GA Russell

BC has already admitted that it was over the salary cap last year. If they were $100,000. over, they will forfeit their first round pick, which will be awarded to the worst team, Calgary. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/08/b-c-lions-salary-cap-violation-could-lead-to-extra-first-round-cfl-draft-pick-for-calgary-stampeders/ ***** Brandon Alexander, now a free agent, has decided that he will not re-sign with the Bombers. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/09/veteran-bombers-db-brandon-alexander-announces-retirement-from-cfl/ ***** Ty Long has retired. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/08/former-cfl-nfl-punter-ty-long-officially-retires-from-pro-football/ ***** Doug Specht has died at 83. RIP. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/10/ottawa-redblacks-mourn-two-time-grey-cup-champion-doug-specht/ ***** It took BC 12 minutes to sell out its preseason game in Langford. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/11/that-was-fast-b-c-lions-sell-out-langford-preseason-game-in-under-15-minutes/ ***** Loucheiz Purifoy, a favorite of mine, has retired. He will become a high school coach in Pensacola. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/12/longtime-cfl-db-loucheiz-purifoy-joins-tate-high-school-coaching-staff/ ***** Mock Draft https://3downnation.com/2025/03/11/john-hodges-2025-cfl-mock-draft-1-0/ ***** Jamal Morrow has retired. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/13/former-riders-rb-jamal-morrow-retires-from-cfl/ ***** BC let Alexander Hollins go prior to their owing him a roster bonus. However, he was injured, so the union filed a grievance on his behalf, and won. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/14/b-c-lions-pay-alexander-hollins-75000-bonus-after-cflpa-wins-injury-grievance/ ***** Western analysis https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/10/mmqb-answering-some-west-division-questions/ ***** Combine news https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/11/5-intriguing-ncaa-prospects-at-2025-cfl-combine/ https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/10/top-5-40-yard-dash-bench-press-performers-from-last-5-years/ https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/12/6-standout-performers-from-recent-cfl-combine-testing/ https://www.cfl.ca/all-time-cfl-combine-records/ ***** Three star Canadians of each team https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/11/3-high-impact-canadian-players-from-every-cfl-team/ ***** Important stats of five team-switchers https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/12/5-pff-stats-that-standout-for-players-switching-teams/ ***** Each team's Canadian deserving more recognition https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/13/1-canadian-on-every-team-flying-under-the-radar/ ***** Sask analyses https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/riders-biggest-defensive-needs-still-have-question-marks-as-offseason-continues/ https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/riderville-roundup-march-9/ https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/riderville-roundup-march-16/ ***** From CFL Stats Geek:

OK, but the protagonist detective was a young woman whom I didn't like.

Just the other day I was missing Larry, MG and aloc.

A newlywed couple were caught getting frisky in the cloak room at church. The pastor told them if they could not learn to control themselves they would have to leave. As a test they were instructed to abstain from relations for one week. The following Sunday the pastor asked if they succeeded. The man said, “I’m sorry we could not. We refrained until Friday but when I saw her bent over in front of the freezer I was so overcome by my passion that I took her on the floor right in front of it. “I’m sorry my son, you clearly love your wife but we cannot have you in this church,” the pastor exclaimed. “We understand,” the man replied. “They don’t want us back at the grocery either.”

Smack Up has been remastered, and is now available. https://artpepper.bandcamp.com/album/smack-up-contemporary-records-acoustic-sounds-series-remastered-2024

When I think of Flying Dutchman, I think of Leon Thomas.

No idea!

In 1959 and 1960, my favorite team was the Senators. I thought he was terrible. I didn't know there was such a thing as a negative WAR! As soon as Zorro Versailles (aka Zoilo) came up, Valdivielso was gone. Nevertheless, RIP. I'm happy for him that he enjoyed a long life, and was a big shot among the Hispanic New Yorkers.

