GA Russell

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!

COMPOSER / MUSICIAN / PRODUCER PETER GORDON AND HIS LOVE OF LIFE ORCHESTRA (LOLO) PRESENT Symphony No. 5 AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE FEBRUARY 16, 2015 OR VIA FOOM MUSIC ON CD, VINYL AND HI-RES DIGITAL DOWNLOAD. Peter Gordon organ & synthesizer Katie Porter clarinet & bass clarinet Paul Shapiro tenor & soprano saxophones Max Gordon trumpet Peter Zummo trombone Bill Ruyle vibraphone Ned Sublette electric guitar Randy Gun electric guitar Yunior Terry bass guitar Elio Villafranca piano Robby Ameen drums Produced by Jeff Jones "The Jedi Master" with Peter Gordon Excecutive Producer Benjamin Freeney Recorded live on June 5, 2013 at Roulette, Brooklyn, NY, USA Peter Gordon New York, February 5, 2015 - Peter Gordon's Symphony No. 5 traces the growth of the New York-based composer'smusical ideas from 2007 to 2012. The number "5" of the title refers to the five-year gestation period as well as the five-movement form of the work, and the idea of a "fifth symphony" as a significant point in a composer's trajectory. The composition is a striking and elaborate statement, with the communication and energy of an ensemble performance, and the punch and careful attention to detail of a studio recording. Peter Gordon has been a driving force of New York's thriving "downtown scene." Performng on saxophones and keyboards, he draws inspiration from musical genres as diverse as jazz, rock, opera and world music. His complex and diverse body of work includes recordings, as well as scores for operas, theater, films and dance. Gordon performed his first symphony, Symphony in Four Movements, in New York in 1976, with a band that included Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Arthur Russell and Rhys Chatham. Combining disco, electronic, pop and jazz elements with experimental music, he formalized his ensemble - the Love of Life Orchestra (LOLO) - and has kept it active ever since. LOLO, with its performers grounded in diverse musical backgrounds, has ranged in size from a trio to 12+ musicians. Its core personnel has remained stable since inception, with recent additions from New York's Latin jazz scene. LOLO is represented by several influential recordings - including 1978's Extended Niceties EP (Lust/Unlust Records) and 2010's retrospective album Love of Life (DFA Records). "The Love of Life Orchestra was founded on the coexistence of multiple musical orientations," Gordon explains. "Counterpoint is central to my music, and prevalent in all five movements of Symphony No. 5. Each voice maintains its integrity and forward motion, but intersecting voices illuminate harmonic and rhythmic dimensions that are shared and larger than any single voice. This is both a musical and social concept: counterpoint developed in Europe during the Enlightenment, when multiple voices needed to coexist, and be heard, for society to function." Homeland Security was created after Gordon returned to New York City, when the country was at war, with a new culture of surveillance. Juvenalia was inspired by Mannie Freshʼs Project Chick with the Cash Money Millionaires of New Orleans, as well as by the Roman poet Juvenal. Both the Roman and New Orleanian works are built from simple, catchy, and symmetrical phrases. Gordon imagined Chamber Disco as a danse macabre that begins in a stark, empty, closed-down club. At first stone cold, then festive, it leads up to a spinning frenzy, then drops to a sudden sobriety. After composing Homeland Security, Juvenalia, and Chamber Disco, Gordon completed the symphonic structure with Exposition and Transgression, the first two movements. Recorded live by producer Jeff Jones "The Jedi Master," who received Grammy Awards for his work with Dr. John and Wynton Marsalis, Symphony No. 5 exhibits Peter Gordon's complex, yet funky, compositional process. Mr. Gordon keeps a busy schedule. Recently, Robert Ashley's Vidas Perfectas saw Gordon reprise his role as music producer of the seminal video opera Perfect Lives. Future projects see him directing a new version of Arthur Russell's Instrumentals in Europe, as well as a new recording with Tim Burgess (Charlatans), scheduled for release on Record Store Day. TRACKS 1. Exposition 2. Transgression 3. Juvenalia 4. Homeland Security 5. Chamber Disco

