GA Russell

I listened to this one today for the first time in quite a while, and I enjoyed it much more than ever. I see that it is now up on Spotify.

Happy Birthday JLH!

Lay Down My Heart, the third release from the prolific vibraphonist Joe Locke since his signing to Motéma Music in 2012, marks a complete and deliberate contrast from his two previous releases: the small-group outing Signing, his critically lauded 2012 label debut with The Joe Locke Geoffrey Keezer Group, and the large-scale Wish Upon A Star, which was recorded with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra and was released in January of this year. Whereas Signing had a contemporary, powerhouse feel, and Wish upon a Star was painted across a large orchestral canvas, this new release is an album of blues and ballads which makes an emotional connection via its utter sincerity, and its ability to deliver lyrical melodies which can literally pluck the strings of one's heart. In Locke's words: "This music is meant to provide respite for folks who work hard every day and need an opportunity to slow down and be reacquainted with that certain 'something' which eludes most of us in the midst of the whirlwind which is modern life. I can't put a name to what that "something" is, but if this music hits its mark, perhaps you will know what to call it. There is no highbrow concept here, just some songs pulled from a deep well, which will hopefully serve to feed the soul. Most of them (even the ballads) are imbued with the blues, in form or sentiment. I'm grateful to the composers represented here, whose songs have touched my heart, made me wanna dance, or simply put a smile on my face." On Lay Down My Heart, the acclaimed vibraphonist has surrounded himself with a group of players that bring an incredible range of experience and talents to the mix. His longest-standing collaborator on Lay Down My Heart is bassist David Finck, who Locke has known since their days as fellow students in Rochester, New York. Even before he was out of college, Finck joined Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd. His discography lists more than 100 recordings including platinum and gold-selling records with Rod Stewart, Natalie Cole, and Elton John. Also on board is pianist/ composer / Gugenheim Fellow and Motéma label-mate Ryan Cohan, who has collaborated with such musicians as Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Paquito D'Rivera, Jon Faddis and Kurt Elling, and who has had an extensive collaboration with Ramsey Lewis. Rounding out the quartet is drummer Jaimeo (pronounced jah-mayo) Brown. Brown, whose own project,Transcendence, will be released on Motéma later this year, began working with vibes player Bobby Hutcherson at the age of 19. He has gone on to hold the drum chair in the Charles Mingus Big Band, and also worked with Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Wynton Marsalis and Pharoah Sanders. The album, the first in a series of Blues and Ballads albums envisioned by Locke, kicks off with the song that introduced R&B legend Bill Withers back in 1971, "Ain't No Sunshine." One of the few blues tunes to achieve super-hit status on the pop charts, it sets the mood for the album. As Locke says, "I just love that tune. The statement is so direct. It's imbued with feeling. 'Ain't No Sunshine': that's the blues." Locke's composition "Broken Toy," is one of two originals on the album. Its spacious one-chorus melody gives the vibraphone the soloist role, but also leaves room for the piano to intertwine countermelodies. Locke says: "Ryan Cohan, David Finck and Jaimeo Brown had such great generosity when they played this one, they gave so much space". And he pays tribute to the particular, subtle contribution of drummer Brown: "At the beginning of my solo he drops out, and the rest of us have a three-way conversation. I just love what he plays, but also his wonderful sense of when not to play." Returning to the classics, the band takes on bassist Sam Jones' "Bittersweet," which deviates from the standard twelve bar blues form by including a bridge. "Sam Jones has thrown a curve-ball at the blues", states Locke. The lyrics to the poignant "I Can't Make You Love Me" give the album its title: "Here in the dark, in these final hours / I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power." On the track, which fully emphasizes the "Ballads" side of the album's repertoire, the four players come together to create an enduring moment of repose and beauty. The subsequent "The Meaning of the Blues," a profound and beautiful song about loss and regret, aptly re-enforces the core vibe of the album. Frank Foster's "Simone," is presented in a new arrangement by Ryan Cohan. "We had planned a written ending to that one" explains Locke, "but then Ryan just hit an esoteric chord, and we just went with it. It was a totally spontaneous ending that I'm glad we captured in the studio". "This New October" is the second original piece on the album. Locke explains that he woke up on the morning of October 1st with a sense of optimism and renewal and captured his positive emotions in song. He says he thought, "If such feelings don't always last, this new piece capturing them will." The song is a straight eighth-note ballad which, unlike any of the album's other tracks, is prefaced by a solo vibraphone introduction. What more appropriate tune to include on a "Blues and Ballads" album than the venerable "Makin' Whoopee," here given a bit of a twist. Locke has given the tune room to breathe, slowed it down. He explains that "the sentiment of the lyrics is a blues sentiment." A quote from Bobby Timmons' swinger "Moanin" also finds its way in here, "I had no idea that was going to happen" says Locke "but it did and I thought it was fun." The album closes with a tip of the hat to the unique, historic collaboration of John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman, "Dedicated to You." "It's less of a blues, not an expression of regret or sadness," says Locke, it's more a declaration of love." For Locke, the music on Lay Down Your Heart represents as much a journey through his past as it marks another move toward the future. "Working on this recording brought me back to my earliest days of music-making in Rochester, NY at the F&S Lounge, Jenks n' Jones, and The Peoples' Club, where the music was part of the social fabric, and the audience and musicians were definitely involved in a two-way conversation. It taught me that jazz is, and should always be, People Music." Indeed, on his three remarkable releases for Motéma over the past 13 months, Locke has provided abundant 'People Music' and proved that his abundant talents - whether he's performing in an intimate, small group or with a symphony orchestra - always serve to facilitate a lively musical conversation. Together, Signing, Wish upon a Star and Lay Down My Heart paint an increasingly full portrait of an artist in his prime, a portrait not yet complete and to be supplemented by future releases on the label, a visionary of who dazzles and delights in many colours, styles and themes and leaves us waiting in wonder to see what he will create next.

Anyone aware of the Connecticut group? With the release of It's About Time, the quintet of remarkable musicians who comprise the Verve Jazz Ensemble are finally able to bring the vibrant energy of the live performances that have earned them an incredibly devoted following to a wider audience. Formed in 2006 by drummer Josh Feldstein, the Verve Jazz Ensemble features NYC-based trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt, who has been cited by Wynton Marsalis as "one of his favorite young trumpet players." Also on board is pianist Matt Oestreicher, a 2012 addition to the band, together with tenor saxophonist Jon Blanck and bassist Chris DeAngelis, both of whom are original VJE members. After six years of the Verve Jazz Ensemble playing at some of the pre-eminent clubs in Connecticut, the group had a highly developed and evolving vision, as well as an extremely loyal audience. As more and more jazz venues fell victim to the recent economic down turn, the band was faced with receding opportunities to perform. Turning adversity into an opportunity, the VJE decided to record their first CD, continuing the musical momentum that their collaboration had initiated. The band projects a wide array of richly developed voices on the compelling compilation of music that is It's About Time. From re-interpreted Bebop standards such as "Lady Bird," "Boplicity" and "Jordu," to the dynamic big band reduction of "Big Swing Face" (which was originally made famous by Buddy Rich), to two distinct treatments of well-loved classics - Henry Mancini's "The Days of Wine and Roses" and Oscar Hammerstein's "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" - the deeply integrated group delivers its musical art with incredible style and passion. Of the nine tracks on the CD, three are alternate takes of songs that precede them on the disc ("Lady Bird," "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise," and "Big Swing Face"). "We took a page out the 'old school' book," laughs Feldstein. "We recorded the CD in one session, during one 8-hour day in the studio, and we did something like five versions of each tune. When it came to post-production, we couldn't decide which take of some of the songs to include, so we just decided we didn't have to decide, and included the alternate takes." It's About Time kicks off with one of those tracks, Todd Dameron's "Lady Bird," arranged here by saxophonist Blanck. "I wanted to go 'out' with this a bit," he explains. "Ultimately, we had to work for a balance so that it's not too far out, to keep the listener from getting lost or calling it 'crazy jazz.'" Feldstein expounds a bit more on the arrangement. "There's a polyrhythmic kind of twist to this in the beginning, a soft and subtle polyrhythmic suggestion by the cymbals to drive it. Then a nice repetitive, dependable, 'you can tap your foot to it' structure created by the rhythm section that creates a foundation over which the horns could explore." Taking on "Big Swing Face," a song best known for its big band pedigree, presented the five-man Verve Jazz Ensemble with quite a challenge. "I had no clue what to do with this song," Blanck admits. "I couldn't hear where Josh wanted to go with it. It was definitely something I had never done before." The band's collaborative efforts not only resolved the issue of how to tackle that one song, but also led to what Feldstein says "...is becoming kind of our voice, to have a big band feel, but as a quintet, or in other words, to have a quintet that's really a first cousin to a big band sound. "I love the energy of Bill Potts' arrangement for Buddy's band," Feldstein continues. "It's a real driving big band blow-out tune, the sort Buddy was so famous for. But I also love the melody, and I love the intricacy... the bluesy swing of the tune. And Jon was able to capture the energy and the vitality, the verve, if you will, of that particular tune, and to reduce it in a way that is not thin, that achieved a huge amount of body. It's got tremendous interplay harmonically and melodically between Jon in his tenor role and Tatum on trumpet, with a powerful swinging undercurrent in the rhythm section." Indeed, Feldstein especially digs in on this up-tempo and novel interpretation of the tune, seamlessly blending the small jazz ensemble sound with a big band drumming approach, resulting in a wide open, kickin' tune. Miles Davis' and Gil Evan's "Boplicity" was, says Blanck, "a difficult tune to approach, but Tatum brought in a different sound with the flugelhorn and Matt played his piano in sync with Tatum, and that really locked in the mood." Greenblatt takes full advantage of his voicing on the band's hypnotic rendition of the tune, creating a smooth, rich mood any New York jazz lounge would be proud of at 3 AM. When it comes to the ensemble's pianist, "Matt's contribution through the record is so wonderful due to the diversity of his playing," Blanck says. "He has a background that spans everything from folk to pop to the legacy of jazz to classical and world music. You never know what's going to come out of Matt. He's a chameleon." In addition to Oestreicher's inspired playing, the tender melody of "The Days of Wine and Roses" offers a perfect opportunity to showcase bassist Chris DeAngelis' very sensitive introductory solo as well. DeAngelis, who makes consistently significant contributions to the band's efforts throughout It's About Time, is - due to his many other musical obligations - essentially now a guest artist whose presence rounds out the quintet. The other members of the quartet, the four denim and blue blazer-clad players who grace the cover of the CD, remain as a core group with guest bassists as the need arises. With a driving sound that supports them in the present, and that will certainly propel them into the future, the Verve Jazz Ensemble have taken an auspicious bow with their debut release. An encore is sure to follow.

Valerie, the 1959 card I'm thinking of was red, and the photo was a close-up of him gazing upwards. If that's not right, then I didn't have him after all!

I had his bubble gum card in 1959, I'm pretty sure.

The Als have signed former Indianapolis running back Dominic Rhodes. Here's betting he won't be playing for them the end of the year. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=419236 ***** Ron Lancaster, Jr., has died. He was an assistant coach with four teams, and won three Grey Cups. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=419226

The Bombers have released Joey Elliott and Ian Logan. Logan was a league all-star in 2011. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=419135

I didn't know that Concord owns Telarc and Rounder.

I see that Uppity is now up on Spotify.

The Riders have signed Renauld Williams, and released Joe Lobendahn. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=419071

I loved Shapiro's Back to basics, so I am really looking forward to this one. "Piano Bar After Hours," 4th CD by Boston-Based Vocalist Jan Shapiro, To Be Released April 9 By Shapiro's Singing Empress Label Longtime Berklee Vocal Professor Teams Up with Six Favorite Pianists for a Series of Intimate Duos March 25, 2013 Jazz vocalist and longtime Berklee College vocal professor Jan Shapiro chose to focus on the challenging -- and revealing -- duo format for Piano Bar After Hours, her fourth CD and her first since 2007's Back to Basics. Shapiro tapped six of her favorite pianists, with whom she'd worked in various settings through the years, to accompany her on the new disc, which will be released by her Singing Empress label on April 9. Before arriving at Berklee 28 years ago, Shapiro spent more than a decade on the road singing with bands five nights a week on the hotel circuit, from St. Louis and Chicago to such points east as Atlanta, New York City, and Washington, DC. By the early Eighties, however, changes in the economy had forced many of the venues at which she worked to employ her with a full band only on weekends. On weeknights, it was just Shapiro and a pianist. That familiar setting is revisited on Piano Bar After Hours, with Shapiro applying her glowing, pitch-perfect three-octave soprano to a thoughtfully chosen program of jazz and American Songbook standards ("If I Were a Bell," "They Say It's Wonderful," Horace Silver's "Doodlin'," "Times Lie") and pop songs of more recent vintage ("Lost Up in Loving You," Rickie Lee Jones's "Company"). Ten of the 11 tracks are voice-and-piano collaborations, as pianists Daniela Schachter, Bob Winter, Tim Ray, Russell Hoffman, John Harrison III, and Adriana Balic take turns supporting Shapiro. For the 1984 Al Jarreau song "Tell Me," she and Balic were joined by Joey Blake on vocal bass and Bob Stoloff on vocal percussion. Both men have taught at Berklee and have worked with vocal innovator Bobby McFerrin. Born in St. Louis and raised in tiny nearby Festus, Jan Shapiro attended the St. Louis Institute of Music and later enrolled at Howard University, earning a music degree cum laude. She completed her studies there while performing five nights a week at a Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC. "I was trained in traditional classical technique," Shapiro says of the influence of her classical music training at Howard. "It was invaluable, but since I'd always had classical training, I sometimes wondered if too much classical training would be difficult to transfer to pop and jazz styles. As it turned out, it was! If you have a Julie Andrews-type voice, as I do, how do you sing pop or jazz? It's a different aspect of your instrument, and the timbre and delivery of singing jazz is completely different." "I don't know what category to put me in," she says of her unique style. "I'm not like the expected jazz