Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, October 28, 2019

Spinning Records With Marion Merritt + Stacy Busch & Wolfe Brack & The Queer Narratives Festival

Today, we welcome back to the show, Marion Merritt as our special “Guest Producer.” For 16 years now Marion has been sharing her musical discoveries and information from her encyclopedic brain. Marion is the creator of Records With Merritt, a small, independent, minority owned business, at 1614 Westport Rd. in Kansas City, Missouri.

Marion Merritt, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

1. “It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / Dec. 20, 1979
   [WMM theme]

2. Dimitri From Paris – “Prologue”
   from: Sacrebleu / Atlantic / 2001

3. The Temptations – “Ball of Confusion” (That’s What the World Is Today) [Alternate Mix]
   from: Psychedelic Soul / Motown / June 24, 2003
   [“Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” is a 1970 hit single for The Temptations. It was released on the Gordy (Motown) label, and written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. // The song was used to anchor the 1970 Greatest Hits II LP. It reached #3 on the US pop charts and #2 on the US R&B charts.Billboard ranked the record as the #24 song of 1970. It reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart. // Although a nearly eleven minute long backing track was recorded by The Funk Brothers, only slightly more than four minutes was used for the Temptations’ version of the song. The full backing track can be heard on the 1971 LP The Undisputed Truth. // The Temptations are an American vocal group who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group’s work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 10 hit single “Cloud Nine” in October 1968, pioneered psychedelic soul, and was significant in the evolution of R&B and soul music. The band members are known for their choreography, distinct harmonies, and dress style. Having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are among the most successful groups in popular music. // Featuring five male vocalists and dancers (save for brief periods with fewer or more members), the group formed in 1960 in Detroit, Michigan, under the name The Elgins. The founding members came from two rival Detroit vocal groups: Otis Williams, Elbridge “Al” Bryant, and Melvin Franklin of Otis Williams & the Distants, and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams of the Primes. In 1964, Bryant was replaced by David Ruffin, who was the lead vocalist on a number of the group’s biggest hits, including “My Girl” (1964), “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (1966), and “I Wish It Would Rain” (1967). Ruffin was replaced in 1968 by Dennis Edwards, with whom the group continued to record hit records such as “Cloud Nine” (1969) and “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” (1970). The group’s lineup has changed frequently since the departures of Kendricks and Paul Williams from the act in 1971. Later members of the group have included singers such as Richard Street, Damon Harris, Ron Tyson, and Ali-Ollie Woodson, with whom the group scored a late-period hit in 1984 with “Treat Her Like a Lady”. // Over the course of their career, the Temptations released four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and fourteen R&B number-one singles. Their music has earned three Grammy Awards. The Temptations were the first Motown recording act to win a Grammy Award – for “Cloud Nine” in 1969[6] – and in 2013 received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Six of the Temptations (Edwards, Franklin, Kendricks, Ruffin, Otis Williams and Paul Williams) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Three classic Temptations songs, “My Girl”, “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)”, and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”, are among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The Temptations were ranked at number 68 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of all time. // As of 2020, the Temptations continue to perform with founder Otis Williams in the lineup (Williams owns the rights to the Temptations name).]

4. Throwing Muses – “Dark Blue”
   from: Sun Racket / Fire Records / September 4, 2020
   [Sun Racket is a studio album by American alternative rock band Throwing Muses. The album was released on Fire Records on September 4, 2020, and has received positive reviews from critics. // Although it had been seven years since Purgatory/Paradise and a decade prior to that since Throwing Muses, primary songwriter Kristin Hersh had continuously been writing songs both for this band and her project 50 Foot Wave and the songwriting for this album was influenced by the harder rock sound of the latter band. She was only motivated to make a new Throwing Muses album once she had the right songs that sounded appropriate for this group: according to Hersh, the distinction is so stark that she has written them in a fugue state as a response to post-traumatic stress disorder and has no memory of their composition.// The first single from the album, “Dark Blue”, was released in February 2020. The second single, “Bo Diddley Bridge”, was released in July, and the third, “Frosting”, in August. // The album had a planned release date of May 22, 2020 but was later delayed to September 4, 2020. Throwing Muses is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly (stepsisters), who both wrote the group’s songs. Throwing Muses are known for performing music with shifting tempos, creative chord progressions, unorthodox song structures, and surreal lyrics. The group was set apart from other contemporary acts by Hersh’s stark, candid writing style; Donelly’s pop stylings and vocal harmonies; and David Narcizo’s unusual drumming techniques eschewing use of cymbals. Hersh’s hallucinatory, feverish lyrics occasionally touch on the subject of mental illness, more often drawing portraits of characters from daily life or addressing relationships.]

5. Throwing Muses – “Milk at McDonald’s”
   from: Sun Racket / Fire Records / September 24, 2020

6. This Is The Kit – “Was Magician”
   from: Off Off On / Rough Trade / October 23, 2020
   [Off Off On is the fifth studio album by British band This Is the Kit. It was released through Rough Trade Records, making it the second band’s album for the label. Recording sessions took place at Real World Studios in Wiltshire. Production was handled by Josh Kaufman. // This Is the Kit is the alias of Paris-based British musician Kate Stables, as well as the band she fronts. This Is The Kit were a long-time favourite among various BBC Radio 6 Music DJs, which is where the musician and presenter Guy Garvey discovered them, playing their music frequently. Fellow 6 Music DJs Lauren Laverne, Radcliffe & Maconie, Cerys Matthews, and Mary Anne Hobbs have also been major supporters; DJ Marc Riley has hosted the band for three BBC live sessions to date. BBC Radio 1 has offered the band spot plays via DJs Huw Stephens, Jen & Ally, and Phil Taggart. // As the band prepared to release their third album Bashed Out in late 2014 and early 2015, they began to receive more attention from online and print critics. Uncut, Drowned in Sound, The Line of Best Fit and The 405 awarded the album 8/10 ratings. The Mancunion rated a live show a 9/10. Finally, the American blog Stereogum wrote that “Kate Stables has been recording music as This Is The Kit for years now, but this is probably one of the first times you’re reading about her. “Bashed Out” will be her third full-length album, and…it will also likely be her breakout.” // The band received a boost in attention in August 2015 when BBC iPlayer debuted an episode of the documentary series Music Box devoted to This Is The Kit’s music and influences.[5] The show was hosted by Garvey, who argued that their second album, Wriggle Out the Restless, deserved a Mercury Prize nomination. // The band also appeared in the BBC One television series Wanderlust, playing in a night club that Toni Colette’s character Joy attended.]

7. Ondara – “Lockdown On Date Night Tuesday”
   from: Folk n’ Roll Vol. 1: Tales Of Isolation / Verve Forecast / May 29, 2020
   [J.S. Ondara, professionally known as Ondara, is a Grammy-nominated Kenyan singer-songwriter whose debut album, Tales of America, was released on February 15, 2019 via Verve Forecast. The critical success of the debut led to a follow-up deluxe edition, Tales of America: The Second Coming, in September 2019 featuring the original lineup plus five bonus tracks. // Ondara was born in August 1992 in Nairobi, Kenya. As a child, he wrote poems and stories as well as songs despite not having an instrument to play them on because his family couldn’t afford one. He was inspired by Radiohead, Nirvana, Death Cab For Cutie, Jeff Buckley, Pearl Jam, Guns N’ Roses, and Bob Dylan. // Ondara grew up listening to rock songs on his older sisters’ battery-powered radio. Having discovered The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan following a dispute with a friend over whether “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” was a Guns N’ Roses song, Ondara resolved to travel to the United States to pursue a career in music. // In February 2013, after winning in the green card lottery, Ondara moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota at the age of 20. He taught himself to play guitar and perform during open mic nights. Eventually, he decided to study music therapy in college, but dropped out of school to return to playing small shows at coffee houses after attending a concert. // After moving to Minnesota, Ondara tried his hand at making music and performing in small venues. His big break came when Minneapolis radio station KCMP 89.3 The Current played one of his songs on air by pulling audio from his YouTube channel, where he had been uploading covers of his favorite songs. // Ondara’s debut album, Tales of America, was released in February 2019 by Verve Label Group. Despite only 11 tracks making the final tracklist, Ondara wrote more than 100 songs for the album, all based on an immigrant’s life in America. The album was produced by Mike Viola of the Candy Butchers. In support of the album, Ondara embarked on his first headlining tour in March 2019. After the release of the album, Ondara debuted on Billboard’s Emerging Artist chart at No. 37 in March 2019. The album also landed on the Billboard Heatseekers Album, Americana/Folk Album Sales, and Rock Album Sales charts. He was nominated for Best Emerging Act at the 2019 Americana Music Honors & Awards. // Ondara cites Bob Dylan as his musical hero, which is why he chose to live in Minnesota and why he wears his signature fedora. // He has toured with the Milk Carton Kids, Lindsey Buckingham and in 2019, he opened for select dates on tour with Neil Young. In early 2020, he opened for The Lumineers on their III world tour. // Ondara was nominated for Best Americana Album at the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards for his album, Tales of America.]

8. Kevin Morby – “Sundowner”
   from: Sundowner / Dead Oceans / October 16, 2020
   [6th release from Kevin Robert Morby born April 2, 1988, and follow up to his 2019 release Oh My God. Kevin Morby released City Music in 2017. Kevin learned to play guitar when he was 10. In his teens he formed the band Creepy Aliens. 17-year-old Morby dropped out of Blue Valley Northwest High School, got his GED, and moved from his native Kansas City to Brooklyn in the mid-2000s, supporting himself by working bike delivery and café jobs. He later joined the noise-folk group Woods on bass. While living in Brooklyn, he became close friends and roommates with Cassie Ramone of the punk trio Vivian Girls, and the two formed a side project together called The Babies, who released albums in 2011 and 2012. He began a solo career in 2013 releasing his debut album Harlem River. His 2nd album Still Life was released in 2014. His album Singing Saw was in WMM’s The 116 Best Recordings of 2016. His album City Music was in WMM’s The 118 Best Recordings of 2018]

