There Stands the Glass

The Top Ten Albums of February 2026
1. Jill Scott- To Whom This May Concern
My review.

2. James Brandon Lewis and the Messthetics- Deface the Currency
Physical graffiti.

3. Bill Frisell- In My Dreams
Where the deer and the antelope play.

4. Charlie XCX- Wuthering Heights
Smoldering art-pop.

5. Tomeka Reid- dance! skip! hop!
With Mary Halvorson, Jason Roebke and Tomas Fujiwara.

6. Mandy, Indiana- Urgh
Yikes.

7. Melissa Aldana- Filin
My review.

8. Pat Metheny- Side-Eye III+
Everything at once.

9. Tigran Hamasyan- Manifeste
My review.

10. J. Cole- The Fall-Off
Farewell.

The Top Three Reissues of February 2026
1. Art Pepper- Everything Happens to Me: 1959, Live at the Cellar
My review.

2. Ranil y su Conjunto Tropical- Galaxia Tropical
Peruvian cumbia from the ‘80s and ‘90s.

3. Alexander Gibson- Opening the Doors
A seven-hour survey of the late Scottish conductor’s work.

The Top Ten Songs of February 2026
1. Jorge Drexler- "Toco madera"
Sparkling MPB #1.

2. Fabiano do Nascimento and Vittor Santos Orchestra- “O Tempo (Foi O Meu Mestre)”
Sparkling MPB #2.

3. svn4evr- "veil"
Incredulous gospel.

4. Adrian Younge- “Portschute”
My new theme song.

5. LaVelle- "Suga"
Sweet soul music.

6. Ella Mai- "First Day"
Boo’d up.

7. xaviersobased- “Party at My Place”
Don’t bother knocking.

8. Billy Woods featuring Fatboi Sharif- “Funny Games”
Funny, not funny..

9. Willow featuring Kamasi Washington- "Play"
Recess.

10. The Womack Sisters- “You Went Away Too Long”
Family tradition.

The Top Ten Performances of February 2026
1. Joyce DiDonato and Time For Three at the Folly Theater
My review.

2. Isaac Cates & Ordained at Village Presbyterian Church
My Instagram clip.

3. UMKC Conservatory’s “Carmen” at White Theater
My review.

4. Joshua Redman Quartet at the Folly Theater
My review.

5. Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “Porgy and Bess” at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My Instagram snapshot.

6. KC Winter Jazzfest at Cap Gun Studios
My review.

7. Jericho Brown at Arrupe Auditorium
My Instagram snapshot.

8. Robert Stubbs at Country Club Christian Church
My Instagram clip.

9. Matt Otto, Aaron Sizemore, Ben Tervort and Mike Warren at the Music House
My Instagram clip.

10. The International Center for Music at Asbury Methodist Church
My Instagram clip.

The previous monthly recap is here.

Screenshot of the trailer for Theater an der Wien’s production of Gioachino Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of January 2026
1. Kris Davis and the Lutoslawski Quartet- The Solastalgia Suite
A turbulent third stream.

2. Angelika Niescier- Chicago Tapes
The German saxophonist visits the Windy City.

3. Sault- Chapter 1
Rewriting the book of neo-soul.

4. Craig Taborn- Dream Archives
With Tomeka Reid and Ches Smith.

5. Zach Bryan- With Heaven on Top
Little pink houses.

6. Ari Lennox- Vacancy
Hole in her heart.

7. Haeun Joo- Just Gravity
Inescapable pull.

8. Makoto Ozone- For Someone
My review.

9. Joel Ross- Gospel Music
Persuasive testimony.

10. Hermon Mehari and NO(w) Beauty- (un)Seen
On sight.

The Top Three Reissues and Reimaginings of January 2026
1. Various- Naive Melodies
Real live wires.

2. Zach Bryan- With Heaven On Top (Acoustic)
Lonesome jubilees.

3. Grupo Um- Nineteen Seventy Seven
Return to forever.

The Top Ten Songs of January 2026
1. Callie Day- "Rely On You"
Live at Isaac Cates’ Affirmations service in Leawood, Kansas.

2. Jill Scott- “Beautiful People”
Everybody is a star.

3. Ella Langley- “Dandelion”
Deep in the weeds.

4. Rawayana featuring Manuel Turizo- “Inglés en Miami”
Speaking of Venezuela.

5. A$AP Rocky- “Punk Rocky”
The best track on a disappointing album.

6. By Storm- “Can I Have Your For Myself”
A tough pill to swallow.

7. Pat Metheny- “In On It”
I’m going with him.

8. The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis- “Gestations”
Fully formed.

9. Camper featuring Alex Isley and RoseGold- “Sixteen Summers”
Silly love song.

10. Melissa Aldana- “La Sentencia”
Exquisite.

The Top Performances of January 2026
Travel, inclement weather and budget constraints prevented me from attending ten or more shows in a month for the first time since the pandemic.

The previous monthly recap is here.

February 2026 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

January 2026 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency