GA Russell

In yesterday's (Dec. 12) issue, the Wall Street Journal reported on a new website called Music Aficionado. http://www.wsj.com/articles/getting-50-somethings-to-pay-for-streaming-music-1481292848 The article mentions that less than 2% of Spotify's and Apple Music's consumers over the age of 45 chose to pay for the ad-free level.

ECM Theo Bleckmann – Elegy Release date: January 27 Theo Bleckmann: voice / Shai Maestro: piano / Ben Monder: guitar Chris Tordini: double-bass / John Hollenbeck: drums Theo Bleckmann Quintet on tour: February 7 New York, NY Jazz Standard February 9 Santa Cruz, CA Kuumbwa February 10 Arcata, CA Redwood Jazz Alliance, February 11&12 Denver, CO Dazzle February 13 Los Angeles, CA EDYE Beyond being a vocalist of rare purity and daring, Theo Bleckmann is a sound painter who creates what JazzTimes has described aptly as “luminous webs” in music. The German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith Monk and another by Julia Hülsmann – makes his striking label debut as a leader with Elegy. This album showcases Bleckmann as a composer as much as a singer, with several instrumental pieces voiced by what he calls his “ambient” band of kindred-spirit guitarist Ben Monder, keyboardist Shai Maestro and the subtle rhythm team of Chris Tordini and John Hollenbeck. Highlights include Bleckmann’s sublime rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Comedy Tonight” (“tragedy tomorrow… comedy tonight”), as well as the mellifluous vocalise of “Elegy” and achingly poetic “To Be Shown to Monks at a Certain Temple.”

JOHN ABERCROMBIE QUARTET - UP AND COMING Release date: January 13, 2017 John Abercrombie: guitar / Marc Copland: piano Drew Gress: double-bass / Joey Baron: drums JOHN ABERCROMBIE QUARTET ON TOUR: January 21 Cambridge, MA Regattabar January 24-28 New York, NY Birdland January 31 Washington DC Blues Alley February 17-18 Denver, CO DazzleJazz February 19 Portland, OR Portland Jazz Festival February 23 San Francisco, CA SFJAZZ (ECM @SF Jazz II) Guitarist John Abercrombie – who has recorded as a leader for ECM since 1974 – returns with a second album by his quartet featuring kindred-spirit piano foil Marc Copland, along with long-time rhythm partners Drew Gress and Joey Baron. Extolling 39 Steps, the group’s 2013 album, the Financial Times said: “The emphasis is on subtle intrigue, flowing lyricism and the interplay between the leader’s warm, cleanly articulated guitar and Copland’s piano… with bassist Gress and drummer Baron equally supple and sinewy companions.” The same virtues of lyrical melody and harmonic/rhythmic subtlety are apparent with the new Up and Coming, though with even more emphasis on the enduring values of song. Abercrombie’s liquid phrasing and glowing tone – enabled by the thumb technique he has honed since eschewing a plectrum in recent years – animate his five originals and the pair by Copland, as well as a take on the exotic-sounding Miles Davis classic “Nardis” done in the spirit of Bill Evans. Up and Coming has a twilight atmosphere, with melodic flow the guiding light.

