Album Review: Jyoti- Mama, You Can Bet!

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I first encountered Georgia Anne Muldrow at Access Music in San Diego in 2009.  She and her partner Dudley Perkins were promoting their latest release at the hip-hop specialist shop.  Although I bought the album pictured above, I wasn’t entirely sold on the sound.  Mama, You Can Bet!, the recording Muldrow just released as Jyoti, is squarely in my wheelhouse.  Erykah Badu remains Muldrow’s north star, but she’s elevated her swing-rooted neo-soul into the rarefied cosmos between Funkadelic’s America Eats Its Young and Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead.  Additional references to Miles Davis and Sun Ra on Muldrow’s empyrean odyssey make Mama, You Can Bet! a contender for my album of the year.

Rock Me Amadeus

Screenshot of Jeremy Ovenden in the Royal Theatre of Monnaie’s production of “Lucio Silla” by There Stands the Glass.

Screenshot of Jeremy Ovenden in the Royal Theatre of Monnaie’s production of “Lucio Silla” by There Stands the Glass.

I often think about Kanye West’s 2013 concert at the Sprint Center. My review of the show for The Kansas City Star went viral because I was obliged to report the arena was only a quarter full, but it was the combination of avant-garde noise from West’s then-current Yeezus album and spectacular visuals including a mountain and ballet troupe that made the night unforgettable.

More than five months into my daily opera immersion (161 operas in the past 161 days!), a little piece of me dies every time I commit to a stale production set in a beige parlor featuring stocky vocalists in period costumes. Thanks in part to West’s spectacular imagination, I now expect the visual component to be as compelling as the music it accentuates at large-scale live performances and in every video production. Thrilling versions of two Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart operas I recently watched attest to the power of unfettered creativity in a form long associated with stasis.

“Lucio Silla,” an examination of a tyrant’s abuse of power, is considered one of Mozart’s least essential operas. Yet an arresting 2017 production mounted by the Royal Theatre of Monnaie forces me to revise my expectations of opera’s possibilities. Without compromising the music of the 250-year-old drama, the Belgian company places the work in a dystopian version of the present. The depictions of bloodlust and sexual violence are so graphic I repeatedly had to turn away. I suspect Mozart would approve of the unflinchingly kinky staging.

But why be constrained by a stage at all? Kenneth Branagh’s delightful cinematic version of “The Magic Flute” (“Die Zauberflöte”) successfully adopts the topsy-turvy tone I associate with the direction of Terry Gilliam. The fanciful 2006 reworking set amid trench warfare in World War I includes an excellent English libretto by Stephen Fry. Aside from scenes of battlefield horror, attempted rape and thwarted suicide, the film is suitable for children. My primary objection concerns Branagh’s suppression of the opera’s Illuminati subplot.

The scarcity of operatic innovations such as these might be part of a global conspiracy. I’m currently working my way through Glyndebourne’s four-hour and 44-minute stream of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” The stale 2011 production is set in a beige parlor and features stocky vocalists in period costumes. Music criticism is among the themes of Richard Wagner’s opera. In spite of the fusty visuals, I intend to give it a 8.7 rating.


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I observe the centennial of the birth of Charlie Parker by reviewing Champian Fulton’s Birdsong and Pasquale Grasso’s Solo Bird at Plastic Sax.

August 2020 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Garsington Opera’s production of David Sawer’s “The Skating Rink”- #156 in my daily opera marathon- by There Stands the Glass.

Screenshot of Garsington Opera’s production of David Sawer’s “The Skating Rink”- #156 in my daily opera marathon- by There Stands the Glass.

Top Five Albums

1. Bill Frisell- Valentine

My review.

2. The Stooges- Live at Goose Lake: August 8, 1970

My review.

3. Ellen Fullman and Theresa Wong- Harbors

Dark drones.

4. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids- Shaman!

My review.

5. Brian Scarborough- Sunflower

My review.


Top Five Songs

1. Caroline Shaw and David Lang- "When I Am Alone"

My review.

2. Drake featuring Lil Durk- "Laugh Now, Cry Later"

Baby.

3. Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion- "WAP"

Game-changer.

4. Gayngs- "Appeayl 2 U"

It’s got that whip appeal.

5. Miley Cyrus- "Midnight Sky"

Radiant.


Top Five Livestreams

1. Robert Wilson performs John Cage’s “Lecture on Nothing”- National Sawdust

2. Bang on a Can Marathon- Jeremy Denk, Wu Man, Oliver Lake, etc.

3. Dayna Stephens, Omer Avital and Anthony Pinciotti- Smalls

4. Washed Out- waterside in Georgia

5. Dee Alexander and John McLean- at home in Chicago


I conducted the same exercise in July, June, May, April, March, February and January.

Million Dollar Bash

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I’ve reluctantly recommitted to the onerous task of organizing The Museum of Dead People and Obsolete Technology, the cluttered realm also known as my unfinished basement.  Consolidating old ticket stubs into a single box is one of the more enjoyable components of my job as chief curator.  As I sifted through thousands of bits of paper, it occurred to me that I’ve spent more money on Bob Dylan than any other musician.  Between concert tickets, physical recordings and books, I’ve almost certainly laid out more than a grand on the man.

