Wrap It Up

Haters be damned. I look forward to the annual sharing of Spotify’s personalized Wrapped initiative. I already know what I listened to in 2023, but I relish seeing other people’s lists of most-streamed artists.

My enthusiasm is ironic, as the streaming revolution killed my lucrative career 20 years ago. Everyone who protests about the ethical and sonic superiority of physical recordings is welcome  to visit my home.

I spent tens of thousands of dollars building a collection of more than 5,000 LPs and CDs in the 20th century. That era is over. Streaming is a dream come true for passionate music fans with broad tastes.

The brief thank-you videos popular artists provide Spotify aren’t coerced. A thousand artists earn more than a million dollars on Spotify every year. And Spotify pays 8,000 artists more than $100,000.00 every year. Not bad for a level playing field.

Oh, by the way, here are my December concert recommendations for KCUR.

November 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Opernhaus Zürich’s production of Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of November

1. Bertrand Chamayou- Letter(s) to Erik Satie

Correspondence with John Cage.

2. Sullivan Fortner- Solo Game

Two sides of the pianist.

3. 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne- Welcome 2 Collegrove

Duffle bag boys.

4. Yuhan Su- Liberated Gesture

Good vibes.

5. DJ Manny- Hypnotized

Superior footwork.

6. Viktor Orri Árnason and Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir- Poems

Icy.

7. Thandi Ntuli and Carlos Niño- Rainbow Revisited

Sunshine.

8. Nitai Hershkovits- Call On the Old Wise

Wisdom of the elders.

9. Blockhead- The Aux

Underground all-stars.

10. Sarah Davachi and Quatuor Bozzini- Long Gradus

Deceptive drones.

Top Ten Songs of November

1.Tokischa- "Candy"

Not so sweet.

2. Danny Brown featuring Kassa Overall- "Jenn's Terrific Vacation"

An unexpected update of 2011’s “Fields”.

3. Rico Nasty, NCognita, Simon Said. and Raedio- "Lackin"

Complete.

4. Björk featuring Rosalía- "Oral"

“I just don’t know.”

5. Atmosphere- “Traveling Forever”

Never-ending tour.

6. 070 Shake featuring Ken Carson- "Natural Habitat"

Uncaged.

7. Larry June, Cardo and the Alchemist- "The Great Escape"

Free.

8. Majid Jordan- "Eyes Closed"

Smooth operator.

9. Yahritza Y Su Esencia and El Yaki- "Nos Equivocamos"

We were wrong.

10. Willi Carlisle- “When the Pills Wear Off”

Reckoning.

Top Ten Performances of November

1. András Schiff at Helzberg Hall

My review.

2. Juan Diego Flórez at the Folly Theater

My review.

3. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Listening Forest at Crystal Bridges Museum (Bentonville)

My Instagram clip.

4. The Danielle Nicole Band and Katy Guillen and the Drive at the Uptown Theater

My Instagram snapshot.

5. DJ Lucas, Papo2oo4, Subjxct 5, Paris Williams, Lil Heavn and N1n4 Freakquency at Farewell

My review.

6. Kelly Hall Tompkins at the Folly Theater

My review.

7. UMKC Opera’s “The Magic Flute” at White Recital Hall

My review.

8. Jackie Myers, Rich Wheeler and Sebastian Arias at the Market at Meadowbrook

My Instagram snapshot.

9. The Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society’s “Intersect & Interdependence” at Charlotte Street Foundation

My Instagram clip.

10. East Hill Singers at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church 

My Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly survey is here.

Concert Review: Juan Diego Flórez at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The ticket I purchased for Juan Diego Flórez’s recital at the Folly Theater on Sunday, November 26, cost about as much as a bottle of generic cough syrup. The discounted front row seat I grabbed in the Harriman Jewell-Series’ Black Friday sale compels me to prepare for the worst.

Flórez, one of the most popular opera stars of the past 25 years, suffered from a cold. The tenor sniffed, snuffled and cleared his throat throughout his appearance. After sitting just ten feet from Flórez, I’m at risk of contracting the bug.

Given the magnificence of the recital, I won’t be resentful should I fall ill. His range may have been reduced, but Flórez didn’t seem to have trouble projecting his unamplified instrument. I considered popping in earplugs at intermission.

Flórez thrilled dozens of his fellow Peruvians in the audience of about 700 in an encore without pianist Vincenzo Scalera. He accompanied himself on guitar as he belted out two or three of his country’s folk songs. Bring on the breakdown.

Concert Review: DJ Lucas, Papo2oo4 and Subjxct 5 at Farewell

Original image of Sujxct 5, DJ Lucas and Papo2oo4 by There Stands the Glass.

I made "Strange Art Rap Decisions" on Wednesday, November 22. A friend with compatible taste encouraged me to attend a rap show at Farewell headlined by DJ Lucas. I’m glad I took his advice even though it meant spending $20 on cover charges ($10 at Farewell and $10 for a rock show next door at Howdy) and standing on cold cement for almost four hours.