ECM John Abercrombie Quartet Up and Coming John Abercrombie: guitar Marc Copland: piano Drew Gress: double-bass Joey Baron: drums U.S. Release date: January 13, 2017 ECM 2528 B0026115-02 UPC: 6025 572 3377 Guitarist John Abercrombie returns with a second album by his quartet featuring like-minded piano foil Marc Copland, along with longtime rhythm partners Drew Gress and Joey Baron. Extolling 39 Steps, the group’s 2013 album, the Financial Times said: “The emphasis is on subtle intrigue, flowing lyricism and the interplay between the leader’s warm, cleanly articulated guitar and Copland’s piano… with bassist Gress and drummer Baron equally supple and sinewy companions.” The same virtues of lyrical melody and harmonic/rhythmic subtlety are apparent with Up and Coming, though with even more emphasis on the enduring values of song. Abercrombie’s liquid phrasing and glowing tone animate his five originals and a pair by Copland, as well as a take on the exotic-sounding Miles Davis classic “Nardis” done in the spirit of Bill Evans. Up and Coming has a twilight atmosphere, with melodic flow the guiding light. As they did for 39 Steps, the kindred-spirit foursome convened for Up and Coming at Avatar Studios in New York City with producer Manfred Eicher. Befitting the free-flowing, lambent mood of such highlights as “Joy” and “Sunday School,” the sessions were especially relaxed and congenial, with “not only a lot of playing but also a lot of listening going on,” Abercrombie says. “As players, we’ve all known each other such a long time. Also, Manfred and I have worked closely together in the studio for so long – since 1974 – that we don’t have to say too much, we can just do what we do, using a kind of shorthand. He adds a lot to the music, of course, because he really cares. That the end product is very important to him goes without saying, but that level of thoughtful dedication over all these years is so rare.” Abercrombie’s connection to Copland goes back even further than the guitarist’s ECM connection, back to when they were both playing in Chico Hamilton’s band in the early ’70s. “Marc was still playing the alto sax when we met – he hadn’t yet decided to concentrate on the piano,” the guitarist recalls. “As players, we’ve always related. I respond to his touch at the piano – it’s smooth and blends with my sound, fluid rather than percussive. He floats over bar lines and abstracts things, while still respecting the form. And his key influences – Bill Evans, Paul Bley – are right up my alley. He also never plays just what I write on the page, in that he expands the tune, making it better, adding ‘Copland-isms,’ things that I love but would never think of myself.” Abercrombie and Copland have worked extensively as a duo over the years, underscoring their compatibility. The two musicians now live not far from each other in New York’s Hudson River Valley. Noting that the pianist wrote the dark-hued “Tears” and fetching, funky “Silver Circle” for Up and Coming, the guitarist says: “Marc is an interesting composer, who writes differently than I do – it’s always a nice contrast. His writing is more classically oriented in a way, polychordal without being dense.” Abercrombie met Baron in the late ’70s, when the younger musician subbed for the regular drummer on one of the guitarist’s gigs at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California. Abercrombie says, “Joey has always been able to swing his ass off, whether he was playing with Carmen McRae or John Zorn.” Gress first partnered with Baron for Abercrombie in the quartet that recorded the guitarist’s 2012 ECM album Within a Song, with saxophonist Joe Lovano. “Joey and Drew are just so good together, with this loose but rhythmically accurate way of playing,” Abercrombie says. “And with Joey holding it down – he’s our anchor – Drew can take risks, as he likes to do.” This band’s penchant for form contrasts with Abercrombie’s more free-minded quartet with violinist Mark Feldman that made four ECM albums from 2000 to 2009 (with Baron also a member of that group). “It’s a bit more natural to play free with just one harmonic instrument in a band,” the guitarist explains. “With both guitar and piano, there’s inevitably more emphasis on harmony. That said, we like to play the form but keep it a bit open, do something with it. There’s an elastic quality to this band’s playing, nothing is ever too on-the-nose – and that’s the way I’ve always liked things.” Sometimes, though, being open to simplicity can pay dividends, as Abercrombie explains: “On the last album, 39 Steps, we played a sort of deconstructed version of ‘Melancholy Baby,’ and I thought we might do something similar with ‘Nardis.’ But Manfred had the bright idea of ‘why don’t you just play the tune.’ We do start off freely, with no tempo, but then it morphs into a tempo and becomes more straightforward. A lot like the Bill Evans record of the tune, it has a flow to it but also clarity – you can hear the changes. But that’s the thing with this band: We can play complex and a bit more free, or we can play more or less straight and simple.” The key sonic signature of Up and Coming, of course, is Abercrombie’s guitar playing, the style of which has evolved over the years. The mellow, almost autumnal sound he has been getting over the past decade and a half can be traced to him no longer playing with a pick, preferring to strike the strings with his thumb. The fluidity of his phrasing – always there – has only become more pronounced, with his tone warmer and more limpid than ever, allied to a characteristically incisive improvisational sense. “I play less fast than I used to, less ‘technical’,” he says. “But I actually think it’s more musical now. My playing is also more to the point, with melodic lines clearer. The softer attack suits this music, which has a more meditative quality at times. I’ve been doing this long enough that I just follow my muse, do what feels right.” *** Born in 1944 in Port Chester, New York, Abercrombie grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he began playing the guitar at age 14. He started out imitating Chuck Berry licks, but the bluesy sound of Barney Kessel soon attracted him to jazz. After graduation from Boston's Berklee College of Music he went to New York, where