10:33 – Underwriting

9. The Heliocentrics – “Devastation”
   from: Telemetric Sounds / Madlib Invazion / September 11, 2020
   [The Heliocentrics are an English, London-based musical collective, combining funk, jazz, psych and library influences based around drummer and producer Malcolm Catto, Bassist Jake Ferguson, Guitarist Adrian Owusu and multi-instrumentalist Jack Yglesias. // They released their debut album, Out There in 2007 on Now-Again Records, followed by collaborations with Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke on the album Inspiration Information (2009) which was awarded that years Gilles Peterson Worldwide Winner Album of the Year award, Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics (OST) (2010), and Orlando Julius. // The Heliocentrics appeared on the track “Skullfuckery” on the UK release of the DJ Shadow album The Outsider, which was released in 2006. // In 2013, they released their second full album, 13 Degrees of Reality also on Stones Throw. The album with Astatke was included in a list of ‘Five Essential Jazz Albums’ chosen by pianist Jamie Cullum in 2013. // In 2017, they released A World of Masks with vocals by Barbora Patkova, as well as The Sunshine Makers OST, the score they wrote for the 2015 British documentary The Sunshine Makers, directed by Cosmo Feilding-Mellen. Both records were released on Soundway Records.]

10. Molchat Doma – “На Дне (At the Bottom)”
    from: Этажи (Etazhi) ( Floor) / Sacred Bones / 2020
    [Originally Released September 7, 2018]
    [Molchat Doma (Russian: Молчат Дома IPA: [mɐlˈt͡ɕat dɐˈma]; English: “Houses Are Silent”) is a Belarusian rock band from Minsk, formed in 2017. Their current lineup consists of Egor Shkutko (vocals), Roman Komogortsev (guitar, synthesizer, drum machine), and Pavel Kozlov (bass guitar, synthesizer). Their sound was influenced by 1980s Russian rock music and has been described as post-punk, new wave, synth-pop, and cold wave. // They self-released their first album, С крыш наших домов (S krysh nashikh domov, 2017), and later released their second album, Этажи (Etazhi, 2018), through German independent label Detriti Records. After gaining popularity worldwide, they signed to American independent label Sacred Bones Records in 2020, who reissued their albums, marking their first releases in North America. Their third studio album, Monument, is due for release on 13 November 2020.]

11. Bette Smith – “Fistful of Dollars”
    from: The Good, The Bad and the Bette / Ruf / September 25, 2020
    [Betty Smith (July 6. 1929 – January 21, 2011) was an English jazz saxophonist and singer. She began playing the saxophone at the age of nine and left school six years later to perform with the travelling all-female septet Archie’s Juveniles. She performed in the Middle East in 1947 and flew to Germany the following year. Smith and her husband Jack Peberdy joined Freddy Randall’s band in 1950 before leaving seven years later to form their own quintet. Her time with Randall saw her travel the United States with some success in the country’s hit parade. Her newly formed quintet found regular work and Smith later performed with the Ted Heath Orchestra and alongside Kenny Baker. Her career ended in 1985 and did not recover sufficiently to resume performing. // Smith was born on 6 July 1929 in Sileby, Leicestershire. She began studying the piano from the age of six and started to play the saxophone (purchased by her father Gerald) three years later. Smith’s talent was noticed by a local village resident who paid for her education fees to allow her to attend the private Stoneygate School in Leicester. She began to play jazz in her teenage years, and she performed in local clubs, leading to reprimands by her headmistress. Smith left school when she was 15, and at the prompting of her father, auditioned for the travelling all-female saxophone septet Archie’s Juveniles. Following performances for troops in the Middle East in 1947 with the pianist Billy Penrose, which saw her tour bus attacked, she toured with an all-female band led by Rudy Starita and flew to Germany to perform for officials taking time off from the Nuremberg trials. // Smith later joined the Ivy Benson Orchestra in 1948 and flew into Berlin to perform for troops when the city’s blockade started. She married the trumpeter Jack Peberdy in August 1950 (after being introduced to him by her father at the saxophonist’s 19th birthday party). Smith joined Freddy Randall’s band the same year, and she and her husband worked full-time for the trumpeter from 1953 to February 1957. In 1956, the band travelled to the United States, in exchange for the visit of Louis Armstrong to the United Kingdom. Racial tensions were high in the era and in one theatre in North Carolina where she was performing the band was evacuated because of a bomb. Smith toured with the same programme as Bill Haley & His Comets, and found some success when her recording of Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered reached the American hit parade, garnering admiration with some of the country’s famous musicians. Smith was voted one of Britain’s best tenor-saxophone players in a 1957 Melody Maker poll. // That same year, Randall became ill and disbanded the group, leading Smith and Peberdy to form their own quintet which included the pianist Brian Lemon. With Smith leading, the couple toured as support acts for the comedian Tony Hancock; Smith enlivened Hancock by performing “Abide with Me” out of tune. She found work into the summer seasons with visits to Guernsey and Cliftonville, and the band were residents on the SS Franconia. The band toured Australia and New Zealand, performed in the United States, made regular broadcasts on television and radio, and she had her own programme on Radio Luxembourg. The quintet was disbanded in 1964. Smith played and sang with the Ted Heath Orchestra, and at this period of time, was now appearing in clubs and festivals in a solo capacity in Europe.// Her high quality performances led her to working with the trumpet virtuoso Kenny Baker and the two worked alongside each other for the rest of her career. A sextet called “The Best of British Jazz” was formed in the 1970s when two former Ted Heath musicians, trombonist Don Lusher and drummer Jack Parnell joined her and Baker. The band recorded two albums, including Exactly Like You in 1981. // Smith appeared with Eggy Ley’s Hotshots in the 1980s and was seen performing at several jazz festivals. The band ceased playing in 1985 when Smith became ill and Peberdy cared for her with the couple returning to Sileby in 1988. Smith had not recovered sufficiently when Baker reformed the band in 1992 but continued to play the piano the week before her death on 21 January 2011 at Baron Court’s Nursing Home in Kirby Muxloe, Leicester. Peberdy survived her. Smith’s funeral was held on 4 February at Loughborough Crematorium.]

