GA Russell

Got this in the mail today: The Milton Suggs Quartet @ Smalls Jazz Club The Milton Suggs Quartet will be making its debut New York performance at Smalls Jazz Club on Wednesday November 28, 2012 with two sets of music from 9:00pm to 12am. If you won't be in the New York area, the show is available for live viewing at SmallsLive.com for $3.00. Featuring: Milton Suggs - Vocals Willerm Delisfort - Piano Jonathan Michel - Bass Kenneth Salters - Drums Download News Release Stay up to date on performances of all of our artists at SkiptoneMusic.com!!

John, no doubt the Argos are playing their best ball of the year at the right time. But as I pointed out Oct. 23 in post #1344, Ted Michaels agreed with me in his power rankings that the Argos were (less than a month ago!) the third worst team in the league. ***** Greg Xenakes Grey Cup pick http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4544960 ***** Here's a good sportsnetwork.com preview of the game. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4544951

The Ticats announced today that they will play next year at U of Guelph (17 minutes from Hamilton) while their new stadium is being built. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409896 ***** This will be the third time the Argos have faced the Stampeders in the Grey Cup. Here's an article about the previous two games. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409847 TSN had a show which called the '71 Argos the greatest team to never win the Grey Cup (because the Stamps beat them). If the Argos win on Sunday, they should call this team the worst team to ever win it!

Amazon now has the Dave Brubeck Original Album Classics 5 CD box with the unusual time signatures for $10.99. http://www.amazon.com/Original-Album-Classics-TIME-CD/dp/B003924NZ4?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camels-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003924NZ4

This looks great! I hope I will be sent a copy. For Immediate Release Please Jam # 1 McCoy Tyner Jam # 2 Eddie Palmieri Jam # 3 Roy Haynes Jam # 4 Jack DeJohnette FOURS ON HALF NOTE AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE NOW! NEW YORK, November 19, 2012 - Universally regarded as the best tap dancer on Earth (though only 39 years old, at this writing), Tony Award-winner SAVION GLOVER showcases his musical side by jamming with jazz royalty. Over the course of an hour-long DVD featuring interview footage and 4 separate jams - one each with McCOY TYNER, EDDIE PALMIERI, ROY HAYNES AND JACK DEJOHNETTE - Savion spars tirelessly, treating viewers to a clinic on rhythmic improvisation. It is a remarkably athletic performance in which he shifts from soloist to accompanist and back, challenging and reacting to his mentors with a searching, spiritual demeanor emblematic of jazz's greatest instrumentalists. The DVD is an eyeful. He illuminates the sheer joy of dance while reaffirming his own quest for creative sublimity. Savion invited four Mt. Rushmore figures to an evening jam; he proves himself one of them. CAPTURED LIVE AT THE BLUE NOTE PATIENCE HIGGINS - SAXOPHONE MARCUS STRICKLAND - SAXOPHONE KURT FAUSSETTE - PIANO ANDY McCLOUD - BASS BRIAN GRICE - DRUMS

Ed, I heard Brown Eyed Girl emanating from a bar near my home Saturday night, and it occurred to me then that it might be the most played song on 60s oldies stations. It was a hit when I was in high school, but nothing like what a youngster today would think.

I suppose I should have provided the link for the contest!

Amazon now has Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer - The Complete Series (with Darren McGavin) for $26.99. http://www.amazon.com/Mickey-Spillanes-Mike-Hammer-Complete/dp/B004QC6HGY?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camels-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B004QC6HGY

Amazon now has Secret Agent/Danger Man at what I believe is its lowest price ever - $30.49. I believe I paid $49.99 for it, and I still think that that was a bargain. http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Agent-AKA-Danger-Man/dp/B003JQZY8A?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camels-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003JQZY8A

If my notes are correct, available for ...Toronto - everything below 40 and above 60 ...Calgary - everything below 35 and above 65 except 75.

Here's something I didn't know, tweeted by Hall of Famer Matt Dunigan: TOR 2-0 vs CGY this season, have won 5 straight vs CGY dating back to 2010. ***** brownie, I already have Calgary and 50, so you'll have to pick them with a different tiebreaker!