FREE NELSON MANDOOMJAZZ Presents New Full-Length Album Awakening Of A Capital On RareNoiseRecords AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE ON MARCH 2, 2015 AND THROUGH RARE NOISE RECORDS ON CD, VINYL AND HI-RES DIGITAL DOWNLOAD [TO LISTEN TO THE MUSIC PLEASE SEE THE NON-PUBLIC LINK AT THE BOTTOM] Rebecca Sneddon Sax Colin Stewart Bass Paul Archibald Drums ABOUT THE LABEL - RareNoiseRecords was founded in late 2008 by two Italians, guitarist/arranger/ producer Eraldo Bernocchi and all-round music nut Giacomo Bruzzo. Located in London, the label was created to present a platform to musicians and listeners alike who think beyond musical boundaries of genre. For further information and to listen please go to www.rarenoiserecords.com . New York, February 3, 2015 - Hot on the heels of their debut Double EP The Shape Of DoomJazz To Come / Saxophone Giganticus Scottish doom-jazz trio Free Nelson MandoomJazz are back with their first full-length album, Awakening Of A Capital. In the time that has passed since the release of their first double EP on RareNoiseRecords, Free Nelson MandoomJazz have gone from strength to strength, touring across central Europe during the summer and capping it off by performing at the Match & Fuse London Festival and they also received a personal invitation from Dr. Bert Noglik, the artistic director of Jazz Fest Berlin to play at the festival. The album title is homage to Luigi Russolo's 1913 seminal recording "Veglio Di Una Città" (from "Die Kunst Der Geräusche") and further develops the musical crossroads of Free Jazz and Doom / Sludge Rock which is so uniquely characterized in their debut recording. Awakening Of A Capital was recorded in Glasgow, mixed in Italy by sound sculptor Eraldo Bernocchi, and mastered in the US by Mike Fossenkemper. It finds saxophonist Rebecca Sneddon, bassist Colin Stewart and drummer Paul Archibald pursuing a progressive alliance - the saxophone sounds of Peter Brötzmann and "Interstellar" skronk with massive rhythmic distortions, all referenced against '80's stoner-doom, rock-metal and drone noise. The opening track, "Sun Ra," is a tongue-in-cheekacknowledgement of this marriage." TRACKS 1. Sunn Ra))) 2. The Stars Unseen 3. The Land Of Heat And Greed 4. Poking The Bear 5. The Pillars Of Dragon 6. Erich Zann 7. Slay The Light 8. Beneath The Sea

