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 by There Stands the Glass.

The first perfect day of 2025 in the Kansas City area presented an ideal opportunity to collect the leaves that had accumulated over the winter and to trim foliage ahead of the spring bloom. I decided to go to the opera on Sunday, March 9, only when I unexpectedly ran out of lawn bags.

After filling the last of my remaining supply of ten bags at 1 p.m. I shrugged, took a shower, got dressed, drove to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, bought the least expensive ticket ($40) amid the audience of more than 1,000 and was in my seat ten minutes ahead of the 2 p.m. start time for Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production of “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna.”

The work debuted by Houston Opera in 2011 is billed as “the world’s first mariachi opera.” The designation is ridiculous. “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna” isn’t an opera- it’s a musical through-and-through. The good: a compelling story, a dazzling butterfly effect, the incredible playing of the 13-piece Mariachi Los Camperos and "Di mi nombre", the musical’s best song. The bad: wooden dialogue and spotty acting.

Impulsively attending “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna” was just a continuation of a live music binge. I’ve attended ten performances in the last twelve days. And there are several things I hope to catch this week. My disappointment in “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna” indicates that maybe it’s time to give it rest. Besides, I’m not even halfway through with the leaves.

March 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

“Opera” Review: The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s Cruzar la Cara de la Luna with Mariachi los Camperos at Muriel Kauffman Theatre