There Stands the Glass

The Top Ten Albums of March 2025
1. Vijay Iyer and Leo Wadada Smith- Defiant Life
Resistance.

2. Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson- Bone Bells
“What tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells.”

3. Destroyer- Dan’s Boogie
Regrettably, I know just what he means.

4. Nels Cline- Consentrik Quartet
My review.

5. clipping.- Dead Channel Sky
Overcast.

6. Anouar Brahem- After the Last Sky
Light in darkness.

7. Jan Lisiecki- Preludes by Chopin, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Messiaen, Górecki
All killer, no filler.

8. Bob James and Dave Koz- Just Us
My review.

9. Slim Thug and Propain- Double Cup
Still tippin’.

10. Stik Figa and DJ Sean P- A Small Fortune
Buried treasure.

The Top Three Reissues, Repackagings and Reimaginings of March 2025
1. Art Pepper- Geneva 1980
Late-career fire.

2. Neil Young- Oceanside Countryside
Previously unreleased 1977 album.

3. Branford Marsalis Quartet- Belonging
A replication of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 album.

The Top Ten Songs of March 2025
1. Nathy Peluso- “Erotika”
Salsa.

2. PremRock featuring Cavalier and Elucid- “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
Bad guys.

3. Billy Woods and Kenny Segal- “Misery”
Muck and mire.

4. feeble little horse- “This Is Real”
Debaser.

5. Mackenzie Carpenter- “Gone Fishing”
Hook, line and sinker.

6. Maren Morris- “Carry Me Through”
Self help.

7. Black Country, New Road- “Happy Birthday”
Fourpenny opera.

8. Dierks Bentley featuring Stephen Wilson Jr.- "Cold Beer Can"
Pop a top.

9. Little Simz- "Free"
Priceless.

10. TheBabeGabe and The Human featuring Monogram- "1999"
They were dreaming when they wrote this.

The Top Ten Performances of March 2025
1. Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift at Knuckleheads
My review.

2. Branford Marsalis Quartet at the Folly Theater
My review.

3. Dead Heat, Stakes Is High, Failure Drill and Honey at Howdy
My Instagram clip.

4. Leonidas Kavakos and Danil Trifonov at the Folly Theater
My Instagram snapshot.

5. Leonkoro at the 1900 Building
My Instagram snapshot.

6. Bram and Lucy Wijnands and the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at the Folly Theater
My review.

7. Thomas Dunford at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
My Instagram snapshot.

8. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “Becoming a Redwood: The Songs of Lori Laitman and Dana Gioia” at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
My Instagram snapshot.

9. Dawson Jones at Green Lady Lounge
My review.

10. The Lyric Opera’s “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna” with Mariachi los Camperos at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.

The previous monthly recap is here.

Original image of the Branford Marsalis Quartet at the Folly Theater by There Stands the Glass.

Monitoring social media missives from colleagues attending last week’s SXSW conference and Luck Reunion celebration in Texas made me blue. Rather than continuing to sulk, I crafted a plan for a full day of music in the Kansas City area on Saturday, March 15. A betrayal by the Kansas City Symphony tripped me up from the outset.

I intended to begin my spree with oboist Kristina Fulton’s 11 a.m. master class at Helzberg Hall. The event was listed on the Symphony’s site the previous day, but every door of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts was locked when I circumnavigated the building on Saturday morning.

With my carefully calibrated schedule immediately out of whack, I began improvising. I hit Dawson Jones’ matinee at Green Lady Lounge two hours earlier than intended. While I loved it, I was unwilling to stick around for Rod Fleeman’s subsequent first set as originally planned. Annoyed, I ate lunch at home while watching televised college basketball.

I’d intended to walk to a youth concert at a church presented by The Friends of Chamber Music and from there to Made in France’s gig at a nearby café, but it suddenly occurred to me that I might purchase a discounted ticket to the Big 12 Conference men’s basketball championship game at the T-Mobile Center rather than sticking to that plan.

After pulling the trigger on an all-in $21 ticket, I returned to downtown to see Houston take on Arizona. My assigned seat placed me amid Arizona boosters. Those are not my people. I felt at home after sneaking across the arena to embed myself three rows behind Houston’s pep band.

Unfortunately, I was compelled to leave the close contest with five minutes left on the game clock. (The good guys won.) Several months ago I bought a front-and-center ticket to a concert by the Branford Marsalis Quartet for $43. I didn’t dare miss a minute. Cold rain soaked my feet as I hustled from the T-Mobile Center to the Folly Theater.

The jazz notables met but did not exceed my high expectations. DJ Diesel’s free outdoor show at the KC Live complex was supposed to wrap up my big day out. Imagine my disappointment upon discovering heavy snow as I exited the Folly Theater! Just as my hopes were dashed ten hours earlier, my day ended with an unexpected letdown.

March 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Dear Diary