Infolding SPIN MARVEL'S Third Provocative, Genre-Busting Project Nils Petter Molvaer Appears On Upcoming RareNoiseRecords Debut AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE ON MARCH 2, 2015 AND THROUGH RARE NOISE RECORDS ON CD, VINYL AND HI-RES DIGITAL DOWNLOAD Nils Petter Molvaer Trumpet Martin France Drums Terje Evensen Live Electronics Tim Harries Bass Emre Ramazanoglu Drums ABOUT THE LABEL - RareNoiseRecords was founded in late 2008 by two Italians, guitarist/arranger/ producer Eraldo Bernocchi and all-round music nut Giacomo Bruzzo. Located in London, the label was created to present a platform to musicians and listeners alike who think beyond musical boundaries of genre. For further information and to listen please go to www.rarenoiserecords.com . New York, February 3, 2015 - Spin Marvel is the brainchild of British drummer Martin France, here joined by an all-star crew of celebrated Norwegian trumpeter and electronic music pioneer Nils Petter Molvaer, bassist Tim Harries (formerly of Bill Bruford's Earthworks), Norwegian electronic sculptor Terje Evensen and remix maestro Emre Ramazanoglu. Together they create spacious and dramatic soundscapes of profound intensity on the startlingly original Infolding, blending aspects of free jazz, ambient music and electronica in provocative ways. From the serene to the unsettling, this latest Spin Marvel project morphs into a myriad of moods and melodies over the course of six dynamic tracks. "Canonical" opens with an airy ambient touch before exploding into free jazz tumult paced by Harries' throbbing fuzz bass and France's powerful traversing of the kit, with Molvaer's highly processed cathartic wail layered over the top. "Tuesday's Blues" opens with spacious trumpet before gradually evolving into an in-the-moment adventure anchored by Harries' hellacious fuzz bass and France's interactive, Elvin Jones-inspired swing beat. "Two Hill Town" has Molvaer creating half-time trumpet melodies that float dreamily over France's simmering pulse before the proceedings heat up to a turbulent boil. "Leap Second" makes dramatic use of silence and echo, with Molvaer's haunting trumpet tones resounding over France's subtle brushwork before the piece builds to an intense crescendo. The 16-minute "Same Hand Swiss Double Pug" opens as a kind of ambient bolero before France bursts into a Buddy Rich styled flurry on the snare drum midway thru, triggering a change in mood that culminates in a freewheeling collective improv. And the collection closes on a haunting and kinetic note with the echo-laden "Minus Two," Emre's lone drumming showcase. France, a veteran drummer on the U.K. jazz scene who played in the cooperative group First House and the big band Loose Tubes during the '80s and later worked with Iain Bellamy and Django Bates in the '90s, has performed and recorded with some of the world's great musicians including Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Lee Konitz, Dave Holland, Arild Andersen, Ralph Towner and Marc Johnson. Currently a Professor of Jazz (Drums/Percussion) at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he applies his considerable skills and musical touch to the kit in the more open-ended environment of his Spin Marvel projects. "The use of openness and space is a very important part of what we do," he says. "And creating something from this place allows the musician to feel free and uninhibited and move it in a direction they want to express. I have known Nils for many years and was always hoping that an opportunity would arise to somehow get him involved with Spin Marvel". Nils commented, "To play with such wonderful gifted and open minded musicians was a true pleasure". Emre, a ubiquitous London session drummer and in-demand producer-programmer-engineer-remix artist, brings a visionary vibe to this latest project. "Infolding was my first time working with Spin Marvel," he says. "I was a huge fan of the earlier records and was hugely excited to get involved. It's a very honest record despite the heavy processing. It's all live takes with no edits or overdubs. Infolding began as a single day of live recording with France, Molvaer, Harries and Evensen before Emre came onboard. "It was recorded live in a four hour session for the BBC," explains France. "Sometime after the recording I sat and listened to the takes and selected the performances to form a programme to fit the BBC R3 running time. We were all very happy with the session and how the music was sounding so I forwarded the master files to producer Emre Ramazanoglu, who then worked with the music and produced it for us. "Martin asked if I would be interested in trying to take the sound on from where it had got to at the end of this session," says Emre. "We didn't really plan this next stage at all but it was understood that we both wanted to keep the unedited live takes and bring out the intensity of the performance as much as possible. I spent a few hours with Martin and Tim on the first mix to check that they were into the approach I was taking and then I mixed the rest myself, trying to establish a coherent atmosphere for the record whilst letting the music and performances lead the way." Emre explains his modus operandi on Infolding: "I tend to mold my mixing style to the project at hand and on this one I just was led to that kind of dramatic, spacey sound by immersing myself in the mix and creating as much of a performance there as I could. I mixed these tracks really quite intensely and stuck with my first reaction and the decisions that I made from it. I intensively used convolution processing to get different instruments modulating each other and a lot of interactive compression and effect processing to shape the individual voices into larger, dense blocks of sound in which the boundaries between the instruments are blurred perhaps. A dynamic and inventive collaboration between potent musical forces, Infolding breaks all the rules while leading the way for new possibilities in music-making. TRACKS: 1. Canonical 2. Tuesday's Blues 3. Two Hill Town 4. Leap Second 5. Same Hand Swiss Double Pug 6. Minus Two Photo © Robert Abel 2015 (please credit the photographer)

Tonight's Powerball jackpot should be $317 million. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/powerball-jackpot-climbs-317-million-lull-28709628

Thanks to BeBop's thread entitled "Bios on sale," I this evening purchased the new Frank Cosentino book I mentioned earlier. The book is $18.73, but with BeBop's discount code GOPHIL, the price was reduced by $5.62. https://www.lulu.com/shop/frank-cosentino/home-again/paperback/product-21944940.html

Thanks BeBop! Tonight I ordered the Canadian football book I've been planning to get.

Joe Farrell Quartet - $9.59 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CS45CHM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=RVSBV717YT9&coliid=I1XA9YACCY81EM

