Concert Review: Isaiah Collier at The Old Church

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The brevity of public performances by hardcore punk bands is essential. Twenty minutes of unremitting rage-fueled noise is about as much as passionate devotees of the form can bear.

Even as I admired the maximalist intensity of the sonic attack at Portland’s The Old Church on Wednesday, February 5, I was tempted to cry uncle. A quartet led by the Chicago jazz saxophonist Isaiah Collier rarely relented in a full bore search for ascension.

Collier, bassist Emma Dayhuff and a pianist and drummer- I didn’t catch their names- seemed as if they were in a competition to discover who could play the most notes at the loudest volume. I paid $40 to have my head torn off amid an audience of about 200.

Fury is justifiable in these times, of course, but even a rendition of John Coltrane’s ballad “Naima” became a vehicle for violent blues wailing. Collier’s punishing ninety-minute set suggests he’s as merciless as the most vicious of punks.

Album Review: Shackleton, Wacław Zimpel and Siddhartha Belmannu- In the Cell of Dreams

Feeling invincible even as I was surrounded by several men hacking constantly on a four-hour flight, I didn’t put on a mask. What an idiotic display of confidence! I woke up delirious three days after stepping off the plane. Unable to do much aside from shiver in bed, I put the new live version of In the Cell of Dreams on repeat. Shackleton’s 136-minute blend of progressive ragas, classical minimalism and left-of-center electronica corresponded with the queasy suspension of time I was experiencing. Given the pathetic shape I was in, I doubt I’ll be willing to succumb to its charms after I fully recover from the illness. For anyone willing to surrender to the dizzying mix, however, the revamped In the Cell of Dreams is a fever dream come true.

Album Review: Lucibela- Moda Antiga

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.

Album Review: The Body- The Crying Out of Things

I suffered night terrors as a child. The room would begin to spin as I lay in bed. Wobbly noise filled my head as the rotation accelerated. Disoriented with fear, I sensed that I’d been transported to an unworldly realm of evil. My night terrors were supplanted by matter-of-fact horrors as I grew older. The most off-kilter segments of The Body’s new noise album The Crying Out of Things simulate what I heard with uncanny accuracy. I don’t enjoy the sounds; pleasure is hardly the point. Instead, The Crying Out of Things is a necessary replication of madness.

July 2024 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for the Royal Opera’s production of Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of July 2024

1. Rakim- G.O.D.’s Network: Reb7rth
Old school freshness.

2. Common and Pete Rock- The Auditorium, Vol. 1
Redemption songs.

3. Sault- Acts of Faith
Expansive gospel.

4. Enrico Rava- Fearless Five
The octogenarian is forever young.

5. Pat Metheny- MoonDial
My review.

6. Jimetta Rose & the Voices of Creation- Things Are Getting Better
Cosmic gospel.

7. Zach Bryan- The Great American Bar Scene
My review.

8. Lava La Rue- Starface
Far out funk.

9. Nathan Bowles Trio- Are Possible
Liege and lief.

10. Childish Gambino- Bando Stone and the New World
Angsty party.

The Top Ten Songs of July 2024

1. Jesse Ware and Romy- “Lift You Up”
Higher.

2. Jorja Smith- "High"
Elevation.

3. Jpegmafia- “Sin Miedo”
Fearless.

4. Caleb Calloway, Cloonee and Alvaro Díaz- "Pe$o"
Undervalued.

5. Charley Crockett- "Visions of Dallas"
Reboot.

6. Miranda Lambert- "Alimony"
Warning shot.

7. Porridge Radio- “Sick of the Blues”
Rebirth.

8. Denzel Curry featuring Armani White- "Wishlist"
Thirsty.

9. Speed- “Caught in a Craze”
Anthrax homage.

10. Wingstop Girl- “I Ate Nothing”
Hangry.

The Top Ten Performances of July 2024

1. Sandbox Percussion, Soowin Kim and Gloria Chien at Lincoln Performance Hall
My review.

2. Jah Wobble at Mississippi Studios
My review.

3. Opus13 at Lincoln Recital Hall
My Instagram snapshot.

4. Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore at the Aladdin Theater
My Instagram clip.