Free Agent analysis https://3downnation.com/2025/03/06/what-the-hamilton-tiger-cats-paid-their-2025-free-agent-signings-how-they-fit-into-the-roster/ ***** The Lions and the Bombers led the league with most Canadians on the field for the most snaps, and as a result they will both receive an extra draft pick at the end of the second round. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/07/b-c-lions-winnipeg-blue-bombers-awarded-extra-second-round-pick-in-2025-cfl-draft-for-most-canadian-snaps-played/ ***** Andre Bolduc has agreed to be the Bombers running backs coach. https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/07/bombers-add-andre-bolduc-billy-jean-to-2025-coaching-staff/ https://3downnation.com/2025/03/07/winnipeg-blue-bombers-add-andre-bolduc-billy-jean-to-2025-coaching-staff/ ***** Terry Wilson has died at 83. RIP. https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/terry-wilson-who-helped-stampeders-win-1971-grey-cup-dead-at-83-1.2266761 https://3downnation.com/2025/03/07/former-stampeders-elks-defensive-back-terry-wilson-dead-at-83/ ***** Henry Burris will be Florida A&M's assistant head coach this year. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/06/cfl-legend-henry-burris-promoted-to-assistant-head-coach-at-florida-am-university/ ***** Combine news https://www.cfl.ca/cfl-combine-historical-results/ https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/06/3-things-to-know-about-the-cfl-combine/ https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/07/photo-gallery-iconic-moments-at-the-cfl-combine/ https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/07/argos-mital-proof-that-strong-cfl-combine-can-turn-it-all-around/

Jose Valdivielso has died at 90. RIP. I had no idea that he became well known in the New York area as a broadcaster. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/port-jefferson-station-ny/jose-valdivielso-12270432

March 8 Mississippi John Hurt - 1893 Dick Hyman - 1927 George Coleman - 1935 Gabor Szabo - 1936 Mickey Dolenz - 1945 Randy Meisner - 1946 Little Peggy March - 1948 Gary Numan - 1958

Guitarist Bobby Broom Joins Chicago Jazz Orchestra & Strings On "More Amor," Wes Montgomery Tribute CD Due March 28 From Chicago Jazz Orchestra Records Album Release Concert with Broom & CJO Takes Place Sunday, March 16, 3pm Logan Center Performance Hall, Chicago Broom Also at Work on a Trio Recording In Tribute to His Mentor & Former Longtime Employer Sonny Rollins & Is Planning to Record His First Solo Guitar Album   March 6, 2025 Acclaimed guitarist Bobby Broom is the featured soloist on a new recording by the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery, due for release March 28 on Chicago Jazz Orchestra Records. The brainchild of CJO musical director/conductor Jeff Lindberg and Broom, the recording began with a seed planted in 2004, after Broom’s successful Montgomery retrospective concert performance with the big band and strings. “I was thrilled when Jeff contacted me about finally getting to work on this recording,” says Broom. “Seeing this vision through was an important collaboration for both of us.” For this recording, Broom and Lindberg enlisted three arrangers—Alex Brown, Tom Garling, and Charley Harrison—to create brand-new arrangements of some familiar and not-so-familiar Montgomery material, including “Four on Six,” “Somewhere,” and “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” Of particular significance for Broom is the fact that his longtime trio (bassist Dennis Carroll, drummer Kobie Watkins) make up the core rhythm section for the album. “For me, this project is a dream,” says Bobby. “Having the trio included was a no-brainer and provided a level of comfort and inspiration for me to create. For years I’ve longed to record in this setting, particularly with strings. But to do so in such majestic fashion, with this ultra-swinging big band, is beyond my wildest dreams.” Broom’s trio went into the Sound Mine Recording Studio in Chicago in late 2024 to record tracks dedicated to Bobby’s mentor and former employer of ten years, Sonny Rollins. With a working title of TYSR (Thank You Sonny Rollins), Broom, Carroll, and Watkins recast Rollins’s compositions from different eras in the Saxophone Colossus’s career. “Sonny has left us so much music to draw from, from so many periods in his long career,” says Broom. “I wanted to try to touch on some of the gems, like ‘Alfie’s Theme’ and ‘Strode Road,’ but also some more recent and perhaps hidden ones, like ‘Allison’ and ‘Kim.’” In further recording news, Bobby plans to begin recording his first solo guitar album in the spring of 2026, and he announces the re-release of Stand!, his first trio album from 2001 with the Bobby Broom Trio, featuring Dennis Carroll and Dana Hall on bass and drums respectively. The album has been digitally remastered and will be available on all major streaming platforms, via Clean Sweep Music (release date pending). Having recently performed a successful three-night run at the Half Note Jazz Club in Athens, Greece, as well as performances at Berklee College of Music and City Winery Chicago, Broom continues to keep his schedule of bookings full. On Fri. 4/4, he’ll be part of a Benny Golson Tribute with the Ravinia Jazz Mentors at Bennett Gordon Hall, Ravinia Festival Grounds, Highland Park, IL. The Jazz Scholar Program is one of the Ravinia Festival’s many community outreach arms. It involves professional jazz musicians working closely with jazz-aspiring, Chicago-area high schoolers. Over the years, the program has yielded players like Marquis Hill, Rajiv Halim, Kyle Swan, and Isaiah Collier. Broom has been a Ravinia Jazz mentor for 25 years. Broom performs with the Ben Paterson Organ Trio at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase 4/10-13. Paterson is a member of the Bobby Broom Organi-Sation, which toured with Steely Dan in 2014 and is featured on that trio’s 2024 Jamalot CD. This fall (10/15), Broom will perform with the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra at Daniels Pavilion, Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Naples, FL. And of course he’s looking forward to the More Amor CD release concert this month (Sun. 3/16 at 3pm), at Logan Center Performance Hall, 915 E. 60th Street, Chicago. “This concert premiere will be an important event for Jazz from the city of Chicago during this time,” notes Broom. “It will be a celebration and demonstration of the excellence that went into the making of this remarkable recording.” Photography: Tom Chadwick    Behind the Scenes: Wes Montgomery Tribute Album with the CJO & Bobby Broom  Bobby Broom Web Site  