I'll look forward to this one. I didn't particularly go for his Freedmantown album not because of the music but because of the politics. Drummer/Composer Reggie Quinerly's "Invictus" To Be Released March 17 By Redefinition Musc Follow-Up to 2012 Debut "Music Inspired by Freedmantown" Features Warren Wolf, Vibraphone; Yotam Silberstein, Guitar; Christian Sands, Piano; & Co-Producer/Bassist Alan Hampton CD Release Show at Smoke, NYC, March 25 February 2, 2015 Drummer/composer Reggie Quinerly made an indelible impression on the jazz world with his 2012 debut recording, Music Inspired by Freedmantown, a soulful and serious-minded tribute to the historic African-American neighborhood in Houston where he grew up. For his second CD, Invictus, which will be released by the drummer's Redefinition Music label on March 17, Quinerly takes inspiration -- and the CD's title -- from the 1875 poem by William Ernest Henley ("I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul"). "Many of today's artists face great uncertainty," Quinerly observes in the new CD's notes, ". . . and while critics, musicians and fans continue to debate the commercial sustainability of an entire industry, I firmly believe its sustainability rests solely within us creators: no matter who is (or isn't) listening, we must persevere, we must create and we must document, because only that which is documented lives on." Invictus demonstrates with its very different musical demands just how much Quinerly has developed into a balanced yet ever-evolving artist. The album surrounds him with a brilliant young cast: vibraphonist Warren Wolf, regarded as one of the most exciting players on the instrument in years; prodigious pianist Christian Sands; rising guitarist Yotam Silberstein; and lyrical bassist Alan Hampton. One of the wonders of Invictus is how much freedom the compositions allow these ravishing soloists while staying inside its textural designs. Quinerly had this particular instrumentation in mind from the start, crafting compositions that took into account the sonorities and lyrical abilities of each player. Wolf is showcased on the album opener "Tavares," dedicated to Horace Silver and "rooted in tradition with a certain earthiness." Bassist Hampton, Quinerly's high school classmate and "one of my favorite musicians to work with," is the soloist on the melodic "Nimzo Indian," named for the chess strategy. Guitarist Silverstein is featured on the ballad "Variation 24," and Sands on the solo piano piece "Kunst Überlebt" (Art Survives). On Reggie's arrangement of "My Blue Heaven," the disc's only nonoriginal, the leader tips his hat to another musical influence, the illustrious pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams. "As a composer, the melodies you write are like parts of your identity, like your name," says Quinerly. "If a melody is not done right, if the notes are not played properly, it's like mispronouncing your name. but all the musicians on this project pay special attention to properly interpreting the intended themes." Reggie Quinerly, 34, was born and raised in Houston's Fourth Ward -- once known as Freedmantown -- and attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where his classmates included Mike Moreno, Robert Glasper, Eric Harland, Jason Moran, and Alan Hampton. After graduation he headed for New York City, enrolling at the Mannes School of Music at New School University and studying there with Jimmy Cobb, Lewis Nash, and Kenny Washington. He earned a B.A. from Mannes and later an M.A. from Juilliard, both in Jazz Studies. Noted as "a drummer and composer of swinging disposition" (Nate Chinen, New York Times), Quinerly has worked with such notable musicians as Von Freeman, Vincent Herring, John Hicks, Joe Lovano, Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride, Wynton Marsalis, and Greg Osby. With saxophonist Marcus Strickland, he also played and lectured in New York City schools as part of Lincoln Center's Jazz in the Schools program. He frequently collaborates with vocalist/pianist Enoch Smith Jr., who appeared on Quinerly's first project. The first CD release show for Invictus will take place on Wednesday 3/25 at Smoke, 2751 Broadway, New York City, when Quinerly will lead a quartet comprised of Jaleel Shaw, alto saxophone; Lawrence Fields, piano; and Alan Hampton, bass. Additional dates are in the works. Photography: Javier Oddo (top), Adam Sjoberg (bottom) Web Site: reggiequinerly.com Follow: Like:

©2015 ECM | 1755 Broadway, Floor 3, New York, NY 10019

Here is the list of the 2014 jazz releases that are up for a Grammy. http://www.grammy.com/nominees?genre=16 Any recommendations?

Happy Birthday 2015 Thom!

A man in a Florida supermarket tried to buy half a head of lettuce. The very young produce assistant told him that they sell only whole heads of lettuce. The man persisted and asked to see the manager. The boy said he'd ask his manager about it. Walking into the back room, the boy said to his manager: 'Some asshole wants to buy half a head of lettuce.' As he finished his sentence, he turned to find the man standing right behind him, so he added, 'And this gentleman has kindly offered to buy the other half.' The manager approved the deal, and the man went on his way. Later the manager said to the boy, 'I was impressed with the way you got yourself out of that situation earlier. We like people who think on their feet here. Where are you from, son?' ‘Canada, sir,' the boy replied. 'Well, why did you leave Canada?' the manager asked. The boy said, 'Sir, there's nothing but whores and hockey players up there.' ‘Really?' said the manager. 'My wife is from Canada.' ‘No shit?' replied the boy. 'Who'd she play for?