12. Lianne La Havas – “Bittersweet (Full Length)”
    from: Lianne La Havas / Nonesuch -Warner Records UK / July 17, 2020
    [Third studio album from Lianne La Hava born Lianne Charlotte Barnes (born 23 August 23, 1989). Lianne La Havas is a British singer and songwriter. Her career began after being introduced to various musicians, including singer Paloma Faith, for whom she sang backing vocals. In 2010, La Havas signed to Warner Bros. Records, spending two years developing her songwriting, before releasing any music. La Havas’ debut studio album, Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), was released to positive reviews from critics and earned her a nomination for the BBC’s Sound of 2012 poll and awards for the iTunes Album of The Year 2012. La Havas was born and raised in London, England, to a Greek father and Jamaican mother. She was raised in Tooting and Streatham, spending the majority of her time with her grandparents after her parents separated. La Havas began singing at seven, and cites her parents’ diverse musical tastes as having the biggest influence on her music. Her father, an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, taught her the basics of guitar and piano. Lianne wrote her first song at the age of 11, but did not learn to play the guitar until she was 18 years old. Lianne sang in her school choir. She attended Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College for Girls in Thornton Heath where she studied art A-level, and had planned to take an art foundation course before she decided to leave college to pursue a career in music full-time. Her birth name is Lianne Barnes, and her stage name is an adaptation of her Greek father Henry Vlahavas’ surname. She lives in London.]

11:00 – Station ID

13. Moon Duo – “In the Trees”
    from: Escape: Expanded Edition / Sacred Bones / 2010
    [Moon Duo is a psychedelic rock band from San Francisco, California formed in 2009 by Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada. Their debut album Mazes was released on Sacred Bones Records in 2011. The band’s style is inspired by psychedelic rock, combining repetitive rhythms and saturated guitars. Their influences include Alan Vega of Suicide, Spacemen 3 and Silver Apples. The band’s seventh full-length album, Stars Are the Light, was released on September 27, 2019. Their most recent album, Stars Are the Light was released to favorable reviews. Stereogum named it album of the week on September 19, 2019 saying “With their latest album, Moon Duo were thinking about dance, and as such Stars Are The Light comes with surprising touchstones, with Johnson and Yamada looking back to ’70s funk and disco.” Metacritic gave the album a score of 77 out of 100.]

