FKJ

The Top Fifty Performances of 2022

Original image of Blackstarkids by There Stands the Glass.

I’ve gone out to hear live music 123 times in 2022. I’m not done yet- I plan to hit a couple gigs this evening. Even without attending a single festival, I’ve taken in more than 225 performances this year. And yes, wise guys, I’ve been the oldest person in the room at a third of the shows listed below. You can’t blame a person for trying to make up for lost time. Unless indicated otherwise, the events took place in the Kansas City area.

1. Nduduzo Makhathini at the Blue Room

Review.

2. Joyce DiDonato at the Folly Theater

Review.

3. Little Joe y La Famalia at the Guadalupe Center

Review.

4. Logan Richardson + Blues People at the Ship

Review.

5. Blackstarkids at recordBar

Review.

6. Angela Winbush, Men at Large and Levelle at Juneteenth KC

Review.

7. Godspeed You! Black Emperor at the Roseland Theater (Portland)

Review.

8. Samantha Ege at the Folly Theater

Review.

9. Sparks at the Crystal Ballroom (Portland)

Review.

10. Flatland Cavalry at the Truman

Review.


11. Daniil Trifonov at the Folly Theater

Review.

12. Lucibela at Old Church Concert Hall (Portland)

Review.

13. Show Me the Body, Soul Glo, Wifi Gawd, Ebony Tusks and Piss Kinks at recordBar

Review.

14. FKJ and Ohma at the Midland theater

Review.

15. Livia Nestrovski and Henrique Eisenmann at the 1900 Building

Review.

16. Salvation Choir at Theis Park

Review.

17. Algara, P.S.Y.W.A.R. and New Obsessions at Farewell

Review.

18. Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Isata Kanneh-Mason at the Folly Theater

Instagram photo.

19. Animal Collective and Spirit of the Beehive at the Truman

Review.

20. Adam Larson, Clark Sommers and Dana Hall at Westport Coffee House

Review.

21. Porridge Radio and Blondshell at Doug Fir Lounge (Portland)

Instagram clip.

22. Black Crack Revue at Westport Coffee House

Review.

23. High Pulp at recordBar

Review.

24. Escuela Grind at Farewell

Review.

25. Phillip Greenlief, Midwestern and the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society at Bushranger Records

Review.

26. Steve Cardenas, Forest Stewart and Brian Steever at recordBar

Review.

27. Terence Blanchard with Turtle Island Quartet at Atkins Auditorium

Review.

28. Arnold Young and the RoughTet at the Ship

Instagram clip.

29. Marin Alsop and Orchestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo at Helzberg Hall

Review.

30. John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett at the Uptown Theater

Review.


31. Bob Bowman and Peter Schlamb at Second Presbyterian Church

Review.

32. Mspaint at Nightjar

Instagram clip.

33. Babehoven at Farewell KC

Instagram clip.

34. UMKC’s Conservatory’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” at White Recital Hall

Instagram photo.

35. Live Skull and Still Ill at recordBar

Review.

36. Crystal Gayle at Ameristar Casino

Review.

37. Evan Verploegh and Ben Baker at World Culture

Review.

38. Keefe Jackson, Jakob Heinemann and Adam Shead at Black Dolphin

Instagram photo.

39. Cuong Vu and Ted Poor at Jack London Revue (Portland)

Review.

40. Ozomatli at KC Live

Instagram clip.


41. Gorillaz and EarthGang at the Moda Center (Portland)

Review.

42. Escher String Quartet at Polsky Theatre

Review.

43. Damien Sneed at the Folly Theater

Review.

44. John Waite at Ranch Mart Shopping Center

Instagram clip.

45. William Baker Singers at Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral

Review.

46. Raven Chacon at Agnes Arts

Review.

47. Rod Fleeman at Green Lady Lounge

48. Ducks Ltd. at the Green House

Instagram clip.

49. Billy Cobham at Dolores Winningstad Theatre (Portland)

Review.

50. Roger Waters at the T-Mobile Center

Review.

October 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Opera North’s reworking of Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of October

1. Natalia Lafourcade- De Todas las Flores

Rapturous beauty.

2. Bobby Watson- Back Home in Kansas City

My review.

3. Brian Harnetty- Words and Silences

My review.

4. Dave Douglas- Songs of Ascent: Book 1- Degrees

Advanced harmolodics.

5. Boston Modern Orchestra Project- Anthony Davis: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X

A new rendering of the neglected opera.

