GA Russell

Artist Title Time Kurt Elling The Fanfold Hawk (for Franz Wright) 02:43 Kurt Elling A Certain Continuum 05:07 Kurt Elling Stays 05:28 Kurt Elling Gratitude (for Robert Bly) 06:22 Kurt Elling Stage I 05:05 Kurt Elling Beloved (for Toni Morrison) 09:32 Kurt Elling Stages II,III 04:26 Kurt Elling Song Of The Rio Grande (for Oscar and Valeria Martinez-Ramirez) 04:56 Kurt Elling Rabo de Nube 03:20 Kurt Elling Esperanto 05:01 Kurt Elling Epílogo 01:33 Kurt Elling "Secrets Are The Best Stories" Impacting: January 23 2020 Format(s): Jazz Secrets Are The Best Stories will be released on Edition Records on 3rd April 2020. Secrets Are The Best Stories is the new album from acclaimed vocalist and Grammy-winning artist Kurt Elling featuring renowned pianist Danilo Pérez. Released on the British label, Edition Records, this vibrant and adventurous new album not only marks a vital new collaboration between two of the greats in the music but is an album that confirms Kurt Elling as the male vocalist of his generation - one who has the presence, the message and the artistic vision to stand out from the rest. Here, Elling adds evocative new lyrics to compositions by greats like Pérez’s iconic collaborator Wayne Shorter, late fusion bass genius Jaco Pastorius, and visionary composer/arranger Vince Mendoza, and to pieces from Pérez’s own catalogue. Along with his own compelling narratives, Elling adapts the works of contemporary poets Franz Wright and Robert Bly, the 19th century abolitionist poet Frances E.W. Harper and Nobel-winning author Toni Morrison. His previous album The Questions, released in 2018, explored important messages about social and political issues. The Questions was undoubtedly a learning experience from which Elling never expected to find definitive answers. And yet some things have become clearer to him. Elling’s continued search for what is hidden and what is unearthed is reflected in the title, Secrets Are The Best Stories – an insight gleaned from one of his daughter’s childhood friends, whose naïve wisdom recognized the deeper beauty in games of hide-and-seek. With Secrets Are The Best Stories, Kurt has further developed his protest voice to communicate his impassioned artistic reaction to the vital issues of our time: human rights, immigration and climate change. On this album he demonstrates the artist’s ability to respond, which he does with command and virtuosity, and integrity. “The Questions asked, ‘How did we get in this mess? What are we going to do about it?’” Elling reflects. “Sometimes we trip over the answers or live into them over time. Sometimes we have to work very hard to see the possibility hidden right in front of us; the shining diamond must be romanced over time and drawn out from what looks like a plain block of molten frost. And then again, sometimes the answer is perfectly obvious: “be kind”. But the news cycle has continued apace, confronting us with an ever darker labyrinth. How shall we survive? Danilo and I share many of the same concerns and anxieties about where the world is today.” The album called Secrets Are The Best Stories, is our cri de coeur. To help them amplify this musical outcry, Elling and Pérez gather together a remarkable ensemble. The core of the band is formed by the singer’s longtime bassist Clark Sommers, in-demand drummer Johnathan Blake and Brazilian percussion master Rogerio Boccato. They’re joined by a retinue of stellar special guests, including alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, guitarist Chico Pinheiro, and Román Díaz, a revered elder statesman of Cuban percussion. Perhaps the greatest mystery revealed by this recording is the secret of beauty itself: beauty with a purpose. With this gorgeous new album, Elling makes no secret of the empathy that he feels for - and hopes to find in - his fellow citizens of the world. “I start from the heart,” Elling says of his songwriting process. “And my heart goes to compassion.” Ever since Kurt Elling burst on to the global scene 25 years ago, he has been developing the sound and command of his vocal instrument into one of the most recognisable in the music. A combination of - richness in intent, of soulfulness and of signature expression- define him as an artist. Secrets Are The Best Stories- the new recording from the world’s foremost jazz singer - translates an artistic vision of history, mystery, and storytelling into a musical message both singular and deep.

Music Gateway Molly. "Change Your Mind" Format(s): Pop, Top 40 Singer-songwriter Molly. is set to release a new single ‘Change Your Mind’ on January 17th. One of Lancashire’s finest stars, ‘Change Your Mind’ follows on from 2019’s double whammy of singles - ‘Something More’ and ‘Brick By Brick’, which to date have amassed over 300 global radio plays and some 15,000+ streams on Spotify! ‘Change Your Mind’ is a love song that Molly. wrote a year ago & is all about how it’s possible to spend so much time with someone, without really knowing them. “It’s important to take the time and work together in a relationship before it all gets thrown away because you feel like you don’t know each other.” Molly. has previously been featured by MusicCrowns, Darkus Magazine, The Rodeo Mag & The Sun’s Showbiz section alongside a full gigging schedule and featured performance on the brand new RISING TV show. Molly. began playing guitar at the tender age of 10, taking inspiration from artists such as Florence & The Machine and Kate Bush. 2019 saw Molly. receive recognition for her music from personal icon; KT Tunstall, who posted a clip of her track; ‘Brick By Brick, to Instagram to highlight it as one of her favourite releases. A favourite of BBC Introducing in her native Lancashire, Molly. was listed by Amazing Radio DJ Chris Murray as one of his must-see festival acts of 2019. Artist Title Time Molly. Change Your Mind 03:04

For Immediate Release Doug Stone’s “Motion” is both a figurative and literal testament to the artists’ drive to continually move forward into the future. The effervescent and melodic music propels the listener forward with each musician’s modern unique voice, while masterfully playing homage to the tradition of be-bop. Listen to Doug Stone's interview with Neon Jazz about his recent release "Motion"!

SAMMY MILLER AND THE CONGREGATION "EAGLE ROCK" "Modern jazz is far from fading, and Sammy Miller and The Congregation are examples of how alive and kicking the genre still is." – Atwood Magazine Sammy Miller, a Grammy-nominated drummer for his work with Joey Alexander, convened The Congregation in 2014 at The Juilliard School in New York. “When I was at Juilliard, I realized jazz couldn’t just live in a conservatory vacuum. It needed to provide its initial function of being an expansive creative outlet where the rules are there for you to break and improvisation went beyond notes and into an experience,” says Sammy. He soon found a cadre of jazz students who felt similarly - outliers who were fiercely individual on their instruments, but also craved a manner of expression beyond the solo. Their live show grew to be something of a mix between a comedy troupe and a dazzling rock band that played a vigorously reimagined strain of jazz. The band’s boundless energy, inclusive ideals, catchy songwriting, and revue style presentation made them a word-of-mouth buzz band. The Congregation’s 9-song debut album Leaving Egypt was cut in four 16-hour days at the legendary United Studios where the many famed Count Basie sides were tracked. The band enlisted drummer extraordinaire Jay Bellerose (Alison Krauss, Ray LaMontagne, Robert Plant, B.B. King) to supervise and produce the proceedings. Catch Sammy Miller and the Congregation on Tour: Feb 12 - Escondido, CA - California Center for the Arts Feb 13 - Santa Barbara, CA - Campbell Hall Feb 16 - Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theater Feb 21 - Mill Valley, CA - Sweetwater Feb 22 - Palo Alto, CA - Oshman Family JCC Feb 23 - Sacramento, CA - The Sofia Tsakopoulos Center for the Arts Feb 28 - Dubai, UAE - Dubai Jazz Festival Mar 14 - Tulsa, OK – Duet Mar 18 - Houston, TX - Axelrad Beer Garden Mar 19 - Baton Rouge, LA - Mid City Ballroom Mar 20 - Dothan, AL Mar 21 - Nashville, TN - The Basement Mar 22 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre Mar 24 - Atlanta, GA – Vinyl Mar 26 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre Mar 25 - Asheville, NC - Isis Music Hall Mar 27 - Richmond, VA - Tin Pan Mar 28 - Washington, DC – Songbyrd Mar 29 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater Mar 31 - Boston, MA - The Red Room at Cafe 939 May 1 - Fond du Lac, WI - Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts May 2 - Baileys Harbor, WI - Door County Brewing Co. Music Hall May 3 - Minneapolis, MN – Dakota June 27-28 - Aspen, CO - Jazz Aspen Snowmass

