GA Russell

Guitar Great Bobby Broom Introduces His New Group The Organi-Sation With Their Debut Recording "Soul Fingers," His 12th Recording as a Leader Set for October 12 Release by MRI Entertainment, CD Was Produced by Legendary Drummer Steve Jordan Organi-Sation Features Broom With Organist Ben Paterson & Drummer Kobie Watkins, Plus Special Guests in Varied Musical Settings September 19, 2018 Virtuoso Chicago-based guitarist Bobby Broom has always embraced the rhythm and blues core of jazz music. On Soul Fingers, his 12th album as a leader and first with his new trio Organi-Sation, Broom mines the rich repository of '60s and '70s pop music, offering inspired versions of hits by the Beatles, Procol Harum, Steely Dan, and Seals & Crofts, among others. Set for October 12 release by MRI Entertainment, the recording was produced by legendary drummer Steve Jordan. Broom, a contemporary link to the illustrious lineage of jazz guitarists like Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, George Benson, and Pat Martino, is no stranger to covering standards and pop hits: On his 2001 release Stand! he delivered hard-bop versions of songs by artists such as the Turtles, the Mamas & the Papas, and Sly & The Family Stone. And the Deep Blue Organ Trio, which Broom co-led from 2000 to 2013, released Wonderful!, a collection of Stevie Wonder songs, in 2011. Three years later came Broom's My Shining Hour, a set of standards. While developing Soul Fingers, Broom realized the ideas he was coming up with required the help of an outside producer. "The process was so different than other records I've done," he says. "I got more involved in its preproduction. I was hearing horns and a bunch of different textures, so at some point I said, 'I need help with this one.' I immediately thought of Steve because of the soul music sound I was feeling." Broom and Jordan played together with Sonny Rollins once in the early '80s and again during 2005, when both were members of the saxophone colossus's band. "I thought he'd be perfect," says Broom, "although it was basically a daydream," referring to Jordan's busy schedule with the likes of John Mayer and Keith Richards. Nevertheless "I emailed him and it took him less than an hour to get back to me with, 'Let's go!'" In addition to producing and sharing arranging credits, Jordan plays drums on "Get Ready" and "Eyes of Faith," the sole Broom original whose gospel-tinged theme is embellished by a lush string arrangement. Organist Ben Paterson and drummer Kobie Watkins join Broom in Organi-Sation, the core unit on the album and Broom's current band. During the three months the trio spent in 2014 opening for Steely Dan, they developed a musical synchronicity Broom found "a wonderful surprise. We really solidified our chemistry on that tour, so it was like a hand-in-glove kind of thing going into this session." Soul Fingers opens with the Lennon/McCartney gem "Come Together" taken at a stepped-up tempo that Broom knew his trio-mates "would swing to death." Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" features the guitarist's 7/4 funk arrangement and his horn charts for saxophonist Ron Blake and trumpeter Chris Rogers. Other highlights include a shuffle-swing version of Steely Dan's "Do It Again" and a bossa nova-infused version of the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on which the leader is joined by Brazilian acoustic guitarists Sergio Pires and Luciano Antonio. The 1966 Temptations hit "Get Ready" has an Afro-pop feel, while Broom's version of Procol Harum's 1967 baroque pop hit "Whiter Shade of Pale" simmers with soul. Born in New York City in 1961, Bobby Broom cites hearing a Charles Earland album when he was 10 -- and later music by Herbie Hancock and Grover Washington, Jr. -- as inspiring his love of jazz. By 16, he had a regular gig with bebop pianist Al Haig and was invited by Sonny Rollins to go on tour. While he declined that offer, he did perform with Rollins at Carnegie Hall that same year. Within five years Broom had at last joined Rollins's touring band, ultimately spending two five-year stints with him. Prior to joining Rollins, Broom signed with GRP Records and made his crossover jazz debut, 1981's Clean Sweep rather than join Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. After his 1984 follow-up Livin' for the Beat he could have had a career playing "smooth jazz" but instead moved to Chicago and concentrated on straight-ahead jazz. He continued with Rollins, joined Kenny Burrell's Jazz Guitar Band, worked briefly with Miles Davis and then Stanley Turrentine and his early idol Earland. In the 1990s Broom formed the Bobby Broom Trio and the Deep Blue Organ Trio and recorded frequently with both units. He also made three quartet records (No Hype Blues, Waitin' and Waitin', and Modern Man) before deciding to focus on the guitar-bass-drums trio as his primary outlet, beginning in 2001 with Stand! "Whether original, the music of the classic jazz idiom, or nostalgic pop," critic Neil Tesser has observed, "Broom's thoughtful lyricism, urban spirit and jazz pedigree have earned him one of the few truly recognizable styles among modern jazz guitarists." Bobby Broom and his Organi-Sation will perform a CD release show at Space in Evanston, IL on Friday 10/5. Other dates will be announced in the coming months. Photography: Magnus Contzen Bobby Broom - "Summer Breeze," from the CD "Soul Fingers" Web Site: bobbybroom.com

Week 15 power rankings https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/18/nissan-titan-power-rankings-guess-whos-back/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/18/cfl-power-rankings-return-reality/ ***** Current playoff scenarios https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/17/playoff-scenarios-despite-bye-stamps-can-clinch-spot-weekend/ ***** 5 FAMOUS CFL REFERENCES IN POPULAR CULTURE https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/17/cauz-5-famous-cfl-references-popular-culture/

Jeff Garcia has been nominated for the Canton Hall of Fame. http://www.profootballhof.com/102-modern-era-nominees-for-the-hall-of-fames-class-of-2019/

Week 14 results BC 32....Montreal 14 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2516/bc-lions-vs-montreal-alouettes/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/bc-lions-montreal-alouettes-1.4825098 http://3downnation.com/2018/09/15/lions-defence-shoulders-weight-lulay-loss/ ***** Calgary 43....Hamilton 28 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2517/calgary-stampeders-vs-hamilton-tiger-cats/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-stampeders-tiger-cats-recap-sept-15-1.4825575 http://3downnation.com/2018/09/16/ticats-no-match-for-stampeders-defence/ And read this! http://3downnation.com/2018/09/16/numbers-show-ticats-stamps-game-historically-bizarre/ ***** Ottawa 30....Sask 25 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2518/ottawa-redblacks-vs-saskatchewan-roughriders/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-redblacks-roughriders-recap-1.4825580 http://3downnation.com/2018/09/16/gasson-offensive-offence-ends-riders-winning-streak/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/16/redblacks-shock-saskatchewan-nine-thoughts/ ***** Week 14 Plays of the Week https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/17/kyran-moore-makes-an-amazing-adjustement-to-grab-spot-in-timber-mart-plays-of-the-week/