5. Trap Jazz, Divine Essence and Justus West at the Ameri’kana Festival at Concourse Park
My Instagram clip.

6. Sandbox Percussion’s masterclass at Lincoln Recital Hall
My Instagram clip.

7. Soovin Kim, Gloria Chien and Radovan Vlatković at Kaul Auditorium
My Instagram clip.

8. Old-timey jam at Northwest Portland Hostel
My Instagram clip.

9. Kyle Rivera’s composition masterclass at Lincoln Hall
My Instagram snapshot.

10. Miami String Quartet at Yardley Hall
My Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly recap is here.

Concert Review: Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart at Mississippi Studios

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

My friend R. acquired a copy Public Image Ltd.’s Metal Box in 1979. Inspecting the unique packaging while listening to the correspondingly strange music it housed in the basement of R.’s home was an otherworldly experience. Forty-five years later, I was transported by live renderings of Metal Box songs by Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart at Mississippi Studios on Friday, July 19. The interpretations of once-unintelligible songs like "Poptones" on the Metal Box: Rebuilt in Dub Tour were perfect distillations of my coinciding passions for punk, jazz and reggae. Either Wobble’s extensive career helped shape my taste or he and I simply share similar inclinations.

Concert Review: Chamber Music Northwest’s “Incandescence: Blazing Works by Joan Tower, Bartók & the ‘Kreutzer’” at Lincoln Performance Hall

Original image of Joan Tower, Soovin Kim and Sandbox Percussion by There Stands the Glass.

I worked up a lather in a hurried thirty-minute walk to Lincoln Performance Hall in ninety-degree heat on Sunday, July 14. Not having time to rinse myself off in a bathroom, I left a trail of perspiration as I made my way to my $30 seat at the back of the venue on the campus of Portland State University.

Given the fiery theme of the concert presented in Chamber Music Northwest’s 2024 Summer Festival series, my prodigious sweating was apropos. Performances of three works were accurately billed as blazing.

Joan Tower introduced the world premiere of her “Sing or Dance” with a few humble words. Much of the challenging piece rendered by violinist Soovin Kim and Sandbox Percussion resembled free improvisation. I liked it, but many in the audience of approximately 400 squirmed.

The duo of Kim and his wife, pianist Gloria Chien, dueted on the program’s two additional pieces, Béla Bartók’s “Violin Sonata No. 2” and Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” sonata. Kim Chien- the festival’s artistic directors- tore through the famously difficult pieces. Kim’s astounding feat of endurance kept me sweating in sympathetic allegiance.

Concert Review: Kassa Overall at Mississippi Studios

Original image of Stas Thee Boss, Bendji Allonce and Kassa Overall by There Stands the Glass.

A modified stage dive during Kassa Overall’s appearance at Mississippi Studios on Saturday, August 26, affirmed jazz’s historic mutability. The euphoric 75-minute performance also clarified the ambitious artist’s intent.

Once a drummer for elite artists like the late Geri Allen, Overall is committed to expanding the sound associated with Kendrick Lamar’s groundbreaking 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. Overall’s current tour focuses on material from his latest release Animals.

Joined by soprano saxophonist Tomoki Sanders, pianist Ian Finkelstein, bassist Giulio Xavier Cetto and percussionist Bendji Allonce, Overall drummed and rapped with wild abandon. An expansion of the interpolation of “This Train (Is Bound for Glory)” heard on “I Know You See Me” was among the selections in which the quintet breathed new life into old forms.

Stas THEE Boss, a musician best known as a member of the Seattle group ThEESatisfaction, joined the band for a hypnotic rendition of "Tried It". Yet even the pieces that presented as hip-hop possessed unmistakable jazz foundations. Finkelstein’s playing in particular rendered genre distinctions meaningless.

