Concert Review: Jeremy Denk at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The author of a recent guest essay in The New York Times ponders the “divine presence” in mathematics. The transcendent math logic embedded in the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach has long been studied by scholars.

Jeremy Denk emphasized the spirituality conveyed in the calculations made by Bach four centuries ago in rapturous interpretations of all six Bach partitas on Tuesday, February 13, at the Folly Theater.

Once again, I purchased bargain-priced front row tickets. More than 300 patrons were obligated to look at the back of my head as the pianist made frequent eye contact with me for more than two hours. My date suggested Denk’s animated flirtations possessed a “look ma, I’m playing Bach!” sensibility. His mugging reminded me of Fats Waller. 

Although he emphasizes Bach’s earthly uplift rather than the ghostly solemnity András Schiff imparted at Muriel Kauffman Theatre in November, Denk isn’t shallow. Intimations of divine inspiration pierced the veil throughout the recital presented by The Friends of Chamber Music.

Album Review: Sunny Five- Candid

Why do jazz musicians make pathetically anemic sounds when they turn their talents to popular music? Otherwise exemplary improvisational musicians are invariably inept in rock, pop, R&B and hip-hop contexts. Happily, there are exceptions to the rule. Candid is a recent instance. Five vaunted heroes of underground music- Tim Berne, David Torn, Marc Ducret, Devin Hoff and Ches Smith- successfully meld post-punk noise with free jazz on the 71-minute album. Mean and dirty, Candid is what might have resulted had Peter Brötzmann been a founding member of Sonic Youth or what might happen if Mats Gustafsson sat in with Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Affiliates of the jazz police and punk purists will be repelled, but tracks like "Craw" are as natural as they are necessary.

Album Review: Lee “Scratch” Perry- King Perry

I occasionally bask in the surreal memory of a 2009 performance by Lee “Scratch” Perry at the Beaumont Club in Kansas City. The Upsetter died in 2021. His new posthumous album King Perry is everything I might have hoped for. The sounds range from the loopy dub he pioneered to the futuristic ambient pop spawned by his inventiveness. Taut but not uptight, the collection overflows with eternal soul fire.

Young Man, Are You Listening to Me?

Original image of the historic YMCA building in Kansas City’s Jazz District by There Stands the Glass.

I’m slated to attend musical performances on each of the first four days of February. While it’d be tempting to keep the streak alive, I’m not well. Health concerns and corresponding insurance headaches are consuming much of my energy. Still, I intend to hit three or four of the February concerts I highlighted for KCUR.

January 2024 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Oper Graz’s production of Giuseppi Verdi’s Macbeth by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of January

1. Willi Carlisle- Critterland
Folk masterstroke.

2. Abdullah Ibrahim- 3
The octogenarian in peak form.

3. Piotr Anderszewski- Bartók, Janáček, Szymanowski
On an overgrown path.

4. Philip Glass- Solo
Greatest hits hits hits hits hits hits hits hits.

5. Kali Uchis- Orquídeas
Panoramic pop.

6. Betty Bryant- Lotta Livin’
My review.

7. Luis R Conriquez- Corridos Bélicos, Vol. IV
What border?

8. Danielle Nicole- The Love You Bleed
My audio feature for KCUR.

9. The Smile- Wall of Eyes
Frippery.

10. Behzod Abduraimov- Shadows of My Ancestors
Prokofiev, Saidaminova and Ravel.


Top Ten Songs of January

1. Joel Ross- “bach (God the Father in Eternity)”
Sanctified.

2. Brian Harnetty- "The Workbench"
A loving sound collage.

3. Mary Halvorson- “Desiderata”
Now that’s what I call shredding!

4. Idles- "Gift Horse"
Ugly as homemade sin.

5. Sleater-Kinney- "Small Finds"
Needles.

6. Sprints- "Heavy"
Gravity.

7. Erick the Architect featuring George Clinton- "Ezekiel's Wheel"
Cosmic slop.

8. SleazyWorld Go- ​​"32 Bars"
Shots fired.

9. Ana Tijoux featuring Pablo Chili-E- "Dime que"
Chee-chee-chee, lay-lay-lay.

10. Ufo361 featuring lucidbeats and Ken Carson- "RICK OWENS"
If the shoe fits…

Top Ten Concerts of January

1. Isata Kanneh-Mason and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Helzberg Hall
My review.

2. UMKC Conservatory’s “Suor Angelica” at the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center
My Instagram photo.

3. Joyce DiDonato’s master class at Helzberg Hall
My Instagram photo.

4. Joyce DiDonato with the Kansas City Symphony at Helzberg Hall
My review.

5. Arnold Young’s RoughTet at Westport Coffee House
My Instagram clip.

6. Wire Town at Green Lady Lounge
My Instagram clip.

7. Bryan Hicks, Matt Otto and Charles Gatschet at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram photo.

8. Cynthia van Roden at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram clip.

9. Jun Iwasaki’s violin master class at Helzberg Hall
My Instagram photo.

10. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s master class at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church
My Instagram photo.



The previous monthly recap is here.

Concert Review: Isata Kanneh-Mason and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Helzberg Hall

Original image of Vasily Petrenko and Isata Kanneh-Mason by There Stands the Glass.

The rough patch I’m pushing through worsened when my aged Prius didn’t start on Tuesday, January 24. I discovered that jump-starting a hybrid ain’t easy. After overcoming the challenge, I spent much of the day in the waiting room of a car dealership.

An ace in the hole kept me on an even keel. I purchased discounted front-row tickets for a concert by Isata Kanneh-Mason and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Helzberg Hall on Black Friday two months ago.

