During a set break at a Marvin Gruenbaum gig, members of my extended family named their ideal dinner party music. I usually turn to the gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. Others cited Édith Piaf and David Grisman. As usual, my daughter won the discussion by mentioning Lucibela. She and I sat in the front-row at a poorly attended 2022 concert by the Cape Verdean vocalist in Portland. Inspired by the reminder of that wonderful evening, I discovered Lucibela released her third album last month. The gorgeous Moda Antiga will play the next time I host guests.
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
2. Joyce DiDonato at the Folly Theater
3. Little Joe y La Famalia at the Guadalupe Center
4. Logan Richardson + Blues People at the Ship
5. Blackstarkids at recordBar
6. Angela Winbush, Men at Large and Levelle at Juneteenth KC
7. Godspeed You! Black Emperor at the Roseland Theater (Portland)
8. Samantha Ege at the Folly Theater
9. Sparks at the Crystal Ballroom (Portland)
10. Flatland Cavalry at the Truman
11. Daniil Trifonov at the Folly Theater
12. Lucibela at Old Church Concert Hall (Portland)
13. Show Me the Body, Soul Glo, Wifi Gawd, Ebony Tusks and Piss Kinks at recordBar
14. FKJ and Ohma at the Midland theater
15. Livia Nestrovski and Henrique Eisenmann at the 1900 Building
16. Salvation Choir at Theis Park
17. Algara, P.S.Y.W.A.R. and New Obsessions at Farewell
18. Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Isata Kanneh-Mason at the Folly Theater
19. Animal Collective and Spirit of the Beehive at the Truman
20. Adam Larson, Clark Sommers and Dana Hall at Westport Coffee House
21. Porridge Radio and Blondshell at Doug Fir Lounge (Portland)
22. Black Crack Revue at Westport Coffee House
23. High Pulp at recordBar
24. Escuela Grind at Farewell
25. Phillip Greenlief, Midwestern and the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society at Bushranger Records
26. Steve Cardenas, Forest Stewart and Brian Steever at recordBar
27. Terence Blanchard with Turtle Island Quartet at Atkins Auditorium
28. Arnold Young and the RoughTet at the Ship
29. Marin Alsop and Orchestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo at Helzberg Hall
30. John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett at the Uptown Theater
31. Bob Bowman and Peter Schlamb at Second Presbyterian Church
32. Mspaint at Nightjar
33. Babehoven at Farewell KC
34. UMKC’s Conservatory’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” at White Recital Hall
35. Live Skull and Still Ill at recordBar
36. Crystal Gayle at Ameristar Casino
37. Evan Verploegh and Ben Baker at World Culture
38. Keefe Jackson, Jakob Heinemann and Adam Shead at Black Dolphin
39. Cuong Vu and Ted Poor at Jack London Revue (Portland)
40. Ozomatli at KC Live
41. Gorillaz and EarthGang at the Moda Center (Portland)
42. Escher String Quartet at Polsky Theatre
43. Damien Sneed at the Folly Theater
44. John Waite at Ranch Mart Shopping Center
45. William Baker Singers at Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral
46. Raven Chacon at Agnes Arts
47. Rod Fleeman at Green Lady Lounge
48. Ducks Ltd. at the Green House
49. Billy Cobham at Dolores Winningstad Theatre (Portland)
50. Roger Waters at the T-Mobile Center
September 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency
Screenshot of Sondra Radvanovsky in the trailer of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Cherubini’s “Medea” by There Stands the Glass.
Top Ten Albums of September
1. Sarah Davachi- Two Sisters
Ecumenical drones.
2. Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet- Evergreen
A Mozart among us.
3. James Brandon Lewis- Molecular Systematic Music
Live mutations.
4. Julian Lage- View with a Room
With Bill Frisell, Jorge Roeder and Dave King.
5. Charles Lloyd- Trios: Ocean
Celestial trio with Gerald Clayton and Anthony Wilson.
6. Laura Jurd- The Big Friendly Album
Howdy.
7. Ohma- Between All Things
8. Billy Woods- Church
Unanswered prayers.
9. Jeff Parker, Eric Revis and Nasheet Waits- Eastside Romp
No ordinary guitar trio.
10. Björk- Fossora
Ridiculously good or just ridiculous?
Top Ten Songs of September
1. Mister Water Wet- "Caged at Last"
Everything at once, sparingly.
2.. Santigold- "Ushers of the New World"
I prefer to stand, thank you.
3. Channel Tres- "No Limit"
A slick shocker.
4. M.I.A.- "Beep"
Bop.
5. LCD Soundsystem- “New Body Rhumba”
Workout.
6. Stormzy- "Mel Made Me Do It"
An old-school tour de force.
7. Smino featuring J. Cole- "90 Proof"
Strong.
8. Little Big Town- "Three Whiskeys and the Truth"
Fleetwood Mac sounds better than ever.
9. Kany García and Christian Nodal- "La Siguiente"
Romantic duet.
10. Clutch- "Three Golden Horns"
Clutch is my favorite novelty act.
Top Ten Concerts of September
1. Blackstarkids- recordBar
2. Lucibela- Old Church Concert Hall
3. Algara, P.S.Y.W.A.R. and New Obsessions- Farewell
4. Porridge Radio and Blondshell- Doug Fir Lounge
5. Live Skull- recordBar
6. Ozomatli- KC Live
7. Gorillaz and EarthGang- Moda Center
8. Billy Cobham- Dolores Winningstad Theater
9. Roger Waters- T-Mobile Center
10. The Shins and Joseph- Pioneer Courthouse Square
Temporarily displaced unhoused people were not pleased.
Last month’s survey is here.
Concert Review: Lucibela at Old Church Concert Hall
Original image by There Stands the Glass.
I’m accustomed to unsettling disconnects between artistic merit and the popularity of musicians. Yet as I listened to Lucibela from a front row pew at Old Church Concert Hall on Thursday, September 8, I couldn’t think of a single person who wouldn’t love what I was witnessing.
Yet less than 100 people purchased $30 tickets to hear the Cape Verdean vocalist and her four-piece band in Portland. Lucibela sings in Portuguese, but the language barrier is surmounted by her lustrous voice. Her remarkable instrument and winning persona invite comparison to Adele.
Performing coladeiras, mornas and boleros, Lucibela was enchanting. Members of the small audience sighed during the impossibly romantic ballads, swayed to the intoxicating uptempo numbers and gave thanks for being in the presence of an undiscovered star.