"That's Right!," The Recording Debut of Trumpeter Brad Goode's Quintet Featuring Tenor Titan Ernie Watts, Set for Oct. 19 Release by Origin Records Original Trumpet Stylist Backed by Longtime Collaborators Adrean Farrugia (Piano) & Kelly Sill (Bass) Plus Newest Member Adam Nussbaum (Drums) September 17, 2018 That's Right!, the recording debut of trumpeter Brad Goode's quintet featuring tenor titan Ernie Watts, documents the virtuosity and versatility of one of the tightest working bands on the contemporary jazz scene. Set for October 19 release by Origin Records, the album is a powerful showcase for Goode's ideal quintet as well as the soloing chops and writing skills of each of its members. Watts and Goode first shared the front line in a concert at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where the trumpeter is an associate professor of jazz studies, in the early 2010s. "It was just one of those things," Goode recalls. "We played together for a little while, and then we looked at each other and said, 'Hey, you know what? This is good!' There's something that happens when the two of us start playing, and we've been making efforts to do what we can together ever since." Also featured on the new CD are Canadian pianist Adrean Farrugia and Windy City veteran bassist Kelly Sill, both of whom have been playing with Goode since 2005. The unit's newest member, drummer Adam Nussbaum, joined in 2017. "I tell my students this: If you want to make the biggest change to the sound of your group, change the drummer," says Goode. That's Right! contains three originals by Goode, one by each of the quintet's other members, and the standards "Blues in the Night" and "I Want to Talk About You." The final track, "Jug Ain't Gone," is a tribute to Gene "Jug" Ammons by the late Chicago jazz giant Von Freeman, Jug's high school classmate and one of Goode's mentors. It's a hard-swinging blues that's become something of a theme song for Goode. "Von and I used to play it at every gig but he only recorded it once," he explains. "I run a jam session with students every Monday night, and I make that the closing tune. It's just my way of keeping Von's tradition of the jam session alive -- and keeping Von's memory alive." L. to r.: Ernie Watts, Adrean Farrugia, Brad Goode, Kelly Sill, Adam Nussbaum. Born in 1963 in Chicago, Brad Goode took up the violin at age four, switched to guitar at eight and trumpet at 10. At 15, having moved to East Lansing, Michigan, he began learning the bass. Even when he decided to pursue music as a career, he couldn't settle on one instrument: He earned his B.M. in classical trumpet at the University of Kentucky, and an M.M. in classical bass at Chicago's DePaul University. Goode's early career was a period of extended apprenticeship, as he performed with the bands of jazz legends Von Freeman, Eddie Harris, Ira Sullivan, Jack DeJohnette, and Curtis Fuller. He led the house band at the Green Mill in Chicago from 1986 until 1997, when he left Chicago to pursue college teaching. Since then, his musical career has been expansive. He works often in the areas of world music, experimental harmony, and fusion. He is in high demand as a lead trumpeter, traveling widely to perform and record with big bands and orchestras, and is recognized as a master teacher of brass technique. He currently tours as the featured soloist with West African drummer Paa Kow's Afro Fusion Orchestra. In 1997, Goode joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. In 2004 he accepted a position in Boulder, Colorado, and the following year formed a new working band with Kelly Sill, whom he'd known since the mid-1980s. They were joined by pianist Adrean Farrugia, whom Goode had met at a jam session, and drummer Anthony Lee, one of his Cincinnati students who lived in New York. The quartet stayed together for a decade, becoming a quintet with the addition of Watts in 2015. Lee's 2017 departure brought in Nussbaum on drums. Goode flew the band in to perform at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) conference in Dallas in January 2018. "I had them all there, and I thought we should do a recording," he says. "After the concert we spent two days at a studio in Dallas." While That's Right! is his 18th album as a leader, Goode doesn't see it that way. "I think of this as a debut album by a new band," he says. "I feel this is a pretty special act. When Ernie and I do this together, people kind of freak out. So this album is a way to get that across to people who haven't seen it live yet -- that it's gonna be exciting." The quintet plans a series of dates in Spring and Summer 2019. Brad Goode in performance: 10/13 w/ Paa Kow's Afro Fusion Orchestra, Dazzle, Denver; 10/20 Brad Goode Quartet at Jazz Association of Macon, GA (where he is 2018-19 Artist in Residence); 11/3 Utah International Trumpet Guild Presents Brad Goode; 11/9 Jazz Institute of Chicago Tribute to Von Freeman; 11/14 Brigham Young University (Idaho), in concert with BYU faculty trio; Every Monday -- Brad Goode Jam Session at Muse Performance Space, Lafayette, CO; 4/19-20/2019, Brad Goode Quintet Featuring Ernie Watts, Green Mill, Chicago. Photography: Patricia Watts (quintet), Jim Bohm (Goode). BRAD GOODE QUINTET: Reverse the Charges Web Site: bradgoode.com Like:

Shai Maestro piano; Jorge Roeder double bass; Ofri Nehemya drums The first ECM leader date for Shai Maestro features the gifted pianist fronting his superlative trio in a program predominantly of characteristically thoughtful Maestro originals. Maestro’s differentiated touch is special; he can convey a range of fleeting emotions in a single phrase. In Concert November 6 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) © *2018 ECM Records US, A Division of Verve Music Group. All rights reserved.

