On May 31, 1982, forty-five days after the release of their landmark album Shoot Out the Lights, Richard and Linda Thompson performed with their band at Parody Hall in Kansas City. A young numskull, I was incapable of fully grasping the emotional dynamic on display. The couple’s marriage didn’t survive the year. I’ve subsequently admired the individual output of both artists. Until now, however, I’ve never been infatuated with a recording by Linda Thompson. The unusual backstory of the wondrous Proxy Music necessitates a stylistic range accentuating Thompson’s skill as a songwriter. The eleven songs are funny, heart-wrenching and illuminating. "Those Damn Roches", the self-referential closing selection, further reveals the wry sense of humor exhibited on the all-time-great album cover.

William Brownlee

June 21, 2024

Album Review: David Crowell- Point/Cloud

William Brownlee

June 21, 2024

Guitars are bygone relics with no place at the cutting edge of 21st century music. The specious theory draws me like a moth to a flame. It serves me right, consequently, that the sounds of guitars constitute a big chunk of the music I’ve most loved during the past six months.

The jazz guitarists Steve Cardenas and Rod Fleeman released two of my favorite albums by Kansas City artists this year. Performances by regional post-jazz guitarists Shante Clair, Seth Davis and David Lord delighted me in recent months.

I’m still surprised by my decision to catch Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett’s impressive concert in April. And two nights ago I was awed by the skronky shredding of a young guitarist with the Chicago trio Galaxxu at Charlotte Street Foundation.

As rendered by guitarists Daniel Lippel and Mak Grgic, the title suite and “Pacific Coast Highway” on Point/Cloud, the latest album by the New York composer David Crowell, contain elements of each of the styles employed by the musicians mentioned above.

Crowell’s use of jazz intonations, intimations of prog-rock and abrasive repetition verify the pertinence of guitars in 2024. Even so, the guitar-free tracks featuring Sandbox Percussion and Iva Casian-Lakos are even more interesting. On second thought, maybe guitars are, in fact, of no account.

William Brownlee

June 16, 2024

The Top Kansas City Albums and EPs of 2024 (so far)

William Brownlee

June 16, 2024

The Top Twenty Kansas City Albums of 2024 (so far)

1. Willi Carlisle- Critterland
Feral folk.

2. Betty Bryant- Lotta Livin'
Plastic Sax review.

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

4. Charles McPherson- Reverence
Plastic Sax review.

5. Waxahatchee- Tigers Blood
KC.

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

7. Logan Richardson- Sacred Garden
Plastic Sax review.

8. Danielle Nicole- The Love You Bleed
KCUR's audio feature.

9. Karrin Allyson- A Kiss for Brazil
Plastic Sax review.

10. The Kansas City Symphony- Brahms: Reimagined Orchestrations
Virgil Thomson’s arrangements.

11. WireTown- Kansas City
Plastic Sax review.

12. Scott Dean Taylor and Seth Andrew Davis- Infidels
Plastic Sax review.

13. Jennifer Knapp- Kansas 25
Reworking of 1998 milestone.

14. Alber- Lento
Electro-jazz.

15. The Hearers- elevators come undone
Grandaddy-esque.

16. Brian Scarborough- We Need the Wind
Plastic Sax review.

17. Jeff Shirley- Contigo
Plastic Sax review.

18. Michael Davidson and Ellen Sommer- Skybreak
Trombone and piano.

19. Christopher Burnett- Originals
Plastic Sax review.

20. Doubledrag- Alone With Everyone
Shoegaze.

The Top Ten Kansas City EPs of 2024 (so far)

1. Midwestern- Reflections
There Stands the Glass review.

2. Burning Bush Demo 2024
Exodus.

3. Drew Williams- Wobble
Plastic Sax review.

4. Rich the Factor- Souped Up Sofa
KC’s the town.

5. Eddie Moore- Aperture: Solo Piano Works
Plastic Sax review.

6. Nate Hofer- Decommissioned
Ambient steel guitar.

7. Rich the Factor- Souped Up Sofa 2
Midwest tygoon.

7. Little Miss Dynamite- Grow Up
Firecracker folk.

9. Scott Hrabko & The Rabbits- Other Cats, Other Bags: Vol. 2
Louche troubadour.

10. The Fun Guy- From the Attic to the Underground
Garage rock.

William Brownlee

June 12, 2024

Album Review: Tyshawn Sorey and Adam Rudolph- Archaisms II

William Brownlee

June 12, 2024

I first encountered Ennio Morricone’s “Algeri: 1 Novembre 1954” on John Zorn’s 1986 tribute album The Big Gundown. The terrifyingly insistent theme has haunted me ever since.