Blood on the Tracks is one of several Dylan albums I’ve owned on cassette, vinyl and compact disc.  The relentless flood of must-have sets of rarities and live recordings plays a further role in emptying my wallet, as does mandatory attendance at area appearances of Dylan’s enigmatic Never Ending Tour.  I’ve even dragged my full brood to a couple shows.  And while I own six or seven Dylan-related books, I’m relieved I’ve never been tempted to buy a t-shirt.

Dylan isn’t my only substantial investment.  Here are nine additional artists who’ve separated me from inordinate amounts of money: 

  • Mary J. Blige- Old-school R&B concert tickets are crazy expensive.

  • Bill Frisell- I accumulate dozens of Frisell albums the way other people collect baseball cards.

  • Thelonious Monk- I bought a Monk album at cost every Friday for nine months when I worked in a music distribution warehouse.

  • Charlie Parker- So many books!  So many bootlegs!

  • Prince- He was omnipresent in the pre-streaming era.

  • Bruce Springsteen- Dylan redux.

  • George Strait- All hail King George.

  • Tech N9ne- I’ve seen more performances by the Kansas City rapper than all but a few dozen Technicians.

  • Bobby Watson- Two or three $20 door charges every year for more than 25 years add up.

Acknowledgement, Resolution, Pursuance and Psalm

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The value of gateway artists is underappreciated. If it took Vanilla Ice for listeners to get to A Tribe Called Quest, so be it. A lot of St. Paul & the Broken Bones fans surely make their way to Otis Redding. That’s fantastic. In my case, the Clash introduced me to Augustus Pablo. I discovered Bob Wills via Merle Haggard. I found Willie Dixon via the Doors.

I’m not annoyed that Nubya Garcia’s debut album Source is being hailed as the 2020 equivalent of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. Jazz needs stylish young artists to give the popular press and jazz neophytes something to rally behind. Besides, Source is pretty good.

After enjoying Garcia’s fashionable dispatch from London, I hope a few adventurous listeners turn to the like-minded new release by Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids. Inspired by his mentor Cecil Taylor, Ackamoor founded the Afrocentric spiritual jazz collective almost 50 years ago. Now 69, Ackamoor and his longtime collaborators retain their vitality on Shaman!. The joyous grooves and inclusive sensibility are the best kind of communal folk music.


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I decry the blatant abandonment of social distancing on Kansas City’s jazz scene at Plastic Sax.

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Opera update: I’m currently 80 minutes into my 153rd opera in the past 153 days. A French staging of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” #151 in my streak, receives my unqualified endorsement. The creepy bits are skin-crawling and the comedic scenes are outrageous.

Album Review: Bill Frisell- Valentine

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I’ve said it a thousand times: jazz isn’t merely something that happened long ago.  Just as giants like Django Reinhardt, John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor transfigured past decades, equally brilliant improvisors continue to push the music forward.  Bill Frisell is one such modern master.  The guitarist’s new album Valentine- his 42nd album as a leader by my count- is yet another stunning triumph.  Abetted by bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston, Frisell continues to find fresh and engaging ways to expand his unique conception.  The incorporation of the pop and folk sounds of the early 1960s with the innovations of guitarists ranging from Wes Montgomery to Jimi Hendrix doesn’t seem particularly promising, but Frisell has successfully mined the genre-fluid terrain for decades.  My immediate affinity for Valentine is partly due to catching Frisell perform most of the selections live in the past 24 months, but I can’t imagine anyone not admiring of his gorgeous interpretations of the familiar melodies “What the World Needs Now is Love,” “Wagon Wheels” and "We Shall Overcome".

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I kvetch about politicians’ gaffes at Plastic Sax.

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Robert Wilson’s version of John Cage’s “Lecture on Nothing” at National Sawdust’s virtual festival last week was my first encounter with the absurdist treatise.  I was particularly amused by the unexpected references to Kansas.  The state is “like nothing on earth!”

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I read Keri Hulme’s The Bone People several months ago.  Inspired by the novel’s frequent references to recordings by Julian Bream, I began exploring to the guitarist's vast catalog in earnest.  I quickly fell under his spell.  Bream died last week.

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I took in 22 performances of the August 16 edition of the Bang on a Can Marathon.  My five favorite sets: Sarah Cahill (performing Annea Lockwood); Kaki King (original compositions); Rebekah Heller (performing Marcos Balter); Craig Taborn (original improvisation); Oliver Lake (original compositions).

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Opera update: The BBC’s version of “Porgy and Bess” was the 145th dose of my daily injection of opera.  I’ll share two takes.  I realize mine isn’t among the most important voices in the ongoing debate about “Porgy and Bess,” but I’m now able to authoritatively attest that the principle characters are as fully realized as any figures in opera.  They’re more respectfully rendered than the individuals portrayed in similarly agrarian Italian operas like “L’Elisir d’Amore,” “Ruggero Leoncavallo” and “Cavalleria Rusticana.”  Secondly, “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” is the equal of any Puccini aria.