Week 14 checking down https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/12/checking-latest-chris-rainey-brandon-banks/ ***** Week 14 picks https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/12/weekly-predictor-redblacks-dire-need-statement/ https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/13/prediction-time-cfl-ca-writers-make-week-14-picks/ https://thegruelingtruth.net/podcast/cfl-weekly-pickem-show-week-14-w-robert-drummond/ https://www.therecord.com/sports-story/8899814-cfl-week-14-predictions/

Barre Phillips double bass Barre Phillips was the first musician to record an album of solo double bass, back in 1968, and he has always been an absolute master of the solo idiom. In March 2017, Barre recorded what he says will be his last solo album, the final chapter of this journey: it is a beautiful and moving musical statement. All the qualities we associate with his playing are here in abundance – questing adventurousness, melodic invention, textural richness, developmental logic, and deep soulfulness. LISTEN / BUY Mark Turner tenor saxophone; Ethan Iverson piano This album marks the recording debut of Turner and Iverson in duo. Years after their first meeting at NYC jam sessions, and following much individual success (Turner as a leader and in demand sideman, and Iverson in hit trio The Bad Plus) they re-connected as part of the exhilarating and widely-lauded Billy Hart Quartet. On Temporary Kings, they explore aesthetic common ground that embodies the heightened intimacy of modernist chamber music in a program of predominantly original compositions. LISTEN / BUY Tord Gustavsen piano; Sigurd Hole double bass; Jarle Vespestad drums “This is the chill-out as a state of grace, and it can go as deep as you like. Sublime,” wrote the Independent on Sunday of the Gustavsen Trio’s Being There (2007). Over the last decade Tord has experimented with other ensemble forms and formats, but on The Other Side he returns decisively to the piano trio, with faithful drummer Jarle Vespestad, and excellent new bassist Sigurd Hole whose approaches are ideally suited to the slowly-developing, deeply melodic pieces. LISTEN / BUY AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER: © 2018 ECM Records. All rights reserved.

Anne Sajdera Celebrates Creative Renewal, Cross-Cultural Inspiration with "New Year," Set for Release Nov. 2 on Bijuri Records Long-Awaited Follow-up to "Azul," Acclaimed 2012 Debut by San Francisco Bay Area Pianist/Composer CD Release Shows at Piedmont Piano, Oakland, 11/3; Cafe Pink House, Saratoga, 11/9; & Other Bay Area Venues September 12, 2018 Anne Sajdera's remarkable acumen as both a pianist and a composer finds rejuvenation on New Year, set for November 2 release on her own Bijuri Records. The album hits close to home for Sajdera -- her ancestral home, that is, of the Czech Republic and its storied capital, Prague. A 2014 trip to Europe's "Golden City" was the catalyst for the album's creation. Sajdera's journey wasn't planned as a musical one. While in Prague, however, she encountered trumpeter/flugelhornist Miroslav Hloucal and alto saxophonist Jan Fečo, who became her chief collaborators on New Year. In addition to supplementing her working San Francisco trio (bassist Gary Brown and drummer Deszon Claiborne) and other special guests with their sparkling instrumental work, Hloucal and Fečo brought in four of the album's nine tracks. "What electrified me was the tremendous skill level," explains Sajdera (pronounced sazh-dair-uh). "I don't think there are many Czech jazz musicians who want to say, 'This is Czech jazz' the way Brazilian musicians would refer to 'Brazilian jazz.' They're influenced by the same players as we are." Indeed, New Year's music is firmly in the vein of acoustic post-bop: sophisticated, straight- ahead, and thoroughly swinging. Even "It Depends on That," Fečo's stellar arrangement of a Roma folk song, feels perfectly at home in the 21st-century jazz repertoire with its deceptively jagged rhythms and sumptuous harmony. Likewise, Hloucal's trio of melodic delights -- "Pictures," "Butterfly Effect," and "Changeling" -- positively simmer in straight-ahead seasoning. In the case of the urgent, album-opening "Pictures," tenor sax luminary Bob Mintzer's vital, muscular work adds an extra ingredient to that seasoning. Sajdera's five original compositions naturally provide the backbone of the album, and rival Hloucal and Fečo's contributions in their freshness and craftsmanship. Her haunting romantic ballad "Treasure" also highlights Sajdera's ambition: It doesn't include the Czech musicians, but does expand her trio to include flugelhornist Erik Jekabson, alto saxophonist Lyle Link, flutist Rita Thies, and violinist/cellist Joyce Lee. Link and Jekabson also appear on "Bright Lights," a bare-bones platform for improvisation that's both taut and joyful. The album also includes a live rendition of "Azul," the dreamy samba reggae title track to Sajdera's 2012 debut album, here balancing sensitivity with astonishing rhythmic assurance. Born in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1965 to a military family, Anne Sajdera grew up in San Diego. Piano lessons as a child led her to form a tight circle of musical friends who often gathered to play together. She maintained a steady diet of Chopin waltzes, Bach inventions, and Beethoven sonatas in her piano studies, but at the age of 13 became intrigued by Chick Corea's My Spanish Heart. After relocating to the Bay Area in 1985, she auditioned at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and was accepted as a piano performance major, switching to a composition major at the end of her sophomore year. Sajdera's investigation of jazz took off when she began a relationship with an accomplished jazz guitarist, with whom she was soon playing casuals. A class at Berkeley's Jazzschool with the great Brazilian pianist/composer Marcos Silva sparked her enduring passion for Brazilian music. Before long she was gigging around the Bay Area with her own band Pelo Mar, and as an original member of Bat Makumba. Her debut album, 2012's Azul, also reflects this deep and abiding passion, mixing her ravishing original pieces with classic tunes by the Brazilian masters. It received a place on one of Jazzizmagazine's 2012 Critics Polls and was named one of Latin Jazz Corner's Great Latin Jazz Albums that same year. The six-year gap between Azul and New Year reflects Sajdera's ongoing evolution as an artist looking for new expressive avenues. "I was writing new music all along and I could see it was rapidly changing," she says. "By 2015, the Prague musicians' influence was coming in." Shortly thereafter, the musicians themselves came in, too, to join the music making. (Sajdera's next recording featuring this same ensemble has been awarded grant funding from Intermusic SF.) It was in 2015, in the spirit of International Jazz Day, the project launched by Herbie Hancock in his role as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, that Sajdera began to connect the Czech jazz scene to the Bay Area scene. After she produced a pair of pilot concerts featuring sax virtuoso Karel Ruzička and organ maestro Ondre J, two Brooklyn-based musicians who originally hailed from the Czech Republic, the plan to collaborate in the studio with Jan and Miroslav began to take shape. Anne Sajdera will be performing a series of CD release shows, all featuring Miroslav Hloucal (above left) and Jan Fečo (at right), in November: Fri. 11/2 Savanna Jazz, San Carlos (8pm); Sat. 11/3 Piedmont Piano Company, Oakland (8pm); Mon. 11/5 Luna's Café, Sacramento (7:30pm); Fri. 11/9 Café Pink House, Saratoga (7:30pm); Sat. 11/10 Hotel Healdsburg, Healdsburg (6:30pm). Photography: Davis Digital Design (Anne), Phil Hawkins (Jan & Miroslav) NEW YEAR -- a new CD from Anne Sajdera (EPK)