14. that dog. – “He’s Kissing Christian”
    from: Totally Crushed Out / Geffen / January 1, 1995
    [Reissued by Third Man Records / 2020]
    [That Dog (styled as that dog.) is a Los Angeles-based rock band that formed in 1992 and dissolved in 1997, reuniting in 2011. The band originally consisted of Anna Waronker on lead vocals and guitar, Rachel Haden on bass guitar and vocals, her sister Petra Haden on violin and vocals, and Tony Maxwell on drums. The band’s original work drew critical comparisons with the output of Redd Kross, Wednesday Week, Dolly Mixture and Buzzcocks. Lead vocalist Anna Waronker is the daughter of record industry mogul Lenny Waronker and singer Donna Loren, and the sister of drummer Joey Waronker of Beck, R.E.M. and Atoms for Peace. She is married to Steve McDonald of Redd Kross. Petra and Rachel Haden are daughters of jazz bassist Charlie Haden. // The group began when Anna and a friend, Jenni Konner, began writing short punk songs in her bedroom about boys. Waronker had known Petra and Rachel Haden since high school, so they fluidly found their way in to playing her songs with her. Mutual friend Tony Maxwell picked up the drum duties. // Their self-titled first album was originally released on a limited run as a double 7″ on the independent label Magnatone Records in 1992. It was soon after re-released on cassette and compact disc by Geffen. During this time, the band was good friends with, often played on records by, and toured with label mates Beck and Weezer. Members contributed to the Beck songs “Girl of My Dreams”, “Totally Confused” and the single “Steve Threw Up”, as well as Weezer’s “I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams”, all released as B-sides by the aforementioned artists. // 1995 saw the release of Totally Crushed Out! to little fanfare, and the massive yet futile tour that supported the record left Waronker feeling burned out and dejected about the music business in general. The band’s members also contributed to several tracks on Mike Watt’s Ball-Hog or Tugboat? record. // On April 8, 1997, That Dog released their third album, Retreat from the Sun, and added Kenny Woods (Steven McDonald Group, Beck, Anders & Woods) on guitar. It has been confirmed that Anna Waronker originally intended to release the album as a solo record. She has claimed in interviews that her A&R pressured her in to letting That Dog record the album. Retreat from the Sun spawned the group’s only charting radio hit, “Never Say Never”, which reached No. 27 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock charts in 1997. // That year the band toured the US with various acts including, Blur, The Wallflowers, and the Counting Crows. On July 2, 1997, Counting Crows kicked off a co-headlining tour with The Wallflowers that continued through September. This tour included opening acts by Bettie Serveert, Engine 88, Gigolo Aunts, and That Dog, with each opening band touring for a three-week stretch. While touring with Counting Crows, The Wallflowers were also playing their own headlining dates when the Counting Crows tour was on break (Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz experienced swollen vocal cords and had to back out of several shows in July). // The group issued a formal statement announcing their disbandment in September 1997. Since that time, all the members of the band have kept active in the music business. Anna Waronker has contributed music to soundtracks and released her solo debut album, Anna, in 2002 on her own Five Foot Two Records label; she released her second solo album, California Fade, in 2011. Petra Haden has released two solo albums: 1999’s Imaginaryland and 2005’s Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out in which she reinvents The Who’s classic 1967 album as an a cappella tour de force. In 2005, she joined The Decemberists as a full-time member, but no longer plays with the band. Petra Haden has also contributed vocals and violin to recordings by many artists including Green Day, Bill Frisell, Miss Murgatroid, and The Rentals. Rachel Haden has contributed vocals to albums by Jimmy Eat World, Say Anything, Ozma and Nada Surf, and was also a member of the reformed version of The Rentals (featuring ex-Weezer bassist Matt Sharp) for a brief period. Tony Maxwell has worked as a composer, most notably on the films Chuck & Buck and The Good Girl (both written by Mike White). // Anna Waronker and her band frequently play clubs in the Los Angeles area. Petra and Rachel have sporadically gigged with third sister Tanya (the three are triplets) as the Haden Triplets. // On June 21, 2011, after a few months of the band having an official presence on Facebook, the band used their page to announce a reunion show on August 26 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. A second show was added for the 28th due to demand; both shows sold out. Openers for the shows included Tenacious D and a Prince cover band led by Maya Rudolph, who like Petra and Rachel Haden was a member of The Rentals. The band announced additional reunion shows for 2012: Two shows at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles on April 13 (the second show was added after the first sold out), and performances in Brooklyn, New York, on May 24–25, 2012, at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The announcement for the Los Angeles shows stated that the band would be performing with an expanded string section, and would feature some songs never performed before. // On May 25, 2012, The Village Voice published an interview with Anna Waronker where she hinted that there may be new music from the band in the future. In 2017, Waronker, Rachel Haden and Maxwell indicated that they were in the process of recording a fourth album. Petra Haden declined to participate in the recording process, opting not to continue with the band. // On August 21, 2019, the band announced that their fourth studio album, Old LP will be released on October 4, 2019. A music video for “Just the Way” was released on October 2, 2019.]

15. that dog. – “Retreat from the Sun”
    from: Retreat from the Sun / UMG / 1997
    [Reissued by Third Man Records / 2020]

16. Sestetto Basso-Valdambrini – “Coltrane Style (Remastered 2019)” from: The Best Modern Jazz In Italy 1962 (Remastered 2019) / Naked Lunch / Jan. 24, 2020 [Naked Lunch present a reissue of Sestetto Basso Valdambrini’s The Best Modern Jazz In Italy 1962. Back in the early ’60s, the Basso Valdambrini Sextet represented without doubt the best Italian jazz example. Under the direction of tenor saxophonist Gianni Basso and trumpeter Oscar Valdambrini, there was a super-dynamic combo featuring a bunch of young, expert musicians, such as Dino Piana (trombone), Renato Sellani (piano), Giorgio Azzolini (bass) and Lionello Bionda (drums). As winners of the 1962 “Best Modern Jazz in Italy” contest, they released this album that can be easily considered as a landmark record in European jazz. A fresh and ultra-swinging program based on fine renditions of classic tunes by Jackie McLean, Benny Golson, Dave Brubeck, Junior Mance, and a couple of originals including a heartfelt tribute to master Coltrane.]

