Original image of the Altons at Lemonade Park by There Stands the Glass.
I take a break from nightlife in the weeks preceding and following New Year’s Day. It’s a dangerous tradition. I’ll eventually decide that I’m no longer committed to spending more than 100 nights a year in bars, concert halls and arenas. I probably won’t give way in 2024. I’ve already purchased tickets to two of my ten January concert recommendations for KCUR.
Original image by There Stands the Glass.
I panicked when I discovered I’d mistakenly packed a book I’d already read on a recent trip. Plans on the first day of vacation were altered so I could acquire a hefty volume to tide me over. The essential role books play in my life is reflected in this year’s tally- I consumed 104 volumes in 2023. Though I read Toni Morrison’s 2022 essay Recitatif on New Year’s Day and will finish her 2003 novel Love on New Year’s Eve, my curriculum ranged from ancient Greeks to contemporary fiction. A sampling of my autodidactic syllabus follows.
Favorite: Miguel de Cervantes- Don Quixote (1605)
1.023 pages of hilarity.
Most Impactful: Marcus Aurelius- Meditations (180)
Thoughts on a meaningful life.
Best Spiritual: Saint Augustine- Confessions (400)
A rewarding slog.
Best Music: Jeremy Eichler- Time’s Echo: The Second World War, The Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance (2023)
Strauss, Schoenberg, Britten and Shostakovich.
Most Entertaining: Charles Dickens- David Copperfield (1850)
Rags to riches.
Best Autobiography: Maya Angelou- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)
Captivating.
Best Biography: Richard Koloda- Holy Ghost: The Life & Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler (2022)
Best Romance: Jane Austen- Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Elinor and Marianne.
Best Travel: Bruce Chatwin- What Am I Doing Here (1988)
Motivational.
Third Time’s a Charm: Virginia Woolf- Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
I was finally up to the challenge.
Biggest Disappointment: Bernard Malamud- The Natural (1952)
Strikeout.
Nicest Surprise: Voltaire- Candide (1759)
I didn’t expect rakish vulgarity.
Goriest: Jerzy Kosiński- The Painted Bird (Grove Press 1965)
A catalog of atrocities.
Darkest: Evan S. Connell- Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn (1984)
Shame.
Best Local Interest: John Williams- Stoner (1965)
Misery in Columbia, Missouri.
Last year’s book survey is here. I post every book I read to my Instagram account.
(Screenshot of Hilary Hahn video by There Stands the Glass.)
A confluence of circumstances makes Hilary Hahn There Stands the Glass’ Artist of the Year for 2023. Already immersed in solo interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach, I was primed for the American violinist’s October concert at the Folly Theater. I’d also developed a passion for Hahn’s new album Ysaÿe: 6 Sonatas for Violin Solo, Op. 27. A recent reading Isaac Stern’s autobiography My First 79 Years further enhanced my appreciation of Hahn’s place in the continuum of classical violinists.
Honorable mention: Danny Brown, Lise Davidsen, Kassa Overall and Morgan Wallen. The previous winners of the Artist of the Year designation are Joyce DiDonato (2022), Pat Metheny (2021) and Bad Bunny (2020).
Original image by There Stands the Glass.
Declining a 1994 offer from my employer Rounder Distribution to relocate from Kansas City to Rounder’s home office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is among my biggest regrets. My successful campaign to install a bluegrass section at Walmart led to supplementary sales of hundreds of thousands of Alison Krauss albums in the South and Midwest. Rounder believed I could oversee similar initiatives nationally.
Yet as a new homeowner with an expanding family, the increased pay package in New England still would have meant downgrading my circumstances. I made the wrong decision. Distribution of compact discs and DVDs would be decimated within a dozen years, but attractive opportunities in parallel industries would have presented themselves when the time came to move on.
Reading David Menconi’s Oh, Didn't They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music, consequently, triggered me. The narrative is primarily told from the perspective of the denizens of the label’s headquarters. My story isn’t included in Menconi’s short history. Still, I enjoyed learning about the early lives of Rounder’s founders as well as the events that transpired after I was out of the picture. The work receives my qualified recommendation.
Original image by There Stands the Glass.
I don’t think of myself as a weirdo. Yet when my friend Chris Haghirian repeatedly insisted my cultural predilections are extremely unusual during a taping of his Eight One Sixty program did I begin to suspect that maybe I am abnormal. Attempting to justify my listening habits, I recall blurting out something like “all music is for all people.” My appearance on Chris’ show will air at 6 p.m. CST Tuesday, December 19, on 90.9 The Bridge and will stream in perpetuity at the station’s site.
