July 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Glyndebourne’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of July 2025
1. Clipse- Let God Sort Em Out
Culturally inappropriate.

2. Tyler, The Creator- Don’t Tap the Glass
Provocative.

3. Dom Salvador, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad- JID024
Miraculous samba.

4. Charlie Hunter and Ella Feingold- Different Strokes for Different Folks
My kind of party.

5. Dino Saluzzi- El Viejo Caminante
Heartbreaking bandoneon.

6. Teddy Abrams- Preludes
A new form of pianism.

7. Myke Towers- Island Boyz
Endless summer.

8. Burna Boy- No Sign of Weakness
Muscular pop.

9. Theon Cross- Affirmations (Live at Blue Note New York)
Hilariously loud.

10. Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist- Alfredo 2
Old school.

The Top Three Reissues and Reimaginings of July 2025
1. Nick Drake- The Making of Five Leaves Left
Deep in the weeds.

2. Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley- Flashing Spirits
Live in 1988.

3. Paul Weller- Find El Dorado
Covers of premium obscurities.

The Top Ten Songs of July 2025
1. MC Yallah- “Tunyedde”
Straight outta Kampala.

2. John Glacier- “Fly With Me”
Moonshot.

3. Cécile McLorin Salvant- "Oh Snap"
Kitchen sink.

4. Syd- “Die for This”
Alive.

5. Olivia Dean- “Lady Lady”
Groovy groovy.

6. Jorja Smith- "With You"
Bliss.

7. Che- “Ba$$”
Molly anthem.

8. DJ Snake featuring J Balvin- “Noventa”
Siren song.

9. Pino Palladino and Blake Mills featuring Chris Dave- "Taka"
A-team.

10. Trio of Bloom- "Queen King"
Nels Cline, Craig Taborn and Marcus Gilmore.

The Top Ten Performances of July 2025
1. Woody Guthrie Folk Festival (Okemah)
My notes.

2. Steve Cardenas, Forest Stewart and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House
My Instagram clip.

3. Elvis Costello & The Imposters at the Uptown Theater
My Instagram clip.

4. Crystal Gayle at Ameristar Casino
My review.

5. Nick Hmeljak, Henry Scamurra, Isaiah Petrie, Jordan Faught and Jaylen Ward at Westport Coffee House
My review.

6. Made in France at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram snapshot.

7. Summerfest at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
My notes.

8. Stan Kessler, Aaron Sizemore, Craig Akin and Taylor Babb at the Music House
My Instagram snapshot.

9. Michael August and Nell Levin at the Woody Guthrie Center (Tulsa)
Instagram snapshot.

10. Matt Hopper, Gerald Spaits and Todd Strait at Green Lady Lounge
My Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly recap is here.

Get Me to the Church in Time

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Never in my history of live music attendance had I bungled a date or venue. In fact, I’ve tended to show up early for each of the more than one hundred performances I’ve caught every year since 1995 (pandemic period excepted). That pristine record came to an end last weekend.

I was giddy upon learning of a local production of Richard Wagner’s “Die Walküre.” A full performance of a Wagner opera- even in a semi-staged version- hasn’t transpired in Kansas City in years. I packed a libretto from my library of opera literature and a cooler full of snacks and cold drinks. Including two intermissions, “Die Walküre” lasts six hours.

I knew something was wrong when the parking lot at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church was almost empty on Sunday, July 27. Musicians at the entrance told me I was 75 minutes early. I was further puzzled because the music being rehearsed clearly wasn’t the sturm und drang of Wagner. 

An event organizer explained that “Die Walküre” was performed at the church the previous day. He kindly invited me to stick around for Summerfest’s final recital of the season.

Works by Guillaume Connesson, Charles Koechlin, Elizabeth Brown and Bohuslav Martinů were rendered by prominent Kansas City classical musicians. Although I was rattled by my uncharacteristic cognitive slip, I was glad to be among an audience of more than 100 hear to the esoteric compositions.

Concert Review: Crystal Gayle at Ameristar Casino

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

My life partner was out of town when I attended a Crystal Gayle concert at Ameristar Casino in 2022. I pounced on a pair of front row seats upon spotting a deep discount on day-of-show tickets to the pop-country artist’s return to the same room on Saturday, July 19. I relished my date’s astonishment at Gayle’s Rapunzel-like hair and her gleeful laughter at Gayle’s endearing delivery of shopworn jokes. And like me, she still finds it hard to believe that Gayle is the younger sister of the late Loretta Lynn. Gayle’s song selection remains problematic. The audience of about 600 heard only a small fraction of Gayle’s hits. Her willingness to share the spotlight with the presumed bandleader is also unfortunate. Those choices may have played a role in the meager turnout. I suspect we may not witness Gayle deliver her songs with her uncommon guilelessness again. It’s a shame. The star’s songs have always been in the background of our "... Long and Lasting Love".