17. Ryan Porter – “Maggie”
    from: Force for Good / World Galaxy-Alpha / June 14, 2019
    [Los Angeles-based trombonist and composer Ryan Porter will release his third album, Force For Good, June 14th, launching the 84-minute jazz-fusion opus with Alpha Pup Records imprint World Galaxy. Written and recorded between 2014-19, Force For Good features primary core members of the West Coast Get Down, including Kamasi Washington (sax), Brandon Coleman (piano, Fender Rhodes), Cameron Graves (piano, Fender Rhodes), Miles Mosley (acoustic bass), Thundercat (electric bass), and Tony Austin (drums). Other contributing members and features include Nia Andrews (vocals), Josef Leimberg (trumpet, percussion), Robert Miller (drums), Aaron Haggerty (drums), Lyndon Rochelle (drums), and Jumaane Smith (trumpet). // Force For Good was methodically captured across different locations in LA, with Ryan Porter scheduling all sessions between the window of 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. Sheet music and general instructions were brought to the studio, with Ryan Porter giving the players freedom to explore around the plotted transitions and changes. Three takes were recorded for each composition, selecting the best version and compiling the music around a rigorous schedule of studio sessions, writing, and touring over the last five years. Telepathic like communication from their extensive years working together, their togetherness sparked the energy for another worthy contribution to the canon of 21st-century jazz. // As the follow-up to Ryan Porter’s debut release Spangle-Lang Lane and his sophomore album The Optimist, recordings initiated at Kamasi Washington’s parents’ house in the infamous space known as The Shack. As the epicenter of foundational sessions from the WCGD and the rotating cast of members around the group, The Shack was also home to recordings for The Optimist. Force For Good marks an important turning point in Ryan Porter’s career, mostly captured during the same year that he contributed to Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed LP To Pimp A Butterfly and the core members of the WCGD were ramping up for the release of The Epic on Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder. After the initial recordings at The Shack, Ryan took a unit of colleagues to Pasadena, tracking at legendary jazz trumpeter Nolan Shaheed’s home studio. Next was the Red Gate Studio in West Los Angeles with Raymond Richards engineering. Final recording sessions were held at Josef Leimberg’s Iron Works Studio in Eagle Rock. Mixing and mastering were conducted at Cosmic Zoo studios by Daddy Kev, owner of World Galaxy/Alpha Pup Records and engineer for all of Kamasi Washington’s releases since The Epic.]

10:28 – Underwriting

11:30 – Interview with Stacy Busch & Wolfe Brack

Stacy Busch is a composer and performer. Her concerts and productions are designed to be provocative yet accessible in order to cultivate broader artistic interest and, in particular, reach under-served and/or misrepresented communities. Stacy is the founder and president of No Divide KC, an arts and social justice non-profit that creates artistic events for social causes. Stacy is a 2020 Charlotte Street Foundation Generative Performing Artist Fellow. Stacy has received grants from ArtsKC, ArtSounds, Charlotte Street Foundation and the UMKC Women’s Council. Stacy joins us on the radio today to talk about No Divide KC’s 1st Annual Queer Narratives Festival. More information at: http://www.nodividekc.org

Stacy Busch, thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley.

Wolfe Brack is an area artist and also serves as Operations Manager and Curator at InterUrban ArtHouse, 8001 Newton St, Overland Park, Kansas

Wolfe Brack, thanks for being with us on ArtSpeak Radio.

No Divide KC presents – 1st Annual Queer Narratives Festival

NDKC is launching its 1st Annual Queer Narratives Festival. This festival will be held annually to highlight and celebrate queer voices representing the full spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community. The event is sponsored by the Francis Family Foundation, ArtsKC, Kansas City Young Audiences and other local businesses

The 1st Annual Queer Narratives Festival, Saturday, October 31, at 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, at Kansas City Young Audiences, 3732 Main St., Kansas City , Missouri.

The Queer narratives festival is a celebration of live performances and visual art that is socially distant, safe, and spooky. Live performances and costume contest are outdoors.
(Note: All persons entering festival will have their temperature taken. Masks are required.)

Queer Narratives Festival Visual Exhibition will be shown indoors with limited capacity.

Visual Artists:
Wolfe Brack,
Hugo Ximello-Salido,
Melissa Wilkinson,
Merrique Jenson,
Triangle Head Universe,
Matthew Willie Garcia.

Queer Narratives Festival Performers – (20 minute sets)

Performing Artists include:
Kyle Mullins – Dance,
Tianna Morton – Dance,
Rye Boothe – Poetry,
RJ Junger – Multimedia Performance,
The Black Creatures – Music,
Dennis Porter – Drag Entertainer,
Amanda Wenger – Comedy

WHO: No Divide KC

WHERE: Kansas City Young Audiences, 3732 Main St, Kansas City, MO 64111

WHEN: October 31, 2020 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM HALLOWEEN THEME!

The 1st Annual Queer Narratives Festival, Saturday, October 31, at 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, at Kansas City Young Audiences, 3732 Main St., Kansas City , Missouri.

NDKC Diversity Statement
No Divide KC uses the arts as a vehicle for stimulating social awareness, participation and community building. No Divide KC partners with Kansas City-based artists and organizations to create artistic events that are focused on the stories of underserved and misrepresented communities in Kansas City.

Stacy’s work has been performed nationally as well as in France and Iceland. In 2020, Stacy is composing/performing the new music and theater production, When/Time in partnership with Charlotte Street Foundation. The Mid America Freedom Band is premiering her double concerto piece for two drag queens. No Divide KC is producing “Stories from Under the Stars” a storytelling event focusing on homelessness in Kansas City as well as the 1st Annual Queer Narratives Festival.