he quickly became one of the city’s most in-demand session players and recorded with Gil Evans and Gato Barbieri, among others. Abercrombie’s first ECM session as a leader was Timeless, recorded in 1974 with Jack DeJohnette and Jan Hammer. The next year, the guitarist recorded the first of several albums with the dynamic trio Gateway, a cooperative also featuring DeJohnette and Dave Holland. At the end of the ’70s, Abercrombie formed his first quartet (with Richie Beirach, George Mraz and Peter Donald), recording three albums with the band for ECM that saw the guitarist move away from the sound of jazz-rock toward more spacious, impressionistic music. That body of work was reissued in 2015 via a boxed set titled The First Quartet in the label’s Old & New Masters series. The Guardian noted that the reissue exemplified some of Abercrombie’s signature merits, including his “expressive lyricism.” The guitarist has played on more than 50 ECM sessions, not only as a leader but as a highly creative contributor to recordings led by DeJohnette, Kenny Wheeler, Enrico Rava, Jan Garbarek and Charles Lloyd, among many others. ECM Receives Two Grammy Nominations Two ECM albums – one jazz, one classical, both produced by Manfred Eicher - were recognized this morning when the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane is nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for his stunning sopranino playing on the title track of In Movement, recorded with drummer/bandleader Jack DeJohnette and bassist Matthew Garrison. The trio’s album references modern jazz history even as it looks ahead. “It’s a continuation,” says Jack DeJohnette, “a moving of our music forward – music that’s not locked into any one genre. I haven’t heard any combination like this. There’s the past and the present and the future in what we’re doing.” In the category Best Classical Compendium, conductor Tõnu Kaljuste and producer Manfred Eicher are nominated for the New Series album Gesualdo, an imaginatively-conceived disc revolving around the music, life and times of Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa. The disc brings together contemporary composition by Erkki Sven Tüür and Brett Dean inspired by Gesualdo, as well as new arrangements and re-orchestrations of Gesualdo’s music, powerfully performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Theo Bleckmann Elegy Theo Bleckmann: voice Shai Maestro: piano Ben Monder: guitar Chris Tordini: double-bass John Hollenbeck: drums U.S. Release date: January 27, 2017 ECM 2512 B0026148-02 UPC: 6025 479 9717 3 Theo Bleckmann Quintet on tour: February 7 New York, NY Jazz Standard February 9 Santa Cruz, CA Kuumbwa February 10 Arcata, CA Redwood Jazz Alliance, February 11&12 Denver, CO Dazzle February 13 Los Angeles, CA EDYE Mr. Bleckmann knows his way around a dreamscape. A vocalist of inventive instinct and assiduous musicality, he’s never more secure than when in reverie, plumbing depths at once familiar and strange... Nate Chinen, New York Times Beyond being a vocalist of rare purity and daring, Theo Bleckmann is a sound painter who creates what JazzTimes has described aptly as “luminous webs” in music. The German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith Monk and on another by pianist Julia Hülsmann of Kurt Weill songs – makes his striking label debut as a leader with Elegy. This album showcases Bleckmann as a composer as much as a singer, with several instrumental pieces voiced by what he calls his “ambient” band of kindred-spirit guitarist Ben Monder, keyboardist Shai Maestro and the subtle rhythm team of Chris Tordini and John Hollenbeck. Highlights include Bleckmann’s sublime rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Comedy Tonight” (“tragedy tomorrow… comedy tonight”), as well as the mellifluous vocalise of “Little Elegy” and achingly poetic song “To Be Shown to Monks at a Certain Temple.” “This record is called Elegy for a reason – each of its songs relates to death or transcendence in some existential way,” Bleckmann explains. “Several of the pieces are instrumental, with ‘Cortege’ a funeral march. In the song ‘Take My Life,’ I imagine what it would be like to die, losing facility bit by bit: losing your voice, your heartbeat, your breath. I wrote that one thinking about Bach and his cantatas, especially ‘Ich habe genug,’ which is about joyfully going into the afterlife. For this album, I wanted to create songs that deal with this subject matter not in a morbid way but with some light to it.” Reflecting on his inclusion of the Sondheim song, Bleckmann says: “In its original version, ‘Comedy Tonight’ is upbeat and fun. I arranged it more atmospherically in memoriam for my mother, who recently passed away. She was a woman who was funny and always looking for things to make her laugh. I think that’s why she made it to 91 – she would find humor even in things that weren’t necessarily funny. Half the time, I wouldn’t laugh, but she would be giggling. I think that's an incredible trait.” Regarding “To Be Shown to Monks at a Certain Temple,” Bleckmann notes its thematic significance: “The lyrics come from a Zen poem that I set to music. It’s about not giving up. Don’t think about death, just keep on moving. Don’t be morose, keep on living.” Bleckmann and company recorded Elegy at New York City’s Avatar Studios with producer Manfred Eicher, who helped shape the album. “Manfred had the great suggestion of using some of my written material as the basis for short free improvs,” Bleckmann recalls. “That’s how the instrumentals ‘Semblance,’ ‘Cortege’ and ‘Alate’ came about. We created these little interstitial islands to connect some of the songs. I often conducted them in the studio because there was so much space in these pieces. “The sonic character of the band is very ambient,” Bleckmann adds. “I wanted a group of musicians who weren’t hell-bent on soloing all the time – I wanted that space and a lot of collective playing. The piano, with Shai, is the centerpiece of the orchestration, taking the lead role harmonically and sometimes even rhythmically. Ben and John, on guitar and drums, encompass the envelope around that, marking a lot of the sonic space. Chris, on bass, delineates harmonic change within that.” Maestro and Tordini are newer musical friends for