The Top Ten Reissues and Reimaginings of 2023
1. Bob Dylan- Fragments: Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997); The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17
2. Jessye Norman- The Unreleased Masters
3. Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and Max Roach- Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings
4. Milford Graves- Children of the Forest
5. Fred Davis- Cleveland Blues
6. Bob Weir- Ace: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
7. Reba McEntire- Not That Fancy
8. RP Boo- Legacy, Volume 2
9. William Basinski- The Clocktower at the Beach
10. Cat Power- Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert
The Top Ten EPs of 2023
1. Julian Lage- The Layers
2. Theo Croker- By the Way
3. Noah Preminger and Kim Cass- The Dank
4. Truth Cult- Walk the Feel
5. Midwestern- Cartoon Network
6. Big Boss Vette- Resilience
7. $uicideboy$- Yinyang Tapes: Spring Season 1989-1990
8. Mozzy- Kollect Kall
9. Ilhan Ersahin, Dave Harrington and Kenny Wollesen- Your Head You Know
10. Marquis Hill- Rituals + Routines
Instigating a cappella singalongs of Morgan Wallen’s hit “Last Night” at parties, backyard barbecues and amid crowds of strangers in public spaces was my favorite prank of 2023. It’s the song by which I’ll remember the year. Determining my favorite album wasn’t as easy. A dozen releases listed below spent time at the top of my albums list during 2023. Wallen’s One Thing at a Time might have been a contender, but I elect not to duplicate artists in these tabulations.
The Top Fifty Albums of 2023
1. Karol G- Mañana Será Bonito
2. Sebastian Rochford- A Short Diary
3. Bad Bunny- Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana
4. Kassa Overall- Animals
5. Billy Woods and Kenny Segal- Maps
6. Jason Moran- From the Dancehall to the Battlefield
7. Grupo Frontera- El Comienzo
8. Elle King- Come Get Your Wife
9. Hilary Hahn- Eugène Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for Solo Violin
10. JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown- Scaring the Hoes
11. Young Fathers- Heavy Heavy
12. ANOHNI and the Johnsons- My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross
13. Sylvie Courvoisier- Chimaera
14. Lonnie Holley- Oh Me Oh My
15. Kelela- Raven
16. Joe Lovano, Marilyn Crispell and Carmen Castaldi- Our Daily Bread
17. Buddy and Julie Miller- In the Throes
18. Matt Otto- Umbra
19. Atmosphere- Talk Talk
20. Henry Threadgill- The Other One
21. Cécile McLorin Salvant- Mélusine
22. The Art Ensemble of Chicago- The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris
23. Armand Hammer- We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
24.Wilco- Cousin
25. Aja Monet- when the poems do what they do
26. Killer Mike- Michael
27. Bonnie “Prince” Billy- Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You
28. Laura Schuler Quartet- Sueños Paralelos
29. The Clientele- I Am Not There Anymore
30. Irreversible Entanglements- Protect Your Light
31. Sampha- Lahai
32. Tyshawn Sorey- Continuing
33. Mike Dillon & Punkadelick- Inflorescence
34. Willie Nelson- I Don’t Know a Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard
35. Zoh Amba, Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt- The Flower School
36. Rudy Royston’s Flatbed Buggy- Day
37. Christian McBride’s New Jawn- Prime
38. Mette Henriette- Drifting
39. Kali Malone- Does Spring Hide Its Joy
40. Johnathan Blake- Passage
41. King Krule- Space Heavy
42. The Necks- Travel
43. Ambrose Akinmusire- Beauty Is Enough
44. Cleo Sol- Gold
45. Jaimie Branch- Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))
46. Tilo Weber- Tesserae
47. Lana Del Rey- Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
48. El Michels Affair and Black Thought- Glorious Game
49. Ingrid Laubrock- The Last Quiet Place
50. Bertrand Chamayou- Letter(s) to Erik Satie
The Top Fifty Songs of 2023
1. Morgan Wallen- “Last Night”
2. Jamila Woods and duendita- “Tiny Garden”
3. Joshua Redman featuring Gabrielle Cavassa- “Chicago Blues”
4. L’Rain- "Pet Rock"
5. Meshell Ndegeocello featuring Brandee Younger and Julius Rodriguez- “Virgo”
6. That Mexican OT featuring Paul Wall and Drodi- “Johnny Dang”
7. Shirley Collins- “High and Away”
8. Military Gunn- “Do It Faster”
9. The Streets- “Gonna Hurt When This Is Over”
10. Danny Brown- “Tantor”
11. Austin Plaine- “Turn It Around”
12. Yahritza y Su Esencia- “Rositas”
13. SZA- “Kill Bill”
14. Jessie Ware- "Pearls"
15. 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne- "Presha"