Recently, Stacy released a new project and subsequent album, titled Mass, which she premiered at MTH Theater. She performed at Splice Electroacoustic Music Festival, she scored the documentary “The Ordinance Project” which premiered at the Kansas City LGBTQ Film festival, she partnered with Gilda’s Club KC, Owen/Cox Dance Group and Charlotte Street Foundation to compose and perform the music for “Collective: Our Stories of Cancer,” other service with No Divide KC includes partnerships with the Kansas City Ballet School and the Johnson County Library.

In addition to Kansas City, Stacy’s work has been featured at the University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University. It has also been performed by ensembles including: loadbang, Bent Frequency and the Beo String Quartet.

She is a 2020 Charlotte Street Foundation Generative Performing Artist Fellow. Stacy has received grants from ArtsKC, ArtSounds, Charlotte Street Foundation and the UMKC Women’s Council. Stacy received her MM in composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her BM in composition from Western Michigan University.

Stacy’s teachers include Rome Prize winners Paul Rudy and James Mobberley as well as Pulitzer Prize winners Zhou Long and Chen Yi. Other influential teachers include Guggenheim Fellow Curtis Curtis-Smith, Christopher Biggs and Lisa Coons. Prior to studying music, Stacy studied print journalism at Boston University.

Stacy Busch and Wolfe Brack, thanks for being with us on WMM.

The 1st Annual Queer Narratives Festival, Saturday, October 31, at 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, at Kansas City Young Audiences, 3732 Main St., KCMO. More info: http://www.nodividekc.org

11:43 – Guest Producer Marion Merritt

As we welcome our Guest Producer Marion Merritt back to the show I want to mention that next week on

18. Fantastic Negrito – “Chocolate Samurai”
    from: Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? / Fantastic Negrito – Cooking Vinyl / August 14, 2020
    [Follow up to his June 15, 2018 release, Please Don’t Be Dead on Blackball Universe – Cooking Vinyl Records that was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. His 2016 album The Last Days of Oakland won a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 59th Grammy Awards. In 2019, his album Please Don’t Be Dead won the same category for the 61st Grammy Awards.Fantastic Negrito was raised in an orthodox Muslim household. His father was a Somali-Caribbean immigrant who mostly played traditional African music. He was the eight of 15 children. When, at the age of 12, Negrito’s family moved from Massachusetts to Oakland, California. Oakland in 1970s was a million miles from Negrito’s conservative childhood. He went from Arab chants to Funkadelic in one day. By the time he was 20, Negrito had taught himself to play every instrument he could get his hands on. He was recording music, and after some difficulties on the streets he packed his bags and headed to LA, armed with a demo on cassette. Negrito signed with a million dollar deal at Interscope. The record deal was a disaster. Gangsta rap was ruling the airwaves and Negrito was in the wrong place at the wrong era. Negrito came out of the deal with a failed album and his confidence gutted. In 2000, Negrito was in a near fatal car accident that put him in a coma. For four weeks it was touch and go. Because his muscles atrophied while bedridden, he had to go through months of frustrating physical therapy to regain use of his legs. Rods were placed throughout his body. And worst of all, his playing hand was mutilated. Back in Oakland, Negrito forgot about life as a musician. He got married, he planted vegetables, raised his own chickens, and made money growing weed. He also settled into being a man, on his own, clear of the distractions of wanting to be a star. And then his son Kyu was born. He began recording without the hindrances that come with chasing trends. Negrito turned to the original DNA of all American music, the Blues. The beating life had given him primed him to channel his literal and musical forefathers: the Blues musicians of the Delta]

Marion will be back with us on November 25 for our annual look back on 2020 – The Year in Music with Special Guests: Tim Finn, Fally Afani, Chris Haghirian, and Marion Merritt

With her partner Ann Stewart, Marion is the creator of Records With Merritt, a small, independent, minority owned business, at 1614 Westport Rd. in KCMO. More info at: http://www.recordswithmerritt.com

Marion Merritt thanks for being out Guest Producer on Wednesday MidDay Medley.

For WMM, I’m Mark Manning. Thanks for listening!

