing ovations.  Astonishingly, the f-bombs James dropped while promoting the new album Merry Christmas from José James served to further charm his admirers.

Even so, Christian Sands was the evening’s real star.  A former protegé of Christian McBride, Sands is one of the most notable young mainstream jazz pianists.  His unflaggingly elegant and thrillingly quick-witted playing revives the swinging sound of Erroll Garner and Ahmad Jamal.  The suggestion that Sands plays like an old man is intended as a compliment.

Bassist Daniel Winshall and drummer Jharis Yokley patiently held their own until they were unleashed on a monumental rendition of “My Favorite Things.”  The wooly reading applied to the Rodgers and Hammerstein composition was the loudest portion of the evening.  The encore was the quietest selection.  James and Sands’ hushed duet on “White Christmas” was four sublime minutes of perfection.

Concert Review: Oleta Adams with Isaac Cates & Ordained at Old Mission United Methodist Church

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

One of my uncles died on Black Friday.  Adding insult to grievous injury, news of the Omicron variant spread global panic, the stock market responded accordingly and my injured foot ached something awful.  I was less than enthused about the prospect of spending Friday night in a church.

Yet ten minutes into the sublime collaboration of Oleta Adams and Isaac Cates & Ordained, wild gesticulations, involuntary shouts and uninhibited dances broke out- and that was just my response. Other congregants among the audience of about 400 at the fundraising event for the Lupus Foundation of America shared my passion for the sanctified music.

Several members of Ordained possess voices as glorious as Adams’.  The fervency they invested into the sacred, secular and seasonal songs was infectious.  Cates’ splashy solo piano segment heightened the devout intensity.  I left church refreshed, inspired and hopeful.  But my foot still hurt.

November 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Valerie a týden divů by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (released in November)

1. Irreversible Entanglements- Open the Gates

My review.

2. Summer Walker- Still Over It

Number one with a bitterness.

3. Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O- Umdali

Valiant South African jazz.

4. Brian Wilson- At My Piano

Tragic beauty.

5. Attacca Quartet- Of All Joys

Partly Pärt.

6. Terrace Martin- Drones

Flying high above Silk Sonic.

7. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss- Raise the Roof

An old-fashioned barn burner.

8. Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian- Welcome Party

Knock knock.

9. Anna Netrebko- Amata dalle tenebre

Aching arias.

10. Anuel AA- Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren

Legends never die.


Top Ten Songs (released in November)

1. Willie Nelson- "Too Sick to Pray"

On bended knee.

2. Del McCoury Band- "Once Again"

That high, lonesome sound.

3. Earl Sweatshirt- "2010"

Don’t call it a comeback.

4. City Girls- "Scared"

“Ain’t no way I’m stopping.”

5. The Bug featuring Jason Williamson- "Treetop"

Out on a limb.

6. Idles- "Stockholm Syndrome"

Brainwashed.

7. Frogpond- "I Really Don't Care"

Meat-and potatoes heartland rock.

8. NRBQ- "I Like Her So Much"

Still ticking.

9. Adele with Erroll Garner- "All Night Parking"

The best song on 30.

10. Cécile McLorin Salvant- "Ghost Song"

Spectral.


Top Ten Concerts of November

1. J.D. Allen, Eric Revis and Nasheet Waits- Blue Room

My review.

2. Oleta Adams with Isaac Cates & Ordained- Old Mission United Methodist Church

My review.

3. Mary Gauthier- Knuckleheads

4. UMKC Opera’s “Acis and Galatea”- White Recital Hall

My review.

5. Dare- 7th Heaven

My Instagram clip.

6. Rod Fleeman Trio- Green Lady Lounge

7. The Kansas City Symphony’s “Coming to America”- Helzberg Hall

8. Renée Fleming- Helzberg Hall

9. Richard Thompson- Folly Theater

My review.

10. Sentenced 2 Die- 7th Heaven

My Instagram clip.


Top Ten Movies (viewed for the first time in November)

1. Popiół i diament/Ashes and Diamonds (1958)

Bloody Polish power grab.

2. La Strada/The Road (1954)

Giulietta Masina and Anthony Quinn convey crippling sadness.

3. Der junge Törless/Young Törless (1966)

Unflinching teen brutality.

4. Sparrows (1926)

Mary Pickford leads escape from foul baby farm.

5. De Slag om de Schelde/The Forgotten Battle  (2020)

World War II in Holland is hell.

6. Valerie a týden divů/Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)

Frightfully freaky fairy tale.

7. Taking Tiger Mountain (1983)

A very bad trip.

8. The Harder They Fall (2021)

Wild, wild west(ern).

9. La bestia debe morir/The Beast Must Die (1952)

Argentinian noir.

10. Arsène Lupin (1932)

Sexy criminal caper.

October’s recap and links to previous monthly surveys are here.

Concert Review: Richard Thompson at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I wasn’t feeling it, and I don’t think Richard Thompson was either.  A concert by the notoriously bleak British troubadour at the Folly Theater on Sunday, November 21, was even drearier than anticipated.  Renowned for his doom and gloom sensibility, Thompson’s attempts to connect with the audience of about 600 repeatedly failed.

Alternately icy and awkward, the 100-minute outing was adequate rather than transcendent.  The set list wasn’t the problem.  Most of Thompson’s new compositions were solid and hearing his classics from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s remains thrilling.  I suppose I’ll never understand the astonishing popularity of the 1991 story song “1952 Vincent Black Lightning.”  

Reading excerpts from his new autobiography was a good idea, but the execution was weirdly clumsy.  Yet the off night for the musical giant was nonetheless rewarding.  My seat in the third row allowed for careful scrutiny of Thompson’s seemingly magical guitar work.  He doesn’t require accompanists.  His guitar often simulated the sound of a full band.

Even so, I longed for a bit of noise.  A ten-minute burst of instrumental electric guitar would have enlivened the show.  Backing vocalist Zara Phillips was fine, but Thompson deserves- and last night truly needed- the presence of a similarly accomplished peer.  A collaboration with a notable figure from the British folk scene such as June Tabor might have made the uncertain night unforgettable.