Bleckmann, but his creative relationships with Monder and Hollenbeck stretch back two decades, with the three musicians contributing to each other’s projects regularly over the years. Bleckmann and Monder, in particular, have performed extensively as a duo. “Ben is a very intense musician,” Bleckmann says. “He plays with such concentration that it can be mesmerizing. He’s someone who creates his universe through his sound, which is like that of no other guitarist. I’m really into sound – and that’s true for everyone in the band. Shai and Chris have their own, beautiful sounds on their instruments, while John – as such a great composer himself – explores sonic possibilities at the drums like no other drummer I know.” The overall tone and tenor of Elegy – floating yet substantive, reflecting on serious emotions but with a lightness of touch – reflects Bleckmann’s thoughts on the inevitability of the life cycle, the sublimity of our life’s punctuation. He says: “From the very first piece, ‘Semblance,’ I wanted the tonality of this music to have something of that radiance, that light, I felt with my mother at the end.” Theo Bleckmann Known primarily in the jazz world, Bleckmann is actually one of the finest, most creative singers today – no genre tags needed. Dennis Cook, Dirty Impound.com Possessing stunning range, startling clarity and an adventurous spirit, Theo Bleckmann has become one of the most inventive and creative vocalists in modern music... Shaun Brady, Jazziz Bleckmann’s first appearance in a jazz context for ECM was his featured role on pianist Julia Hülsmann’s exploratory 2015 album A Clear Midnight – Kurt Weill and America, which The Guardian called “one of the great jazz treatments of the songs of Kurt Weill,” singling out Bleckmann’s vocal “eloquence.” Prior to that, he appeared as a member of the Meredith Monk Vocal Ensemble on the albums mercy (2002) and impermanence (2007). Since 1989, Bleckmann has been a resident of New York, where his early champions included jazz vocal great Sheila Jordan. He has sung everything from songs by Charles Ives and Kate Bush to Las Vegas standards and Shakespearean sonnets, collaborating with figures from Laurie Anderson to John Zorn. ECM Colin Vallon Trio Danse Colin Vallon: piano Patrice Moret: double bass Julian Sartorius: drums U.S. Release: January 27, 2017 ECM 2517 B0026118-02 UPC: 6025 570 9323 0 LP UPC: 6025 572 3589 0 “This is highly original music… Vallon’s project has something to with how we perceive time in music – and music in time. It’s fascinating and accrues more and more interest with repeated listening.” Paul De Barros, Downbeat The Colin Vallon Trio has found its own space in the crowded world of the piano trio by quietly challenging its conventions. On its third ECM album Vallon again leads the group not with virtuosic solo display but by patient outlining of melody and establishing of frameworks in which layered group improvising can take place. Reviewing the group’s 2014 release Le Vent,Jazzwise wrote of a “restless stillness” that characterizes the music: “the power of resonantly minimal explorations of texture and atmosphere.” With this group, gentle and insistent rhythms can trigger seismic musical events. Although Vallon (recently nominated for the Swiss Music Prize) is the author of nine of the pieces here, the band members share equal responsibilities for the music’s unfolding. The gravitational pull of Patrice Moret’s bass and the intense detail supplied by Julian Sartorius’s drums and cymbals are crucial to the success of Vallon’s concept and the range of emotions the music can convey. All three of them reflect upon timbre and the changing nature of the ensemble sound in each moment. “I have always been interested in a group developing a collective way of thinking, where there is more than just the egos of the musicians involved,” Colin Vallon told Swiss newspaper Der Bund last year. Danse, recorded in February 2016, was produced by Manfred Eicher at Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, where working in a resonant acoustic space without headphones has also contributed to the quality of deep listening inside the music, and helped it to open up even more. Colin Vallon (born 1980 in Lausanne) has been leading his own bands since 1999. Patrice Moret (born in Aigle in 1972) joined Vallon’s group in 2004. The third Vallon trio album Rruga, recorded in 2010 and its first for ECM, was immediately greeted by positive press. The musical understanding between Vallon and Moret has been further honed inside Albanian singer Elina Duni’s quartet (see the albums Matinë Malit and Dallëndyshe), another place where improvisation flowers outside jazz’s frame of reference. Vallon has often said that singers have influenced him more than other jazz instrumentalists. Beyond the trio he writes music for diverse ensembles and choreographers. Vallon and Moret play also in saxophonist Nicolas Masson’s group Parallels. In addition to the centering power of his bass, Patrice Moret has contributed striking compositions to the trio repertoire, in this case the kinetic motoric piece “Tinguely”. Julian Sartorius has been drummer with Vallon’s trio for more than four years, joining in time for the recording of Le Vent. Born in Thun in 1981, Sartorius had his first drum lessons at the age of 5, and later studied at the jazz schools of Lucerne and Bern with teachers including Pierre Favre and Norbert Pfammatter. He has collaborated with Matthew Herbert, Shahzad Ismaily, Sylvie Courvoisier, Dimlite, Merz, Fred Frith, Sophie Hunger, Rhys Chatham and many others. Danse is released in CD and vinyl versions and as digital download. Colin Vallon, Patrice Moret and Julian Sartorius launch the album with a run of Swiss concerts including Bern’s Bee-Flat (January 29), Moods, Zürich (February 3), Kulturcinema Arbon (February 10), AMR Genva (Fenruary 11), Riehen (February 14), Nova Jazz, Yverdon (March 4), Cully Jazz Festival (April 1). Additionally the group continues its long-running series of workshop concerts at the Mokka club in Thun, where they play on January 17 and 31, February 28, March 14 and 28 and April 11 and 25. Tour dates in Germany, Austria and Belgium are currently being finalized and will be posted shortly at www.ecmrecords.com and www.colinvallon.com

