Album Review: Aja Monet- When the Poems Do What They Do

I realized I was irrevocably attached to When the Poems Do What They Do as I snapped my fingers to a line I ordinarily would have considered irredeemably cringey.

On “For Sonia,” a track at the midpoint of the 83-minute album, Aja Monet recalls “when I first showed up to the community organizing meeting I uttered the word ‘poetry’ and their faces sunk with confusion.”

My face is illuminated with elation.  Partly because the self-described “surrealist blues poet” collaborates with elite musicians on When the Poems Do What They Do, I’m invested in each of Monet’s lines.

Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, the trumpeter formerly known as Christian Scott, bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Marcus Gilmore transform an otherwise dicey proposition into consequential art.

Album Review: Jason Moran- From the Dancehall to the Battlefield

Jason Moran aggravated me when he released From the Dancehall to the Battlefield on January 1.  Issuing what at the moment seemed like 2023’s album of the year on New Year’s Day took much of the suspense out of the artistic horse race.

Inspired in part by the life and music of James Reese Europe, Moran refreshes the music made by the groundbreaking bandleader more than a century ago.  Respectful but forward-thinking, he filters pre-jazz “syncopated” music through the subsequent innovations of Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Albert Ayler, Randy Weston and Henry Threadgill.

I heard an entirely different version of the American music of World War I on Wednesday, June 7.  Frederick Hodges’ 50-minute "Music Will Win the War" fascinating presentation at the National World War I Museum and Memorial focused on the sound of Tin Pan Alley.

Yes, that’s me lurking in the back during the second half of the concert.  I was driven from my seat by a man with an ominous cough.  I hope I don’t miss an opportunity to catch a performance of From the Dancehall to the Battlefield before succumbing to whatever I may have picked up at the museum.

Album Review: Henry Threadgill- The Other One

My relationship with the music of Henry Threadgill was initiated by mild trauma.  I worked as a clerk at Penny Lane Records in the 1980s.  The late LeRoi Johnson, then a prominent Kansas City personality, was my manager.  He made me the store’s jazz buyer.

Elation turned to anguish when LeRoi took to scolding me about unsold inventory.  Because it was alphabetically exposed at the beginning of the jazz section, an unsold copy of Air Mail, the 1981 album by Threadgill’s band Air, was often used as the opening salvo of LeRoi’s tongue-lashings.

Partly to make my numbers look better and also because I was very curious about its contents, I bought the store’s copy of Threadgill’s 1987 album Easily Slip Into Another World without having heard a note.  I’ve been chasing that high ever since.

Easily Slip Into Another World taught me highbrow art and party music aren’t mutually exclusive.  I wouldn’t have known what to make of The Other One, Threadgill’s difficult new album, forty years ago.  Yet in 2023, the confluence of dense chamber music and recondite jazz is my sweet spot.

Stompin' in KC

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I attended three incredible but woefully attended performances by Kansas City musicians on January 4.  After wishing someone would shine a brighter light on the best music being made in Kansas City, I realized that someone was me.  I elected to return to KCUR.  Here’s my audio feature about Mike Dillon, one of the artists I heard that fateful night five months ago.  And here are my June concert recommendations for KCUR.  While I’m at it, I should mention my wildly unpopular Kansas City jazz blog Plastic Sax.

May 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Glyndbourne’s production of Don Giovanni by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of May

1. Rudy Royston’s Flatbed Buggy- Day

Bumpy ride.

2. Billy Woods and Kenny Segal- Maps

The right direction.

3. Shirley Collins- Archangel Hill

Time out of mind.

4. Joe Lovano, Marilyn Crispell and Carmen Castaldi- Our Daily Bread

Holy communion.

5. Roomful of Teeth- Rough Magic

My review.

6. Atmosphere- So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously

Atmosphere finally made a good record.

7. Kassa Overall- Animals

Pigs on the wing.

8. Béla Fleck- As We Speak

With Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer and Rakesh Chaurasia.

9. Slowspin- Talisman

Hounds of love.

10. Rod Fleeman- Saturday Afternoon Live at Green Lady Lounge, Vol. 2

My review.

Top Ten Songs of May

1. Megan Maroney- “Kansas Anymore”

Getting out of Dodge.

2. Kevin Morby- “Going to Prom”

Time the revelator.

3. That Mexican OT featuring Paul Wall and Drodi- "Johnny Dang"

Ice.

4. Paris Texas- "Bullet Man"

Who shot ya?

5. SleazyWorld Go with Polo G- “Off the Court”

Trust the process.

6. Peso Pluma- "Bye"

I say hello.

7. Speakers Corner Quartet featuring Kae Tempest- "Geronimo Blues"

Stump speech.

8. Sparks- "Gee, That Was Fun"

Au revoir.

9. $uicideboy$- “Realism vs Idealism”

No limit.

