#kdhx

My dad used to always play this station because he loves blue music, and it would drive my Mom crazy listening to "all that old crap." I didn't really get the appeal either as a kid.

When I started driving I played the music on my phone or iPod through my car stereo mostly, but curiosity made me eventually tune in to 88.1 KDHX to give it a shot, maybe as a way to honor/think/give respect to my Dad or something or other.

What I discovered was a totally unique and cool place to hear all kinds of music, all genres, from passionate and knowledgeable DJs who just wanted to share their collections of tunes with the St. Louis community and the world. Their service on the airwaves wasn't just limited to music though.

Through my dozen-ish years of tuning in to KDHX on my commute not only have I found awesome artists that no algorithm from YouTube or Spotify would recommend ever, but I also got to enjoy the unique feel of each DJ's show and voice every day of the week.

Pablo Meshugi is the (now former) host of a show "No Time to Tarry Here" dedicated to OLD freakin' music. I'm talking wax cylinder shit and recordings that are half scratching noises accompanied by folk yodeling and banjos. But I LOVED listening to this man talk. Slow. Drawn out. Enunciated. Every track was followed up with Pablo sharing stories and history pertaining to the selection of music.

DJSheBeatz hosted on KDHX the world's first ever FM radio show dedicated to holistic healing, meditation, and mindfulness, and her music selection of chill hiphop beats was the HIGHLIGHT of my Thursday afternoons. She also has a lovely and relaxing voice and calming energy when she speaks. i was torn when she left the station, but I listen to her new broadcast "TheSheHealzShow" on Spotify.

Ital K (former host of "Ital Rhythms") had the chillest most vibin' reggae and rasta music show on the planet and he was also a pleasure to listen to.

All of the Hiphop DJs that I like, GWizz, Kut, Iceman, DJ Speed, helped me appreciate hip hop at it's best, and I know I'm not going to hear the same types of curated beats ever again.

Darren Snow (former host of "Rocket88") consistently delivered an amazing rock n roll and rockabilly show that was full of energy and variety. Some shows had themes: English Invasion, Japanese bands (He played freakin' Baby Metal one show), etc.

Sherri Danger formerly hosted "Dangerous Curves" with a focus all on female artists throughout the decades.

I'm running out of compliments to give these wonderful people who have been a truly important part of my life. I'm upset that something so good has to suffer and ultimately die from internal personal problems at the studio among staff and DJs coupled with greedy board directors who want to make a buck at the expense of something as special as KDHX.

Augie Rios (1958)

"Dónde Está Santa Claus"

"I hope he won't forget

To crack his castanets

And to His reindeer say:

Oh Pancho

Oh Vixen

Oh Pedro

Oh Blitzen

Ole!

Ole!

Oleeeee. . ."

(Thanks KDHX!)

Song Review: Aoife O'Donovan - “Magic Hour” (Live at KDHX St. Louis, 8/4/16)

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Aoife O'Donovan released a live version of “Magic Hour,” recorded live at KDHX Studios in St. Louis.

An appropriate number for the holiday, “Magic Hour” was inspired by O'Donovan’s childhood trips to Ireland and the recent death of her grandfather; recorded in August, the song originally appeared on 2016’s In the Magic Hour.

Laced with lyrical allusions to her father’s homeland, “Magic Hour” finds the 34-year-old O'Donovan waxing nostalgic as she’s backed by guitarist Anthony da Costa and drummer Steve Nistor.

In that hour if you listen hard/you might hear my grandaddy singing far away like an evening star/songs of an old Ireland/songs ‘bout being young again/I wish I was young again

The release comes as O'Donovan kicks off her solo-acoustic tour March 17 in Cambridge, Mass., where her live album Man in a Neon Coat was taped in 2016. In July, she’ll hook up with her I’m With Her bandmates Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz for a joint tour with the Punch Brothers, whose leader Chris Thile played with Watkins in Nickel Creek.

Tour dates at Aoifeodonovan.com.

Grade card: Aoife O'Donovan - “Magic Hour” (Live at KDHX St. Louis, 8/4/16) - A-

ALMOST COUCH TOUR: YES! TRIO (Aaron Goldberg, Omer Avital, Ali Jackson Jr), MEZZROW’S, 27 NOVEMBER 2021, Set 1

ALAN BROADBENT with Harvie S and Billy Mintz, MEZZROW’S 19 DECEMBER 2021

I continue this exercise in return in response to a couple of prickly (intricate, moody) sets late last week from Roberta Piket and Kevin Hays. I wanted to return, in the case of Goldberg/Avital/Jackson, to the other set of the gig (in fairness the first time, they too were prickly), in the case of Broadbent to an idealized—or is it conventional?—version of the form.