Lots of catching up to do: the scores of the past two weeks, some major injuries Labor Day Weekend, and news about the NFL rosters. Labor Day Weekend results Montreal 21....Ottawa 11 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2508/montreal-alouettes-vs-ottawa-redblacks/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/31/johnny-pipkin-leads-alouettes-second-straight-win/ ***** Sask 31....Winnipeg 23 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2509/winnipeg-blue-bombers-vs-saskatchewan-roughriders/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/02/joy-riderville-saskatchewan-finds-way-labour-day/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/02/gasson-riders-earning-victories-hard-way/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/03/nichols-feeds-critics-labour-day-classic-loss-nine-thoughts/ ***** Calgary 23....Edmonton 20 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2510/edmonton-eskimos-vs-calgary-stampeders/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-eskimos-calgary-stampeders-recap-1.4809051 ***** Hamilton 42....Toronto 28 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2511/toronto-argonauts-vs-hamilton-tiger-cats/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/toronto-argonauts-hamilton-tiger-cats-week-12-1.4809058 http://3downnation.com/2018/09/04/milton-ticats-overcome-self-inflicted-adversity-win-fifth-straight-labour-day/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/04/arthur-argos-trouble-labour-day-loss/ ***** Week 12 Plays of the Week https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/04/kyran-moore-jukes-his-way-to-the-top-of-week-12s-timber-mart-plays-of-the-week/ ***** Week 13 power rankings https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/05/riders-continue-climb-nissan-titan-power-rankings/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/05/power-rankings-labour-day-shakes-things/ ***** Now let's look at last weekend's scores. BC 26....Ottawa 14 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2512/ottawa-redblacks-vs-bc-lions/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/ottawa-redblacks-bc-lions-1.4815359 http://3downnation.com/2018/09/08/defence-gets-done-lions/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/09/filoso-another-loss-leaves-redblacks-questions-answers/ ***** Hamilton 36....Toronto 25 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2513/hamilton-tiger-cats-vs-toronto-argonauts/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-argos-tiger-cats-recap-sept-8-1.4815955 ***** Sask 32....Winnipeg 27 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2514/saskatchewan-roughriders-vs-winnipeg-blue-bombers/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/sasakatchewan-roughriders-winnipeg-blue-bombers-1.4816134 http://3downnation.com/2018/09/08/bombers-receiver-carted-off-field-returns-stadium-via-cab/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/09/nichols-throws-away-banjo-bowl-nine-thoughts/ http://159.203.52.247/2018/09/09/riders-intercept-their-way-to-fourth-straight-win/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/09/blue-bomber-talk-podcast-nichols-throws-picks-two-six-team-needs-fix/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/12/green-cast-local-beer-local-quarterbacks-local-mob-ties/ ***** Edmonton 48....Calgary 42 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2515/calgary-stampeders-vs-edmonton-eskimos/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/calgary-stampeders-edmonton-eskimos-1.4816143 ***** Week 13 Plays of the Week https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/10/willie-jefferson-snags-top-spot-with-his-pick-6-in-timber-mart-plays-of-the-week/ ***** Week 14 power rankings https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/11/nissan-titan-power-rankings-dome-sweet-dome/ https://www.oddsshark.com/cfl/power-rankings

ECM Ches Smith, Craig Taborn and Mat Maneri on Tour Fall 2018 October 2 Brooklyn, NY (Korzo) October 3 Austin, TX (The North Door) October 4 Denver, CO (Dazzle) October 5 Vancouver, BC (The Western Front) October 6 San Diego, CA (Bread and Salt) October 7 Los Angeles, CA (The Bluewhale) The Bell released January 2016 Featuring dynamic chamber music compositions written for masterful improvisers, (Ches Smith: drums, vibraphone, timpani; Craig Taborn: piano; Mat Maneri: viola), The Bell was released in early 2016 garnering rave reviews far and wide - see a few choice quotes below. For his first album as a composer and bandleader on Germany's iconic ECM label, Smith has chosen a subtlety that seems influenced by his most recent bandmates and peers. It's a stylistic course that will be broadly familiar to fans of Manfred Eicher's jazz-and-classical imprint, and less so to fans of Women as Lovers. But The Bell isn't placid, either: In the company of pianist Craig Taborn and violist Mat Maneri-an experienced pair of collaborators-Smith forges a quiet intensity. Seth Colter Walls - pitchfork January 2016 A mad musician with a beautiful mind, Smith nearly does it all. Ken Micallef, Modern Drummer - May 2016 On first hearing, it sounds trance-like, but as it becomes more familiar, the subtlety and sophistication of the free-improv comes through. Occasionally, Smith blasts the thing wide open, like lightning striking a cloudy sky. Paul De Barros - The Seattle Times - February 12, 2016 All of the pieces here are Smith originals, with the pervasive atmosphere being one of spacious contemplation, glacial development and thoughtful attention to sonic properties. The drummer's skill with subtlety has long been a part of his arsenal, but on this album it glides into the foreground. Martin Longley - Downbeat - March 2016

The Real Andy Williams (3 CDs) - $5.98 https://www.oldies.com/product-view/38231R.html ***** Neil Young - Blue Note Cafe (2 CDs) - $7.98 https://www.oldies.com/product-view/38476R.html

