Recital Review: Lawrence Brownlee at the Lied Center

Original image of Kevin Miller and Lawrence Brownlee by There Stands the Glass.

One of the most rewarding things about residing in the Kansas City area is also one of the most discouraging elements about life in the center of the country. Disinterest in what’s dismissed by others as highbrow art allows a lowbrow hick like me incredible access to topflight performances of classical music.

I bought two front-row center tickets to Lawrence Brownlee’s appearance at the Lied Center on Tuesday, March 19, for $21 apiece on Cyber Monday last November. Brownlee has been my favorite operatic tenor since he and Eric Owens stunned me at the Folly Theater in 2019.

The 2,000-seat venue was at about ten percent capacity for the star who regularly appears on the world’s most prestigious stages. Brownlee and pianist Kevin Miller didn’t disappoint. 

The recital featuring familiar Italian arias, art songs by Austrian composer Joseph Marx and contemporary works from Brownlee’s Grammy-nominated 2023 album Rising couldn’t have been more rewarding. Kudos to presenters who continue to program decidedly unpopular music in the hinterlands.

Much as some professional sports franchises opt for a “best player available” philosophy when drafting talent, I’ll keep allotting my resources to the best deals available regardless of style. Regrettably, I’m priced out of next week’s Bad Bunny concert.

Opera Review: Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s Roméo et Juliette at Muriel Kauffman Theatre

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The last vestiges of skepticism left my mind during the fourth act of Charles Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” on Sunday, March 17. Only then was I willing to acknowledge that I was taking in a very good production. 

Even from my $39 seat in the back row of Muriel Kauffman Theatre I was moved by the chemistry between Ben Bliss and Andriana Chuchman. Most of the voices successfully traversed the vast space between the stage and my remote location. 

Compelling visuals were complemented by conspicuous direction that allowed me to track the action without opera glasses. And The Kansas City Symphony sounded more than serviceable.

I’ve misspent my time and money on a few disappointing nights with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. It may not have been particularly fashionable or fresh, but the production of “Roméo et Juliette” was grand opera done right.

Album Review: That Mexican OT- Texas Technician

The lineups assembled by the Tacos & Tequila festival franchise make me giddy. Fat Joe! Twista! Chingy! Mike Jones! David Banner! The music those guys made in their primes was once very important to me. That Mexican OT refreshes the hip-hop of that era with his distinctive voice and superlative flow. Even though the shock of the new has already faded and the recording is far from perfect, the rapper’s latest album Texas Technician is a blast. As he says on "02.02.99", he “can’t be nobody other.”

Concert Review: Ema Nikolovska at the Folly Theater

Sharing the gloriously odd feature embedded above is the best way to illustrate why I’m smitten with Ema Nikolovska. I was swooning by the conclusion of the operatic vocalist’s United States recital debut at the Folly Theater on Wednesday, March 6.

The voice of the Berlin resident and native Macedonian is good, but good voices are a dime a dozen. Nikolovska is special because she’s a goofball. Her quirky sense of humor and bold creativity are distinctive qualities in the po-faced realm of classical music.

Her delivery of typical repertoire- art songs by Franz Schubert and a set of Claude Debussy compositions she characterized as “a lot of ennui”- was faultless. Yet the unconventional elements of the program were best.

A reading of Margaret Bonds’ “Songs of the Seasons” was exceptionally romantic. The sympathetic playing of pianist Howard Watkins enhanced each endearing moment.

Even better, Nikolovska’s take on Nicolas Slonimsky’s “Five Advertising Songs” almost had the audience of about 300 rolling in the aisles. (Here’s the original "Children Cry".) Paying the Harriman-Jewell Series $20 for the recital was a deal, even if it wasn’t half as freaky as the video.

Album Review: Julian Lage- Speak To Me

I thought I liked innovation. I guess I was wrong. I’ve long taken pride in my embrace of sonic experimentation. Apparently, I was kidding myself. Speak to Me, the new album by Julian Lage on Blue Note Records, was among my most anticipated releases of 2024. The guitarist is one of my favorite musicians. Furthermore, I admire almost everything connected to Joe Henry, the producer of Speak to Me. Lage’s collaborators are first-rate. Speak to Me is both innovative and experimental. And yet I loathe it. The sound is new and the musicianship is faultless, but the resulting music is incomprehensibly bland and lifeless. I won’t give up. There’s a one in five chance I’ll post a mea culpa before the end of the year.

February 2024 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Lise Davidsen in the trailer for the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La forza del destino.”

The Top Ten Albums of February 

1. Heems- Lafandar
My review.

2. Lee “Scratch” Perry- King Perry
My review.

3. Hera Hyesang Park- Breathe
The soprano’s imaginative song cycle.

4. Kali Malone- All Life Long
A secular service.

5. Joel Ross- nublues
Blue notes.

6. James Brandon Lewis Quartet- Transfiguration
The saxophonist with Aruán Ortiz, Brad Jones and Chad Taylor.

7. Ben Allison, Steve Cardenas and Ted Nash- Tell the Birds I Said Hello: The Music of Herbie Nichols
My review.

8. Arcangelo- Handel: Theodora
A revelatory new recording of the 1750 oratorio.

9. Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey- Compassion
Piano trio nonpareil.

