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
2. Irreversible Entanglements- Open the Gates
3. Mathias Eick- When We Leave
4. Molly Herron- Through Lines
5. Pino Palladino and Blake Mills- Notes with Attachments
6. Tyler, The Creator- Call Me If You Get Lost
7. The Metropolitan Opera- Philip Glass’ Akhnaten
8. Nala Sinephro- Space 1.8
9. Lana Del Rey- Chemtrails Over the Country Club
10. Lise Davidsen- Beethoven Wagner Verdi
11. Sleaford Mods- Spare Ribs
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
17. Marianne Faithful and Warren Ellis- She Walks in Beauty
18. Fire-Toolz- Eternal Home
19. Benoît Delbecq- The Weight of Light
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
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
35. Pat Metheny- Road to the Sun
36. Patricia Brennan- Maquishti
37. Yola- Stand For Myself
38. Roscoe Mitchell- Dots: Pieces for Percussion and Woodwinds
39. Karol G- KG01516
40. Craig Taborn- Shadow Plays
41. Moor Mother- Black Encyclopedia of the Air
42. Georgia Anne Muldrow- Vweto III
43. Dopolarians- The Bond
44. Sara Serpa- Intimate Strangers
45. Abstract Mindstate- Dreams Still Inspire
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
50. Drake- Certified Lover Boy
The Top 25 EPs of 2021
1. Benny the Butcher- The Plugs I Met 2
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
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
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
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
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
2. Oleta Adams with Isaac Cates & Ordained- Old Mission United Methodist Church
3. Mary Gauthier- Knuckleheads
4. UMKC Opera’s “Acis and Galatea”- White Recital Hall
5. Dare- 7th Heaven
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
10. Sentenced 2 Die- 7th Heaven
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.