Montreal-Based Pianist Andrés Vial Launches Series of Recordings Exploring Thelonious Monk's Music With "Sphereology Volume One," To Be Released Sept. 28 By Chromatic Audio Records Guitarist & Fellow Monk Interpreter Peter Bernstein Joins Vial in Front Line of Quartet Outing With Two Different Rhythm Sections August 24, 2018 Pianist Andrés Vial (pronounced Vee-al) launches a series of recordings offering new perspectives on the oeuvre of Thelonious Sphere Monk with the September 28 release of Sphereology Volume One on Chromatic Audio Records. It's a project the Montreal native has been working on since 2005, when he organized an annual Thelonious Monk Festival in Montreal. "My band played four nights of Monk's music there," says Vial. "I transcribed about 50 of his tunes for those gigs, and the festival ran for four years." Sharing the front line with Vial on the new album, his fourth, is guitarist Peter Bernstein, who released his own critically acclaimed disc celebrating Monk in 2008. Vial also employs two different rhythm sections: Bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Rodney Green, mainstays of the New York jazz scene, appear on the first six tracks of the album, which was recorded in the fall of 2017, on the eve of the Monk Centennial. Bassist Martin Heslop and drummer André White, who have been Vial's Montreal rhythm section since Monk Fest, appear on the last three tracks of the album. "I consider Peter one of the leading interpreters of Monk's music today," Vial says. "He's one of the rare people who if we're on a gig together, I can call a bunch of practically esoteric Monk tunes and he'll know them. Even though Monk is a hugely important part of the jazz canon, musicians usually only play about a dozen of his tunes. There are another 60 tunes that are very infrequently performed." At left, the New York session: Peter Bernstein, Dezron Douglas, Andrés Vial, Rodney Green. At right, the Montreal session: André White and Martin Heslop with Vial and Bernstein. Sphereology introduces listeners to more obscure, rarely recorded pieces over familiar ones. The opening track, "Bluehawk," is a blues Monk only recorded once as a solo. In one of the few instances on the album where a song's groove has been changed from the original, Green uses the infectious New Orleans Second Line rhythm made famous by drummer Vernel Fournier on Ahmad Jamal's "Poinciana." "I had a few simple arrangement ideas," Vial adds, "but I wasn't really interested in going into the studio with 10-page-long charts and lots of reharmonizations. I wanted to keep it loose and just dive in. The musical interaction that happens within the tunes is the important part." The other nine tunes include "Coming on the Hudson," with its unique 18½-bar form and unusual chord progression, and -- perhaps the most recognizable piece on the album -- "Think of One," which is re-contextualized with an Afro 6/8 groove, shifting to swing on the bridge and the piano solo. "Ask Me Now" is a duo performance by Vial and Bernstein, and the little-known "Introspection" (composed in 1947) is the oldest Monk song on the album. Born in 1979 in Montreal, Andrés Vial recalls sitting at the piano improvising songs as a child. He began taking lessons but wasn't interested in learning to sight-read. "I would listen to my teacher play the piece," he recalls, "and then basically learn it by ear instead of off the page." He also learned from the classical, Latin, and pop records he heard around the house. When Vial was 11, his mother came home with a copy of John Coltrane's Blue Train. "I was just floored," he says. "That was the record that really changed the course of my life, and I was obsessed with it for years to come." He joined his middle school and high school jazz bands and also began playing drums and vibraphone. Vial studied jazz drums and classical percussion at Montreal's Vanier College before transferring to the New School in New York, earning a degree in jazz piano and studying with Bill Charlap, Hal Galper, Joe Chambers, and Buster Williams. Returning to Montreal, he immediately became active on the jazz scene as well as joining the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, a grassroots group of musicians from all over the world working within black musical forms. Through the collective, he met singer Malika Tirolien(Snarky Puppy, Bokanté) and joined her band (she appeared on his debut recording, 2007's Trio/Septet). Vial's three previous albums -- also including The Infinite Field (2011) and conception/oblivion (2015) -- reveal that he is not afraid to take risks. His fidelity to Monk's vision springs not from a lack of boldness, but from a recognition that it needs no elaboration. "Monk tunes are already perfect," says the pianist. "It's impossible to separate the melody from the rhythmic concept and chord voicings in each composition. Of course, you don't only want to play Monk voicings the whole time; you have to find your own way to play the tune. "I see it as a two-step process. One, go as deeply as you can into Monk's music, and two, figure out what you're going to do to bring your own voice to it. That's what the Sphereologyproject is really about." Andrés Vial Plays Thelonious Monk: Sphereology Volume One Photography (Vial): Andi State