As part of my self-directed study in the history of the Arab diaspora, I recently watched the excruciatingly intense 1966 Italian film The Battle of Algiers. I leapt from a couch upon discovering Morricone’s doom-laden composition in its original context.

The tone of Morricone’s agitated score echoes in Archaisms II. Recorded live at Roulette last year, the album captures a quintet led by Adam Rudolph and Tyshawn Sorey in pursuance of an elevated consciousness that seems aligned with violent uprisings.

William Brownlee

June 8, 2024

Concert Review: Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire at the T-Mobile Center

William Brownlee

June 8, 2024

Original image of Lionel Richie by There Stands the Glass.

Cheesier than Wisconsin and cornier than Iowa, the music of the Alabama native Lionel Richie can be cringey. During the opening notes of several musty hits during his headlining performance at the T-Mobile Center on Thursday, June 7, the thought “oh yeah, I remember this one” was immediately followed by the realization “oh no, I never liked it.”

Even so, a quarter of the songs made my heart flutter. How I love “Brick House”, “Still” and even the tacky pop of “Say You, Say Me”! I may have been more tolerant of the remainder of Richie’s set had it preceded Earth, Wind & Fire’s audacious outing.

I purchased $25 all-in upper level tickets during Live Nation’s concert week promotion specifically to hear the current version of Earth, Wind & Fire perform timeless hits including “Shining Star”, “Reasons” and “That’s the Way of the World”. Most of the approximately 15,000 people on hand would concur with my assessment: Earth, Wind & Fire owned the evening.

William Brownlee

June 6, 2024

Album Review: Willie Nelson- The Border

William Brownlee

June 6, 2024

Don’t let all the words expended at this site fool you. The music of Willie Nelson is the true soundtrack of my life. I was raised on country music. Hearing my father sing along to the 1960s hits of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Ray Price is an indelible childhood memory.

Things changed when Nelson went rogue with the landmark Willie Nelson and Family album in 1971. My old man identified with Nelson and his longhaired compatriots like Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Hank Williams Jr. and, of course, Waylon Jennings.

Then as now, each new Nelson album is a major event in my life. The Border, released on May 31, is no exception. I tentatively rank it #36 among Nelson’s 75 studio albums.

Nelson’s debut album And Then I Wrote was released before I was born. A couple recent health scares caused me to wonder if Nelson will still be working after I’m gone. Maybe that’s as it should be. We’re aging with time, like "Yesterday's Wine".

William Brownlee

June 4, 2024

Concert Review: Nick Shoulders at Third Place Lounge

William Brownlee

June 4, 2024

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

“Another act is coming up next.” The unintentionally dismissive aside from a Kansas City based singer-songwriter at the conclusion of her set during a Manor Fest showcase last week didn’t seem to phase Nick Shoulders.

Although the Arkansas based artist has more monthly listeners at Spotify than the combined total of all four dozen Kansas City based acts featured at the homegrown festival, the insurgent folk musician is remarkably humble.

Mindful not to infringe on his August 1 concert at Knuckleheads with a full band, Shoulders told me before his thirty-minute solo set he intended to play only “deep cuts.” (Most people in the room had previously purchased festival passes. I paid $30 at the door for admittance for two.)

Shoulders opened with a hilariously transgressive cover of Randy Travis’ “Diggin’ Up Bones” that was calculated to tickle my fancy. Decades older than the remainder of the audience of about 75, my life partner and I were the only people able to sing along to the 1986 hit.

