March 2024 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

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

The Top Ten Albums of March

1. Jlin- Akoma
Fancy footwork.

2. Tierra Whack- World Wide Whack
(Frank) Oceans of fun.

3. Véronique Gens- Paysage
French soiree.

3. Moor Mother- The Great Bailout
Overdue.

5. Norah Jones- Visions
A beautiful mirage.

6. Amirtha Kidambi- New Monuments
Prog-jazz.

7. Ethnic Heritage Ensemble- Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit
Astral planes.

8. Charles Lloyd- The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
With Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier and Brian Blade.

9. Future and Metro Boomin- We Don’t Trust You
En garde!

10. That Mexican OT- Texas Technician
My review.

The Top Ten Songs of March

1. Bill MacKay- “Glow Drift”
Unhalfbricking.

2. Adrienne Lenker- “Free Treasure”
Gifts abound.

3. Charlie Parr- "Pale Fire"
Luminous.

4. Waxahatchee- “Burns Out at Midnight”
Return of the grievous angel.

5. DannyLux- "Maldito Alcohol"
Cautionary tale.

6. Mike featuring Earl Sweatshirt and Tony Shhnow- "On God"
Dead friends.

7. Anysia Kim featuring Mike- “In Doubt?”
Uncertain.

8. Matt Champion featuring Dora Jar- "Steel"
Boy band breakout.

9. Chief Keef and Mike Will Made-It featuring 2 Chainz- "Pull Up Ghost Clan"
Chiraq.

10. Lekin- “714”
Both sides now.

The Top Ten Performances of March

1. Lawrence Brownlee at the Lied Center
My review.

2. David Lord at Farewell
My review.

3. Ema Nikolovska at the Folly Theater
My review.

4. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “Roméo et Juliette” at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.

5. Sleater-Kinney at the Truman
My Instagram clip.

6. The Kansas City Symphony’s Matthias Pintscher Conducts Symphony Dances: ‘West Side Story’ and Rachmaninoff with Philippe Quint at Helzberg Hall
My review.

7. Danielle Nicole, Brandon Miller and Go-Go Ray at Records with Merritt
My Instagram snapshot.

8. Seth A Davis, Kwan Leung Ling, Aaron Osborne and Evan Verploegh at 7th Heaven
My Instagram clip.

9. Bryan Hicks, Rod Fleeman and Rich Hill at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram snapshot.

10. Nya at the Blue Room
My Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly recap is here.

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.