Tord Gustavsen: piano / Sigurd Hole: double bass /Jarle Vespestad: drums “This is the chill-out as a state of grace, and it can go as deep as you like. Sublime,” wrote the Independent on Sunday of the Gustavsen’s trio’s Being There, released in 2007. Over the last decade Tord has explored other ensemble forms and formats, but on The Other Side - recorded at Oslo’s Rainbow Studio in January 2018 – he opens a new chapter in his piano trio story, with faithful drummer Jarle Vespestad, and excellent new bassist Sigurd Hole. Hole’s approach to his instrument, drawing on folk influences as well as modern jazz, is ideally suited to Gustavsen’s slowly-developing, deeply melodic pieces. LISTEN/BUY ON TOUR Sept 25 New York, NY (Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola) Sept 27 Santa Cruz, CA (Kuumbwa Jazz) Sept 28 Stanford, CA (Bing Concert Hall Studio) Sept 29 Vancouver, BC (BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts) Sept 30 Portland, OR (Classic Pianos) Oct 2 - Minneapolis, MN (Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church) Mark Turner: tenor saxophone / Ethan Iverson: piano This album marks the recording debut Turner and Iverson in duo. Years after their first meeting at NYC jam sessions, and following much individual success (Turner as a leader and in demand sideman, and Iverson in hit trio The Bad Plus) they re-connected as part of the exhilarating and widely-lauded Billy Hart Quartet. OnTemporary Kings, they explore aesthetic common ground that embodies the heightened intimacy of modernist chamber music in a program of predominantly original compositions. LISTEN/BUY ON TOUR September 13 Baltimore, MD (An Die Musik Live!) September 15 Chicago, IL (Constellation) September 16-17 Minneapolis, MN (Crooners) September 18 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) September 20 Cambridge, MA (Regattabar) October 10 Denver, CO (Dazzle) October 11 Santa Cruz, CA (Kuumbwa) October 12 Los Angeles, CA (Bluewhale) October 14 Portland, OR (Old Church) October 15 Seattle, WA (Earshot Jazz Festival) October 18 New Orleans, LA (Snug Harbor) Shai Maestro: piano / Jorge Roeder: double bass / Ofri Nehemya: drums The first ECM leader date for Shai Maestro features the gifted pianist fronting his superlative trio in a program predominantly of characteristically thoughtful Maestro originals. “Hearing the Shai Maestro Trio is like awakening to a new world”, All About Jazz has suggested. “Expressions of joy, introspective thoughts and heightened intensity all come to the fore.” Maestro’s differentiated touch is special; he can convey a range of fleeting emotions in a single phrase. LISTEN/BUY Jakob Bro: guitar / Thomas Morgan: double bass / Joey Baron: drums This poetically attuned group follows its ECM studio album of Streams (2016) – which The New York Times lauded as “ravishing”- with an album recorded live over two nights in New York City. Bay of Rainbows rolls on waves of contemplative emotion, with gradually enveloping lyricism the lodestar. Recast intimately and elastically for trio, the pieces are illustrative of Bro and company’s ability to push and pull the music into mesmerizing new shapes, onstage and in the moment. LISTEN/BUY ON TOUR October 14 Winnipeg, MB (The Good Will Social Club) October 15 Minneapolis, MN (Icehouse) October 17 Chicago, IL (Constellation) October 18 Los Angeles, CA (Bluewhale) October 22 Baltimore, MD (An Die Musik Live!) October 23-24 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) October 25 Denver, CO (Dazzle) October 26 Tulsa, OK (Duet) October 27 Seattle, WA (Seattle Art Museum/Earshot Festival) October 28 Portland, OR (The Old Church/Portland Jazz Festival) Wolfgang Muthspiel: guitar / Ambrose Akinmusire: trumpet / Brad Mehldau: piano/ Larry Grenadier: double bass / Eric Harland: drums Many prominent admirers with Muthspiel as a “lyrical and painterly style” that has won him many admirers. Where The River Goes carries the story forward from his highly-acclaimed 2016 recording Rising Grace. Featuring a cast of heavyweight talent (Mehldau, Akinmusire, Grenadier, Harland), this is much more than an “all-star” gathering. The group plays as an ensemble with its own distinct identity, evident both in the interpretation of Muthspiel’s pieces and in the collective playing. LISTEN/BUY © *2018 ECM Records US, A Division of Verve Music Group. All rights reserved. LISTEN / PRE ORDER Mark Turner tenor saxophone Ethan Iverson piano The initial musical connection between saxophonist Mark Turner and pianist Ethan Iverson was made in 1990s jam sessions in New York City, with both going on to individual success – Iverson in hit trio The Bad Plus and Turner as a solo leader and in such groups as the trio Fly (recording in both capacities for ECM). A decade after their first meeting, the saxophonist and pianist began an association in the Billy Hart Quartet, the two players featuring sympathetically on two widely lauded ECM albums by that band. Now with Temporary Kings – their debut on record as a duo – Turner and Iverson explore aesthetic common ground that encompasses the cool-toned intricacies of the Lennie Tristano/Warne Marsh jazz school, as well as the heightened intimacy of modernist chamber music. The album presents six originals by Iverson (such as the nostalgic solo tune “Yesterday’s Bouquet) and two by Turner (including “Myron’s World,” which has acquired near-classic status among contemporary jazz players). There’s an off-kilter blues (“Unclaimed Freight”) and a strikingly melodic, almost Ravelian opening track dedicated to the Swiss town where the album was recorded (“Lugano”), plus an interpretation of Marsh’s playfully serpentine “Dixie’s Dilemma.” DUO ON TOUR September 13 Baltimore, MD (An Die Musik Live!) September 15 Chicago, IL (Constellation) September 16-17 Minneapolis, MN (Crooners) September 18 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) September 20 Cambridge, MA (Regattabar) October 10 Denver, CO (Dazzle) October 11 Santa Cruz, CA (Kuumbwa) October 12 Los Angeles, CA (Bluewhale) October 14 Portland, OR (Old Church) October 15 Seattle, WA (Earshot Jazz Festival) © *2018 ECM Records US, A Division of Verve Music Group. All rights reserved. Jakob Bro guitar; Thomas Morgan double bass; Joey Baron drums This poetically attuned group follows its ECM studio album Streams (2016) – which The New York Times lauded as “ravishing”- with an album recorded live over two nights in New York City. Bay of Rainbows rolls on waves of contemplative emotion, with gradually enveloping lyricism the lodestar. Recast intimately and elastically for trio, the pieces are illustrative of Bro and company’s ability to push and pull the music into mesmerizing new shapes, onstage and in the moment. TRIO TOUR October 14 Winnipeg, Man (The Good Will Social Club) October 15 Minneapolis, MN (Icehouse) October 17 Chicago, IL (Constellation) October 18 Los Angeles, CA (Bluewhale) October 22 Baltimore, MD (An Die Musik Live!) October 23-24 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) October 25 Denver, CO (Dazzle) October 26 Tulsa, OK (Duet) October 27 Seattle, WA (Seattle Art Museum (Earshot Festival)) October 28 Portland, OR (The Old Church (Portland Jazz Festival)) © *2018 ECM Records US, A Division of Verve Music Group. All rights reserved. Tord Gustavsen September 25 New York, NY (Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola) September 27 Santa Cruz, CA (Kuumbwa Jazz) September 28 Stanford, CA (Bing Concert Hall Studio Stanford University) September 29 Vancouver, BC (BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts) September 30 Portland, OR (Classic Pianos) October 2 - Minneapolis, MN (Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church) Vijay Iyer September 20 Los Angeles, CA (LACMA) with various groups) September 22 Los Angeles, CA (UCLA) (with Blind Spot) September 29 Philadelphia, PA (Annenberg Center) (performing Solo Piano) Turner/Iverson September 13 Baltimore, MD (An Die Musik Live!) September 15 Chicago, IL (Constellation) September 16-17 Minneapolis, MN (Crooners) September 18 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) September 20 Cambridge, MA (Regattabar) Thomas Zehetmair September 13-15 St. Paul, MN (Ordway Concert Hall) (performing with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra) Kim Kashkashian September 25-30 Greenville, NC (Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival)

RIP Burt! When I was a junior in high school, he was the star of one of my favorite programs, a cop drama named Hawk. Naturally, it was cancelled by Christmas.

