There Stands the Glass

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

Instagram photo.

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

Instagram photo.

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

Instagram photo.

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

William Brownlee

November 1, 2022

October 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

William Brownlee

November 1, 2022

Screenshot of the trailer of Opera North’s reworking of Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of October

1. Natalia Lafourcade- De Todas las Flores

Rapturous beauty.

2. Bobby Watson- Back Home in Kansas City

3. Brian Harnetty- Words and Silences

4. Dave Douglas- Songs of Ascent: Book 1- Degrees

Advanced harmolodics.

5. Boston Modern Orchestra Project- Anthony Davis: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X

A new rendering of the neglected opera.

6. Anat Cohen- Quartetinho

Exquisite chamber jazz.

7. Evgueni Galperine- Theory of Becoming

A Ukrainian Morricone.

8. Armani Caesar- The Liz 2

The month’s best Griselda album.

9. Babyface- Girl’s Night Out

Sultry collaborations.

10. Caroline Shaw and I Giardini- The Wheel

I prefer this hushed recording to the widely praised The Blue Hour.

Top Ten Songs of October

1. Plains- "Hurricane"

Leveled.

2. Grupo Marca Registrada and Luis R. Conriquez- "Puro Campeón"

A true champion.

3. iLe- "Lo Que Yo Quería"

Celestial pop.

4. Ozuna featuring El Cherry Scom- "Perreo y Dembow"

Dizzying.

5. Quavo and Takeoff- "Two Infinity Links"

I’m 250 pages into Joe Coscarelli’s Rap Capital.

6. Jamila Woods- "Boundaries"

Blurred lines.

7. LF System- "Hungry (For Love)"

Famished on the dance floor.

8. SleazyWorld Go featuring G Herbo- “Glitches”

Shots fired.

9. Nardo Wick featuring Polo G- "G Nikes"

If the shoe fits…

10. Hardy- "Truck Bed"

Hick-hop goes pop-punk.

Top Ten Performances of October

1. Marin Alsop and Orchestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo at Helzberg Hall

2. Ohma and FKJ at the Midland Theater

3. Raven Chacon’s “American Ledger no. 1” at Agnes Arts

4. Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt at the Uptown Theater

5. Terence Blanchard with Turtle Island Quartet at Atkins Auditorium

6. Alter Destiny at Charlotte Street Foundation

7. Karen Hsiao Savage, Hyeyung Sol Yoon and Gregory Beaver at White Recital Hall

8. Stan Kessler, Rod Fleeman and Bob Bowman at a driveway concert

Three of Kansas City’s best on a glorious fall afternoon.

9. Esthesis Quartet at the Blue Room

10. Alex Mallett and Jeff Harshbarger at Market at Meadowbrook

Folklore.

Last month’s survey is here.

William Brownlee

September 23, 2022

Book Review: Dvořák’s Prophecy and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music, by Joseph Horowitz

William Brownlee

September 23, 2022

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I almost dismissed Dvořák’s Prophecy and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music after taking a cursory glance at the index. How could author Joseph Horowitz properly address the subject without referencing Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis or Wynton Marsalis? I’m glad I overcame my initial aversion.

Horowitz, a refreshingly combative scholar of classical music, inhabits an entirely different world from my own. I learned a great deal from his new study inspired by Antonín Dvořák’s faulty prediction that the music developed by Black Americans would become the basis for the country’s classical music.

But was Dvořák wrong? I’m inclined to believe that jazz is the true classical music of North America. Horowitz doesn’t entertain the premise, but he’s not averse to jazz. He repeatedly mocks traditionalists who feared a “jazz threat.” Instead, he traces the evolution of European classical music in the new world. Often straying from his theme, Horowitz’s disparate ramblings are consistently interesting.

A passionate champion of Charles Ives, Horowitz introduced me to the startling Concord Sonata. For that alone, I’m in his debt. He also has a curious obsession with the role of critics. Horowitz clearly relishes dismantling the reputation of the Kansas City native Virgil Thomson.

Depictions of the “racial minefield” related to analyses of “Porgy and Bess” are valuable, as is an assertion that the Metropolitan Opera is responsible for diminishing opera from a popular form of music among Americans into “an aloof, elitist playground for the very rich.” And I enjoyed learning about the intercine rivalries among American composers.

These themes are amplified in a series of illustrative videos. A portion of my enthusiasm for Dvořák’s Prophecy is likely due to recency bias. I just took in the PBS broadcast of “Black Lucy and the Bard,” a compelling ballet by Caroline Randall Williams and the accomplished polymath Rhiannon Giddens.

Samanthe Ege’s piano recital astounded me four months ago. Horowitz shares Ege’s enthusiasm for the neglected composer Florence Price. And in ten days I’ll attend a concert overseen by Terence Blanchard, the composer of the 2019 opera “Fire Shut Up in My Bones”. Dvořák’s prophecy might yet be fulfilled.

William Brownlee

April 26, 2022

April 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

William Brownlee

April 26, 2022

Screenshot from the trailer of the Metropolitan Opera’s staging of Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” by There Stands the Glass. PBS broadcast the opera on April 1.

Top Ten Albums (Released in April, excluding 4/29 titles)

1. Pusha T- It’s Almost Dry

The trio of Kanye, Pharrell and King Push is an unbeatable dream team.

2. Gerald Clayton- Bells on Sand

3. Billy Woods- Aethiopes

Highbrow hip-hop.

4. Tord Gustavsen Trio- Opening

5. Myra Melford- For the Love of Fire and Water

The pianist leads a free jazz supergroup.

6. Joel Ross- The Parable of the Poet

Palpably spiritual jazz.

7. Mitsuko Uchida- Beethoven: Diabelli Variations

8. Sault- Air

9. Cole Swindell- Stereotype

10. Vince Staples- Ramona Park Broke My Heart

Understated excellence.

Top Ten Songs (Released in April)

1. Miranda Lambert- "Actin' Up"

Call the cops.

2. Kaitlin Butts- "She's Using"

Codeine dreams.

3. Christian Nodal- "Aguardiente"

Poison.

4. Bonnie Raitt- "Love So Strong"

Kombucha for the soul.

5. Horace Andy- "Watch Over Them"

Reggae lion in winter.

6. Anitta featuring Chencho Corleone- "Gata"

The cat’s pajamas.

7. Young M.A.- “Tip the Surgeon”

Bloody.

8. Doechii- "Crazy"

Time to get right with God.

9. Lele Pons and Kim Loaiza- "Piketona"

Clubbed.

10. Making Movies- "Sala de los Pecadores"

Den of sin.

Top Ten Performances of April

1. Joyce DiDonato at the Folly Theater

2. Daniil Trifonov at the Folly Theater

3. Drew Williams, Ben Tervort and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House

4. Babehoven at Farewell

5. Kwan Leung Ling, Evan Verploegh and Ben Baker at Charlotte Street Foundation

6. Ducks Ltd. at the Green House

7. Maul at Vivo