10. DJ Harrison- Shades of Yesterday
My review.

The Top Ten Songs of February 

1. Little Simz- “Mood Swings”
Schizophrenic.

2. GloRilla- “Yeah Glo!”
Glow-up.

3. Terrace Martin- “Kill Bill”
Smooth jazz revival.

4. Scott H. Biram- “Inside a Bar”
Set ‘em, Joe.

5. Sierra Ferrell- “I Could Drive You Crazy”
Insane earworm.

6. Ducks Ltd.- "On Our Way to the Rave"
Another jangle-pop miracle.

7. Thee Sinseers- “Hold On”
Little bit o’ soul.

8. Hatis Noit featuring Armand Hammer- "Jomon (Preservation Rework)"
Ancient to the future.

9. Gabito Ballesteros and Natanael Cano- "Proyecto X"
Trippy corrido tumbado.

10. Logan Richardson- “Black to the Point”
My album review.

The Top Ten Performances of February 

1. Militarie Gun, Pool Kids, Spiritual Cramp and Spacing at recordBar
My review.

2. Folk Alliance International Conference, Day One (Willi Carlisle, Justin Adams and Mauro Durante, Freedy Johnston)
My review.

3. Jeremy Denk at the Folly Theater
My review.

4. Folk Alliance International Conference, Day Three (Jolie Holland, Ensemble Sangineto, Mitsune)
My review.

5. Folk Alliance International Conference, Day Two (Trond Kallevåg, Louisa Stancioff, Humbird)
My review.

6. Jackie Myers, Rich Wheeler and Jeff Harshbarger at the Market at Meadowbrook
​​My Instagram snapshot.

7. Desmond Mason, Angela Ward, DeAndre Manning and Jaylen Ward at the Blue Room
My Instagram clip.

8. The Kansas City Wind Symphony at Village Presbyterian Church
My Instagram snapshot.

9. Pinnacle Winds at St. Peter & All Saints Episcopal Church
My Instagram clip.

10. Mire Pral at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram clip.

The previous monthly recap is here.

Concert Review: Militarie Gun, Pool Kids, Spiritual Cramp and Spaced at recordBar

Original image of Militarie Gun by There Stands the Glass.

I’ve never listened to Jethro Tull’s 1976 album Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die, but an inversion of the title came to me as I was repeatedly jostled by the outer ripples of the mosh pit at recordBar on Sunday, February 25. I’m not too old to rock ‘n’ roll: I’m not too young to die.

Ten years older than the second most aged person in the capacity audience of 400, I knew I looked out of place. As a weirdo who attended his first punk show more than 45 years ago, the noise made by Militarie Gun, Pool Kids, Spiritual Cramp and Spacing is an integral part of my musical DNA.

I fell in love with Militarie Gun’s shouty form of punk when I first encountered it on Sham 69’s "Hurry Up Harry" in 1978. As Militarie Gun put it in 2023, Harry should "Do It Faster".

Pool Kids’ technical emo sent me back to Warped Tour circa 2012. I don't care for its style, but the quartet’s infectious exuberance won me over. On the other hand, Spiritual Cramp hooked me from the get-go. Its furious garage-rock is precisely my thing.

The three-and-a-half hour show began with a blast of hardcore fun from Spaced. As it’s from the underground punk world I’ve rediscovered and gratefully inhabited in the aftermath of the pandemic, the Buffalo band brought me full circle.

Turn! Turn! Turn!

Original image of Jolie Holland and Anna Moss by There Stands the Glass.

I immersed myself in sweeping swathes of sound at the Folk Alliance International Conference when I wasn’t working on a related story that will air soon on KCUR. The choose-your-own-adventure component of the expansive annual summit is enormously appealing. In addition to conventional American folk, I heard Scottish balladeers, Ukrainian hurdy-gurdy, Italian chamber music and Malaysian bedroom pop. I’ve ranked my favorite of the approximately fifty performances I took in at the industry gathering.

1. Willi Carlisle (My Instagram clip.)

2. Jolie Holland (photo above)

3. Justin Adams and Mauro Durante (My Instagram clip.)

4. Trond Kallevåg (My Instagram clip.)

5. Louisa Stancioff (My Instagram clip.)

6. Ensemble Sangineto (My Instagram clip.)

7. Allysen Callery (Sandy Denny lives.)

8. Scott H. Biram (My Instagram clip.)

9. Humbird (political prog-folk)

10. Mitsune (My Instagram snapshot.)

The conference is leaving Kansas City. A friend invited me to join him in Montreal for next year’s conference. It’s a tempting proposition.

Album Review: Heems- Lafandar

I don’t care for stand-up comedy. Yet when set to beats and delivered with an astute flow, the jokes of a witty punchline rapper delight me. I’ve been laughing out loud to Heems for 14 years. His wisecracks are as witty as ever on his new album Lafandar. Song titles like “Stupid Dumb Illiterates” and “Baba Ganoush” and illustrious guest rappers including Kool Keith and Your Old Droog are indicative of the highfalutin hilarity found on Lafandar.

Album Review: DJ Harrison- Shades of Yesterday

I’m vexed by the popularity of a Steely Dan tribute act in my town. As dozens of worthy jazz musicians struggle for a smidgeon of attention, covers of “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” play to full houses. I have misgivings about Shades of Yesterday for similar reasons. DJ Harrison’s lovingly rendered yacht-jazz readings of vintage songs by the likes of Cameo, Donald Fagen and War strike me as unnecessary. So why am I bothering to complain? Not only can I not stop playing Shades of Yesterday, I anticipate the album will be in heavy rotation on my patio this spring. After my friends and neighbors hear a version of the Ohio Players’ “Together” followed by a reading of the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” they won’t wanna call nobody else.