My computer froze while trying to post, so let's just go with this week's picks for now. There will be three games tomorrow. I can't remember the last time that happened. Week 13 picks https://cflpowerrankings.wordpress.com/2018/09/06/power-rankings-after-week-12-2/ https://thegruelingtruth.net/football/cfl/cfl-week-13-previews-and-predictions/ https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/06/weekly-predictor-redemption-eskimos/ http://3downnation.com/2018/09/07/cfl-picks-opportunity-redemoption/ http://www.rodpedersen.com/2018/09/week-13-cfl-picks-2018.html https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/06/prediction-time-cfl-ca-writers-make-picks-week-13/ ***** Week 13 game notes https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/06/cfl-ca-game-notes-look-week-13-2/ ***** Week 13 checking down https://www.cfl.ca/2018/09/05/checking-solomon-elimimian-injured-wrist-re-evaluated/

5 Original Albums Jimmy Smith (Blue Note) - $14.49 prime https://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-CD/dp/B079229SL9/ ***** Charlie Haden - $13.25 + $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-CD/dp/B074BL9P89/ ***** Jacques Loussier Play Bach - $13.50 + $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-CD/dp/B074BNZSW5/

Duron Carter has signed with the Argos. http://3downnation.com/2018/08/13/s-j-green-would-definitely-give-duron-carter-his-approval-if-argos-management-asked/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/13/unclear-riders-chris-jones-tried-trading-duron-carter-release/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/13/lions-wally-buono-seemed-interested-in-duron-carter-ed-hervey-not-so-much/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/15/duron-carter-feels-riders-release-was-weird-how-it-went-down/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/16/green-cast-hell-going/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/26/finally-official-duron-carter-signs-toronto-argonauts/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/27/video-duron-carter-signing-argos/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/27/new-argo-duron-carter-wont-play-labour-day-ticats/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/27/qa-argos-gm-jim-popp-on-signing-duron-carter-what-really-happened-in-montreal/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/27/marc-trestman-questions-duron-will-come-work/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/28/3down-podcast-can-duron-live-trestman-rules-toronto/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/29/marc-trestman-helped-guide-one-carter-success-can-duron/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/30/cris-carter-says-son-duron-will-be-a-better-person-from-marc-trestman-experience/ ***** Jon Ryan was released by Seattle, and quickly signed with Buffalo. http://3downnation.com/2018/08/20/seahawks-release-longest-tenured-player-canadian-punter-jon-ryan/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/21/veteran-canadian-punter-jon-ryan-sign-contract-buffalo-bills/ ***** The Alouettes cut Landon Rice, who promptly re-signed with the Ticats. http://3downnation.com/2018/08/23/alouettes-release-ol-landon-rice-acquired-blockbuster-johnny-manziel-trade/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/28/ticats-reacquire-piece-of-johnny-manziel-trade-for-nothing/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/29/alouettes-cut-landon-rice-due-cap-issues-june-jones/ ***** The New York Giants traded Brett Jones to Minnesota. http://3downnation.com/2018/08/26/former-stamp-saskie-native-brett-jones-traded-giants-vikings/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/27/new-viking-brett-jones-theres-lot-purple-saskatchewan/ ***** Sergio Castillo, Trent Richardson and others have signed with the AAF. Wally think that the two new leagues will make it more difficult to sign good Americans. http://3downnation.com/2018/08/06/former-cflers-among-first-players-to-sign-with-alliance-of-american-football-league/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/30/former-riders-rb-trent-richardson-officially-signs-with-aaf-birmingham-franchise/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/28/with-new-spring-leagues-starting-buono-doesnt-believe-cfl-will-be-an-easy-sell-for-nfl-cuts/

Thanks, guys. I appreciate your input. I have downloaded the AVG anti-virus software, and the latest versions of Firefox and Chrome. This has me sort of back up and running. I have also downloaded Linux Ubuntu on a second computer. I think that will be fun to learn it. Here's hoping Santa brings me something better this year for Christmas!

While I was without a computer this past week, I pulled out some of my 2017 albums. This was one of the ones I enjoyed the most. And now by coincidence I see today that Sims will issue his next album in October. So I'm looking forward to it.