6. Anat Cohen- Quartetinho

Exquisite chamber jazz.

7. Evgueni Galperine- Theory of Becoming

A Ukrainian Morricone.

8. Armani Caesar- The Liz 2

The month’s best Griselda album.

9. Babyface- Girl’s Night Out

Sultry collaborations.

10. Caroline Shaw and I Giardini- The Wheel

I prefer this hushed recording to the widely praised The Blue Hour.

Top Ten Songs of October

1. Plains- "Hurricane"

Leveled.

2. Grupo Marca Registrada and Luis R. Conriquez- "Puro Campeón"

A true champion.

3. iLe- "Lo Que Yo Quería"

Celestial pop.

4. Ozuna featuring El Cherry Scom- "Perreo y Dembow"

Dizzying.

5. Quavo and Takeoff- "Two Infinity Links"

I’m 250 pages into Joe Coscarelli’s Rap Capital.

6. Jamila Woods- "Boundaries"

Blurred lines.

7. LF System- "Hungry (For Love)"

Famished on the dance floor.

8. SleazyWorld Go featuring G Herbo- “Glitches”

Shots fired.

9. Nardo Wick featuring Polo G- "G Nikes"

If the shoe fits…

10. Hardy- "Truck Bed"

Hick-hop goes pop-punk.


Top Ten Performances of October

1. Marin Alsop and Orchestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo at Helzberg Hall

My review.

2. Ohma and FKJ at the Midland Theater

My review.

3. Raven Chacon’s “American Ledger no. 1” at Agnes Arts

My review.

4. Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt at the Uptown Theater

My review.

5. Terence Blanchard with Turtle Island Quartet at Atkins Auditorium

My review.

6. Alter Destiny at Charlotte Street Foundation

My review.

7. Karen Hsiao Savage, Hyeyung Sol Yoon and Gregory Beaver at White Recital Hall

My review.

8. Stan Kessler, Rod Fleeman and Bob Bowman at a driveway concert

Three of Kansas City’s best on a glorious fall afternoon.

9. Esthesis Quartet at the Blue Room

My Instagram clip.

10. Alex Mallett and Jeff Harshbarger at Market at Meadowbrook

Folklore.


Last month’s survey is here.

Concert Review: Ohma and FKJ at the Midland Theater

Original image of Ohma by There Stands the Glass.

Eight musicians made a mockery of genre classifications at the Midland theater in Kansas City on Sunday, October 16.  A six-piece ensemble led by FKJ and the duo of Ohma created blissed-out sounds that transcended category for an audience of 2,000 young stoners, graying ravers and cultured globetrotters.

Ohma, the Los Angeles based duo of Mia Garcia and Hailey Niswanger, opened the show with a 30-minute sampling of material from their stunning new album Between All Things.  The tasteful application of backing tracks and a boost from extreme volume elevated Garcia’s guitar and Niswanger’s woodwinds.

Peers in California’s improvised music scene including Sam Gendel, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Carlos Niño share Ohma’s ability to draw on multiple styles without diluting the music’s potency.  The stage backdrop resembling the visual art of Hilma mf Klint and Georgia O’Keefe offered a clue into Ohma’s intent.

The duo strives to honor the “divine feminine and power within feminine creation.”  Ohma compositions such as “Seeing Beyond What Is Here” could be experienced as profound musical representations of O’Keefe’s poetry.  Where Ohma’s cosmic improvisations contain no commercial concessions, the music of FKJ is flavored with pop and R&B.

FKJ, aka French Kiwi Juice, is the stage name of Vincent Fenton, a self-described “Paris based self-taught kid.”  An extensive palette made Fenton’s 100-minute outing more interesting than the efforts of most electro-funk artists.  The solo piano EP he released last year is typical of his propensity to defy expectations.

The multi-instrumentalist was joined by a bassist, drummer and a string trio in a dynamic recital of R&B, yacht-rock, pop, house, ambient and space age bachelor pad music.  The hybrid sounds were united by a theme of gentle positivity enhanced by verdant plant-oriented visuals. 

One dolt wasn’t receptive to the musical mergers.  An impertinent kid accosted me after Ohma’s set.  Having seemingly made a connection between my enthusiasm for the duo and my comparatively advanced age, he amused himself by mocking “jazz”- his word, not mine.  The innovative one-two punch of Ohma and FKJ indicated the joke’s on him.