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.

I recall hearing “I Wanna Destroy You” in 1980, but I didn’t manage to attend a performance by Robyn Hitchcock until last week. Hitchcock has held up remarkably well during the intervening forty-five years.

The unconventional time of the 3 p.m. show at Knuckleheads on March 22, 2025, suited the graying audience of about 250. (I paid $33.51 for my ticket.) Hitchcock focused on old favorites like "Balloon Man" at the acoustic outing. He joked that the songs would remind haggard fans of an era in which they were young and attractive.

I was startled by Thompson’s impressive guitar work and his ongoing obsession with the Beatles. I hadn’t picked up on his debt to Bert Jansch or his fixation on the Fab Four that extended to his closing song "A Day in the Life".

Hitchcock admitted that the intermission was designed to compel fans to purchase “holy relics” from his wife Emma Swift at the merch table. Swift joined Hitchcock for a few songs after the break. Their caustic banter made me uncomfortable. Saying she was tired of dark compositions, Swift suggested they perform the Hitchcock song “that was almost a hit.”

The cult artist responded to the brutal barb by mocking her affection for Moo Deng. The onstage acrimony reminded me of a tense Richard and Linda Thompson concert in 1982, two years after Hitchcock hit my radar. I hope the relationship of this talented couple fares better.

March 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Concert Review: Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift at the Garage at Knuckleheads