Naama Gheber Offers Highly Personal Take on The Great American Songbook On "Dearly Beloved," Her Debut Album, Set for April 10 Release On Cellar Music Records Israeli-Born Vocalist Interprets 12 Beloved Jazz Standards With Accompaniment by Pianist Ray Gallon, Bassist David Wong, & Drummer Aaron Kimmel, Plus Special Guest Vibraphonist Steve Nelson Two Singles to Be Released from the Album: "Dearly Beloved" on Feb. 14, "So In Love" March 13 February 14, 2020 Noted vocalist Naama Gheber makes her auspicious, radiant recording debut with Dearly Beloved, to be released April 10 on Cellar Music Records, preceded by the release of two singles -- the title track on February 14 and "So in Love" March 13. The New York-based singer (by way of Beér Sheva, Israel), who first turned heads during her yearlong residency at Manhattan's Mezzrow Jazz Club, engages the superb trio that has long supported her at that residency (pianist Ray Gallon, bassist David Wong, and drummer Aaron Kimmel) for a dozen interpretations of classic jazz standards. She is given a further helping hand from esteemed vibraphonist Steve Nelson, who features on five tracks. Gheber fell in love with the singers and tunes from the Great American Songbook while studying at the Center for Jazz Studies in Tel Aviv. "I immediately felt at home with standards and worked on finding my own voice within them," she explains. "I was just trying to sound like myself." When it came time to make an album, she chose the ones for which she felt the deepest personal significance. "Recording songs that I feel strongly connected to was a way to bring myself to the album." There can be no doubt about those strong connections in Gheber's singing of "So in Love," infusing it with pitch-perfect mood and intimacy, or in her fond playfulness on "Just Squeeze Me" and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love." Her feeling for the material also allows her to give sophisticated expression to them, as in her charming mix of ruefulness and romance on "Since I Fell for You" or the astonishing compound of joy, tenderness, and a tinge of longing on "Good Night My Love." The impact of Nelson's presence on Dearly Beloved is difficult to understate. He is a vibraphonist of considerable prowess, which he honed through years of work with the likes of Dave Holland, Mulgrew Miller, and Donald Brown. But for all his virtuoso chops, he improvises behind Gheber using first and foremost his gift for memorable, lyrical melodic statements (as on his solo on the title track, and both his solo and luminous fills on "You Stepped Out of a Dream"). Likewise, Gheber has formulated a powerful chemistry with the trio of Gallon, Wong, and Kimmel, clearly evident in the delight and aplomb the quartet lend to the swinging "'SWonderful." Naama Gheber was born in Beér Sheva, Israel on January 2, 1991. Though she primarily grew up in the city in the Negev Desert, she spent four of her early childhood years living in Baltimore, Maryland, while her parents attended Johns Hopkins University. It was the start of a lifelong bond with America and American culture. The child of a musical family, Gheber sought to be a singer from her youth. Instead, she trained as a classical pianist until her final year of school, when a graduation gift from her grandparents enabled her to take voice lessons from legendary Israeli singer Riki Gal. She learned Gal's Hebrew songs, but it was on an unusual attempt at Ray Charles's "Hit the Road, Jack" that both Gheber and Gal realized her gifts were uniquely suited to American music. Thus inspired, she enrolled in Tel Aviv's Center for Jazz Studies after completing her mandatory military service, where she first encountered such singers as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Helen Merrill. "I was seduced by their urbane lyrical style," she recalls; Gheber had found her creative direction. She left Tel Aviv for New York in 2015, after receiving a scholarship to study music at the New School. (She graduated in 2017.) Though she was a stranger in a strange land, she began frequenting jazz clubs to ingratiate herself with the scene, drawing on her experiences in Baltimore to relate to her new acquaintances. She soon developed a network of connections -- not least among them pianist Ray Gallon, bassist David Wong, and drummer Aaron Kimmel, a relationship that was solidified when they began accompanying her in regular late-night sets at Mezzrow in Greenwich Village. (She'll next be performing there Tues. 3/3, and Tues. 4/14 [10:30]. Gheber's CD release show is set for Sat. 5/9 [8:30] at Cafe Bohemia, NYC.Upcoming European shows include Hot Club, Lyon, France, 3/26; Clarence Jazz Club, Malaga, Spain, 3/28; Ultamar Jazz Club, Girona, Spain, 4/2; La Boveda, Zaragoza, Spain, 4/3.) "The creation of this record has been a yearlong adventure," says Gheber. "I feel like I went through a full range of experiences -- failure, success, excitement, anxiety, disappointment, and fulfillment. In the end, this process, like this album and, really, like life itself, is a lot of everything. What makes it mine is the unique balance within these factors. A balance that is only true to me." "Dearly Beloved" -- Naama Gheber Web Site: naamagheber.com

Thank you Dana! Today was the first day of free agency. Although this year's list of pending free agents does not include the type of superstars we saw last year, a huge number of good players changed teams today. Too many for me to list. Here are three links. The first is a series of updates throughout the day. Next comes the list of the players, where they signed, and who is still on the board. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/11/cfl-free-agency-live/ https://www.cfl.ca/fa20/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/11/cfl-cas-top-10-free-agents-still-market/ More tomorrow, including a number of analyses. ***** SJ Green has signed with the XFL. His contract expires May 31, so he would be free to sign with a CFL team in June. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/10/future-cfl-hall-of-fame-receiver-s-j-green-signs-with-the-xfl/