10. Lil’ Keke- "Motion"

OG.

Top Ten Performances of May

1. Tim Bernardes at Mississippi Studios

My review.

2. Yujia Shen at Diastole Scholars Center

My review.

3. Off!, Upchuck and Weaponize Chomsky at recordBar

My Instagram clips are here, here and here.

4. Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Michael Hurley at Aladdin Theater

My review.

5. Hot Chip and Cadence Weapon at Wonder Ballroom

My Instagram clips are here and here.

6. Janet Jackson and Ludacris at T-Mobile Center

My Instagram image.

7. Stone & Sue at the Portland Farmers Market

My Instagram clip.

8. Rod Fleeman Trio at Green Lady Lounge

My Instagram clip.

9. Drew Williams Quartet at Westport Coffee House

My review.

10. Luke Tarter at Portland International Airport

Elton John melodies unnerved me amid flight delays.

The previous monthly survey is here.

Album Review: Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra- Space Is the Place (Music From the Original Soundtrack)

Last night I told the leader of a gypsy jazz band that I sometimes wonder why I listen to anything but Django Reinhardt.  Twelve hours later, I’m considering dedicating the remainder of my life to the music of Sun Ra.  Basking in a new expanded reissue of the soundtrack to the 1974 film about “the other worlds they have not told you of” further enhances my appreciation of the iconoclast.  Heavy and hilarious, Space Is the Place is a touchstone for much of my favorite contemporary music made by the likes of Alter Destiny, Moor Mother and Kassa Overall.

Album Review: Seth Andrew Davis- Fondue Shube

If the best works of art necessitate a reconsideration of commonplace elements of everyday life, Seth Andrew Davis’ new album Fondue Shube is resoundingly profound.  The Kansas City musician describes the release as “Brutalist Maximalist Noise.”  It took me several sessions to consume all 74 minutes of the pernicious album.  The aftereffect of the deliberately disagreeable clamor is startling.  The mechanical whir of a fan in my bedroom is suddenly musical.  I now seek patterns in the thrum of a neighbor’s air conditioning unit.  The dull roar of passing airplanes are transformed into songs with melodies.  Fondue Shube may not go down easily, but it’s efficacious medicine.

Concert Review: Michael Hurley and Bonnie “Prince” Billy at the Aladdin Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I was momentarily startled when I spotted Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy, at the 2018 edition of the Cropped Out festival.  The singer-songwriter wasn’t on the bill of the sorely missed Louisville festival, but he took in a magical set by Michael Hurley on the bank of the Ohio River.

Five years later, I was once again in the presence of both men at Portland’s Aladdin Theater on Monday, May 15.  I seemed to enjoy Hurley’s opening set more than any of the other 500 people in the audience.

My loud guffaws during the wildly tasteless "Ms. Petty Blues" elicited stares.  A subtle environmental protest song caused tears to well in my eyes.  Allusions to back doors and fresh pies were frequent.

Hurley’s wry humor invoked Furry Lewis while his devil-may-care nature caused him to resemble Mississippi John Hurt.  In spite of the slightly intrusive and entirely unnecessary accompaniment of a second musician, Hurley, 81, is a dynamic force in peak form.  I was bowled over.

Oldham made a gracious concession during his headlining performance: “The elephant in the room is Michael Hurley.”  It takes nothing away from Oldham to acknowledge that Hurley owned the evening.

Concert Review: Tim Bernardes at Mississippi Studios

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Jazz artists such as Eliane Elias and metal bands including Sepultura aside, I can count the number of Brazilian acts I’ve heard perform on one hand.  I added Tim Bernardes to my pathetically short list on Saturday, May 13.  Partly because he echoes the música popular brasileira of the 1970s, Mil Coisas Invisíveis was my #14 album of 2022.  I confirmed Bernardes has the voice of an angel during the solo concert.  The event was a rare opportunity for me to carouse in the presence of the Brazilians who made up the majority of the audience of about 250.  Do I dare dream of seeing Gilberto Gil one day?

Album Review: Roomful of Teeth- Rough Magic

I still have nightmares about singing countless renditions of “The Happy Wanderer” as a member of my high school glee club.  Attending a Roomful of Teeth performance at the Big Ears festival in 2019  helped me overcome my longstanding aversion to choral music.  The pleasure I take in Roomful of Teeth’s Rough Magic indicates it’s now among my favorite sounds.  Portions of the four compositions on the new album are as freaky as any form of avant-garde music.  William Brittelle’s “Psychedelics” and Peter S. Shin’s “Bits torn from words” are appropriately titled.  Caroline Shaw’s “The Isle” is based on “The Tempest.”  “None More Than You,” a room-clearer by Eve Beglarian, is my favorite piece. Rough Magic is an immensely gratifying revenge of the choir nerds.