Dozens of locals suffering from the cultural myopia that’s long incapacitated Kansas City’s music scene had their ears opened. Hometown boosterism is commendable but insular parochialism is poisonous. Shoulders’ incontrovertible talent served as a masterclass in the sound of success.

William Brownlee

June 2, 2024

Book Review: Billie Holiday: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year, by Paul Alexander

William Brownlee

June 2, 2024

A mid-priced CD containing an hour of recordings for Verve Records was my first encounter with Billie Holiday. In addition to permanently demarcating my taste in jazz vocals, the mid-1980s acquisition introduced me to staples of the Great American Songbook. Holiday’s slippery, scat-free delivery of songs like “All or Nothing at All,” “Comes Love,” and “Darn That Dream” is staggeringly profound.

Detailed accounts of Holiday’s fabulist tendencies, sexual proclivities and drug and alcohol intake in Paul Alexander’s new study Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year don’t add or detract from my appreciation of her artistry.

The importance of Alexander’s work lies in his chronicling of the concerted campaign by United States government agencies in derailing Holiday’s career. The decades-long harassment went well beyond the revoked cabaret card that’s a notorious part of Holiday lore.

Bitter Crop examines the ways in which Holiday was hassled in virtually every aspect of her life. What Alexander characterizes as “a sinister- and intentional- tactic of intimidation” persisted even as Holiday was on her deathbed. It’s impossible not to feel outraged about the unjustifiable human tragedy suffered by Holiday as well as for the cultural loss resulting from the United States’ slow-motion assassination of one of the most important artists of the 20th century.

William Brownlee

May 27, 2024

May 2024 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

William Brownlee

May 27, 2024

Screenshot of the trailer for Welsh National Opera’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s “Il trittico” by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of May

1. Brad Mehldau- After Bach II
Variations.

2. Sexyy Red- In Sexyy We Trust
Dazzling party album #1.

3. Grupo Frontera- Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada
Dazzling party album #2.

4. Sisso and Maiko- Singeli Ya Maajabu
My review.

5. Vince Staples- Dark Times
Gloom.

6. Mdou Moctar- Funeral for Justice
My review.

7. Borderlands Trio- Rewilder
Feral improv.

8. André Schuen- Schubert: Winterreise
Harrowing lieders.

9. Jessica Pratt- Here in the Pitch
Far-out freak-folk.

10. Childish Gambino- Atavista
Everybody’s working for The Weeknd.

The Top Ten Songs of May

1. Carly Pearce- "Fault Line"
(Un)happy hour.

2. Amyl and The Sniffers- "U Should Not Be Doing That"
Can’t stop.

3. Yahritza y Su Esencia featuring Michelle Maciel- “Nivel Dios”
Quite possibly the best band in America.

4. Nduduzo Makhathini- "Water Spirits: Izinkonjana"
Dolphin dance.

5. Kendrick Lamar- "euphoria"
King Kendrick is back.

6. Chief Keef featuring Lil Gnar- "Jesus"
Show me the way.

7. Beres Hammond- "Let Me Help You"
Sweet relief.

8. La Luz- "Always in Love"
Forever.

9. Yaya Bey- "iloveyoufrankiebeverly"
Before I let go.

10. Randy Travis- "Where That Came From"
Digging up bones.

The Top Ten Performances of May

1. Kate Kalina at Southminster Presbyterian Church
My Instagram clip.

2. Jeffrey Osborne at Ameristar Casino
My Instagram clip.

3. Alber’s “Born at Sea” at Charlotte Street Foundation
My Instagram snapshot.

4. Steve Cardenas, Forest Stewart and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House
My review.

5. Alon Goldstein’s “Schumann and His World” at White Recital Hall
My Instagram snapshot.

6. Nick Luby and Susan Zhang at Meadowbrook Park
My review.

7. Bachathon XLV at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
My Instagram snapshot.

8. The Kansas City Symphony’s Mobile Music Box at Meadowbrook Park
My Instagram clip.

9. Jackie Myers, Matt Otto and Bob Bowman at Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram snapshot.

10. Heidi Shea at St. John’s United Methodist Church
My Instagram clip.

The previous monthly recap is here.