1. Cohen, Ramirez, Albalak, Cohen, Yuvi Havkin - Honey Fountain 04:34 2. Avishai Cohen - Hidden Chamber 04:42 3. Avishai Cohen - King Kutner 04:10 4. Ludwig van Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata 05:30 5. Cohen, Ramirez, Albalak, Cohen, Yuvi Havkin - Fractals 03:33 6. Robert Del Naja, Elizabeth Fraser, Grantley Marshall, Andrew Vowles - Teardrop 07:24 7. Avishai Cohen - The Things You Tell Me 03:11 8. Cohen, Ramirez, Albalak, Cohen - This Time It’s Different 03:20 9. Cohen, Ramirez, Albalak, Cohen, Yuvi Havkin - Teno Neno 06:03 10. Cohen, Ramirez, Albalak, Cohen - The Cow & The Calf 03:55 11. Avishai Cohen - Intent 04:03 ECM Avishai Cohen Big Vicious Avishai Cohen: trumpet, effects, synthesizer Uzi Ramirez: guitar Yonathan Albalak: guitar, bass Aviv Cohen: drums Ziv Ravitz: drums, live sampling Release date: March 27, 2020 ECM 2680 B0031718-02 CD UPC: 6025 083 6025 1 LP UPC: 6025 086 0630 4 Charismatic trumpeter Avishai Cohen launched his exuberant, home-grown band Big Vicious six years ago, after relocating from the US to his native Israel, rounding up players to shape the music from the ground up, and co-authoring much of its newest material together with them. “This Time It’s Different”, the title of one of the new pieces, could serve as a motto for the project. “We’re all coming from jazz, but some of us left it earlier”, Avishai says, summing up the idiomatic reach of his cohorts. “Everyone’s bringing in their backgrounds, and that becomes part of the sound of the band.” Textures from electronica, ambient music and psychedelia are part of the blend, so too grooves and beats from rock, pop, trip-hop and more. Ziv Ravitz: “In the combination of everything, this is a magical group. It’s very special because you would expect it to explode, with total drama. But the music is deep, and very melodic.” Writing sessions for the album took place in the studio of Tel Aviv musician-producer Yuvi Havkin – also known as Rejoicer - who contributed to three of the pieces on Big Vicious’s debut. This communal approach to creating was a new departure for Avishai Cohen, who had not previously written together with other musicians. “It’s made a huge difference, having everybody involved in the writing. There was a lot of discussion about what we wanted the music to be and how it should sound. Rejoicer was part of the process, too, when everyone was bringing in ideas. The Indian scale that underpins the tune ‘Fractals’ came from him, and ‘Teno Neno’ takes off from a comment of his, as well. He was just with us, the whole time we were writing.” A wide-open approach to cover versions is also integral to the Vicious vision. “We played a lot of covers when we started out. Especially music from the 1990s because that resonates with our generation, the things we listened to at school. But Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ is one we never get tired of. It’s a piece you can stay in forever – every element in it is so complete and at the same time so simple.” The Big Vicious version moves the trumpet into a role analogous to a lead singer’s. This is part of the group’s stylistic identity, explored in their own pieces, too. Avishai says, “In this band, it’s not really about the solos. That’s not the goal or aesthetic here. It’s really about how to make a song, even though no one sings. That’s the difference, to me, to my other work.” Intense monitoring of live recordings preceded the studio work. Ziv Ravitz: “In jazz bands you don’t really do that. You play the concert and whatever happened, happened. But we would sit down in the van together and listen many times to each show. Saying: let’s tweak this part, let’s look again at this…”. “It was like analysing soccer games every night,” says Avishai. “It was great. Fine tuning the music, zooming in on the pieces, finding little details to improve.” If this reflects “more of a pop mentality” as Ziv Ravitz suggests, the recording in Studios La Buissonne in the South of France with Manfred Eicher producing, was characteristically improvisational. Avishai: “We may have worked on the music for months, but finally the vibe on the album is our vibe on those three days of recording. It still feels like jazz in that way.” Jonathan Albalak: “Manfred’s contribution changed a lot. He’d say something and it could change the essence of a piece we’d been playing for two years, and we’d get to explore a new taste of it.” Avishai: “We have a mutual trust. He trusts me that I’m bringing in the right thing, and I trust that he is with us in the concept, and the only question is: what makes the music resonate?” *** Big Vicious draws upon long-standing friendships. Avishai Cohen and guitarist Uzi Ramirez attended the same high school in Tel Aviv. And guitarist/bassist Jonathan Albalak and drummer Aviv Cohen, both from Jerusalem, have played together in diverse ensembles since the early 2000s. Ziv Ravitz, recruited as second drummer in 2018, completed the line-up, with a brief to bring some of the colors and energies of Avishai’s acoustic quartet – with whom Ziv has toured extensively - into the Vicious admixture. The album – with cover art by Israeli illustrator David Polonsky, well-known for his work on the animated documentary and graphic novel Waltz With Bashir - is released as Big Vicious embark on an extensive European tour – details at www.ecmrecords.com/concerts. Further Spring/Summer Dates to be announced… Big Vicious’s debut is Avishai Cohen’s fourth album on ECM. It follows the quintet recording Into The Silence (2015), the quartet album Cross My Palm With Silver (2016), and the duo album with pianist Yonathan Avishai Playing The Room (2018). Avishai Cohen can also be heard as a member of the Mark Turner Quartet on Lathe of Heaven (recorded 2013). 1. Wolfgang Muthspiel - Wondering 07:20 2. Wolfgang Muthspiel - Angular Blues 05:55 3. Wolfgang Muthspiel - Hüttengriffe 05:15 4. Wolfgang Muthspiel - Camino 07:42 5. Wolfgang Muthspiel - Ride 03:50 6. Cole Porter - Everything I Love 06:52 7. Wolfgang Muthspiel - Kanon in 6/8 07:41 8. Wolfgang Muthspiel - Solo Kanon in 5/4 03:34 9. Gene de Paul, Don Ray, Patricia Johnston - I'll Remember April 05:40 ECM Wolfgang Muthspiel Angular Blues Wolfgang Muthspiel: guitar Scott Colley: double bass Brian Blade: drums Release date: March 20, 2020 ECM 1655 B0031787-02 UPC:  6025 081 4506 3 Wolfgang Muthspiel Scott Colley and Brian Blade on tour: April 14-15 New York, NY Jazz Standard April 16 Cambridge, MA Regattabar April 17-18 Los Angeles, CA Blue Whale April 19 Berkeley, CA Freight and Salvage April 20 Santa Cruz, CA Kuumbwa Jazz Wolfgang Muthspiel, whom The New Yorker has called “a shining light” among today’s jazz guitarists, returns to the trio format with Angular Blues, his fourth ECM album as a leader, following two acclaimed quintet releases and his trio debut. Like Driftwood – the 2014 trio disc that JazzTimes dubbed “cinematic” and “haunting” – Angular Blues finds the Austrian guitarist paired with long-time collaborator Brian Blade on drums; but instead of Larry Grenadier on bass, this time it’s Scott Colley, whose especially earthy sound helps imbue this trio with its own dynamic. Muthspiel plays acoustic guitar on three of the album’s tracks and electric on six more. Along with his characteristically melodic originals – including such highlights as the bucolic “Hüttengriffe” and pensive “Camino” – he essays the first standards of his ECM tenure (“Everything I Love” and “I’ll Remember April”), as well as his first-ever bebop rhythm-changes tune on record (“Ride”). Angular Blues also features a single guitar-only track, “Solo Kanon in 5/4,” with Muthspiel’s electronic delay imbuing the baroque-like rounds with a hypnotic glow. Muthspiel, Colley and Blade recorded Angular Blues in Tokyo’s Studio Dede after a three-night run at the city’s Cotton Club. The album was mixed with Manfred Eicher in the South of France at Studios La Buissonne, where Muthspiel had recorded his two previous ECM albums, Rising Grace and Where the River Goes (both of which featured pianist Brad Mehldau and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire). Each of the groups that Muthspiel has put together for his ECM recordings has had a special rapport. About his new trio, the guitarist says: “Scott and Brian share my love of song, while at the same time there is constant musical conversation about these songs.” The Louisiana-born Blade has been a member of the Wayne Shorter Quartet since 2000, along with recording with artists from Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Daniel Lanois and Norah Jones to Charlie Haden, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Joshua Redman. Since the mid-’90s, Blade has also co-led the gospel-infused Fellowship Band. Regarding the subtly virtuoso drummer, Muthspiel says: “Brian is famous for his sound and touch, that floating way of playing, how he creates intensity with relatively low volume. It’s also a great pleasure for me to witness how sensitively Brian reacts in his playing to whether I play acoustic or electric guitar. I've done a lot of concerts and productions with him over the years, including in our guitar-drums duo, Friendly Travelers, as well as on Driftwood and Rising Grace. He always offers complete interaction and initiative, as well as his individual sound. To play uptempo swing on something like ‘Ride’ with Brian was really luxurious, a gift.” After being mentored by Charlie Haden, Colley was the bassist of choice for such jazz legends as Jim Hall, Andrew Hill, Michael Brecker, Carmen McRae and Bobby Hutcherson, along with appearing on albums by Herbie Hancock, Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Chris Potter and Julian Lage. Colley, a native of Los Angeles, has released eight albums as a leader. “Scott and Brian have also played a lot together over the past few years, so they know each other well,” Muthspiel notes. “I performed with Scott in New York in the ’90s, and I’ve always felt that he was an extremely giving musician, who – with his warm tone and his flexible, dancing rhythm – simultaneously animated and supported the music. I wrote the bass melody of the new album’s first tune, ‘Wondering,’ especially for him. His sound develops a flow and harmonic movement that is inviting to play on.” After “Wondering” – which includes extended soloing by Colley that embroiders on Muthspiel’s melody beautifully – comes the album’s title song, the highly trio-interactive “Angular Blues,” so titled for its “rhythmic modulations and strange breaks,” the guitarist explains. “Somehow Chick Corea's album Three Quartets was an association, but so was Thelonious Monk.” Those first two tracks, as well as the album’s third, “Hüttengriffe,” feature Muthspiel on acoustic guitar, his sound on the instrument both warm and extraordinarily fluent. After that – on “Camino,” “Ride,” “Everything I Love,” “Kanon in 6/8,” “Solo Kanon in 5/4” and “I’ll Remember April” – he plays electric. Muthspiel’s ever-liquid electric phrasing buoys both an emotionally rich original such as “Camino” and the two different turns on his kaleidoscopic “Kanon,” the trio version in 6/8 and the solo, mostly improvised rendition in 5/4. About his first-time inclusion of jazz standards on one of his ECM albums, Muthspiel says: “I was inspired to record standards with this trio because everything about the way the group plays feels so free, open and far from preconceived ideas, but at the crucial moment a jazz language is spoken, what we do does justice to these tunes. I learned ‘Everything I Love,’ the Cole Porter song, from an early Keith Jarrett album, and I first came to know ‘I’ll Remember April’ from a Frank Sinatra recording. In that latter song, I hardly play solo. It’s more about the head and the vamp-like atmosphere that prevails from the start and is savored again in the end. As in many moments with this trio, it’s about playing with space: leaving it, creating it, filling it.” Carla Bley piano Andy Sheppard tenor & soprano saxophones Steve Swallow bass                                                “Musical mastery of a rare order” is how The Telegraph recently described the unique, collective sound of Carla Bley’s long-standing trio. This striking album of three suites of new music begins with a stoical blues, at first melancholic then hopeful. The second piece is full of plenty of Bley’s dark wit, and the third explores the notion of call-and-response. Throughout, Carla’s distinctive piano is beautifully framed by Swallow’s eloquent, elegant bass guitar and Sheppard’s yearning saxes. Oded Tzur tenor saxophone Nitai Hershkovits piano Petros Klampanis double bass Johnathan Blake drums                                                This is the ECM debut of New York based, Tel Aviv born saxophonist Oded Tzur, a strikingly original player and musical storyteller. His graceful and fluid tenor sax sound has been influenced by studies with bansuri master Hariprasad Chaurasia, and the concept of raga is subtly embedded in his elegant compositions, played with verve and imagination by his outstanding Israeli-Greek-American jazz group. Avishai Cohen trumpet, effects, synthesizer Uzi Ramirez guitar Yonatan Albalak guitar, bass Aviv Cohen drums Ziv Ravitz drums, live sampling “We’re all coming from jazz, but some of us left it earlier”, Avishai says, summing up the stylistic reach of his cohorts. “Everyone’s bringing in their backgrounds, and that becomes part of the sound of the band.” Textures from electronica, ambient music and psychedelia are part of the blend, so too grooves and beats from rock, pop, trip-hop and more. A wide-open approach is also integral to the Vicious vision. © *2020 ECM Records US, A Division of Verve Music Group. All rights reserved. 1. Oded Tzur - Here Be Dragons 08:29 2. Oded Tzur - To Hold Your Hand 06:20 3. Oded Tzur - 20 Years 09:55 4. Nitai Hershkovits - Miniature 1 01:42 5. Petros Klampanis - Miniature 2 01:44 6. Oded Tzur - Miniature 3 02:30 7. Oded Tzur - The Dream 05:25 8. Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss - Can’t Help Falling In Love 03:33 ECM Oded Tzur Here Be Dragons Oded Tzur: tenor saxophone Nitai Hershkovits: piano Petros Klampanis: double bass Johnathan Blake: drums Release date: February 14, 2020 ECM 2676 B0031611-02 CD UPC: 6025 083 5998 9 LP UPC: 6025 084 7426 2 Oded Tzur will perform two sets with this quartet in NYC February 12th at Jazz Standard Here Be Dragons is the ECM debut of New York based, Tel Aviv born tenor saxophonist Oded Tzur, one of the most strikingly original musicians to have emerged from Israeli’s creative jazz scene in recent years, and the leader of an outstanding group. Oded Tzur has found a new and personal sound for the tenor saxophone. Inspired by his extensive studies from 2007 onward with bansuri master Hariprasad Chaurasia, he has mastered the graceful slides of Indian classical music and brought raga’s sense of pitch fluidity and microtonal shading into a jazz context. His pieces elegantly explore and unfold their melodic and atmospheric implications in a context of subtle group interaction. Structurally, each of Tzur’s compositions on Here Be Dragons sets out to develop a “miniature raga” over a moving bass, juxtaposing two musical concepts. Oded: “The dialogue between these dimensions takes us wherever it takes us.” The ragas deployed in the pieces “Here Be Dragons”, “20 Years” and “The Dream” are of Oded’s creation, while “To Hold Your Hand” uses an Indian scale called Charukesi and operates on similar principles. He stresses, however, that “raga is, for me, a universal concept. I hear its connection to synagogue prayers, or to the blues – a marvellous creation – and to music all around the world.” Ancient and modern traditions are referenced in Oded’s work, including traditions of storytelling. “If music has the ability to tell stories,” suggested All About Jazz, “saxophonist Oded Tzur proves himself one of the jazz world’s premier storytellers.” Tzur’s concept is also broad enough to embrace some unexpected song choices, and the album concludes with a tender interpretation of “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, made famous by Elvis Presley. Musical interaction inside the group is profound, and the quartet has already received the highest press accolades. “The interplay transcends empathy,” said DownBeat, while Japan’s CD Journal spoke of “a Coltrane Quartet for the 21st century.” Oded’s international group features fellow Israeli Nitai Hershkovits on piano, Greek bassist Petros Klampanis and US drummer Johnathan Blake. Hershkovits, who took over the piano role in Tzur’s group from Shai Maestro, first came to wider attention as a member of bassist Avishai Cohen’s groups. Bassist Petros Klampanis has been a mainstay of Oded’s band since the saxophonist relocated to New York in 2011; albums under his name include work with pianist Kristjan Randalu. Johnathan Blake, newest member of the ensemble, is from a distinguished musical family. His father, John Blake, played violin with McCoy Tyner, among many others. Johnathan has worked a broad range of contexts, playing regularly with musicians from Kenny Barron to Pharoah Sanders, and recently premiered his own trio project with Chris Potter and Linda Oh. Here Be Dragons was recorded at the studio Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, in June 2019, and produced by Manfred Eicher. It is issued as Oded Tzur embarks on an international tour with dates in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary and Israel. Concert dates include: February 14 Rotterdam Lantaren Venster February 15 Paris Café de la Danse February 16 Berlin A-Trane February 17 Krefeld Krefeld Theatre February 19 Tilburg Paradox February 20 Amsterdam Bimhuis February 22 Eilat Red Sea Jazz Festival February 23 Ostend Kaap Vrijstaat February 25 Budapest Opus Jazz Club February 26 Elmau Schloss Elmau February 28 Neuburg Birdland February 29 Lausanne Chorus March 1 Freiburg Jazz Haus 1. Carla Bley - Life Goes On: Life Goes On 06:00 2. Carla Bley - Life Goes On: On 04:46 3. Carla Bley - Life Goes On: And On 04:10 4. Carla Bley - Life Goes On: And Then One Day 09:02 5. Carla Bley - Beautiful Telephones (Pt. 1) 04:35 6. Carla Bley - Beautiful Telephones (Pt. 2) 06:13 7. Carla Bley - Beautiful Telephones (Pt. 3) 06:16 8. Carla Bley - Copycat: After You 05:29 9. Carla Bley - Copycat: Follow The Leader 00:17 10. Carla Bley - Copycat: Copycat 09:51 ECM Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow Life Goes On Carla Bley: piano Andy Sheppard: tenor and soprano saxophones Steve Swallow: bass Release date: February 14, 2020 ECM 2669 B0031608-02 CD UPC: 6025 083 2063 7 LP UPC: 6025 085 4826 0 Bley’s writing captures strong moods with sturdy structures, sparse lines and clear voicings, and when she improvises, she eschews virtuosity, cuts out excess and gets to core essentials. Much turns on the placing of a single note, while simple lines deliver complex emotions with a sardonic twist. Mike Hobart, Financial Times, October 2019 The third volume of a sequence of albums begun with Trios in 2013 and continued with Andando El Tiempo (2016), Life Goes On – once more recorded in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher - features striking new music from American pianist/composer Carla Bley, whose trio with saxophonist Andy Sheppard and bassist Swallow has a long history. (Their first recording in trio format was Songs with Legs, recorded for the ECM-distributed WATT label in 1994.) Bley has composed for ensembles of every size but, over time, the trio has established itself as an ideal unit for expressing the essence of her work. Throughout Life Goes On, Carla’s terse, distinctive piano, shaping phrases irreducible as Monk or Satie, is beautifully framed by Swallow’s eloquent, elegant bass guitar and Sheppard’s yearning saxes. This trio has a unique collective sound, reflecting – as The Telegraph recently noted – “musical mastery of a rare order”. “We’ve learned to breathe together when we play,” Carla told the Charleston City Paper recently. “I hear our voices in my mind’s ear as I compose for us. I especially relish the conversational flow the trio format allows. We’re essentially a chamber music ensemble, and this allows me to write music for us free of bombast and exaggeration. Music stripped down to its basic elements. This format also demands that, as players, we improvise in the character of each particular song, which is both a challenge and, on a good night, a great satisfaction.“ The new compositions featured here, all penned by Bley, take the form of three suites, each of which was widely previewed and fine-tuned by the group at concert and festival appearances in the US and Europe prior to the May 2019 recording session at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano. “This is music we’ve been preparing for the last three years,” Carla Bley told DownBeat, when the trio played the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, as part of ECM’s 50th anniversary celebrations. “The reason we’re touring is to be able to practice it every night and get it right, because it’s finally going to get put down. It’ll always be the same once it’s recorded.” If this seems unlikely, given the improvisational capacity of the participants, the recording does have a definitive air about it. The stoical sound of the 12-bar blues - resolute and ready for anything - opens Life Goes On. The album’s title piece was written as Carla Bley was recuperating from illness, alluded to in characteristically droll liner notes – in verse this time. “The whole suite has a more optimistic feel than the melancholic, wistful Andando El Tiempo,” suggested Jazz Views writer Jack Kenny, reviewing the group in London. “The middle parts, ‘On’ and ‚ And On‘, are written with wit and humour. The last part, ‘And Then One Day’, moves from tango into a more settled rhythm. This is a great addition to the Bley library, bright and optimistic.” Sheppard offers robust tenor in the first three movements, switching to lightly floating soprano for the fourth and sharing lead instrumental duties with Swallow, who has shaped a personal, highly lyrical approach to the electric bass. “Beautiful Telephones”, perhaps the first jazz composition inspired by a quote from the White House’s current occupant, has been described by JazzTimes as “Bley at her sardonic best…Introduced as a duo with Swallow, the solemn and cinematic theme wended through several elegiac moods punctured by a series of quotes, including ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and ‚’Yankee Doodle.’” Carla has summed it up as “a piece where things get excited and then impatient and then excited again and then change. Nothing stays the same because, with the attention span of the President, we have to quickly change the music, too.” The third suite, “Copycat”, explores the notion of call-and-response in fresh ways as the improvisers continue each other’s thoughts, putting a slightly surreal spin on the imitation games that are part of jazz interaction, as phrases are passed around among the players for commentary and elaboration. Further recordings with Carla Bley are in preparation. Press Reactions to Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow on ECM Trios “Surely the trio’s empathy and depth of expression has never been better captured. With Bley’s beautifully clear-minded compositions and undimmed pianism, Swallow’s effortless shifts from accompanist to melodist, and Sheppard’s saxophone as communicative as a human voice, this is flawless music.” Steve Harris, Hi-Fi News “Giving herself fully to the direction of producer Manfred Eicher for – somewhat unbelievably – her ECM debut as a leader, Bley repurposes some works for trio, while others are heard in unusual context. Regardless of the approach, the result allows light to illuminate unfamiliar curves and crevices in these well-worn pieces.” James Hale, Downbeat “Carla Bley’s reputation as an important composer and arranger is based on her work with larger ensembles. Trios is a glimpse into her aesthetic world stripped to its barest essentials. Three players dance together, their feet never touching the ground.” Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes Andando el Tiempo “Her coolly ravishing album, ‘Andando el Tiempo’ (‘In the Course of Time’) […] features a handful of inventions for her long-time trio with Mr. Swallow and the saxophonist Andy Sheppard. Chamberlike and willowy, suffused with melancholy, it reflects her sly noncompliance with jazz and classical conventions, which has been a prevalent theme of her half-century career.” Nate Chinen, The New York Times “As ever, Bley’s sense of melodic line and thematic structure drives the music, whether through the Spanish-tinged narrative of the title suite or the witty allusions of the Mendelssohnesque wedding tune. And she more than fulfils her improvisational duties, emphasizing her often-underused gifts as a pianist. Indeed, her playing is so strong that there are times when the music feels not so much charted as collectively improvised. J.D. Considine, Downbeat (Five stars) “At 80 years old, Carla Bley remains a vital force as a pianist, composer, and improviser, mixing knowingly wry moments with a sense of mystery.“ Seth Colter Walls, pitchfork Bley - Life Goes On CD bklt.pdf Bley - Life Goes On.docx

I am not familiar with Montana State University-Northern, but I can tell you that their new DC is Rich Stubler. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/07/longtime-cfl-coach-rich-stubler-hired-by-montana-state-university-northern-as-defensive-coordinator/ ***** The Argos have let go 13, including SJ Green, Sean McEwen, James Franklin, Linden Gaydosh, Jimmy Ralph, Zack Medeiros, Dakota Prukop, Chris Rainey and Jonathan Mincy. McEwen promptly signed with Calgary. https://www.tsn.ca/toronto-argonauts-release-veteran-receiver-sj-green-12-more-players-1.1439167 https://3downnation.com/2020/02/07/argos-grant-receiver-s-j-greens-request-for-release/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/07/argos-grant-s-j-greens-request-release/ https://3downnation.com/2020/02/07/argos-release-12-players-including-quarterback-james-franklin-and-all-star-calibre-ol-sean-mcewen/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/07/argonauts-release-12-players-including-mcewen-franklin/ https://3downnation.com/2020/02/08/stampeders-sign-calgary-native-canadian-ol-sean-mcewen/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/08/stamps-sign-ol-sean-mcewen/ ***** Team analyses Sask https://3downnation.com/2020/02/09/linebacker-receiver-the-riders-main-area-of-concern-heading-into-free-agency/ Edmonton https://3downnation.com/2020/02/09/edmonton-eskimos-2020-cfl-free-agency-primer/ ***** Free Agent analyses https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/06/nye-look-cfls-quarterback-landscape/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/07/position-strength-gable-cream-running-back-crop/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/07/analysis-evaluating-each-teams-needs-ahead-of-free-agency/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/08/analysis-surplus-of-backfield-talent-available/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/08/position-strength-blocking-talent-plentiful-trenches/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/08/fa-wanted-physical-defensive-lineman/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/09/analysis-playmakers-and-gamebreakers-set-to-hit-the-market/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/09/jefferson-walker-dominate-free-agency-headlines/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/09/analysis-top-five-free-agent-defenders/ https://www.tsn.ca/countdown-to-cfl-free-agency-the-defensive-line-market-1.1440146 https://www.tsn.ca/countdown-to-cfl-free-agency-a-look-at-the-quarterbacks-1.1439762 https://www.tsn.ca/countdown-to-cfl-free-agency-each-team-s-biggest-need-1.1439744 https://www.cfl.ca/fa20/ ***** Free Agency begins Tuesday at noon eastern.

Lots of free agent news and analyses! Ottawa let go Jonathan Jennings, Will Arndt, Mossis Madu and others. Arndt signed with BC. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/23/redblacks-release-quarterback-jonathon-jennings-and-others/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/30/former-redblacks-qb-will-arndt-signs-with-b-c-lions/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/30/official-lions-sign-quarterbacks-vincent-testaverde-jr-and-william-arndt/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/30/lions-sign-will-arndt-contract/ Winnipeg signed Zach Collaros and cut Matt Nichols. Nichols signed with Toronto, as did McLeod Bethel-Thompson. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/27/bombers-sign-quarterback-zach-collaros/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/27/qb-zach-collaros-can-earn-nearly-1-million-from-new-contract-with-bombers/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/28/bombers-release-quarterback-matt-nichols/ https://3downnation.com/2020/02/04/official-argos-ink-pact-with-2019-cfl-passing-touchdown-leader-mcleod-bethel-thompson/ https://3downnation.com/2020/02/06/argos-sign-qb-matt-nichols-for-two-years-through-the-2022-season/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/toronto-argonauts-quarterback-matt-nichols-football-1.5455064 https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/04/report-argos-getting-closer-securing-deal-nichols/ Tre Roberson to Chicago. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/28/former-cfl-db-tre-roberson-signs-with-chicago-bears/ James Wilder, Jr., has signed with Montreal. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/30/alouettes-sign-star-running-back-james-wilder-jr/ Montreal let go Antonio Pipken, Tommie Campbell and DeVier Posey. Campbell signed with Toronto. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/30/alouettes-release-qb-antonio-pipkin-ahead-of-roster-bonus/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/31/als-release-devier-posey-tommie-campbell/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/31/alouettes-part-ways-with-db-tommie-campbell-prior-to-february-1-roster-bonus/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/31/alouettes-release-receiver-devier-posey/ https://3downnation.com/2020/02/05/argos-sign-former-alouettes-stampeders-all-star-db-tommie-campbell/ Montreal traded the rights to Bo Lokombo to Toronto for a conditional 8th round pick. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/31/argos-trade-for-canadian-linebacker-bo-lokombo/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/31/argos-acquire-rights-lb-lokombo/ Nick Arbuckle has signed with Ottawa. That will give Calgary the first pick of the draft. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/31/redblacks-sign-quarterback-nick-arbuckle/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/31/redblacks-sign-nick-arbuckle/ Edmonton let go Anthony Orange and Natey Adjei. Adjei signed with Toronto. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/01/eskimos-release-db-anthony-orange-before-february-1-roster-bonus/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/01/esks-release-anthony-orange/ https://3downnation.com/2020/02/01/eskimos-release-veteran-canadian-receiver-natey-adjei-instead-of-paying-roster-bonus/ https://3downnation.com/2020/02/03/argos-will-sign-canadian-receiver-natey-adjei-report/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/05/argos-bring-free-agent-db-tommie-campbell-aboard/ Toronto let go Ryan Bomben and Brandon Burks. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/02/argos-release-all-star-calibre-canadian-ol-ryan-bomben-to-avoid-paying-roster-bonus/ https://3downnation.com/2020/02/02/argos-cut-former-nfl-running-back-brandon-burks-prior-to-february-1-roster-bonus/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/03/argos-cut-ties-former-division-star-ol-bomben-rb-burks/ Chris Streveler to Arizona. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/04/official-arizona-cardinals-sign-quarterback-chris-streveler/ https://3downnation.com/2020/02/03/bombers-release-qb-chris-streveler-to-pursue-nfl-opportunities/ Julian Feoli-Gudino has signed with Winnipeg. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/05/bombers-sign-canadian-receiver-julian-feoli-gudino/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/05/feoli-gudino-lyles-sign-bombers/ Sask let go Marcus Thigpen. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/05/riders-release-running-back-marcus-thigpen/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/05/riders-release-rb-marcus-thigpen/ ***** Key 2020 dates https://3downnation.com/2020/01/27/mark-your-calendars-key-2020-cfl-dates/ ***** Sask has hired more coaches. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/27/riders-hire-kent-maugeri-as-special-teams-coordinator/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/27/riders-jason-maas-fills-out-his-offensive-coaching-staff/ ***** Ottawa hired Steve Walsh as its QB coach. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/03/former-riders-qb-coach-steve-walsh-hired-for-same-role-by-redblacks/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/03/redblacks-name-steve-walsh-qb-coach/ ***** Orlondo Steinauer announced his coaching staff. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/06/official-orlondo-steinauer-finalizes-ticats-2020-coaching-staff/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/06/tiger-cats-announce-2020-coaching-staff/ ***** Ryan Dinwiddie announced his coaching staff. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/06/argos-head-coach-ryan-dinwiddie-finalizes-coaching-staff-for-the-2020-season/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/02/06/argos-announce-2020-coaching-staff/

Shortly before the kickoff, Aaron Boone tweeted that KC would beat SF 31-20.

When Bruce Lundvall had a show on Sirius, I once heard him say offhandedly that Horace Silver made more albums for Blue Note than anyone else except perhaps Grant Green.

Today ECM tells me that the Cohen cover art is embargoed until Feb. 7.

Mike O'Shea has promoted Buck Pierce to OC, and has announced his coaching staff. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/19/bombers-promoting-former-cfl-qb-buck-pierce-to-offensive-coordinator/ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/buck-pierce-offensive-coordinator-winnipeg-blue-bombers-1.5434402 https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/21/pierce-steps-into-oc-role-in-winnipeg/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/21/bombers-announce-2020-coaching-staff-changes/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/21/official-bombers-finalize-offensive-coaching-staff/ ***** Brendan Taman will be Montreal's new "senior player personnel" exec. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/24/former-bombers-riders-general-manager-brendan-taman-hired-by-alouettes/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/24/als-bring-gamble-taman-football-operations-staff/ ***** Team analyses Ottawa https://3downnation.com/2020/01/26/prioritizing-the-ottawa-redblacks-pending-cfl-free-agents/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/21/upon-review-ottawa-redblacks/ Sask https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/10/nye-5-off-season-priorities-riders/ Toronto https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/17/argos-making-secondary-primary-focus-off-season/ ***** Montreal has hired Danny Maciocia as their new GM. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/montreal-alouettes-gm-president-danny-maciocia-cfl-1.5424866 https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/10/report-als-eyeing-maciocia-next-general-manager/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/13/alouettes-name-maciocia-gm-cecchini-president/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/13/oleary-maciocia-cecchini-ushering-exciting-new-era-als/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/13/alouettes-introduce-cecchini-maciocia-as-president-and-gm/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/14/cauz-refreshing-energy-enthusiasm-als-co-owner-stern/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/15/oleary-qa-danny-maciocia/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/12/the-alouettes-are-hiring-danny-maciocia-as-general-manager-mario-cecchini-president/ ***** Scott Milanovich has announced his coaching staff. https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/15/eskimos-announce-2020-coaching-staff/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/15/thorpe-named-defensive-coordinator-as-esks-round-out-coaching-staff/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/16/thorpe-im-looking-forward-bright-future/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/21/eskimos-finalize-2020-coaching-staff/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/15/eskimos-finally-hire-noel-thorpe-as-defensive-coordinator/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/21/eskimos-hire-former-mount-allison-university-head-coach-kelly-jeffrey-as-quarterbacks-coach/ ***** Dave Dickinson has announced his coaching staff. https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/16/stampeders-announce-2020-football-staff/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/16/stampeders-unveil-new-look-football-operations-and-coaching-staff/ ***** Greg Knox will be Ottawa's DB coach. https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/17/greg-knox-named-redblacks-db-coach/ https://3downnation.com/2020/01/17/redblacks-hire-former-cfl-all-star-db-greg-knox-as-defensive-backs-coach/ ***** Free Agent analyses https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/17/pending-free-agent-team-need-extend/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/21/oleary-free-agents-can-get-team-top/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/22/great-debate-no-1-pending-free-agent-2/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/23/cfl-cas-top-30-pending-free-agents-4/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/24/canadian-content-ranking-national-free-agents-3/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/27/negotiating-window-new-feature-2020-free-agency/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/31/free-agency-negotiating-window-explained/ ***** Ryan Dinwiddie has begun to choose his coaching staff. https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/21/report-argos-announce-coordinators-2020/ https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/16/dinwiddie-ready-for-the-opportunity/ ***** DaShaun Amos to Green Bay. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/15/stamps-release-defensive-back-dashaun-amos-to-pursue-nfl-opportunity/ ***** Bralon Addison to Minnesota. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/16/former-ticats-receiver-bralon-addison-signs-with-minnesota-vikings/ ***** Kendal Vickers to Las Vegas. https://3downnation.com/2020/01/22/former-cfl-dl-kendal-vickers-has-agrees-to-terms-with-las-vegas-raiders/

There has been a fair amount of news the past three weeks. For those of you who can't wait till I break out the biggest stories, here are the three Checking Down links. 1/15 https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/15/checking-news-notes-off-season-4/ 1/22 https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/22/checking-news-notes-off-season-5/ 1/30 https://www.cfl.ca/2020/01/30/checking-news-notes-off-season-6/

ECM Avishai Cohen - Big Vicious release date: March 27, 2020 Avishai Cohen: trumpet, effects, synthesizer; Uzi Ramirez: guitar; Jonathan Albalak: guitar, bass; Aviv Cohen: drums; Ziv Ravitz: drums, live sampling Charismatic trumpeter Avishai Cohen launched his homegrown band Big Vicious six years ago, after relocating from the US to his native Israel, rounding up friends to shape the music from the ground up. Guitarist Uzi Ramirez, bassist Jonathan Albalak and drummer Aviv Cohen write much of the material together with Avishai. Ziv Ravitz, from Avishai's acoustic quartet, was recruited as second drummer a year ago. "We're all coming from jazz, but some of us left it earlier", Avishai says, summing up the stylistic reach of his cohorts. "Everyone's bringing in their backgrounds, and that becomes part of the sound of the band." Textures from electronica, ambient music and psychedelia are part of the blend, so too grooves and beats from rock, pop, trip-hop and more. A wide-open approach to cover versions - from Massive Attack to Beethoven - is also integral to the Vicious vision. Recorded in Studios La Buissonne in the South of France in August 2019 and produced by Manfred Eicher, Big Vicious's debut album is issued as the band gears up for extensive international touring.

1. Oded Tzur - Here Be Dragons 08:29 2. Oded Tzur - To Hold Your Hand 06:20 3. Oded Tzur - 20 Years 09:55 4. Nitai Hershkovits - Miniature 1 01:42 5. Petros Klampanis - Miniature 2 01:44 6. Oded Tzur - Miniature 3 02:30 7. Oded Tzur - The Dream 05:25 8. Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss - Can’t Help Falling In Love 03:33 ECM Oded Tzur Here Be Dragons Oded Tzur: tenor saxophone Nitai Hershkovits: piano Petros Klampanis: double bass Johnathan Blake: drums Release date: February 14, 2020 ECM 2676 B0031611-02 CD UPC: 6025 083 5998 9 LP UPC: 6025 084 7426 2 Oded Tzur will perform two sets with this quartet in NYC February 12th at Jazz Standard Here Be Dragons is the ECM debut of New York based, Tel Aviv born tenor saxophonist Oded Tzur, one of the most strikingly original musicians to have emerged from Israeli’s creative jazz scene in recent years, and the leader of an outstanding group. Oded Tzur has found a new and personal sound for the tenor saxophone. Inspired by his extensive studies from 2007 onward with bansuri master Hariprasad Chaurasia, he has mastered the graceful slides of Indian classical music and brought raga’s sense of pitch fluidity and microtonal shading into a jazz context. His pieces elegantly explore and unfold their melodic and atmospheric implications in a context of subtle group interaction. Structurally, each of Tzur’s compositions on Here Be Dragons sets out to develop a “miniature raga” over a moving bass, juxtaposing two musical concepts. Oded: “The dialogue between these dimensions takes us wherever it takes us.” The ragas deployed in the pieces “Here Be Dragons”, “20 Years” and “The Dream” are of Oded’s creation, while “To Hold Your Hand” uses an Indian scale called Charukesi and operates on similar principles. He stresses, however, that “raga is, for me, a universal concept. I hear its connection to synagogue prayers, or to the blues – a marvellous creation – and to music all around the world.” Ancient and modern traditions are referenced in Oded’s work, including traditions of storytelling. “If music has the ability to tell stories,” suggested All About Jazz, “saxophonist Oded Tzur proves himself one of the jazz world’s premier storytellers.” Tzur’s concept is also broad enough to embrace some unexpected song choices, and the album concludes with a tender interpretation of “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, made famous by Elvis Presley. Musical interaction inside the group is profound, and the quartet has already received the highest press accolades. “The interplay transcends empathy,” said DownBeat, while Japan’s CD Journal spoke of “a Coltrane Quartet for the 21st century.” Oded’s international group features fellow Israeli Nitai Hershkovits on piano, Greek bassist Petros Klampanis and US drummer Johnathan Blake. Hershkovits, who took over the piano role in Tzur’s group from Shai Maestro, first came to wider attention as a member of bassist Avishai Cohen’s groups. Bassist Petros Klampanis has been a mainstay of Oded’s band since the saxophonist relocated to New York in 2011; albums under his name include work with pianist Kristjan Randalu. Johnathan Blake, newest member of the ensemble, is from a distinguished musical family. His father, John Blake, played violin with McCoy Tyner, among many others. Johnathan has worked a broad range of contexts, playing regularly with musicians from Kenny Barron to Pharoah Sanders, and recently premiered his own trio project with Chris Potter and Linda Oh. Here Be Dragons was recorded at the studio Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, in June 2019, and produced by Manfred Eicher. It is issued as Oded Tzur embarks on an international tour with dates in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary and Israel. Concert dates include: February 14 Rotterdam Lantaren Venster February 15 Paris Café de la Danse February 16 Berlin A-Trane February 17 Krefeld Krefeld Theatre February 19 Tilburg Paradox February 20 Amsterdam Bimhuis February 22 Eilat Red Sea Jazz Festival February 23 Ostend Kaap Vrijstaat February 25 Budapest Opus Jazz Club February 26 Elmau Schloss Elmau February 28 Neuburg Birdland February 29 Lausanne Chorus March 1 Freiburg Jazz Haus 1. Carla Bley - Life Goes On: Life Goes On 06:00 2. Carla Bley - Life Goes On: On 04:46 3. Carla Bley - Life Goes On: And On 04:10 4. Carla Bley - Life Goes On: And Then One Day 09:02 5. Carla Bley - Beautiful Telephones (Pt. 1) 04:35 6. Carla Bley - Beautiful Telephones (Pt. 2) 06:13 7. Carla Bley - Beautiful Telephones (Pt. 3) 06:16 8. Carla Bley - Copycat: After You 05:29 9. Carla Bley - Copycat: Follow The Leader 00:17 10. Carla Bley - Copycat: Copycat 09:51 ECM Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow Life Goes On Carla Bley: piano Andy Sheppard: tenor and soprano saxophones Steve Swallow: bass Release date: February 14, 2020 ECM 2669 B0031608-02 CD UPC: 6025 083 2063 7 LP UPC: 6025 085 4826 0 Bley’s writing captures strong moods with sturdy structures, sparse lines and clear voicings, and when she improvises, she eschews virtuosity, cuts out excess and gets to core essentials. Much turns on the placing of a single note, while simple lines deliver complex emotions with a sardonic twist. Mike Hobart, Financial Times, October 2019 The third volume of a sequence of albums begun with Trios in 2013 and continued with Andando El Tiempo (2016), Life Goes On – once more recorded in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher - features striking new music from American pianist/composer Carla Bley, whose trio with saxophonist Andy Sheppard and bassist Swallow has a long history. (Their first recording in trio format was Songs with Legs, recorded for the ECM-distributed WATT label in 1994.) Bley has composed for ensembles of every size but, over time, the trio has established itself as an ideal unit for expressing the essence of her work. Throughout Life Goes On, Carla’s terse, distinctive piano, shaping phrases irreducible as Monk or Satie, is beautifully framed by Swallow’s eloquent, elegant bass guitar and Sheppard’s yearning saxes. This trio has a unique collective sound, reflecting – as The Telegraph recently noted – “musical mastery of a rare order”. “We’ve learned to breathe together when we play,” Carla told the Charleston City Paper recently. “I hear our voices in my mind’s ear as I compose for us. I especially relish the conversational flow the trio format allows. We’re essentially a chamber music ensemble, and this allows me to write music for us free of bombast and exaggeration. Music stripped down to its basic elements. This format also demands that, as players, we improvise in the character of each particular song, which is both a challenge and, on a good night, a great satisfaction.“ The new compositions featured here, all penned by Bley, take the form of three suites, each of which was widely previewed and fine-tuned by the group at concert and festival appearances in the US and Europe prior to the May 2019 recording session at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano. “This is music we’ve been preparing for the last three years,” Carla Bley told DownBeat, when the trio played the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, as part of ECM’s 50th anniversary celebrations. “The reason we’re touring is to be able to practice it every night and get it right, because it’s finally going to get put down. It’ll always be the same once it’s recorded.” If this seems unlikely, given the improvisational capacity of the participants, the recording does have a definitive air about it. The stoical sound of the 12-bar blues - resolute and ready for anything - opens Life Goes On. The album’s title piece was written as Carla Bley was recuperating from illness, alluded to in characteristically droll liner notes – in verse this time. “The whole suite has a more optimistic feel than the melancholic, wistful Andando El Tiempo,” suggested Jazz Views writer Jack Kenny, reviewing the group in London. “The middle parts, ‘On’ and ‚ And On‘, are written with wit and humour. The last part, ‘And Then One Day’, moves from tango into a more settled rhythm. This is a great addition to the Bley library, bright and optimistic.” Sheppard offers robust tenor in the first three movements, switching to lightly floating soprano for the fourth and sharing lead instrumental duties with Swallow, who has shaped a personal, highly lyrical approach to the electric bass. “Beautiful Telephones”, perhaps the first jazz composition inspired by a quote from the White House’s current occupant, has been described by JazzTimes as “Bley at her sardonic best…Introduced as a duo with Swallow, the solemn and cinematic theme wended through several elegiac moods punctured by a series of quotes, including ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and ‚’Yankee Doodle.’” Carla has summed it up as “a piece where things get excited and then impatient and then excited again and then change. Nothing stays the same because, with the attention span of the President, we have to quickly change the music, too.” The third suite, “Copycat”, explores the notion of call-and-response in fresh ways as the improvisers continue each other’s thoughts, putting a slightly surreal spin on the imitation games that are part of jazz interaction, as phrases are passed around among the players for commentary and elaboration. Further recordings with Carla Bley are in preparation. Press Reactions to Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow on ECM Trios “Surely the trio’s empathy and depth of expression has never been better captured. With Bley’s beautifully clear-minded compositions and undimmed pianism, Swallow’s effortless shifts from accompanist to melodist, and Sheppard’s saxophone as communicative as a human voice, this is flawless music.” Steve Harris, Hi-Fi News “Giving herself fully to the direction of producer Manfred Eicher for – somewhat unbelievably – her ECM debut as a leader, Bley repurposes some works for trio, while others are heard in unusual context. Regardless of the approach, the result allows light to illuminate unfamiliar curves and crevices in these well-worn pieces.” James Hale, Downbeat “Carla Bley’s reputation as an important composer and arranger is based on her work with larger ensembles. Trios is a glimpse into her aesthetic world stripped to its barest essentials. Three players dance together, their feet never touching the ground.” Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes Andando el Tiempo “Her coolly ravishing album, ‘Andando el Tiempo’ (‘In the Course of Time’) […] features a handful of inventions for her long-time trio with Mr. Swallow and the saxophonist Andy Sheppard. Chamberlike and willowy, suffused with melancholy, it reflects her sly noncompliance with jazz and classical conventions, which has been a prevalent theme of her half-century career.” Nate Chinen, The New York Times “As ever, Bley’s sense of melodic line and thematic structure drives the music, whether through the Spanish-tinged narrative of the title suite or the witty allusions of the Mendelssohnesque wedding tune. And she more than fulfils her improvisational duties, emphasizing her often-underused gifts as a pianist. Indeed, her playing is so strong that there are times when the music feels not so much charted as collectively improvised. J.D. Considine, Downbeat (Five stars) “At 80 years old, Carla Bley remains a vital force as a pianist, composer, and improviser, mixing knowingly wry moments with a sense of mystery.“ Seth Colter Walls, pitchfork Bley - Life Goes On CD bklt.pdf Bley - Life Goes On.docx ECM Wolfgang Muthspiel Angular Blues release date: March 20, 2020 Wolfgang Muthspiel: guitar; Scott Colley: double-bass Brian Blade: drums Wolfgang Muthspiel / Scott Colley / Brian Blade on tour: April 14-15 New York, NY at Jazz Standard April 16 Cambridge, MA at Regattabar April 17-18 Los Angeles, CA at Blue Whale April 19 Berkeley, CA at Freight and Salvage April 20 Santa Cruz, CA at Kuumbwa Jazz Wolfgang Muthspiel, whom The New Yorker has called "a shining light" among today's jazz guitarists, returns to the trio format with Angular Blues, the Austrian's fourth ECM album as a leader, following two acclaimed quintet releases and his trio debut. Like Driftwood - the 2014 trio disc that JazzTimes dubbed "cinematic" and "haunting" - Angular Blues finds Muthspiel paired with longtime collaborator Brian Blade on drums; but instead of Larry Grenadier on bass, it's Scott Colley, whose especially earthy sound helps give this trio its own dynamic. Muthspiel alternates between acoustic and electric guitar and, along with his characteristically melodic originals - including such highlights as the bucolic "Hüttengriffe" and pensive "Camino" - he essays the first standards of his ECM tenure ("Everything I Love" and "I'll Remember April"), as well as his first-ever bebop rhythm-changes tune on record ("Ride"). Angular Blues also features a single guitar-only track, "Solo Kanon in 5/4," with Muthspiel's electronic delay imbuing the baroque-like rounds with a hypnotic glow. Tracks: 1. Wondering 7:20 2. Angular Blues 5:55 3. Hüttengriffe 5:15 4. Camino 7:42 5. Ride 3:50 6.Everything I Love 6:52 7. Kanon in 6/8 7:41 8. Solo Kanon in 5/4 3:34 9. I'll Remember April 5:40