Tom, Marc-Olivier Brouillette suffered a concussion, but is otherwise doing well. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409785

LOL! vajerzy, I remember last year that paul secor won by picking my team with a tiebreaker 5 points above mine; and there were a number of comments that that would be the plan next time. So congrats! If that plan works, you'll be the winner!

And now I see that amazon.de has reduced its price one euro to 21,99 euros. Hans, may I assume that amazon.de's policy on pre-orders is the same as amazon.com's - that you will be charged the lowest price offered between the date you ordered and the shipping date?

John, "Informed prediction" or not, I hope that you will again play the Grey Cup contest this year!

It's that time of year again! It's time for the annual Grey Cup contest. (Past winners have included Noj (twice), indestructible, Bright Moments, brownie and paul secor.) Here are the rules: 1) Pick the winning team. 2) Pick the number of total points scored by both teams (aka the tiebreaker). Since approximately half of us will pick the winning team, picking the total points is necessary to win the contest. Your total points prediction must be a number which is a multiple of five (5). The winning tiebreaker will be the one closest to the correct answer. If two are equally close, the winner will be the lower pick. If two people pick the same thing, the first to make the pick will be the winner. THE PRIZE: A $17.00 Mosaic Records Gift Certificate, good for both Mosaic and True Blue records. The $17.00 represents one CD of a Mosaic box set. Deadline: kickoff, Sunday Nov. 25, 6:00 pm eastern. ***** The Grey Cup game: The Grey Cup is awarded to the world champion of what I think is the greatest game in the world, Canadian rules football. That is to say, the champion of the Canadian Football League. The Grey Cup was first awarded in 1909. They have played for it every year since then except three years during World War One. Therefore, this year's will be the 100th Grey Cup game. Fans from throughout Canada will attend the game. The game sold out within 48 hours of tickets going on sale back in June. Therefore, neither team is expected to have an obvious majority of the fans rooting for them. This year's game will see the Eastern champion Toronto Argonauts host the Western champion Calgary Stampeders. This is a surprise because both teams finished second during the regular season, and had to defeat the first place team on the road to win their conference championships. The location of the game is chosen years in advance. This year's game will be played in Toronto because the league felt that Canada's largest city should host the festivities for the hundredth Grey Cup game. Calgary's starting quarterback was injured fairly early in the season. He was replaced by back-up Kevin Glenn, who has spent much of his career as a starter. The Stampeders had a good year. The Argos had a mediocre year because both their offensive and defensive lines are suspect. Their quarterback is Ricky Ray, who twice won the Grey Cup with the Edmonton Eskimos. Ray is a future Hall of Famer who came to the Argos in a major trade last winter. The game will be carried live on the NBC sports cable TV channel. The halftime show will feature Canadians Gordon Lightfoot and Justin Bieber. You can listen to the game here: http://tunein.com/radio/Team-1410-s31148/ http://tunein.com/radio/AM-770-s31172/ (To listen to the game, you will need Windows Media Player which you can download for free. So you might want to plan ahead if you don't already have it.) You can study articles analyzing the upcoming game as well as articles about the season as it unfolded in the CFL thread, which I will be updating during the course of this week. Good luck everyone! Here's my pick: (My heart says Argos, but my head says Stampeders.) Calgary - 50 points PS - It looks like CJOB will not carry the Grey Cup game this year, so I have substituted the URLs of the Vancouver and Calgary stations above.

Western Final: Calgary Stampeders 34....British Columbia Lions 29 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4544233 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/scores/final/boxscore.aspx?GAMEID=1083 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409791 Another upset! Obviously not as big a surprise as the Argos winning, but all year long the Lions have been #1 in everyone's power rankings. Pure and simple, Kevin Glenn outplayed Travis Lulay. The Western Final is not a good day for Lulay to have a sub-par game.

Yikes! Amazon US now has it for $58.98. They're moving in the wrong direction.

Eastern Final: Toronto Argonauts 27....Montreal Alouettes 20 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=409775 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/scores/final/boxscore.aspx?GAMEID=1082 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4544137 Upset!!! The Argos defense was strong all day. The Als were the better team in the first half, but the Argos outscored them 14-0 in the third quarter, and held on in the final minute to win. Every year the Canadian writers say that there is pressure on the team from the city where the Grey Cup will be played to play in the game. IMO this is nonsense, as the Grey Cup is sold out every year. But this year, the home team will really be the home team, although fans from throughout the country will be there to watch the 100th Grey Cup game.