Supported by the dynamic Subjxct 5 and Papo2oo4, Lucas’ outlandish raps referenced Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Carrie Underwood and Eminem. The insular Dark World crew “from out the woods” of Western Massachusetts is reminiscent of Kansas City’s Black Clover and the Twin Cities’ Doomtree collectives.

Standing amid three dozen people, I wondered why the immensely talented trio isn’t better known. Are the literary references too brainy? Is its musicology (Papo2oo4 shouted out the Kansas City cult figure Rich the Factor) excessively geeky? Maybe the crew’s overt drugginess is a barrier.

Also at Farewell: Paris Williams (pop-rap with guitar and drums), Lil Heavn (Lil Peep-er) and N1n4 Freakquency (industrial footwork). And at Howdy: The Blast Monkeys (Tonganoxie pop-punk), Ivory Daze (grunge revivalists) and Island Policy (Topeka’s Puddle of Mudd).

Opera Review: UMKC Conservatory’s Die Zauberflöte at White Recital Hall

Original image of the temple “boys” at curtain call by There Stands the Glass.

Five years ago, I didn’t know the difference between Puccini and Verdi. I discovered I’ve since become an odious opera elitist at White Recital Hall on Thursday, November 16. The alterations made to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in a UMKC Conservatory production outraged me. Yet even when condensed, sanitized and slightly dumbed down, Mozart’s genius still shines brightly. The orchestra conducted by Nicholas Perry Clark performed commendably. Among the solid cast, I most enjoyed Angelo Silva as Tamino, the three attendants of the Queen of the Night and the three “boys” of the temple. I paid $25 to sit amid the audience of about 250. The production streams here. My sniveling reservations aside, it’s well worth watching.

Concert Review: András Schiff at Helzberg Hall

Pre-recital image by There Stands the Glass.

Unlike her intemperate husband, my life partner isn’t prone to hyperbole. So I took notice when she proclaimed “this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience” during the intermission of András Schiff’s solo piano recital at Helzberg Hall on Tuesday, November 14.

Indeed, the circumstances were fortuitous. I purchased tickets for a pair of seats in the third row when a deep discount was offered to the public by The Friends of Chamber Music on Halloween. We were ideally positioned to witness Schiff’s delicate fingering and pedal work amid the attentive audience of about 1,000.

Schiff made eye contact with us while introducing each selection with illuminating and highly entertaining analysis. And what music! By my count, he rendered four pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, two apiece by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert and single selections by Joseph Hayden and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The centuries-old works seemed brand new in Schiff’s hands. He seemed aware of the transcendent“once-in-a-lifetime” spell he cast as he played for well over two hours. Even at 70, Schiff gave the impression that he was entirely willing to perform all night.

The Top Kansas City Albums, EPs and Reissues of 2023

The Top 25 Kansas City Albums of 2023

1. Matt Otto- Umbra*

Plastic Sax review.

2. Mike Dillon and Punkadelick- Inflorescence

Plastic Sax review.

3. Adam Larson- With Love, From New York City*

Plastic Sax review.

4. Ampichino and Rich the Factor- Midwest Tygoons*

Real orcas.

5. Stik Figa and The Expert- Ritual*

“It’s Stik Figa, mayne!”

6. Enzo Carniel, Hermon Mehari, Stéphane Adsuar and Damien Varaillon- No(w) Beauty

Plastic Sax review.

7. Pat Metheny- Dream Box

Plastic Sax review.

8. Janelle Monaé- The Age of Pleasure

Decadent.

9. Torches Mauve- Volume Two*

Plastic Sax review.

10. Flooding- Silhouette Machine

Dark shadows.

11. Mireya Ramos & the Poor Choices- Sin Fronteras

Cantinas and honky tonks.

12. Sweeping Promises- Good Living Is Coming For You

Look out below.

13. Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton- Death Wish Blues

A blaze of glory.

14. The Floozies- Porty Hord

Gort dorn.

15. Kansas Virtuosi- Luis Humberto Salgado

Ecuadorian expedition.

16. Tech N9ne- Bliss*

Bliss-ish.

17. The Whiffs- Scratch n' Sniff

Pub rock.

18. Krista Kopper- Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

There Stands the Glass review.

19. The Count Basie Orchestra- Swings the Blues*

Plastic Sax review.

20. LaVelle- Promise to Love

Between the sheets.

21. Danny Embrey- Orion Room

Plastic Sax review.

22. Bach Aria Soloists- Le dolce sirene

Siren songs.

23. Nick Schnebelen- What Key Is Trouble In?

There Stands the Glass review.

24. Heidi Lynne Gluck- Migrate or Die

Rumours.

25. Kelly Hunt- Ozark Symphony

Polished folk.

The Top 10 Kansas City EPs of 2023

1. Midwestern- Cartoon Network

There Stands the Glass review.

2. Missouri Executive Order 44- Seventeen Dead in Caldwell County

Savage.

3. SleazyWorld Baghdad- Debo Baghdad*

Shooter.

4. Weaponize Chomsky- Time Destroys Everything

Dialectical materialism.