As for that stage dive: after indicating the audience of about 250 should part, Sanders leapt from the stage and ran through the club. Scrambling back, bounced off the lip of the stage and exited again. As a percussion workout climaxed, Sanders hurled himself onto the stage. Punk rockers- as well as everyone who embraces the ongoing evolution of jazz- should be impressed.

August 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for a recent production of Il Signor Bruschino at Rossini at Wildbad by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of August

1. Karol G- Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season)

Pop perfection.

2. Jaimie Branch- Fly Or Die Fly Or Die Fly Or Die (world war)

This ain’t no picnic.

3. Jonathan Blake- Passage

My review.

4. Bonnie “Prince” Billy- Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You

Spill the beans.

5. Grupo Frontera- El Comienzo

A celebratory debut.

6. Arnold Dreyblatt- Resolve

Classical grit.

7. Evan Parker- Etching the Ether

My review.

8. Miguel Zenón y Luis Perdomo- El Arte del Bolero, Vol. 2

Transcendent duo.

9. Bobby Rush- All My Love for You

He’s the one.

10. Ratboys- The Window

Heartland rock.

Top Ten Songs of August

1. L’Rain- “Pet Rock”

Heavy.

2. Turnstile and Badbadnotgood- “Underwater Boi”

Aqualung.

3. Noname with $ilkmoney, Billy Woods and Stout- “gospel?”

Fight song.

4. Kirk Franklin- “Try Love”

The gospel truth.

5. Armand Hammer with Elucid, Billy Woods and Pink Siifu- “Trauma Mic”

Crisis of faith.

6. Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist and Mike- “Sentry”

Drowsy.

7. Snoh Aalegra- “Wait a Little Longer”

Patience.

8. Doja Cat- "Paint the Town Red"

Walk on by.

9. Miguel and Lil Yachty- “Number 9”

Pet sounds.

10. EST Gee with Yo Gotti- “A Moment with Gotti”

Time stands still.

Top Ten Performances of August

1. Kassa Overall and Omari Jazz at Mississippi Studios

My Instagram clip.

2. Parker Quartet at Polsky Theatre

My review.

3. Randy Porter, Tom Wakeling and Todd Strait at the 1905

My review.

4. Truth Cult, Young Mvchetes and Burning Bush at Howdy

My review.

5. The Clientele and Papercuts at Mississippi Studios

My review.

6. Culture Club, Howard Jones and Berlin at Starlight Theatre

My review.

7. The Phil Collins Experience at Barkley Square

My review.

8. Jass at Second Presbyterian Church

My Instagram clip.

9. Claes Almroth Trio at Starday Tavern

My Instagram snapshot.

10. Rich Hill Trio and True Lions at Volker Park

My Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly survey is here.

Concert Review: The Clientele and the Papercuts at Mississippi Studios

Original image of the Clientele by There Stands the Glass.

I didn’t make any friends in the line to the bathroom at the conclusion of performances by The Clientele and Papercuts at Mississippi Studios on Tuesday, August 22.

My assessments- “those songs weren’t bangers, they were bummers!” and “instead of party-starters, we heard party-enders!”- didn’t go over with fans of the morose bands.

As with the other 300 people in the Portland venue, I bought a $20 ticket because I’m partial to British sad boy bops like "Bonfires on the Heath". Unlike the humorless devotees, I think it’s funny that all of us chose to wallow in misery.

The lavish production of the Clientele’s gorgeous new album I Am Not There Anymore led me to believe the core members of the British band would be supplemented by additional musicians. I was wrong.

Rough and lean, the Clientele sounded little like its refined recordings. And never having previously seen the band, Alasdair MacLean’s guitar shredding came as a shock.

Papercuts was an ideal opening act. The group’s downcast jangle-pop reminded me of my affinity for the style 40 years ago. A rendition of “John Brown” felt like a faded postcard from my Kansas home.