Lowell Ullrich Finals picks http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/11/18/this-week-in-the-cfl-division-finals-edition/

Sean Fitz-Gerald Finals matchups http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/11/17/road-to-the-grey-cup-final-four-teams-get-set-to-do-battle/

Thanks guys!

I just got this one in the mail today. I'll keep an eye out to see if it goes up on Spotify. "Steppin' Back," New CD Due October 23, Introduces Bay Area Trumpeter/Composer Joel Behrman In a Striking Debut His All-Star Bay Area Band Includes Dayna Stephens, Matt Clark, Marcus Shelby, Howard Wiley, & Danny Armstrong October 12, 2012 When Joel Behrman relocated to the Bay Area in 2000, the trumpeter/composer was intent on renewing his commitment to jazz. He'd completed his music degree at the University of Miami and worked a series of non-jazz gigs, in clubs and on the road, and as he continued his years of dues-paying in California he realized that, in jazz, the fundamental things apply: swing, the blues, connecting with the audience. On his superb new debut recording, Steppin' Back, Behrman and his band express those essential jazz values in a program of elegant originals interspersed with compositions by Ellington, Armstrong, and Joe Henderson. His collaborators represent the top tier of local players: bassist Marcus Shelby, one of San Francisco's most illustrious bandleaders and composers; in-demand pianist Matt Clark; drummer Howard Wiley (better known as a saxophonist); tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens, a Berkeley High grad who lives in New York but maintains close ties to home; and veteran trombonist Danny Armstrong, a founding member of Lavay Smith's Red Hot Skillet Lickers. "I wanted it to be a Bay Area project exclusively," says Behrman, a San Jose resident. "There is a lot of talent here that's underexposed." The album's centerpiece is the leader's compelling three-movement "Justice Suite" (Sin / Righteous Indignation / Evolution), written for the sextet. While conceived as a response to the current political climate, the suite is also very much an interior drama, "related to a personal struggle of someone trying to change, working through the anger," Behrman says. "That could be a metaphor for all kinds of things where it doesn't feel like justice is around." Steppin' Back closes with "something lighthearted": "The Faithful Hussar," which Behrman learned from Louis Armstrong's Ambassador Satch. While listening to it recently with his wife, "we just started dancing to the song. Anything with that bounce needs to be heard." Joel Behrman, 37, grew up in a St. Louis suburb and, at age 9, started on his first instrument, trombone, a horn he still plays frequently today. He went on to earn his music degree at the University of Miami, studying with world-class improvisers like Ira Sullivan (another two-horn master) and playing countless salsa gigs on the local scene. He went on the road with KC and the Sunshine Band and eventually moved to the Bay Area, where several UM friends were already living. Behrman started playing with the New Orleans-inspired Brass the Monkey Brass Band on trumpet and trombone. He played funk with Lenny Williams, the former lead vocalist with Tower of Power; East Bay grease with Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, another vintage soul/R&B combo; and New Jack Swing with Tony! Toni! Toné! -- all gigs that required him to hone his trumpet chops and really develop his technique. But the most important gig was joining swing/blues vocalist Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. "That was a life-changing experience, getting introduced to genuine swing," Behrman says. "There was a standard you had to live up to, being able to swing and play the blues. It really shaped certain opinions and philosophies in my mind." These days Behrman is touring internationally with percussion star Sheila E., and also performing widely with her father, the Latin jazz great Pete Escovedo. He still gets gigs as a trombonist, but the trumpet has increasingly become his primary creative vehicle, to the point where he didn't think twice about playing the horn exclusively on Steppin' Back. Behrman's immediate goal is to find opportunities to perform with his sextet. "I couldn't have hoped for a better assembly of musicians," says the trumpeter. "They really understand what I'm trying to accomplish on this project." Photography: Maurice Ramirez Web Site: www.joelbehrman.com

I just got this one in the mail today. I hope to have the chance over the weekend to listen to it. The Brubeck Brothers have a couple of albums up on Spotify, but this isn't one of them.

Can no one recommend an album?