May 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Glyndbourne’s production of Don Giovanni by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of May

1. Rudy Royston’s Flatbed Buggy- Day

Bumpy ride.

2. Billy Woods and Kenny Segal- Maps

The right direction.

3. Shirley Collins- Archangel Hill

Time out of mind.

4. Joe Lovano, Marilyn Crispell and Carmen Castaldi- Our Daily Bread

Holy communion.

5. Roomful of Teeth- Rough Magic

My review.

6. Atmosphere- So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously

Atmosphere finally made a good record.

7. Kassa Overall- Animals

Pigs on the wing.

8. Béla Fleck- As We Speak

With Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer and Rakesh Chaurasia.

9. Slowspin- Talisman

Hounds of love.

10. Rod Fleeman- Saturday Afternoon Live at Green Lady Lounge, Vol. 2

My review.

Top Ten Songs of May

1. Megan Maroney- “Kansas Anymore”

Getting out of Dodge.

2. Kevin Morby- “Going to Prom”

Time the revelator.

3. That Mexican OT featuring Paul Wall and Drodi- "Johnny Dang"

Ice.

4. Paris Texas- "Bullet Man"

Who shot ya?

5. SleazyWorld Go with Polo G- “Off the Court”

Trust the process.

6. Peso Pluma- "Bye"

I say hello.

7. Speakers Corner Quartet featuring Kae Tempest- "Geronimo Blues"

Stump speech.

8. Sparks- "Gee, That Was Fun"

Au revoir.

9. $uicideboy$- “Realism vs Idealism”

No limit.

10. Lil’ Keke- "Motion"

OG.

Top Ten Performances of May

1. Tim Bernardes at Mississippi Studios

My review.

2. Yujia Shen at Diastole Scholars Center

My review.

3. Off!, Upchuck and Weaponize Chomsky at recordBar

My Instagram clips are here, here and here.

4. Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Michael Hurley at Aladdin Theater

My review.

5. Hot Chip and Cadence Weapon at Wonder Ballroom

My Instagram clips are here and here.

6. Janet Jackson and Ludacris at T-Mobile Center

My Instagram image.

7. Stone & Sue at the Portland Farmers Market

My Instagram clip.

8. Rod Fleeman Trio at Green Lady Lounge

My Instagram clip.

9. Drew Williams Quartet at Westport Coffee House

My review.

10. Luke Tarter at Portland International Airport

Elton John melodies unnerved me amid flight delays.

The previous monthly survey is here.

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.

March 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Original image of the curtain call of UMKC Conservatory’s Così fan tutte by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (Released in March)

1. Rosalía- Motomami

Unparalleled pop.

2. Jóhann Jóhannsson- Drone Mass

Lethal minimalism.

3. Nigo- I Know Nigo!

Elite rappers (and Kid Cudi) collaborate with the polymath.

4. Brad Mehldau- Jacob's Ladder

My review.

5. Benny the Butcher- Tana Talk 4

Buffalo barbarity.

6. Drug Church- Hygiene

Unclean.

7. François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles- Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande

A ravishing rendition of the mesmirizing opera.

8. Sélène Saint-Aimé- Potomitan

Expansive jazz from France.

9. Destroyer- ​​Labyrinthitis

A not entirely embarrassing form of yacht rock.

10. Cécile McLorin Salvant- Ghost Song

Spectral art music.

Top Ten Songs (Released in March)

1. Kae Tempest and Lianne La Havas- "No Prizes"

Gold.

2. Celeste- “To Love a Man”

Torched.

3. Fana Hues- "Bad Bad"

Wicked good.

4. Normani- "Fair"

Un-break my heart.

5. The Supremes- “Witchi-Tai-To”

Wut.

6. Your Old Droog- “Fela Kruti”

“Music for people who check their email in the club.”

7. Ibibio Sound Machine- “17 18 19”

Rock down to electric avenue.

8. Lous and the Yakuza- “Kisé”

Mosh pit? Mosh pit!

9. Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lupa- “Sweetest Pie”

Irresistible empty calories.

10. Ho9909 featuring Bun B- "Slo Bread"

Inspired collaboration.

Top Ten Performances of March

1. Sparks- Crystal Ballroom

My review.

2. Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Roseland Theater

My review.

3. UMKC Conservatory’s Così fan tutte- White Recital Hall

My Instagram snapshot.

4. Ted Poor and Cuong Vu- Jack London Revue

My review.

5. Steve Cardenas- recordBar

My review.

6. Arnold Young and the RoughTet- The Ship

My review.

7. Vanessa Rubin- Lincoln Hall

My review.

8. Timber Rattle- 9th & State

My review.

9. Angela Ward Trio- Blue Room

Herbie Hancock endorsed my Instagram video.

10. Pat Metheny in Kansas City: The Genesis of Genius- Polsky Theatre

My review.

Last month’s survey is here.

Concert Review: Sparks at the Crystal Ballroom

Original image by There Stands the Glass. The ticket’s comp label is misleading. I paid a pretty penny for it.

My earliest experiences with Sparks consisted of a series of disappointments.  The band’s albums were staples of record store cutout bins in the 1970s.  Intrigued by loopy cover art as a kid, I sporadically picked up much of their catalog at prices ranging from 25 to 99 cents.  I was let down every time.  Sparks’ lyrical and musical aesthetic was beyond my limited comprehension.

Knowing it was likely the only chance I’d have to witness a performance by the storied cult band, I splurged on a ticket to Sparks’ sold-out concert at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland on Sunday, March 13.  After a handful of Blurty Bobs amid the audience of 1,500 were shamed into silence by hardcore fans in the first ten minutes of the 80-minute show, I grasped what had previously eluded me.

Accustomed to radio-ready pop, I didn’t understand Sparks’ allusions to the droll work of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill when I was an uncultivated youth.  Seeing the Mael brothers and their excellent accompanists render their repertoire of Weimar Republic-style cabaret songs as an aged bookworm brought Sparks into focus.  My favorite new band is old.  And I’m beside myself at the prospect of finally catching up.