5. Conductor Williams- Conductor We Have a Problem

The preferred sound of 2023.

6. Kevin Morby- Music From Montana Story

Big skies.

7. Spine- Raîces

Furia.

8. Alyssa Murray- Scrollin'

Plastic Sax review.

9. The Bitter Lake Association- My Life Inside a Movie Scene

A one-person greeting committee.

10. Eggs on Mars- Warm Breakfast

Tasty.

The Top 5 Kansas City Reissues of 2023

1. SleazyWorld Go- Where the Shooters Be 2

Star light, star bright.

2. Charlie Parker- Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings

Refreshed sound for the storied 1953 date.

3. Fred Davis- Cleveland Blues

Buried treasure.

4. Basie All Stars-  Live at Fabrik Hamburg 1981, Vol. 1

Shiny stockings.

5. The Noise FM- Deleted Scenes: Unreleased Hits 2013-2023

Appropriately titled.

*One or more of the musician’s additional 2023 recordings were excluded from these listings to make room for titles by other artists.

Last year’s rankings are here.

Concert Review: Kelly Hall-Tompkins at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

“Fiddler on the Roof” is my favorite musical. “Do You Love Me?” is my favorite “Fiddler on the Roof” song. The winsome ballad was performed in the style of French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli at the Folly Theater on Friday, November 10. The rendering rewarded my decision to dedicate the evening to Kelly Hall-Tompkins’ free recital presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series. The violinist known for her role as the titular instrumentalist in the most recent Broadway revival of “Fiddler on the Roof” was accompanied by an accordionist, guitarist and bassist. All but three or four selections were instrumental arrangements of selections from the musical. An audience of approximately 500 took in charming  interpretations of the familiar melodies.

Sally, Take My Hand: A Lapsed Fan Revisits Who’s Next

Describing his teenage infatuation with the literary giant in Vanity of Deluoz, Jack Kerouac wrote “only adolescents appreciate Thomas Wolfe… because he’s the kind of writer you can just about only read once, and deeply and slowly, discovering, and having discovered, move away”

I’ve felt much the same way about the Who for the past forty years. As a teen, Who’s Next, Quadrophenia and Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy acted as primary sources of inspiration and solace. I’ve had no use for those albums as an adult.

Who’s Next / Life Hous Super Deluxe Edition, a new ten-hour reissue of the 1971 touchstone, compelled me to revisit my youth. Aside from the comical outlier “My Wife”, I can only appreciate the songs from a distance. Sadly, the hours of additional material are only of marginal interest to me. I can’t go home again.

October 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Garsington Opera’s production of Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of October

1. Bad Bunny- Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana

Carpe diem.

2. Sylvie Courvoisier- Chimaera

Spectral.

3. Gucci Mane- Breath of Fresh Air

Rap redemption.

4. John Scofield- Uncle John’s Band

How does the song go?

5. Fuerza Regida- Pa las Baby’s y Belikeada

Party central.

6. Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra- 

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 2, 3, 12 & 13

The ponderous soul of Russia.

7. Ava Mendoza- Echolocation

My review.

8. Allison Miller- Rivers in Our Veins

Freewheeling jazz.

9. Nathan Davis- Neutral Buoyant

Psaltery.

10. Daniel Villarreal- Lados B

Raw grooves with Jeff Parker and Anna Butterss.

Top Ten Songs of October

1. Kali Uchis- "Te Mata"

Wayback machine #1.

2. Esperanza Spalding- "Não Ao Marco Temporal"

Wayback machine #2.

3. Holly Macve and Lana Del Rey- “Suburban House”

Cul-de-sac.

4. The Streets- “Gonna Hurt When This Is Over”

Such sublime sadness.

5. Danny Brown- "Tantor"

Chaos agent.

6. Ken Carson- "Jennifer's Body"

Tomorrow’s sounds today.

7. Tainy with J Balvin, Young Miko and Jowell & Randy- "Colmillo"

Everything at once.

8. Yebba- "Waterfall (I Adore You)"

Chasing.

9. Flatland Cavalry- "Spinnin'"

Heartsick honky tonk.

10. Drake- “IDGAF”

An extended ECM Records sample!

Top Ten Performances of October

1. Hilary Hahn at the Folly Theater

My review.

2. Thomas Rosenkranz at White Recital Hall

My review.

3. Samara Joy at the Folly Theater

My review.

4. Brent Cobb and Meg McRee and Knuckleheads

My review.

5. Alien Nosejob, Citric Dummies and CKrit at Howdy

My review.

6. Chamber Music Masterclass with Michael Stern at Helzberg Hall

My Instagram photo.

7. Stan Kessler, Brant Jester, Bob Bowman and Zach Morrow at the Blue Room

My Instagram clip.

8. Vintage Crop, Jackoffs and Konrad Hell and the Highwaters at Farewell

My review.

9. Carl Butler, Dennis LaFoon and Terry Hancock- Gospel Lounge at the Gospel Lounge

My Instagram clip.

10. Musica Sacra- Arrupe Hall at Rockhurst

My Instagram photo.

The previous monthly survey is here.