I caught the eminent talents for what I might have paid for lunch from the dealership’s vending machines had I not packed my own provisions. As long as presenters of classical music price front row tickets like worthless trash, I’ll continue to buy the undervalued treasures.

Sore neck aside, the primary disadvantage to sitting a few feet from the musicians is the distorted sound field. The proximity of RPO’s massive violin section sometimes drowned out the distant harp in the interpretation of Claude Debussy’s “Danse” that opened the concert.

I feared the Steinway piano perilously rolled out for Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 might slip off the stage and fall into my lap. Instead, it helped provide an out of body experience. Accentuated by my extreme vantage point, Kenneh-Mason’s adept handling of the bonkers piece induced delirium. 

The hallucinatory quality of the riveting footage of Martha Argerich’s 1977 reading of the composition with the London Symphony Orchestra parallels my extraordinary encounter. The version of Sergei Rachmaninov’s ponderous Symphony No. 2 brought me back to  harsh reality. The symphony’s length compelled me to recall last month’s bucket list endurance contest.

I’m not complaining about my position amid approximately 1,000 concertgoers. Counting the beads of sweat streaming down the face of the demonstrative conductor Vasily Petrenko and reading along with the violinists’ sheet music were sensational diversions.

Concert Review: Joyce DiDonato at Helzberg Hall

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Deanna Ray Eberhart fangirled during her session at a master class conducted by Joyce DiDonato at Helzberg Hall on Thursday, January 11. Rather than responding appropriately to a vocal example provided by DiDonato, Eberhart exclaimed something like “hearing that up close is so cool!”

I completely sympathize with Eberhart. DiDonato, the iconic international star from Prairie Village, Kansas, was my 2022 Artist of the Year. DiDonato’s innovation approach has been a key component of my gradual embrace of operatic music. Her magnificent voice is among my favorite instruments.

I spent $39 for a lousy seat high above the stage during the first of DiDonato’s three concerts with the Kansas City Symphony on Friday, January 12. Yet for a moment I felt something akin to Eberhart’s experience. Due to an odd acoustical effect, the first offstage missive made by DiDonato in her dramatic entrance to Charles Ives’ ethereal “The Unanswered Question” seemed as if it had been whispered directly into my ear.

Nothing else in the lengthy program equaled the Ives, although a rendition of Gustav Mahler’s "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" appeared to be excellent from my dicey location. I also relished DiDonato’s separate encores of Strauss’ “Morgen!” and sappy but heartrending readings of “Danny Boy” and “Shenandoah”.

I won’t include my opinions about the remainder of the program here, other than to note intriguing new pieces by Joel Thompson and Chen Yi and Zhou Long were performed. Rather than splurging on a good seat for the two repeat performances this weekend, I might binge on a few of the hours of previous DiDonato master classes online.

Album Review: Ambrose Akinmusire- Owl Song

Nonesuch Records didn’t do Ambrose Akinmusire any favors by releasing Owl Song on December 15. I didn’t hear the trumpeter’s collaboration with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley until last week. Serene but never insipid, Owl Song is the finest form of chamber jazz. Akinmusire’s exquisite Beauty Is Enough is #43 on my Top Albums of 2023 list. Given time to fully absorb the recording, Owl Song would likely have placed between #5 and #15 in my rankings.

Indoor Fireworks

Original image of the Altons at Lemonade Park by There Stands the Glass.

I take a break from nightlife in the weeks preceding and following New Year’s Day. It’s a dangerous tradition. I’ll eventually decide that I’m no longer committed to spending more than 100 nights a year in bars, concert halls and arenas. I probably won’t give way in 2024. I’ve already purchased tickets to two of my ten January concert recommendations for KCUR.

Meditations: My Year in Books

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I panicked when I discovered I’d mistakenly packed a book I’d already read on a recent trip. Plans on the first day of vacation were altered so I could acquire a hefty volume to tide me over. The essential role books play in my life is reflected in this year’s tally- I consumed 104 volumes in 2023. Though I read Toni Morrison’s 2022 essay Recitatif on New Year’s Day and will finish her 2003 novel Love on New Year’s Eve, my curriculum ranged from ancient Greeks to contemporary fiction. A sampling of my autodidactic syllabus follows.


Favorite: Miguel de Cervantes- Don Quixote (1605)
1.023 pages of hilarity.

Most Impactful: Marcus Aurelius- Meditations (180)
Thoughts on a meaningful life.

Best Spiritual: Saint Augustine- Confessions (400)
A rewarding slog.

Best Music: Jeremy Eichler- Time’s Echo: The Second World War, The Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance (2023)
Strauss, Schoenberg, Britten and Shostakovich.

Most Entertaining: Charles Dickens- David Copperfield (1850)
Rags to riches.

Best Autobiography: Maya Angelou- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)
Captivating.

Best Biography: Richard Koloda- Holy Ghost: The Life & Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler (2022)

Best Romance: Jane Austen- Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Elinor and Marianne.

Best Travel: Bruce Chatwin- What Am I Doing Here (1988)
Motivational.

Third Time’s a Charm: Virginia Woolf- Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
I was finally up to the challenge.

Biggest Disappointment: Bernard Malamud- The Natural (1952)
Strikeout.

Nicest Surprise: Voltaire- Candide (1759)
I didn’t expect rakish vulgarity.

Goriest: Jerzy Kosiński- The Painted Bird (Grove Press 1965)
A catalog of atrocities.

Darkest: Evan S. Connell- Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn (1984)
Shame.

Best Local Interest: John Williams- Stoner (1965)
Misery in Columbia, Missouri.


Last year’s book survey is here. I post every book I read to my Instagram account.