Happy Birthday 2016 mrjazzman!

Happy Birthday 2016 Dmitry!

Happy Birthday 2016 West Coast Ghost!

It's all news to me!

Scott, what are triggers?

Forty years ago I was under the impression that prices for stereo systems were at their lowest when the college kids went back to school. Perhaps that is still true. But this time of year might be good as well. So here we go. Denon AVR-X3300W 7.2 Channel Full 4K Ultra HD A/V Receiver with Built-In Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - $200 off - $799.00 https://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-X3300W-Channel-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B01HL8KYAY

Sounds to me like Blues in the Closet.

That sounds to me something Roland Kirk would have done. He did a lot of humming while playing the flute.

Brooks, I have just now dragged myself out of my sick bed, and placed the order for your Mosaic gift card. Let us know when it arrives, and what you spend it on!

Let's continue on with the Grey Cup. The links above to the league's website, the Ottawa Citizen and the Calgary Herald are still good to go with today's posts. Here is the link to TSN's coverage. Most of what they have on their website is a lot of brief videos. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl Here is Sportsnet's link. Like TSN's, it is mostly videos. http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/ 40,000 attended today's Redblacks parade in Ottawa. Now here are a number of thoughts from the 3DownNation writers. http://3downnation.com/2016/11/27/grey-cup-champs-redblacks-upset-stamps-instant-classic/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/11/28/hank-leads-way-redblacks-end-40-year-championship-drought-15-thoughts-ottawas-grey-cup-win/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/11/28/3min-3down-great-game-salvages-tough-week-cfl/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/11/28/bo-levi-nailed-redblack-crying-jordan/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/11/29/greatness-aside-tt-can-hard-happy-hank/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/11/29/massive-crowd-celebrates-redblacks-grey-cup-victory/#comments ***** Finally for tonight, here are the Grey Cup's... play-by-play http://www.cfl.ca/games/2361/calgary-stampeders-vs-ottawa-redblacks/#playbyplay box score http://www.cfl.ca/games/2361/calgary-stampeders-vs-ottawa-redblacks/#boxscore videos http://www.cfl.ca/games/2361/calgary-stampeders-vs-ottawa-redblacks/#videos highlight reel http://www.cfl.ca/2016/11/28/gc104-ottawa-39-calgary-33-ot/

Happy Birthday 2016 crisp!