11:51

19. Gregory Porter – “If Love Is Overrated’
    from: All Rise / Blue Note Records / August 28, 2020
    [Sixth studio album from Gregory Porter, born November 4, 1971. He is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2014 for Liquid Spirit and in 2017 for Take Me to the Alley. Gregory Porter was born in Sacramento, California, and was raised in Bakersfield, California, where his mother Ruth was a minister. Porter has seven siblings. His mother was a large influence on his life, having encouraged him to sing in church at an early age. His father, Rufus, was largely absent from his life. Says Porter, “Everybody had some issues with their father, even if he was in the house. He may have been emotionally absent. My father was just straight-up absent. I hung out with him just a few days in my life. And it wasn’t a long time. He just didn’t seem to be completely interested in being there. Maybe he was, I don’t know.” // A 1989 graduate of Highland High School, he received a full athletic scholarship as a football lineman to San Diego State University (SDSU Aztecs), but a shoulder injury during his junior year cut short his football career. // Porter’s mother died from cancer when he was 21 years old. From her death bed, she entreated him: “Sing, baby, sing!” // Porter moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 2004, along with his brother Lloyd. He worked as a chef at Lloyd’s restaurant Bread-Stuy (now defunct), where he also performed. Porter performed at other neighborhood venues including Sista’s Place and Solomon’s Porch, and moved on to Harlem club St. Nick’s Pub, where he maintained a weekly residency. Out of this residency evolved what would become Porter’s touring band. // Porter released two albums on the Motéma label together with Membran Entertainment Group, 2010’s Water and 2012’s Be Good, before signing with Blue Note Records (under Universal Music Group) on May 17, 2013. His third album, Liquid Spirit, was released on September 2, 2013, in Europe and on September 17, 2013, in the US. The album was produced by Brian Bacchus. The album won the 2014 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. // Liquid Spirit enjoyed commercial success rarely achieved by albums in the jazz genre, reaching the top 10 on the UK album charts. It was certified gold by the BPI, selling over 100,000 units in the UK. // In August 2014, Porter released “The ‘In’ Crowd” as a single. On May 9, 2015, Porter participated in VE Day 70: A Party to Remember, a televised commemorative concert from Horse Guards Parade in London, singing “As Time Goes By”. //His fourth album, Take Me to the Alley, was released on May 6, 2016. In UK’s The Guardian it was Alexis Petridis’s album of the week. // On June 26, 2016, Porter performed on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival 2016. Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick said, “The portly middle-aged jazzer may be the oddest pop star on the planet but he is a refreshing testament to the notion that the most important organ for musical appreciation should always be our ears. And Porter has one of the most easy-on-the-ear voices in popular music, a creamy baritone that flows thick and smooth across a rich gateaux of juicy melody. It’s a voice that makes you want to lick your lips and dive right in.” // In September 2016, Porter performed at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park from Hyde Park, London. He would go on to perform in the annual BBC Children in Need show in November, a night dedicated to Sir Terry Wogan, who hosted it in previous years and was a fan of Porter. // In January 2017, Porter performed the song “Holding On” on BBC One’s The Graham Norton Show. In September 2017 he performed as part of the Later… with Jools Holland: Later 25 concert at the Royal Albert Hall. In October 2017, he performed the song “Mona Lisa” on BBC One’s The Graham Norton Show with Jeff Goldblum on piano. // His debut album, Water, was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. He was also a member of the original Broadway cast of It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues. His second album, Be Good, which contains many of Porter’s compositions, garnered critical acclaim for both his distinctive singing and his compositions, such as “Be Good (Lion’s Song)”, “Real Good Hands”, and “On My Way to Harlem”. The title track was also nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. In his review of Water, Kevin Le Gendre of the BBC wrote that “Gregory Porter has a voice and musicality to be reckoned with.” // The New York Times described Porter as “a jazz singer of thrilling presence, a booming baritone with a gift for earthy refinement and soaring uplift” in its review of Liquid Spirit. // Michael G. Nastos of AllMusic wrote a mixed review of Water, stating: “In hard bop trim, Shorter’s ‘Black Nile’ has Porter shouting out a lyric line that was done many years ago by Chicago’s Luba Raashiek, but Porter’s voice is strained and breaks up. While on every track Porter sings with great conviction, he’s more effective on lower-key compositions”, but went on to say that “he’s right up there with José James as the next big male vocal jazz star.” // Porter is married to Victoria and they have a son, Demyan. Their home is in Bakersfield, California. // For public appearances, Porter always wears a hat reminiscent of a deerstalker incorporating fabric that covers his ears and chin. In a 2012 interview with Jazzweekly.com, when asked: “What’s with the weird and wonderful hat?” Porter replied: “I’ve had some surgery on my skin, so this has been my look for a little while and will continue to be for a while longer. People recognize me by it now. It is what it is.” In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2016, he divulged that he received some facial scars when he was “seven or eight”, but declined to go into the specifics of how they were sustained. He said: “I just saw it one day (The hat) and said ‘I’m gonna put this on, I like it.’ It was before the music career. The cap is a Kangol Summer Spitfire]

20. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

Next week on Wednesday, November 4, we welcome musicians Chris Hudson and Julie Bennett Hume, Plus we talk with the band Blanky, and Sondra Freeman of Midwest Music Foundation gives us all the details about Apocalypse Meow 13, Saturday, November 7, 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Live streaming on Facebook and Youtube from recordBar.

Thank you to all who donated to Wednesday MidDay Medley and KKFI 90.1 FM during our Fall Fund Drive. Between our on 11/14 and 11/21 air fund drive shows, and our Facebook Fundraiser, we had a total of 50 listeners who donated a total of $2954.00 to support community radio. THANK YOU!!!!

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

Wednesday MidDay Medley in on the web:
http://www.kkfi.org,
http://www.WednesdayMidDayMedley.org,
http://www.facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM

Black Lives Matter

Show #861