singer, who would have a lower timbre and hold everything straight. I don't sound just like anyone." After moving to Boston, Shapiro earned a master's in education at Cambridge College, and received an NEA grant, which she used to research early jazz singers and the Boswell Sisters. She became acting vocal chair at Berklee College of Music in the summer of 1996, and by January 1997 she was appointed head of the department -- the first female chairperson in Berklee's Performance Division. Shapiro served as chair until 2010 and remains a full professor at Berklee, currently teaching a class in vocal history; she also has 25 private students. "As a teacher, my philosophy has been 'not everyone will be a star,'" says Jan, "'but there are practical things you can learn about your instrument.' I want to make sure that singers become empowered by good musicianship as well as excellent vocal craft." On Piano Bar After Hours, Shapiro practices what she preaches through her breathtaking combination of flawless technique and depth of feeling. Web Site: www.janshapiro.com Like:

Region 2 (UK & Europe and those of us with region-free players) The Saint: The Complete Monochrome Series - 33.00 GBP http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000GUK3SS/ref=ox_ya_os_product Without the VAT and including shipping, mine cost $48.43, which is about 40% off what it has been going for for the past eight months.

Of course. I had the first Dreams album in 1971, I think.

At MobileRead.com, the blame is given to Sonny Bono and the Disney Corporation.

Jim, I've never heard of them before, and they sound very appealling. Did Abercrombie join them right after leaving Dreams?

Maverick: The Complete First Season - $15.69 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007AAF3FK/ref=ox_ya_os_product ***** The WHA Chronicles (3 discs) - $17.00 http://www.amazon.com/WHA-Chronicles-n/dp/B00169JF32/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1JBDY13A1PN02

I received a press release today for the new Joe Locke album Lay Down My heart, but the server wouldn't take it, even after I deleted the two jpegs.

I see that Doug Ramsey today discusses this album on his Rifftides blog. http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2013/03/recent-listening-carey-mingus-ellington.html

The league announced yesterday that it is renewing its TV deal with TSN through 2018, reportedly at double the fee. No word on the availability for American fans. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/dowbiggin-cfl-scores-touchdown-with-big-tsn-deal/article10151768/ http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=418717 ***** The Rules Committee has approved video review of missed field goals and converts. I don't recall a Rules Committee recommendation ever being turned down by the Board. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=418837

Here's a fun list of kitchen gadgets which the author thinks are ridiculous, but some of them I think are pretty neat! http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/03/22/15-ridiculous-kitchen-gadgets-that-dont-need/?intcmp=features

The Argos have signed former Ticat free agent Jonathan Hood, a defensive back. Considering how bad the Hamilton defense was last year, I'm not sure what promise he offers. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=418629

Great! The next time I get a press release I'll try to post the whole thing. Thanks Jim!

Happy Birthday RT!

Malachi Throne was a favorite of mine because I loved his voice. You will remember him best as Alexander Mundy's boss Noah on It Takes a thief. I remember in the 70s when he did voice-over work for the TV ads of Kaufman's Department Store in Pittsburgh. I could tell right away that it was him. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings-20130317,0,3760897.story