Coltrane - Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album Deluxe Edition (2CD) - 6.99 GBP https://www.amazon.co.uk/Both-Directions-Once-Lost-Album/dp/B07D4ZP9K3/

Bob Shane of The Kingston Trio ("Scotch and Soda") passed away Sunday at 85. RIP. I had the pleasure of chatting with him once. It was a real treat for me. https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/bob-shane-the-last-original-member-of-kingston-trio-folk-group-dies-at-85/ar-BBZobcM

Vijay Iyer (solo) Jan 26 Littleton, MA (Indian Hill Music) Jan 29 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) (w/Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey) Jan 30-31 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) (Trio w/Wadada Leo Smith) Feb 1 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) (sextet) Feb 29 Houston, TX (Da Camera) Jakob Bro Trio with Mark Turner Jan 28 – Feb 2 New York, NY (Village Vanguard) Jörg Widmann Jan 28 New York, NY (Zankel Hall) ICE Widmann conduct and play all Widmann program Jan 30 New York, NY (Carnegie Hall) Anne-Sophie Mutter and Friends – Widmann premier Shai Maestro Quartet Jan 29-30 New York, NY (The Jazz Gallery) Danish String Quartet Jan. 30 Montreal, QC (Montreal Museum – Bourgie Hall) Jan. 31 Chicago, IL (University of Chicago – Mandel Hall) Feb. 1 Detroit, MI (Seligman Performing Arts Center) Feb 4 Denver, CO (Newman Center) – Friends of Chamber Music Feb 5 Denver, CO (Newman Center) – Friends of Chamber Music Feb. 7 New York, NY (CMS Beethoven Cycle) Feb. 9 New York, NY (CMS Beethoven Cycle) Feb. 11 New York, NY (CMS Beethoven Cycle) Feb. 14 New York, NY (CMS Beethoven Cycle) Feb. 16 New York, NY (CMS Beethoven Cycle) Feb 18 New York, NY (CMS Beethoven Cycle) Carolin Widmann Feb 7-9 Los Angeles, CA (LA Philharmonic) Kurt Weill Concerto with LA Phil / Salonen Oded Tzur Quartet Feb 12 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) © 2020 ECM Records US, A Division of Verve Music Group. All rights reserved.

Jazziz has this as one of its ten picks of the month. https://www.jazziz.com/10-albums-you-need-to-know-january-2020/

Onkyo TX-SR494 7.2-Channel A/V Receiver with HDMI & Bluetooth - Dolby Atmos ✤ DTS:X ✤ HDR UHD Pass-Through - $219.00 (42 % off) https://www.ebay.com/itm/163766071409

Brad, I love "Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted." https://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-We-Were-Rudely-Interrupted/dp/B07G1YZ9VJ/ All of the pre-1966 Alan Price masters are on "The Complete Animals." https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Animals/dp/B000006SGT/

Coming Feb. 21... Eric Burdon and The Animals - When I Was Young ~ The MGM Recordings 1967-1968: 5CD Remastered & Expanded Set - 36.99 GBP https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Was-Young-Recordings-1967-1968/dp/B081KRCTFY/

Artist Title Time Michael Wang Jungle 04:51 Michael Wang September 27th 05:43 Michael Wang Toronto Adventures 07:16 Michael Wang Man's Best Friend 04:56 Michael Wang Anthropology 03:22 Michael Wang Legend of the Falcon 04:39 Michael Wang Honest Feelings 05:30 Michael Wang Flowers at a Funeral 04:05 Michael Wang Dream of Flying 06:09 Michael Wang Groove Wang 05:39 Michael Wang "Bone of the Wang Volume One" Impacting: January 17 2020 Format(s): Jazz For Immediate Release Dynamic Mingus Big Band Trombonist Michael Wang’s debut: “Bone of the Wang Volume One” celebrates life, passion, and music. "With a warm sound and depth of vocabulary, Michael has demonstrated that he is one of the brightest trombonists of his generation." Jazz Trumpeter Sean Jones NEW YORK, NY: Up and coming trombonist and composer Michael Wang releases his debut album Bone of the Wang Volume One: a captivating and dynamic story of passion (NL 2011). Bone of the Wang Volume One is a mesmerizing album with Wang’s warm definitive sound accompanied by his energetic and polished band. Wang studied at the Berklee College of Music as a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship, where he studied with Phil Wilson, Marshall Gilkes, David Santoro, George Garzone, Darren Barrett and was a member of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute from 2013-2016. Wang was the winner of the American Trombone Workshop's competition in 2015 and was a finalist in the International Trombone Association's Carl Fontana and JJ Johnson Competitions (2015 and 2016). After graduating Berklee, Wang moved to New York City in 2017 where he continues to play regularly with groups such as the Mingus Big Band, Frank Lacy's Smalls Sextet and "Tromboniverse," Josh Evans' Big Band, Pedro Giraudo's Jazz Orchestra, Arturo O'Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Alexi David's "Three or Four Shades of Mingus," David Chamberlain's "Band of Bones," as well as occasionally leading his own quintet. As jazz trumpeter Sean Jones describes, "With a warm sound and depth of vocabulary, Michael has demonstrated that he is one of the brightest trombonists of his generation." Bone of the Wang Volume One captures with remarkable passion the emotions and experiences of Wang’s process as a developing jazz trombonist. Every song on the album possesses a musical element of passion to it, whether it's a strong melody, an uplifting chord progression, or certain dynamics within it that brings about intensity. The musical elements are derived from life events, relationships, and experiences which left a profound impact on Wang, while simultaneously representing a celebration of the experience and emotions one may cherish in life. Wang’s song, “September 27th” was the first song that he wrote after moving to New York City, with its use of many rhythmic elements, it captures the intense emotions of adapting and adjusting to a new life. The dynamic and energetic “Dream of Flying” which modulates into almost all 12 keys, is a magnetizing portrayal of an unwavering spirit to persevere and strive forward despite the challenges one faces. In addition to drawing from the straight-ahead repertoire, Wang’s compositions are informed with Eastern Asian influence, folkloric elements, and Japanese pop. Versus the standard chord progressions heard on most jazz tunes, his compositions use harmony that often modulates diatonically or through modal interchange, showcasing the impressive improvisational skills of his band: the rhythmically intricate pianist Jon Elbaz, the hard-swinging bass lines of Giuseppe Cucchiara, the tasteful and conceptual ideas of drummer Kazuhiro Odagiri, and the intriguing rhythms of percussionist Juan Felipe Mejia Tobon on tambourine. Bone of the Wang Volume One releases on NextLevel on January 31, 2020. About Michael Wang: Trombonist, composer, and arranger Michael Wang is an up and coming talent in the NYC music scene. Originally from Sacramento, California, Wang began his studies on the trombone at the age of eleven. In 2012, he moved to Boston to begin his studies at Berklee College of Music as a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship, where he studied with Phil Wilson, Marshall Gilkes, David Santoro, George Garzone, Darren Barrett, among others. He was a member of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute under the direction of Danilo Perez, from 2013-2016. During his time in school Wang participated in several jazz trombone competitions, becoming the winner of the American Trombone Workshop's "Division 1" solo competition in 2015 and was a finalist in the International Trombone Association’s Carl Fontana and JJ Johnson Competitions, in 2015 and 2016. After graduating Berklee, Wang moved to New York City in 2017 where he began performing regularly with groups such as the Mingus Big Band, Frank Lacy's Smalls Sextet and "Tromboniverse," Josh Evans' Big Band, Pedro Giraudo's Jazz Orchestra, Arturo O'Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Alexi David's "Three or Four Shades of Mingus," David Chamberlain's "Band of Bones," among others. He also occasionally leads his own quintet, performing at venues such as Smalls and Fat Cat in Greenwich Village. NEXTLEVEL is an imprint of Outside in Music, dedicated to early career and first-time bandleaders seeking to make an impact on the music. OUTSIDE IN MUSIC is a record label and media company that exists to serve musicians. We are a community that strives to lift its artists above the noise of the 21st-century music industry and make music that expresses the sounds of today's wide-ranging jazz and creative music scene. www.outsideinmusic.com/nextlevel Attachments IMG_1896 IMG_1661 IMG_1021 Michael Wa.. Michael Wa..

Pioneer SP-T22A-LR Add-on Speaker designed by Andrew Jones for Dolby Atmos (pair) - $89.00 (25% off) https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-T22A-LR-Speaker-designed-Andrew/dp/B0148NPHO8/