16. Turnstile and BadBadNotGood- "Underwater Boi"
17. Stik Figa with the Expert and Blu- "Uknowhut?"
18. Lauren Watkins- "Grain of Salt"
19. Carin Leon- "Primera Cita"
20. Brent Cobb- "Devil Ain't Done"
21. Joanna Sternberg- "I Will Be With You"
22. SexyyRed- "SkeeYee"
23. Tokischa- "Candy"
24. Kali Uchis- "Te Mata"
25. Cultura Profética- "Para Mí"
26. Snoh Aalegra "Wait a Little Longer"
27. Tech N9ne and the Popper- "They Know Meh"
28. Alien Nosejob- "Split Personality"
29. Camilo and Diljit Dosanjh- "Palpita"
30. Raheem DeVaughn- "Let's Fall in Love"
31. Don Omar- "Carcelero"
32. Peso Pluma- "Bye"
33. Ice Spice- "In Ha Mood"
34. 100 gecs- "Dumbest Girl Alive"
35. Big Freedia- "Gin In My System"
36. Luke Combs- "Love You Anyway"
37. Robert Glasper featuring SiR and Alex Isley- "Back to Love"
38. esperanza spalding- "Não Ao Marco Temporal"
39. Sleaford Mods- “So Trendy”
40. Noname with $ilkmoney, Billy Woods and Stout- "gospel?"
41. Maria Elena Silva- "Love, If It Is So"
42. PJ Harvey- “I Inside the Old Year Dying”
43. Sam Hunt- "Walmart"
44. Fuerza Regida and Becky G- "Te Quiero Besar"
45. Slauson Malone 1- "New Joy"
46. Bizzy Banks- "Ok Ok Ok"
47. SleazyWorld Go- "Off the Court"
48. DJ Lucas- "The Climb"
49. Megan Moroney- "Kansas Anymore"
50. Mireya Ramos & the Poor Choices with Los Texmaniacs- "There Stands the Glass"
There Stands the Glass’ top 50 performances of 2023 are listed here.
There Stands the Glass’ top albums and songs of 2022 are listed here.
Original image of Yujia Shen at the Diastole Scholars Center by There Stands the Glass.
The accompanying image of Yujia Shen at Diastole Scholars’ Center encapsulates my year. Classical violin (and piano) provided default ambience throughout 2023. By arriving early and through financial outlays, I claimed spots up front at dozens of concerts. The books in the room are also meaningful. My evenings were devoted to reading when I wasn’t attending performances.
1. Hilary Hahn at the Folly Theater
My review.
2. The Smile and Robert Stillman at the Midland Theatre
My review.
3. Kassa Overall and Omari Jazz at Mississippi Studios (Portland)
My Instagram clip.
4. Samara Joy at the Folly Theater
My review.
5. The Metropolitan Opera’s Tannhäuser at Lincoln Center (New York City)
My review.
6. András Schiff at Helzberg Hall
My review.
7. Mike Dillon and Brian Haas at the Brick
My review.
8. Yujia Shen at Diastole Scholars’ Center
My review.
9. Jake Blount at the Folk Alliance International Conference
My review.
10. RP Boo, DJ Alphabeta and Whorxata at the Encore Room
My review.
11. Pretty Yende at the Folly Theater
My review.
12. Adam Larson, Matt Clohesy and Jimmy Macbride at Westport Coffee House
My Instagram clip.
13. Tim Bernardes at Mississippi Studios (Portland)
My review.
14. UMKC Opera’s Proving Up at Spencer Theatre
My review.
15. Bill Frisell, Greg Tardy, Gerald Clayton and Johnathan Blake at the 1900 Building
My review.
16. Boston Camerata’s Dido & Aeneas at Community Christian Church
My Instagram photo.
17. Hermon Mehari Quartet at the Folly Theater
My review.
18. Off!, Upchuck and Weaponize Chomsky at the recordBar
My Instagram clip.
19. Thomas Rosenkranz at White Recital Hall
My review.
20. Juan Diego Flórez at the Folly Theater
My review.