Baritone & Tenor Saxophonist Jared Sims Tells His New York Story On Forthcoming Ropeadope CD, "The New York Sessions," Set for October 12 Release Sims's 5th Album as a Leader Is a Post-Bop Quartet Outing Featuring Pianist Chris McCarthy, Bassist Alex Tremblay, Drummer Evan Hyde Saxophonist Plans CD Release Shows in Pittsburgh, Washington, DC, Boston, New York, Ashland, VA, & Portsmouth, NH August 30, 2018 Jazz saxophonist and educator Jared Sims pays musical tribute to experiences that influenced his creative development on The New York Sessions, his fifth album as a leader. Set for release by Ropeadope Records on October 12, the disc is a post-bop quartet outing that comes 20 years after Sims was performing regularly at clubs like the Knitting Factory, Wetlands, and Brooklyn's Tea Lounge. Joined on The New York Sessions by pianist Chris McCarthy, bassist Alex Tremblay, and drummer Evan Hyde, Sims plays his main axe, baritone saxophone, on only one of the album's five tracks, the jaunty-mid-tempo ballad "Brooklyn Tea," named for the defunct Tea Lounge venue. Becoming a kind of outsider to himself, he plays tenor on all the other songs: "Tribeca Tap Bar" (which shows off his Getzian influence), "Wetlands Preserved" (named for the famed Tribeca club), "The Bodega," and "Pelham." "The theme of this record is not just what New York means to me, but what New York meant to me before it just became all Starbucks and strip malls," Sims told CD annotator Michael J. West. "Not so much looking backward, but telling my New York story." Jared Sims, who turns 44 today, started playing the baritone in the fifth grade in his hometown of Staunton, VA, and attended his first jazz concert, by Michael Brecker, in tenth grade. He saw the World Saxophone Quartet perform the following year, and his fascination with the saxophone went "over the top" after speaking with members of the WSQ after the show. He dedicated himself to the baritone after bringing a tenor to a class at the New England Conservatory (NEC) and having his instructor warn him he'd never be great on it because he'd be following in the footsteps of too many legends. Far from taking offense, Sims took his teacher's words to heart. "There are a lot of gold standards on tenor," he says. "I was trying to find a way to move past those influences. Playing the baritone felt really natural to me. I felt like I could do something personal and interesting with it." While an undergraduate at West Virginia University, from which he graduated in 1996 and where he's now in his third year as director of jazz studies, Sims studied traditional styles with David Hastings. At NEC, where he played clarinet in addition to baritone, alto, and tenor, he was exposed to non-traditional genres including Third Stream, under the tutelage of distinguished faculty members Gunther Schuller, George Russell, and Ran Blake. Another of his NEC mentors was Allan Chase, with whom he collaborated for various projects. Sims went on to earn a doctorate in classical music performance at Boston University, where his lecture recital was on the modern Italian composer Luciano Berio and his solo Sequenzapieces. He also did research on Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives, and American popular music. While in Boston, where he earned a reputation as a "saxophone colossus," Sims roomed for four years with virtuoso baritone saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase, a cog in Either/Orchestra, who turned him onto Sahib Shihab. He played in numerous Boston-based bands including the Afro-Latin group Mango Blue; the organ funk outfit Akashic Record; Blueprint Project with guitarist Eric Hofbauer; and the jazz-rock quartet Miracle Orchestra. He has collaborated with an eclectic list of artists including the late Bob Brookmeyer, Han Bennink, Matt Wilson, Dave Liebman, Anat Cohen, the Temptations, 10,000 Maniacs, and Oasis's Noel Gallagher. Sims made his recording debut as a leader with the trio effort Acoustic Shadows (2009) and followed it with another trio session, Convergence (2011), and the collective quartet album The New Stablemates (2012). On Layers (2016), he overdubs himself playing saxophones, clarinets, and flute on tunes by Ellington, Monk, and Mingus, while on Change of Address (2017), a soul-jazz quintet date featuring the Hammond B-3 organ, he plays only baritone. Jared Sims will be touring in support of The New York Sessions at the following venues: Sat 10/6 Ashland (VA) Coffee and Tea (8pm) w/ Ayinde Williams, p; Mike Hawkins, b; Emre Kartari, d. Fri 10/12 Wallace's Whiskey Room, Pittsburgh (7pm) w/ Cliff Barnes, p; Paul Thompson, b; Tom Wendt, d. Mon 10/22 Marvin, Washington, DC (7pm) w/ Collin Chambers, p; James King, b; Nasar Abadey, d. Thu 10/25 Button Factory Stage, Portsmouth, NH (8pm) w/ Mike Effinberger, p; Rob Gerry, b; Mike Walsh, d. Fri 10/26 Lilypad, Boston (7:30) w/ Mark Shilansky, p; Keala Kaumeheiwa, b; Steve Lagone, d. Sat 10/27 Silvana, NYC (9pm) w/ Frank Straub, g; John Feliciano, b; Alex MacKinnon, d. Photography: Adam Lewis

Week 12 power rankings https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/28/nissan-titan-power-rankings-season-defining-win/ https://cflpowerrankings.wordpress.com/2018/08/28/power-rankings-after-week-11-2/ https://lastwordonsports.com/2018/08/27/cfl-week-11-power-rankings-roughriders/ https://www.tsn.ca/stamps-rebound-with-week-11-win-and-stay-atop-power-rankings-1.1164425 https://thegruelingtruth.net/football/cfl/cfl-power-rankings-week-12/ http://3downnation.com/2018/08/29/power-rankings-let-fun-begin-real/ ***** Week 12 picks https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/29/weekly-predictor-can-argos-finally-win-thf-labour-day/ https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/30/prediction-time-cfl-ca-writers-make-picks-week-12/ https://cflpowerrankings.wordpress.com/2018/08/28/cfl-week-12-picks/ https://www.thespec.com/sports-story/8871122-cfl-picks-week-12/ ***** Week 12 game notes https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/30/cfl-ca-game-notes-look-week-12/ ***** Week 12 checking down https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/29/checking-bombers-looking-shake-things-offence/ ***** The first Scouting Bureau Rankings for 2019 are out. https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/29/checking-bombers-looking-shake-things-offence/ https://www.tsn.ca/tennessee-dl-kongbo-tops-cfl-scouting-bureau-1.1165109

That's a favorite of mine!

Week 11 results Hamilton 25....Edmonton 24 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2504/edmonton-eskimos-vs-hamilton-tiger-cats/ http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-eskimos-hamilton-ticats-cfl-recap-1.4797330 Hajrullahu won it with a 29-yard field goal on the last play of the game. ***** Montreal 25....Toronto 22 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2505/toronto-argonauts-vs-montreal-alouettes/ http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/argonauts-alouettes-friday-recap-1.4798920 Fun game between the league's two worst teams, featuring two guys who have come out of nowhere - McLeod Bethel-Thompson ("MacBeth") vs. Antonio Pipkin. Medeiros tried to tie the game with 0:00 on the clock with a 54-yard field goal, and the ball hit the left upright! ***** Calgary 39....Winnipeg 26 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2506/winnipeg-blue-bombers-vs-calgary-stampeders/ http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/winnipeg-blue-bombers-calgary-stampeders-1.4799097 It was a good game until the Stampeders blew it open in the fourth. ***** Sask 24....BC 21 https://www.cfl.ca/games/2507/saskatchewan-roughriders-vs-bc-lions/ http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders-bc-lions-week-11-1.4799102 Another good game! Wally went for a first down instead of a long field goal with 35 second left, and failed to make it. ***** Week 11 Plays of the Week https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/27/shaq-evans-over-the-top-grab-makes-it-to-week-11s-timber-mart-plays-of-the-week/ ***** So at this point the season is half over. Here are the standings. https://www.cfl.ca/standings/ And here are the stats. https://www.cfl.ca/league-leaders/?season=2018 ***** Any veteran cut after this weekend will be paid in full, so we can expect that there will be few cuts from now on.