Take Me Back to Tulsa

Original image of Butch Hancock by There Stands the Glass.

My ramblin’ jones led me to Oklahoma last week. People who aren’t obsessive about music may find the concept of music tourism in a state sandwiched between Kansas and Texas laughable. Yet Oklahoma made a huge impact on American music in the 20th century. It’s still a hub for a distinctive, commercially viable sound.

Here’s a partial roll call of prominent Oklahomans: Garth Brooks, J.J. Cale, Charlie Christian, the Flaming Lips, the Gap Band, Woody Guthrie, Jay McShann, Jimmy Rushing, Leon Russell and Bob Wills. Today, hordes of homegrown red dirt country bands like Turnpike Troubadours play to big crowds across the country.

I wheeled my road trip around Butch Hancock’s 80th birthday celebration at Woody Fest in Okemah, Oklahoma. I hadn’t previously patronized the folk festival in Woody Guthrie’s hometown. Furthermore, I couldn’t recall attending a Hancock performance, although I surely did in the late ‘80s and/or early ‘90s.

If The Flatlanders were more a legend than a band, Hancock is more a rumor than a man. His music isn’t available on DSPs and he’s certainly not the social media type. Fortunately for me, plenty of Hancock’s music is available in the Museum of Dead People and Outmoded Formats located in my basement.

Even if I was disappointed that the songwriter remained seated as his colleagues performed their favorite Hancock compositions for most of the show, I was glad to have been present at the heartwarming event that concluded with Hancock’s reading of “If You Were a Bluebird.”

I was dismayed to discover the Guthrie homestead is a vacant lot while in Okemah. I also became a Bonnie Whitmore fan, finally “got” Aaron Lee Tasjan and was reduced to a puddle of tears upon hearing My Politic’s “Buzzards on a Powerline” for the first time. I’m still reeling.

Tulsa’s bustling earthiness reminds me of Austin, Texas, circa 1995. I became intimate with the streets in and around the pretty campus of the University of Tulsa and spent quality time at the verdant Gathering Place. The Bob Dylan Center and The Woody Guthrie Center are located on Reconciliation Way at the site of one of the United State’s most horrific atrocities.

The Dylan Center is filled with the sort of crucial relics that are curiously missing at the Guthrie Center. Yet the Okie’s museum is currently hosting the touring Hip-Hop America: The Mixtape Exhibit. It also featured a strident poetry reading and a separate performance of union songs associated with Joe Hill on the day of my visit. I miss the town already. Take me back to Tulsa.

Gig Review: Sam Lewis at Waldo Tap Room

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

One of the men responsible for the Waldo Folk initiative playfully chided me when I entered Waldo Tap Room on Wednesday, July 9. His enterprise has been presenting concerts for about a year, but the gig by Sam Lewis was the first of the events I’d attended.

I explained that his bookings simply haven’t been to my taste. Even so, my increasingly conspicuous abstention was getting in my craw. That’s why I paid $30 for a looky-loo at the showcase for the Nashville based Lewis.

My longtime friend cited a Chris Stapleton quip in which the country star insists Lewis is “a modern Townes Van Zandt” in his introduction to Lewis. The outlandishness of the assertion makes me wonder if it’s Van Zandt or Lewis that Stapleton had never heard.

Lewis’ music bears a much closer resemblance to that of the esteemed Southern singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester. Like Winchester, Lewis is a mellow Southern gentleman. Lewis’ placid songs about domestic concerns pleased the near-capacity audience of more than 50.

That audience- and the top-notch waitstaff and bartender- were silent throughout the first set. The only extraneous ambient sounds were the rattle of an ice machine and noise from diners next door. Such closemouthed consideration is a rarity in Kansas City.

The vibe was delectable, but Lewis’ homey music isn’t for me. The monthly listings at this site reflect my preference for a form of unsettling folk exemplified by Bonnie “Prince” Billy. So, Waldo Folk friend, you’d see a lot more of me if you began catering to my aberrant inclinations.

