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I thought the festival was great this year. The revelatory concerts (for me) were Isaiah Collier's opening night Coltrane tribute concert, which I thought was incredible, inspired and inspiring but not imitative (he played Central Park West, My Favorite Things, Giant Steps, Transition, Lonnie's Lament, and But Not for Me), and Either/Orchestra's Ethio-Jazz concert (with two Ethiopian guest vocalists) on the last day at the Bijou, which was as powerful a concert as I've ever seen. In all, I saw eighteen concerts and attended one talk (the Frenchman who is responsible for the Ethiopiques reissue series had flown in from France to explain the history). The others that I liked the best were: two concerts involving Carlos Nino (Openness Trio and another trio with Surya Botofasina and Aaron Shaw), Darius Jones Trio, Brian Marsella Trio, Jeff Parker Expansion Trio, Julian Lage Quartet, Marquis Hill Blacktet with Gerald Clayton, and Miles Okazaki's Trickster. I also really enjoyed four non-jazz concerts: Hania Rani's wild keyboard electronica set in the Greyhound and three Indian classical concerts  (Purbayan Chatterjee (sitar), Kunal Gunjal (santoor), and Saraswathi Ranganathan (veena). The last musician who lives in Chicago cracked me up when she started playing blues guitar riffs on the veena (predecessor instrument to the sitar).  

"Top level scientists" apparently includes junior team staff, non-scientists, secretaries and retirees. Anything for a clickbait headline. 

In the span of nine months, nine top-level scientists in the United States have died or vanished without a trace. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/something-dark-going-nine-top-level-scientists-die-or-go-missing-past-year

Chris Streveler has retired.  To my surprise, this news was featured at bing.com! https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/article/blue-bombers-fan-favourite-streveler-announces-retirement/ https://3downnation.com/2026/03/29/cfl-nfl-quarterback-chris-streveler-retires-from-professional-football/ https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nfl/blue-bombers-quarterback-chris-streveler-announces-retirement/ar-AA1ZGtqy https://steinbachonline.com/articles/blue-bombers-qb-chris-streveler-announces-retirement- https://www.foxnews.com/sports/nfl-quarterback-chris-streveler-retires-31 https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/former-jets-quarterback-announces-immediate-164012821.html ***** Combine wrap-up https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/29/whos-the-top-defensive-player-at-the-cfl-combine/ https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/29/3-players-that-stood-out-at-cfl-combine-sunday/ https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/29/sibley-laing-named-cfl-combine-day-2-coaches-picks/ https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/29/the-final-test-💪-cfl-combine-day-3/ https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/30/6-storylines-you-may-have-missed-at-the-2026-cfl-combine/ https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/31/7-prospects-who-stood-out-at-cfl-combine/ https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/31/3-cfl-combine-standouts-who-could-be-the-next-big-thing/ https://3downnation.com/2026/03/30/eight-risers-from-the-2026-cfl-combine/ https://3downnation.com/2026/03/31/eight-fallers-from-the-2026-cfl-combine/ ***** Draft considerations https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/31/cfl-reveals-2026-cfl-draft-and-global-draft-order/ https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/30/mmqb-3-questions-heading-into-cfl-draft-season/ ***** Rick Campbell has joined the Elks' staff. https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/article/elks-bring-back-veteran-coach-campbell-in-analyst-role/ https://3downnation.com/2026/03/31/edmonton-elks-hire-longtime-cfl-coach-rick-campbell/ ***** Tyreik McAllister has signed with the Stampeders. https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/article/stampeders-sign-ex-ticats-rb-mcallister/ https://3downnation.com/2026/03/31/calgary-stampeders-sign-tyreik-mcallister-after-ufl-release/ ***** Argos updates https://3downnation.com/2026/03/31/mlse-president-keith-pelley-touts-mike-miller-optimism-for-toronto-argonauts/ https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/article/holleys-return-part-of-active-off-season-for-argonauts/ ***** Ed Learn has died at 90.  RIP. https://3downnation.com/2026/03/31/four-time-cfl-all-star-ed-learn-dead-at-90/ ***** Riders update https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/riderville-roundup-march-29-2026/ ***** *****