GA Russell

Bruno Maderna/Luciano Berio Five Transcriptions for Orchestra / Chemins V Now, And Then Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Dennis Russell Davies, conductor / Pablo Marquez, guitar Unlike many of his radical new music colleagues, Bruno Maderna (1920-1973) had a great affection for older music, especially that of the Italian Renaissance and Early Baroque eras. But his transcriptions had little to do with the orthodoxy of so-called ‘historically informed’ interpretation. In the belief that works of art can be removed from their original contexts, he used contemporary instrumental resources to discover new meaning and a new validity in the works of old masters. His transcriptions of Gabrieli, Frescobaldi, Legrenzi and Viadana are vividly conveyed by the RSI Orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies in a program which includes Chemins V by Maderna’s good friend Luciano Berio (1925-2003). Chemins V is itself a transcription of sorts, a chamber orchestra version of Berio’s Sequenza XI. Soloist Pablo Marquez references flamenco and the guitar’s classical heritage, while the orchestra engages with the guitar on levels of expanded harmony. Dialogue develops, as Berio said, “through multiple forms of interaction, from the most unanimous to the most conflictual and estranged.” Yuuko Shiokawa/András Schiff Bach, Busoni, Beethoven Yuuko Shiokawa, violin; András Schiff, piano Yuuko Shiokawa and András Schiff are heard here in an insightful – and delightful - program of sonatas for violin and piano which begins with Bach’s Sonata No.3 in E major, ends with Beethoven’s Sonata No.10 in G major, and has at its center Busoni’s Sonata No. 2 in E minor. No other 20th century composer was as deeply steeped in the music of Bach as Ferruccio Busoni, and his second sonata, published in 1901, is indebted to both Bach and Beethoven. Its form makes references to Beethoven’s late sonatas, and the final movement incorporates as its variation theme Bach’s chorale “Wie wohl ist mir”. As on their earlier and widely-admired duo recording for ECM (featuring Schubert Fantasies), Shiokawa and Schiff play the music with absolute authority and deep understanding. Their Bach-Busoni-Beethoven program was recorded in Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in December 2016, and produced by Manfred Eicher. Thomas Demenga Johann Sebastian Bach - Suiten für Violoncello Thomas Demenga, violoncello Swiss cellist Thomas Demenga returns to Bach’s suites. “To me, Bach is the greatest musical genius who has ever lived. His music is pure, sublime. It possesses something divine and each musician has a lifetime in which to discover new ways of interpreting it.” Demenga previously recorded the cello suites for ECM between 1986 and 2002, juxtaposing them with contemporary composition in albums that count as milestones in the early history of the New Series. This new double album however is devoted entirely to Bach and the six suites. Many years of playing and studying every aspect of them, from source manuscripts to different tempos, embellishments, fingerings and bowings, have brought Demenga to the heart of the music – which Bach himself described as the only goal. © 2017 ECM | ECM Records USA | 1755 Broadway, 3rd floor | New York NY 10011