Album Review: Tech N9ne- 5816 Forest

I once considered myself the ideal candidate to assist Tech N9ne with the autobiography he would inevitably write. We’re from the same town and are approximately the same age. I’m also constitutionally sympathetic with Tech N9ne’s predilection for wine, women and song.

Not only have I tracked the Kansas City rapper’s career from its inception, I attended more Tech N9ne performances and expended more words on his concerts and albums than any other music journalist during the 15 years I wrote for The Kansas City Star.

5816 Forest renders a written autobiographical account of Tech N9ne’s early years unnecessary. Most songs on the potent new album serve as candid chapters chronicling the most decisive events of his first twenty years. Included are stories about his birth, conflicted spiritual upbringing, initial sexual encounters, bouts of petty criminality, acquiring venereal disease and working at a fast food restaurant. 

An artistic stumble leaves the door open for me. Tech N9ne loses the thread near the conclusion of 5816 Forest. Rather than chronicling his rise to fame, the last few tracks- as well as a deliriously absurd duet with Lil Wayne- fail to advance the autobiographical concept.

The day-one fan in me hopes for a followup album focusing on the next chapters of his remarkable story. My inner businessman hopes to get a call about helping Tech N9ne put the next phase of his life to paper. Either way, I’m eager to discover what happens next.

Album Review: Bruce Springsteen- Twilight Hours

Anxious and filled with dread, I recently downloaded a few childhood favorites to supplement my permanent road trip playlists for a trek to Rochester, Minnesota. The musical additions- as well as the expedition as a whole- were a bitter disappointment.

I vaguely recalled enjoying Glen Campbell’s Goodtime Album as a new release in 1970. The Day-Glo schmaltz sounds ridiculous 55 years later. My life partner and I were grateful the moldy slab of cheese was only 28 minutes long as we hurtled through Iowa.

The lush orchestration and heartbroken laments of Twilight Hours is what I’d expected from Campbell’s album. My nostalgic reveries failed but my lofty expectations for the sixth of the seven albums on Bruce Springsteen’s monumental June release Tracks II: The Lost Albums have been exceeded.

Dan Bejar, Mark Eitzel and Aiden Moffat have been my go-to contemporary sad sack adult pop artists for the past twenty years. Their most heart-wrenching songs are equalled by the compositions on Twilight Hours. As for Glen Campbell, well, I’ll always have “Wichita Lineman”.

Trying to Find a Balance

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The least expensive ticket to Elvis Costello’s concert at the Uptown Theater on July 1 was $75 before fees. I hadn’t planned to attend for that reason. Fortunately, I won a pair of tickets from radio station 90.9 The Bridge. I adored the show and I’m extremely grateful not to be out more than $150.

The non-com AAA station is currently airing what it terms the “Top 909 Songs of the Century” during the Fourth of July weekend. The last ten songs played as I type these words were by Broken Bells, the Dandy Warhols, Green Day, Kurt Vile, Sturgill Simpson, Modest Mouse, Muse, the Fratellis, Vance Joy and Alvvays.

That’s cool, but I’m compelled to offer an alternative to the alternative. Hip-hop and rap have been the most culturally significant and commercially popular forms of music this century. Without checking any notes or conducting a single search, I created a playlist of 25 favorite songs of the past 25 years.

The omissions are staggering. Partly because of my Midwestern and Southern predilections, many prominent names didn’t make the cut. But how I love what’s here! I have personal connections and vivid memories associated with each of these tracks. Here’s the Spotify playlist.

The Top 25 Songs of the Century
1. Pusha T and Kendrick Lamar- “Nosetalgia”
2. Mystikal- “Bouncin’ Back (Bumpin’ Me Against the Wall)”
3. Tyler, The Creator- “Yonkers”
4. Nicki Minaj and 2 Chainz- “Beez in the Trap”
5. Earl Sweatshirt- “Chum”
6. Doomtree- “Game Over”
7. Kanye West- “Jesus Walks”
8. Dizzee Rascal- “Sirens”
9. Jeezy- “Go Crazy”
10. Drake- “Nice for What”

11. Atmosphere- “Trying to Find a Balance”
12. Danny Brown- “Fields”
13. Fat Tone- “Imma Get’cha”
14. UGK- “Gravy”
15. Gucci Mane- “Lemonade”
16. Z-Ro- “Can’t Leave Drank Alone”
17. Vince Staples- “Norf Norf”
18. Lil Wayne- “A Milli”
19. Boosie Badazz- “Set It Off”
20. David Banner and Lil’ Flip- “Like a Pimp”

21. Tech N9ne- “Welcome to the Midwest”
22. Mike Jones, Slim Thug and Paul Wall- “Still Tippin’”
23. T.I.- “No Matter What”
24. Brother Ali- “Forest Whitiker”
25. Future- “Mask Off”

June 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Polish National Opera’s production of The Secret Life of Paintings by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of June 2025
1. Ches Smith- Clone Row
The month’s best Mary Halvorson album.