RIP Roy Ayers! I saw him twice with Herbie Mann, when they had recorded these two albums.

Free Agent analysis https://3downnation.com/2025/03/05/what-the-ottawa-redblacks-paid-their-2025-free-agent-signings-how-they-fit-into-the-roster/ ***** Combine news https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/04/5-eye-popping-stats-from-cfl-combine-participants/ https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/05/10-current-cfl-players-who-raised-their-stock-at-the-cfl-combine/ ***** Rob Ralph will be the Lions' new Assistant GM https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/05/lions-promote-rob-ralph-to-assistant-general-manager-add-scout-will-ark/ https://3downnation.com/2025/03/05/b-c-lions-promote-longtime-scout-rob-ralph-to-assistant-general-manager/ ***** Jack Morneau has died at 99. RIP. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/04/ottawa-redblacks-mourn-grey-cup-champion-jack-morneau/ ***** Steve Charbonneau will be a Conservative candidate for a Quebec seat in the upcoming federal election. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/05/longtime-cfl-player-steve-charbonneau-to-run-for-conservative-party-in-federal-election/ *****

Happy Mardi Gras! Did anyone have pancakes for breakfast this morning? I have opened up this $4.99 cutout I purchased over twenty years ago. Great '50s New Orleans R&B. This is a 30-song single disc compilation taken from the 4-CD box of the same name.

Technicolor is going out of business. https://variety.com/2025/film/news/technicolor-begins-to-shut-down-1236319436/

Dakota Prukop has agreed to become the Stamps' quarterback coach. I suspect that he will be available to join the game roster in an emergency. https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/03/stamps-name-dakota-prukop-quarterbacks-coach/ https://3downnation.com/2025/03/03/calgary-stampeders-hire-longtime-cfl-player-dakota-prukop-as-qb-coach/ ***** Eastern analysis https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/03/mmqb-answering-some-east-division-questions/ ***** More Combine news https://www.cfl.ca/combine/2025-cfl-combine/ https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/03/5-interesting-stories-from-top-invitational-combine-prospects/ ***** Sask analyses https://3downnation.com/2025/03/02/opinion-riders-president-craig-reynolds-still-searching-for-sustained-success-10-years-later/ https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/riderville-roundup-march-2/ ***** Five former CFL players have joined U Alberta's coaching staff. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/03/alberta-golden-bears-finalize-coaching-staff-featuring-five-former-cfl-players/ ***** BMO Field will receive a $150 million upgrade. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/03/bmo-field-home-of-toronto-argonauts-to-receive-150-million-in-upgrades-for-2026-fifa-world-cup/

I saw a number of tweets over the weekend (none with links) that said... 1) Hackman may have been dead for three weeks before his body was discovered. 2) Mrs. Hackman's body was found in another room with a bottle of pills. 3) The dog was found in a closet, and may have died from thirst.

I had a bad experience with Cigar Place. As a first-time customer, they wanted me to send them a copy of my driver's license. I told them that that wasn't going to happen. They said there was no Plan B, so I cancelled the order. Both their email and their rep sounded like they were reading from a script, so I guess this is their standard procedure.

I have been using mostly Vivaldi. I have had Brave on my desktop, but at your suggestion I am using it more. I read last week that Google is now insisting on the right to read your entire hard drive for any reason. So I suppose I will not be using Chrome anymore. I used Firefox many years ago. I didn't know it was still active!