"Phrases," Jazz Vocalist Jeff Baker's 5th Album & First to Feature His Original Music, Due January 19 on OA2 Records Baker's All-Star Septet Includes Drummer Brian Blade, Saxophonist Steve Wilson, Trumpeter Marquis Hill, & Pianist/CD Co-Producer Darrell Grant December 8, 2017 After a seven-year hiatus from recording, contemporary jazz vocalist Jeff Baker is preparing to release Phrases, his fifth and most ambitious album to date. The new CD, due from OA2 Records on January 19, marks Baker's debut as a composer, with seven of the album's songs featuring his music and lyrics. The album takes its title from Baker's use of what he calls "prompts" from favorite works of fiction, poetry, and song, among them texts by Pablo Neruda, J.D. Salinger, and Salvador Plascencia. Those cues could be no more than a line of poetry or a snatch of dialogue, or a real-life verbal exchange that caught his ear. "The musical side of composing -- creating melodies, reharmonizing music -- has always come pretty easy to me," Baker explains. "But in attempting lyrics, I always felt burdened by not being Joni Mitchell. How could I express myself without sounding trite or silly? I found that if I gave myself prompts, I could create stories around them and find my voice as a lyricist. My aim was to tell stories in which people could hear their own experiences." The deeply reflective, lushly nuanced music on Phrases is performed by a stellar septet whose front line includes alto saxophonist Steve Wilson and trumpeter Marquis Hill. Protean drummer Brian Blade provides the recording with its ebb, flow, and pulse. Pianist Darrell Grant both plays and serves as musical director and co-producer while Baker's longtime friends Clark Sommers and Geof Bradfield appear on bass and tenor saxophone, respectively. Young guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, a former student of Jeff Parker, is one of the album's stand-outs. The listener can hear how the musicians are drawn to the singer in their inspired, beautifully shaped solos. Phrases was recorded in Chicago in May 2017 at Vijay Tellis-Nayak's Transient Sound following a live performance at the hip Fulton Street Collective. "Jazz musicians talk all the time about their 'Dream Bands,'" says Baker. "Here I am, getting to record with my actual Dream Band! I wrote this music with these musicians in mind, and I am beyond humbled that they've agreed to be part of this project." Born in 1979 in Boise, Idaho, Jeff Baker was 13 when the Seattle-spawned grunge rock movement hit. But while his friends were thrilling to Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Jeff was discovering Dizzy Gillespie's Live at the Village Vanguard. "It was the best thing ever," he says. "I learned every song and taught myself to sing with them. Singing jazz, the idea that a vocalist could be an instrumentalist and take the music to different places on a lark, was a real revelation to me. My goal became to be equal and in line with instrumental players." Jeff's teachers and mentors "made sure I had opportunities to experience the music at the highest levels!" Chet Baker (no relation) was a major discovery for him, as were Mark Murphy and Johnny Hartman. The music of wide-ranging artists such as Sting and Peter Gabriel resonated deeply with him, as did that of Bonnie Raitt (whose "Not Cause I Wanted To" he covers on Phrases) and minimalist master Steve Reich, whose influence can be felt in the moving harmonies, piano ostinato, and streaming eighth notes on "People of Paper." Baker attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, on a singing scholarship, sang in the jazz and classical choirs, and studied opera and musical theater. With plentiful opportunities to perform, he continued educating himself as a jazz vocalist. Backed by Idaho musicians, he recorded his first album, Baker Sings Chet, largely to raise money to attend graduate school. He never went, but working in the studio, he says, "became kind of my graduate school." The Chet Baker project, released on Origin Records' OA2 imprint, did well enough to enable Baker to make another record, Monologue, for which Origin head John Bishop hooked him up with versatile Seattle pianist Bill Anschell. It proved to be a fruitful collaboration. Baker and Anschell teamed up on two more acclaimed albums, Shopping for Your Heart (2007) and the gospel-infused Of Things Not Seen(recorded at the same time as Shopping, it was released with re-recorded vocals in 2009). In 2012 Darrell Grant, a distinguished member of the music faculty at Portland State University, helped Baker land a position at PSU, where the singer was instrumental in building what came to be a renowned jazz vocal program. Baker also co-founded and is director of the PDX Jazz Forward Competition. "We live in an incredible time for creative, genre-defying music," says Baker. "Artists like Laura Mvula, Becca Stevens, Jacob Collier, The Fellowship Band, and so many others are changing the way we think about jazz and contemporary songwriting. It's a privilege to write and make music at this time. Phrases is my humble contribution to this ever evolving conversation." Photography: Steve Korn Web Site: jeffbakerjazz.com

The ECM catalog, now available to subscribers across major streaming services, is causing a great stir of excitement as evidenced by these three articles you can click to here: Re-explore the catalog yourself and/or send young, curious listeners to their favorite platform to discover the label’s gems for themselves or to check out curated playlists! © 2017 ECM | ECM Records USA | 1755 Broadway, 3rd floor | New York NY 10011

RIP. He's a guy I need to hear more of.

The Dukes of Hazzard - Season 1 - $9.96 prime https://www.amazon.com/Dukes-Hazzard-Paul-R-Picard/dp/B0072BNKIO

I received this afternoon an email from Autoweek Magazine entitled JIM NABORS, FAMED INDY 500 PRE-RACE SINGER, DEAD AT 87

Happy Birthday jcam_44!

Happy Birthday 2017 crisp!

Happy Birthday 2017 John!

Happy Birthday 2017 Brooks!

So the winning pick was Toronto - 50. That's me!!! I've never won this contest before, and I won't start now. So ignoring my pick, the contestant with the closest pick is ejp626! Congrats ejp! Please pm me your address, and I'll get that Mosaic gift card out to you.

With 0:49 left, the Argos have taken the lead 27-24. ***** That's it! With 9 seconds left, Matt Black intercepted Bo Levi Mitchell's pass in the end zone, and the Argos win 27-24. Ricky Ray becomes the first starting quarterback in history to win four Grey Cups.

With 4:15 left, the Argos have tied it at 24. Cassius Vaughn set a Grey Cup record with a fumble return of 109 yards. Goodbye Joe Medjuck, hello BClugston!

After three, it's Calgary 24....Toronto 16. In both the second and third quarters, the Argos scored a touchdown, and the Stampeders immediately responded with one of their own. And Joe Medjuck is still looking good!

At the half, it's Calgary 17....Toronto 8. The ball has been tough to hold on to, but no turnovers yet. Calgary dominated the first half, more than the score indicates. At this point, Joe Medjuck is in the catbird seat. I forgot to say that early in the second quarter Ricky Ray threw a 100 yard catch and run touchdown pass to DeVier Posey. That's a new Grey Cup record. http://3downnation.com/2017/11/26/ricky-ray-throws-longest-td-pass-in-grey-cup-history/#comments

After one, Calgary leads 6-0. Both teams have had trouble staying on their feet. Shania Twain has a new album to promote, so she will be the halftime performer.

It's snowing in Ottawa! Snow often makes for a great game.

The contest is now closed. Good luck everyone!

Bumping for the last time. The contest closes at 6:00 pm eastern. Remaining tiebreakers: Calgary - 35 and everything below Calgary - 85 and everything above Toronto - 35 and everything below Toronto - 80 and everything above Remember, Noj once won because he had the lowest number!

last Grey Cup picks http://3downnation.com/2017/11/26/grey-cup-picks-who-you-got-in-the-big-game/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/11/26/slam-dunk-grey-cup-pick-who-gets-to-party-with-earl-greys-mug/#comments

The league says that if you live outside Canada, the areas served by ESPN and the UK's BT Sports, you can stream the game live or on demand for US$7.99. http://cfl.yaretv.com

Western won the Vanier Cup this afternoon, beating Laval 39-17. https://www.bing.com/search?pc=cosp&ptag=AD6C08C471A&form=CONBDF&conlogo=CT3210127&q=Vanier%20Cup%20Western%20Laval http://torontosun.com/sports/football/western-mustangs-bring-home-seventh-vanier-cup ***** Nebraska fired Mike Riley today. https://www.bing.com/search?q=Nebraska+fires+Mike+Riley&filters=tnTID%3a"7D93A046-4CD0-4448-8AEA-F7E18401449D"+tnVersion%3a"2227363"+segment%3a"popularnow.carousel"+tnCol%3a"36"+tnOrder%3a"543f88eb-3467-46e0-9aa5-e658dd86892a"&FORM=BSPN01&crslsl=4332&efirst=27 ***** more Grey Cup articles http://torontosun.com/category/sports/football/cfl http://ottawasun.com/pmn/sports-pmn/football-sports-pmn/cfl-football-sports-pmn/grey-cup-roster-causing-stampeders-coach-dickenson-a-little-stress/wcm/4111a191-839e-4113-9a90-37555a5a133d http://www.tsn.ca/cfl https://www.cfl.ca http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/ http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Football/CFL/ Grey Cup Game Day http://ottawasun.com/sports/football/grey-cup-gameday/wcm/cfbef01c-d2c5-4098-844d-cd007d4ac1bb Grey Cup game notes https://www.cfl.ca/2017/11/25/cfl-ca-game-notes-look-105th-grey-cup/ Grey Cup Bingo! https://www.cfl.ca/2017/11/24/anyone-greycup-bingo/ ***** more Grey Cup picks http://thegruelingtruth.net/football/2017-grey-cup-preview-argonauts-stampeders/ http://thegruelingtruth.net/football/2017-grey-cup-podcast-rwb/ http://thegruelingtruth.net/podcast/cfl-weekly-pickem-showgrey-cup-preview-wrobert-drummond/ http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Football/CFL/GreyCup/2017/11/25/22767362.html ***** TSN has released the results of this year's Players' Poll! http://www.tsn.ca/carter-reilly-among-winners-in-cfl-player-poll-1.925687

Grey Cup picks https://www.cfl.ca/2017/11/24/prediction-time-cfl-ca-writers-make-grey-cup-picks-2/ http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/2017-grey-cup-party-ottawa-calgary-stampeders-toronto-argonauts/ http://dailyhive.com/montreal/grey-cup-panda-prediction-argonauts-stampeders

Bill Frisell: guitar | Thomas Morgan: double bass In Concert December 2 Buffalo, NY (Albright-Knox Art of Jazz Series) December 3 Kent OH (The Kent Stage) December 5 Baltimore MD (An Die Musik Live!) December 7-10 New York, NY (Jazz Standard) February 15 Mill Valley CA (Sweetwater Music Hall) February 17 Eugene OR (The Shedd) February 18 Portland, OR (Revolution Hall, Portland Jazz Festival) February 19th Seattle, WA (Jazz Alley) © 2017 ECM | ECM Records USA | 1755 Broadway, 3rd floor | New York NY 10011

The CFL Awards were given out last night. And the winners are... Player - Reilly Defense - Singleton Canadian - Harris O-Lineman - Bryant Rookie - Wilder Special Teams - Finch Coach - Trestman http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/cfl-awards-roundup-wilder-jr-captures-outstanding-rookie-award/