2. Karol G- Tropicoqueta
Summertime, and the living is G-easy.

3. Little Simz- Lotus
Full bloom.

4. Ivo Perelman, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Mat Maneri- Armageddon Flower
Scratchy bouquet.

5. Terrace Martin and Kenyon Dixon- Come As You Are
California dreaming.

6. Comet Gain- Letters to Ordinary Outsiders
My review.

7. John Zorn- Fantasma
The month’s second-best Ches Smith album.

8. Tech N9ne- 5816 Forest
My review.

9. Mary Halvorson- About Ghosts
The month’s second-best Mary Halvorson album.

10. Alexandre Tharaud- Satie: Discoveries
Twenty-seven recently uncovered miniatures.

The Top Three Reissues, Repackagings and Reimaginings of June 2025
1. Bruce Springsteen- Tracks II: The Lost Albums
The promised land.

2. Ella Hanshaw- Ella Hanshaw's Black Book
Amazing grace.

3. Charles Mingus- Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts
Disheveled in 1977.

The Top Ten Songs of June 2025
1. Erykah Badu and the Alchemist- “Next to You”
Contact high.

2. Charlie Hunter and Ella Feingold- “Shirley Chisholm”
Heroes.

3. Mocky- “Wiggle Room”
Free space.

4. Alfa Mist- “Avoid the Drones”
In the shadows.

5. Lyra Pramuk- "Babel"
Towering.

6. Nick León featuring Esty and Mediopicky- “Millenium Freak”
Characterized.

7. Seven Davis Jr.- “Don’t Crash Out Challenge”
Danger.

8. Lil Wayne- Lil Wayne- “Welcome to Tha Carter”
Tha Carter VI isn’t all bad.

9. Offset and JID- “Bodies”
Missing Migos.

10. Norah Jones and John Legend- “Summertime Blue”
Premium cheese.


The Top Ten Performances of June 2025
1. Wayne Hancock and IV at Live at the Divide (Bozeman)
My Instagram clips are here and here.

2. Swamp Dogg at the Lawrence Arts Center
My review.

3. Vanessa Thomas, Kara Smith, Michael Pagán and Steve Rigazzi at the Blue Room
My Instagram clip.

4. Dave Wickerham at the Kansas City Music Hall
My Instagram clip.

5. EMAS’ Extra Large Electro-Acoustic Big Band at Charlotte Street Foundation
Instagram clip.

6. Beth Watts Nelson at Trailside Center
My Instagram clip.

7. Matt Otto, Aaron Sizemore, Forrest Stewart and Taylor Babb at the Music House
Instagram clip.

8. Overland Park Civic Band at Indian Creek Recreation Center
My Instagram clip.

9. Allied Saints at Meadowbrook Park
My Instagram clip.

10. Stan Kessler, Rod Fleeman and Joey Panella at Market at Meadowbrook
Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly recap is here.

Event Review: Swamp Dogg at the Lawrence Arts Center

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Swamp Dogg scared me when I became aware of him forty years ago. Confrontationally transgressive, the cult hero was disreputable in all the right ways. Much as nervously laughing along with the Chitlin’ Circuit comedian Dewey “Pigmeat” Markham seemed like a racial breach, goofing on Swamp Dogg’s infamous album covers always felt wrong.

Now 82, Swamp Dogg is an adorable survivor. The irascible crowd-pleaser charmed 200 admirers at the Lawrence Arts Center on Thursday, June 26. His aged meekness doesn’t mean he’s mild. During the profanity-filled evening Swamp Dogg addressed racial injustice, political activism and shady music industry practices.

The $20 entrance fee at the Free State Festival event included a screening of the new documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, a Q-and-A session and a sixty-minute performance. What a deal! The presence of MoogStar, the effervescent musician who is the surprise star of the film, resulted in "total destruction to my mind".