AJ Ouelette has lost 25 pounds, and looks good. https://3downnation.com/2025/03/01/riders-rb-a-j-ouellette-reveals-25-pound-weight-loss-newly-shredded-physique/ ***** Free Agent analysis https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/jeremy-oday-does-excellent-job-of-addressing-riders-biggest-offensive-needs-in-offseason/

After Two Decades of Playing Together, the Billy Hart Quartet – with Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson and Ben Street – is Distinguished by its Stylistic Openness on Just New York Times Feature "No one works the toms like the untouchable Hart, and his work alongside Street for the last 20-plus years continues to impress, especially alongside the effusively ornate Iverson. Adding Turner’s bending clarion calls makes for some bold playing." — DownBeat "Hart shows no signs of slowing down with his elite quartet; once again delivering top shelf contemporary fare." — Glide Magazine After twenty-plus years of shared activity, the Billy Hart Quartet – with Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson and Ben Street – is still distinguished by its stylistic openness, a consequence of setting out to embrace all the things that drummer-leader Hart likes to play. “If ever there was an example of contemporary jazz that draws extensively on all the ‘traditions’ while infusing some of the melodic clarity associated with the more challenging end of popular song, then this is it,” wrote Kevin Le Gendre in Jazzwise of the quartet’s album One Is The Other. A drummer of enormous experience, who has played through many of jazz’s idiomatic upheavals, Billy Hart, now 84, favors a ‘multi-directional’ sound approach, and his younger confrères respond accordingly, each piece subtly opening another door. The quartet is an alliance of four highly individual improvisers. As pianist Ethan Iverson has noted: “A jazz group is a sensitive mechanism. You’ve got to play together and listen hard, but there’s also a way you need to stay your own course.” It helps that the group has three strong writers in Iverson, Turner and Hart himself. Iverson contributes four contrasting compositions to Just: the sly, floating “Chamber Music”, the eruptively motoric “Aviation”, the abstract blues “South Hampton”, and the pretty, lilting “Showdown.” Mark Turner and Hart himself each bring three tunes. Turner’s pieces are “Billy’s Waltz”, both a graceful dance and a vehicle for blues-conscious swing, the up-tempo vamp “Top of the Middle”, and the freely expressive “Bo Brussels” with a theme that continues to unwind in unexpected ways. Hart’s contributions include updates of two of his well-known tunes, “Layla-Joy” and “Naaj”, both returned to on multiple occasions in his long career, and the title piece, whose emphatic beat may trigger memories of the days when Billy was the driving force in Herbie Hancock’s band, or Eddie Harris’s. In this group, older pieces are made new. The present take of “Layla-Joy” opens with Mark Turner phrasing like Coltrane in ballad mode, before the tender melody is splintered and the group moves into spacious and exploratory group improvising. In an interview with Jazz Times, in the early days of the BHQ, Hart said of his colleagues: “They’re brilliant contemporary conceptualists. Playing my older tunes, I’m not playing any freer with anybody than I play with them. Mark profoundly understands Coltrane, but also has total command of Lennie Tristano’s vocabulary. With Ethan, it’s like playing with Thelonious Monk or Andrew Hill one minute and Herbie Hancock the next.” It has remained a forward-looking group thoroughly grounded in the music’s history. * Billy Hart first appeared on ECM half a century ago, on Bennie Maupin’s classic The Jewel In The Lotus in 1974, returning in the 1990s as Charles Lloyd’s drummer of choice to play on The Call, Canto, All My Relations and Lift Every Voice. The Billy Hart Quartet with Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson and Ben Street was formed in 2003 and, after a debut album issued on the High Note label in 2006, came to ECM for All Our Reasons in 2012, which also marked first appearances at the label for Ethan Iverson and Ben Street. In addition to the BHQ work, Turner and Iverson collaborated on the duo album Temporary Kings (2018), and Billy Hart and Ben Street reappeared as rhythm section for Aaron Parks on Find The Way (2017). Saxophonist Mark Turner has recorded also as a leader for ECM, his discography including Lathe of Heaven (2014), and Return from the Stars (2022), as well as albums with the cooperative trio Fly (Sky and Country and Year of the Snake). Bassist Ben Street’s credits include work with the quartet of another veteran drum innovator, Andrew Cyrille (on The Declaration of Musical Independence and The News). Street was also featured as part of the Ethan Iverson Quartet on the live album Common Practice (2019). * Just was recorded in New York’s Sound On Sound Studios in December 2021. For further information: Billy Hart, Drummer :: Official Website and www.ecmrecords.com Billy Hart · Just ECM · Release Date: February 28, 2025 For more information on ECM, please visit: ECMRecords.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter # # #