GA Russell

Jim, is that Bob Crewe? He passed away not long ago.

The snow in Boston is now over Fenway's right field wall! http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/02/16/boston-snow-fenway-park-photos-red-sox#

Happy Mardi Gras 2015 everyone!

Happy Birthday 2015 Joe!

I received an email today from Laurie Pepper's website. She is now offering the Tampa album The Art Pepper Quartet for download for $9.00. She is also offering the 3:33 track Diane for free. http://artpepper.bandcamp.com/album/free-diane-from-the-art-pepper-quartet

Here is the TSN schedule of 2015 CFL telecasts. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl-on-tsn-broadcast-schedule-1.206931 I am going to assume (until I hear otherwise) that all of these games will be available online at the times cited at espn3.com.

Happy Birthday 2015 zen archer!

Happy Birthday Victor!

Leslie Gore has died at 68. I always liked her. RIP. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2015/02/16/it-my-party-singer-lesley-gore-dies-at-68/

Tom, I read the Jeroen De Valk book Chet Baker: His Life and Music way back when. I liked it well enough to recommend to you, but there might be another selection that people here prefer.

At 319 lbs., SirVincent Rogers doesn't score many touchdowns. Here's a clip of him scoring one in the Arena league. http://www.thesnap.ca/must-watch-sirvincent-rogers-scores-45-yard-td/ ***** New Buffalo coach Rex Ryan has challenged the Argos to a game. http://www.thesnap.ca/rex-ryan-argos-want-play-us-will-play/

Happy Birthday 2015 Tommy T!

The league released the 2015 schedule today. The first game will be Thursday, June 25 - Ottawa at Montreal. Winnipeg has four games with only four days' rest. The Argos open hosting the Eskimos in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The speculation on the web is that this will be the northernmost pro football game ever played. The Argos will not play a game in Toronto until August 8. The Ticats home opener will not be until August 3. The Pan Am games are filling the schedules of Toronto and Hamilton. But remember, if it weren't for the Pan Am games, Hamilton wouldn't have its new ballpark. The Grey Cup game will be played Sunday, Nov. 29. You will notice that in each week but one through the Labour Day weekend, there will be a Thursday night game. http://cfl.ca/article/unlocked-cfl-releases-2015-game-schedule http://cfl.ca/schedule/year/2015/time_zone/0 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl-opens-2015-schedule-in-montreal-1.206844 ***** The Als made it official today, and announced that they had signed Sam Giguere to a one-year deal. http://www.tsn.ca/alouettes-sign-giguere-to-one-year-deal-1.206470

Brandon Boudreaux has signed with the Stampeders. http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-boudreaux-heading-west-to-calgary ***** Greg Wojt has re-joined the Eskimos. http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-wojt-heads-west-to-edmonton ***** Many tweets say that the Als will announce tomorrow that they have signed Sam Giguere. ***** Geroy Simon has accepted a front office position with BC. http://cfl.ca/article/back-in-the-den-simon-returns-to-lions ***** The Bombers have hired Barron Miles to be their new defensive backs coach. http://cfl.ca/article/miles-joins-blue-bombers-coaching-staff ***** The Als have signed Carl Volny. http://www.tsn.ca/alouettes-add-canadian-volny-1.206074 http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-als-sign-hometown-player-rb-volny

Here's something for classical music fans. Decca Sound: The Analogue Years (54 CDs) - $93.92 http://www.amazon.com/Decca-Sound-Analogue-Limited-Edition/dp/B00E0H8KAQ?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camelhometopdrops-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00E0H8KAQ

Were they called "Sonny Til and the Orioles" in 1951? I thought they were called "The Orioles," and it wasn't until later that Til got the billing. Anyone remember?

George Karl, who has won a lot of games without ever winning a championship, will become Sacramento's head coach after the All-Star break. http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/ap-source-george-karl-to-coach-kings-after-all-star-break/ar-AA9gVQq?ocid=ansspap11

After two days of free agency, there haven't been many big names to change teams. Some of the bigger names have decided to stay where they are. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/cfl-prominent-names-and-signings-1.194824 http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-top-20-free-agents-set-to-hit-the-market ***** The Bombers have signed Stanley Bryant and guys who are not stars. http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-adams-signs-with-blue-bombers http://www.tsn.ca/bombers-retool-line-with-bryant-dile-1.204385 ***** Jeff Garcia is interviewing with St. Louis for the quarterbacks coach job. http://www.tsn.ca/report-former-qb-garcia-to-interview-with-rams-1.205566 ***** Ottawa has signed Brad Sinopoli, SirVincent Rogers, Ernest Jackson and Greg Ellingson. http://www.tsn.ca/redblacks-sign-ot-rogers-three-receivers-1.204961 http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-ernest-jackson-signs-in-ottawa ***** Spencer Watt and Anthony Woodson have signed with the Ticats. http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-watt-heads-down-qew-signs-with-tiger-cats http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-ticats-sign-tailback-anthony-woodson ***** The Eskimos lost Alexander Krausnick to the Redblacks in the expansion draft last year, and now they have brought him back. http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-krausnick-returns-to-edmonton ***** The Riders have signed Alex Hall and a few others. http://www.tsn.ca/roughriders-sign-pass-rusher-hall-four-others-1.205036

Happy Birthday 2015 Bruce!

Happy Birthday 2015 Michael Weiss!

Tomorrow is Free Agency Day, so let's catch up on what has happened this month. The Riders released Ben Heenan early so that he could sign with Indianapolis. http://www.tsn.ca/former-riders-ol-heenan-signs-with-colts-1.198644 http://www.tsn.ca/roughriders-release-2012-first-overall-pick-ol-heenan-to-pursue-nfl-opportunities-1.198037 http://cfl.ca/article/heenan-released-by-riders-as-he-looks-south ***** Duron Carter has signed with Indianapolis. http://www.tsn.ca/former-als-receiver-carter-signs-with-colts-1.198202 ***** The Riders have signed Hugh O'Neill. http://www.tsn.ca/roughriders-sign-k-o-neil-extend-db-turenne-1.198562 http://cfl.ca/article/riders-sign-k-oneill-extend-db-turenne ***** Mike Renaud has decided to retire. This comes as a big surprise to me. http://cfl.ca/article/renaud-retires-after-six-cfl-seasons http://www.tsn.ca/veteran-cfl-punter-renaud-announces-retirement-1.200390 ***** The Bombers have released Ejiro Kuale. http://www.tsn.ca/blue-bombers-release-lbs-kuale-and-jones-1.198575 ***** The Als have released Alex Brink, and signed former Arizona Cardinal QB John Skelton. http://www.tsn.ca/alouettes-sign-former-nfl-qb-skelton-1.201489 http://cfl.ca/article/als-release-brink-add-qb-john-skelton ***** Brandon Banks was not able to find an NFL deal to his liking, so he has signed a three-year contract with the Ticats. http://cfl.ca/article/banking-on-a-new-deal-ticats-re-sign-star-speedster http://www.tsn.ca/ticats-sign-banks-to-extension-1.200653 ***** Winner of the 2014 Best Offensive Lineman Award Brett Jones is close to signing with an NFL team, probably the New York Giants. http://www.tsn.ca/report-jones-to-sign-with-giants-1.203346 ***** The Redblacks announced their coaching staff today. Quite a number of familiar names. http://cfl.ca/article/redblacks-announce-2015-coaching-staff ***** Here are a few articles about the players who will become free agents tomorrow, and where they are likely to end up. http://cfl.ca/article/needs-and-wants-positional-breakdown-of-free-agency http://cfl.ca/article/fa15-top-20-free-agents-set-to-hit-the-market http://cfl.ca/article/2015-free-agent-tracker http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/cfl-prominent-names-and-signings-1.194824

And here are the jazz winners... http://www.grammy.com/nominees?genre=16

Happy Birthday 2015 mr jazz!

"The Music Is the Magic," New CD by Vocalist Lainie Cooke, To Be Released March 17 By Ralph Peterson's Onyx Music Label Cooke's 3rd CD, Produced by Peterson, Features Backing by Tedd Firth, Piano; Luques Curtis, Bass; Myron Walden, Saxophones; & Ralph Peterson, Drums & Trumpet CD Release Shows at Vitello's, Los Angeles, March 31, & The Zinc Bar, NYC, April 10 February 6, 2015 Given the deep jazz feeling and serious vocal chops displayed by Lainie Cooke on her new CD The Music Is the Magic, it's hard to believe that the disc is only Cooke's third. But this masterpiece of vocal jazz, which will be released March 17 by Ralph Peterson's Onyx Music Label, affirms her standing in the front ranks of jazz singers performing today. "The wisdom, clarity, and nuances possessed by Lainie throughout the recording are most refreshing," comments Peterson in his notes to the CD. "At 73 years young, she has remained relevant as a songstress in the purest sense. I am proud to have produced what I believe is her best work to date." Peterson, who plays drums and trumpet on the CD and served as its producer and arranger, surrounded Cooke with a superb cast including pianist/arranger Tedd Firth, her accompanist of the last dozen years; soprano and tenor saxophonist Myron Walden; and bassist Luques Curtis. (Tabari Lake substitutes for Curtis on "Mañana.") Cooke first met Peterson, long one of the most in-demand drummers in jazz, in 1990, but they didn't begin making music together until relatively recently. "Ralph has the ability to lift you to a place musically and rhythmically that you didn't know you knew how to do," she says. "He's always demonstrating something that makes you want to do better." Cooke is the first singer Peterson has produced for his Onyx Music Label. "Lainie can cook on the kind of standards she prefers -- the Porter-Gershwin-Rodgers & Hart classics that challenge her dramatic bent for story-telling," Harvey Siders wrote in a Los Angeles Daily News review of one of her Southern California engagements. "She has an unerring ear for melodic invention and an instinctive feel for time that allows her to take unusual rhythmic liberties. And her intonation is 'right on.'" The tunes on The Music Is the Magic spoke to the singer: "If the music is beautiful, wonderful, soars, and has feeling, I'm attracted to it," she says simply. "How I Wish" (aka "Ask Me Now") and "I Have the Feeling I've Been Here Before" ("one of the most beautiful songs in the world," according to Cooke) were inspired by Carmen McRae, a favorite vocalist of hers. The title tune and "Live for Life" both stem from Abbey Lincoln recordings. Also included are Dave Frishberg's "Our Love Rolls On," Harold Arlen's "Out of This World," and a rollicking calypso treatment of Peggy Lee's "Mañana," long a staple of her in-person repertoire. "By the end of it, the whole audience is singing," she says. "It becomes a joyful experience." Lainie Cooke broke into show business at age 6 by entering a Minneapolis radio talent contest for young people and won with her rendition of the then-popular tune "Cruising Down the River." At 11, she began appearing two or three times a week as a hostess on a local television game show. Then, at age 12, she won a talent contest and was awarded a trip to New York City. She felt instantly at home. Cooke has been a resident of the city since she was 20, save for relatively brief periods in Jamaica and California. "I went to New York to find out what I could actually do with all of the stuff that was inside me," she reflects. "I wasn't sure what I wanted to be -- a musical theater performer or a nightclub singer." After working an office job for a period, she got fingerprinted for a cabaret card and played a few New York clubs, but upon doing her first out-of-town gig in Hartford, Connecticut, she developed an instant distaste for being on the road. Voice-over work, which allowed her to stay home in New York City, became her calling and kept her steadily employed for most of the next 40 years. Cooke moved to Los Angeles in 1979 and began singing in clubs with such top jazz men as pianist Dick Shreve and bassist Bob Maize but moved back to New York in 1983 and resumed doing voice-overs. She returned briefly to L.A. to record half of her first CD, Here's to Life!(2002, Harlemwood), with Shreve, Maize, and others. New York musicians, including Firth, bassist Cameron Brown, and drummer Matt Wilson, completed the album. Her second CD, It's Always You (2008, Harlemwood), also featured Firth, Brown, and Wilson, as well as saxophonist Joel Frahm. For her CD release shows, Cooke has scheduled engagements in New York and Los Angeles: 3/31 at the E Spot Lounge Upstairs at Vitello's in Studio City, with pianist Karen Hammack and her trio; and 4/10 at the Zinc Bar in Greenwich Village, with the same musicians as the CD. "Words alone cannot do justice to the way I feel about making music with Tedd, Luques, Myron, and Ralph, or how proud I am of this project," says Cooke. "The dictionary defines magic as producing mysterious or extraordinary results. I hope The Music Is the Magic will inspire the same kind of feelings in listeners." Photography: Janis Wilkins (top), Adger W. Cowans (bottom) Web Site: lainiecooke.com Follow: Like:

Happy Birthday 2015 Big Wheel!