My own prickliness as a listener is certainly a factor as this time around, I found Yes! Trio quite appealing with only Dr Jekyll from Miles Davis and what had to be Nat King Cole’s L-O-V-E as a potentially familiar reference point. The Cole was suitably refracted but the hints of a melody wove it all back together

This time their compositions (many by Ali Jackson) were infectious while still being intricate, moody. Jackson was the wonder with the right mix of rhythms and timbres. He nor they are shy as Goldberg chords big and runs around the keyboard while Avital grins and dances. His C‘est Clair was a brooding ballad that brought a bit of his Moroccan heritage. He also got a showcase in the groove of a closer as did Jackson—and alas the visuals and the audio were out of sync for the last five minutes. The next to the last tune had a hard bop groove.

I don’t mean to exclude Goldberg as such trios, even ones they don’t lead, rely on the the pianist. He delivered with big hearted open playing, even on the moody ones.

I probably won’t go back to the second set which didn’t hit me right the first time. But I will go back, return to use an apt term, to Piket and Hays who had me grumpy a week ago.

It was a return in a different sensemble to Alan Broadbent’s perhaps monthly gig at Mezzrow’s. Once again, Harvie S’s very melodic playing, including solos, and Billy Mintz’s wondrously subtle and quiet drumming make this a comfortable and welcome working band. This is more directly Broadbent’s band, his tunes, his call. He is an elegant and stately player, not mannered in the sense that I found Ehud Asherie, but still, to continue my own fussy Goldilocksness, he is not quite messy enough. He opened the second set with Au Privave which had some abstract left hand moments but also didn’t get fully bluesy. My Little Suede Shoes, more Parker!, was freer as a showcase for Billy Mintz. That set also had two Tadd Dameron tunes, including On A Misty Night which was featured last month. The first set reprised from November Lee Morgan’s Ceora. He did the Strangers in Paradise/Kismet adaptation of Borodin, Embraceable You, What Is This Thing Called Love?, and a solo Body and Soul that segued into more bop. Lots of taste but maybe a bit too much restraint. Or at least for this iteration of listening. No matter, I like being able to see this band from time to time.

BRIAN CHARETTE with Alex Claffey and Kush Abadey, 8 DECEMBER 2021

SEAN MASON/GIVETON GELIN with Stacy Dillard, 24 NOVEMBER 2021

My music has been disrupted/distracted with family matters commanding my attention, so this essay serves to capture this better than yet another exploration of the piano trio (not just Charette but Keith Brown and, forthcoming Emmit Cohen, with Marc Copland on his own—I missed an actual concert of his a week ago—and with Gary Peacock) or on duos (new old favorites Mason and Gelin but the Webster faculty Konitz celebration live and the Roy Hargrove/Mulgrew Miller release and George Cables serially with Jeremy Pelt, Bobby Watson, and Art Pepper).

No, music has been catch as catch can and, in that way, more welcome.

Brian Charette is “just” one of those countless wonderful musicians who somehow make a living on the NYC scene. Evidently, he is particularly accomplished on B-3 organ too which helps him stand out. But, after wrapping up a phone call, I just came in halfway through his live set rather than start at the beginning of an archived show. It had the Mezzrow’s stamp of approval, was piano/bass/drums, and the drummer was Melissa Aldana’s collaborator Kush Abadey. So, a drop in to lift my mood, to get lost in the music. “Just” solid capable stuff—a mid 60s Blue Noteish tune when I came in, a gentle ballad with taste and restraint, Invitations, and I Got Rhythm. Not too busy but with some drive and room to breathe. Very welcome and, yes, it felt like I could just stop in and get what I needed.

I like to check in on Sean Mason and Giveton Gelin when they play the late set at Mezzrow’s about once a month as they have great chemistry and a unique enough combination (piano/trumpet) to suggest new possibilities. But the Hargrove/Miller is on the prominent streaming service to which I subscribe and I’ve used it to get to know both players better. And that leads to thinking how my Webster jazz faculty friends could get at Lee Konitz just as a duo (and from that one the role of the piano in creating space—which is what Mason does so well). Good ol’ George Cables is a master of this format too, so I might go to that streaming service to revisit that body of work.

I couldn’t hear the whole set between commitments last night, but a welcome 40 minutes was good for my spirits. Fittingly, though, their gig was disrupted as Gelin was late and Stacy Dillard’s soprano sax was there as the horn for the first extended conversation. They weren’t quite as telepathic but, like the Konitz tribute, Mason does this really cool thing of playing a very sympathetic parallel solo. Dillard was just fine and avoided sopranoisms to simply explore and comment on the possibilities Mason was feeding him. Their tune ended, as Mason often does, with a Monk quote but not a developed theme. Gelin arrived for the second extended conversation and frankly elbowed Dillard away as a third wheel. They settled in, but not immediately, and backed their way into a quite wonderful Every Time We Say Goodbye. I couldn’t stick around for the last 20 minutes and it was a not exactly perfect set anyway.