Happy Birthday 2016 John!

I recommend the Joe Pass album Six-String Santa.

And so Ottawa wins the Grey Cup for the first time in forty years! Rather than deluge you with links, I'll post today just a few. The league's articles on its website. http://www.cfl.ca/news/ 3DownNation http://3downnation.com/2016/11/27/seven-hot-takes-2017-grey-cup/#comments Dan Ralph http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/grey-cup-stampeders-redblacks-1.3870182 http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/stampeders-coach-dickenson-second-guessed-1.3871035 Ottawa Citizen http://ottawacitizen.com/category/sports/football Calgary Herald http://calgaryherald.com/category/sports/football PS - For the next two or three days, those in the US who get ESPN should be able to see the game's broadcast on demand at espn3.com.

Happy Birthday BFrank, and congratulations on winning the Grey Cup contest last night!

Ottawa wins the Grey Cup! Ottawa 39....Calgary 33 Well there you have it, the biggest upset in Grey Cup history! And our winner is...BFrank, who picked Ottawa with a tiebreaker of 60. Congratulations BF! Please PM me your address, and I'll order your Mosaic card right away. And let us know what you spend it on!

Last call! The deadline to play is in less than an hour. Good luck everyone! I'm going to the sports bar across the street which serves pitchers of Labatt's Blue.

Eric, it was in Chapel Hill, which made it more special for the State fans! Here are some late scores. Cal 36....UCLA 10 Vanderbilt 45....Tennessee 34 Clemson 56...USC 7 Florida State 31....Florida 13

They are not showing up for me. Maybe I have a browser problem. I'll try others and see.

There have been a few minor headlines this week which have been irrelevant to the Grey Cup, so I thought I would wait till next week to post them. Yesterday the Commissioner held his State of the League address, and for the second year in a row the media were not impressed. http://3downnation.com/2016/11/25/3min-3down-dissecting-orridges-state-league-address/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/11/25/players-union-criticizes-cfl-commissioners-concussion-stance/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/11/26/arthur-cfl-sends-wrong-message-head-injuries/#comments ***** Grey Cup game notes http://www.cfl.ca/category/game-notes/ ***** Ottawa http://www.cfl.ca/2016/11/26/redblacks-draheim-hot-seat-vs-vaunted-pass-rush/ http://www.cfl.ca/2016/11/26/redblacks-defenders-have-a-give-and-take-relationship/ Both Chris Milo and Tristan Jackson of the Redblacks have not sufficiently recovered from their injuries, and will miss the game. http://www.tsn.ca/milo-jackson-to-miss-grey-cup-for-redblacks-1.617409 Calgary http://www.cfl.ca/2016/11/26/small-man-finch-making-big-impact-field/ General http://www.cfl.ca/2016/11/26/stamps-redblacks-all-set-for-104th-grey-cup-presented-by-shaw/ http://www.cfl.ca/2016/11/26/under-centre-exclusive-1-on-1-with-sundays-quarterbacks/ http://www.cfl.ca/thewaggle/ ***** TSN lists who they think are the top ten Grey Cup teams. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/top-10-all-time-grey-cup-teams%7E1003949 ***** The Vanier Cup was played this afternoon in Hamilton. Laval 31....Calgary 26 http://www.tsn.ca/laval-tops-calgary-to-win-vanier-cup-1.617508 ***** Regina QB Noah Picton won the Hec Crighton Award Thursday. http://www.cfl.ca/2016/11/25/reginas-picton-becomes-50th-hec-crighton-winner/ http://www.tsn.ca/regina-qb-picton-wins-hec-crighton-trophy-1.616378

I haven't found a thread for this year. If one already exists, the mods rare welcome to merge this. Here are some scores from this weekend which some may find interesting. State 28....UNC 21 Washington 45....Washington State 17 Virginia Tech 52....UVA 10 Ohio State 30....Michigan 27 Northwestern 42....Illinois 21 Kentucky 41....Louisville 38 Georgia Tech 28....UGA 27 USC 45....Notre Dame 27 Miss. St. 55....Ole Miss 20 Alabama 30....Auburn 12 Oregon State 34....Oregon 24