21. Devin Gray, Maria Elena Silva and the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society at Firehouse Gallery
My review.
22. DJ Lucas, Papo2oo4 and Subjxct 5, Lil Heavn, Paris Williams and N1n4 Freakqncy at Farewell
My review.
23. Thee Sinseers, the Altons and Alanna Royale at Lemonade Park
My review.
24. Willi Carlisle and Betse & Clarke at Knuckleheads
My Instagram snapshot.
25. CRAG Quartet, Joshua Gerowitz and the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society at the Bunker
My review.
26. Artemis at the Gem Theater
My review.
27. Queens of the Stone Age, Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth at Starlight Theatre
My review.
28. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Listening Forest at Crystal Bridges (Bentonville)
My Instagram clip.
29. Miguel Zenón Quartet at the Folly Theater
My review.
30. Bob Weir at Louisville Palace (Louisville)
My review.
31. Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Michael Hurley at the Aladdin Theater (Portland)
My review.
32. Christian McBride, Benny Green and Gregory Hutchinson at the Village Vanguard (New York City)
My review.
33. Rod Fleeman Trio at Green Lady Lounge
My Instagram clip.
34. Nickel Creek and Gaby Moreno at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.
35. Alien Nosejob, Citric Dummies and CKrit at Howdy
My review.
36. Danielle Nicole and Katy Guillen and the Drive at the Uptown Theater
My Instagram snapshot.
37. Pat Metheny’s SideEye at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.
38. Janet Jackson and Ludacris at the T-Mobile Center
My Instagram snapshot.
39. Big Freedia at Boulevardia
My Instagram clip.
40. Jean-Yves Thibaudet at the Folly Theater
My Instagram snapshot.
41. Parker Quartet at Polsky Theatre
My review.
42. Eugene Friesen and Henrique Eisenmann at the 1900 Building
My review.
43. Chalis O’Neal at the Blue Room
My Instagram clip.
44. Booker T. Jones at the Folly Theater
My Instagram clip.
45. Rob Magill and Marshall Trammell, the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society and Alber at Farewell
My review.
46. The Salvation Choir at Theis Park
My Instagram clip.
47. Hot Chip and Cadence Weapon at Wonder Ballroom (Portland)
My Instagram clip.
48. Randy Porter, Tom Wakeling and Todd Strait at the 1905 (Portland)
My review.
49. John Mellencamp at the Midland Theatre
My Instagram clip.
50 Kentucky Opera’s Cinderella at W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre (Louisville)
My Instagram snapshot.
There Stands the Glass’ top albums and songs of 2023 are listed here.
Last year’s concert rankings are here.
Original image by There Stands the Glass.
The death and destruction wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic is tragic. I was lucky. Blessed by good health while holed up in Kansas, I gained new appreciation for my expansive suburban home and marvelous life partner.
I took advantage of the free streams offered by the Metropolitan Opera on more than 150 evenings during the days of isolation. I’ve been looking forward to returning to Lincoln Center ever since.
Remembering I was dissatisfied with $25 tickets on a remote balcony at the massive opera house in January of 2019, I elected to splurge on seats to watch Donald Runnicles conduct Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser on Wednesday, December 6.
The most expensive concert tickets I’ve purchased didn’t allow me to rub shoulders with masters of the universe. Instead, I was surrounded by fellow opera fanatics from the Americas, Europe and Asia who appreciated being close enough to Runnicles to hear the maestro’s strenuous gasps.
As with the National Football League, experiencing the event in person is in many ways inferior to viewing a polished television broadcast. Even so, I relished hearing the unfiltered voices of Ekaterina Gubanova, Elza van den Heever and Andreas Schager for the duration of the four-hour and thirty-minute performance.
For decades I thought I couldn’t have picked a worse era in which to see Bob Dylan for the first time. I didn’t know what to make of the 1978 concert at Kansas City’s Kemper Arena.
I accepted the conventional wisdom that Dylan’s tour in support of Street Legal was an artistic debacle. The new four-hour and thirty-minute The Complete Budokan 1978 changed my mind
Forty-five years later, the arrangements rendered by the band still sound more suited to Neil Diamond or Elvis Presley than to Dylan. Yet I now appreciate how much fun Dylan was having. Besides, I like Diamond and Presley.
The cheese doesn’t lend itself to protest material, but readings of love songs like “Is Your Love in Vain?” and "The Man in Me" fill me with the sort of giddy yearning I’ve rarely felt since I was a teen.
