GA Russell

Greg Xenakes Week 7 picks http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4520054

This one might be interesting. Saxophonist/Composer/Educator Jeff Coffin & the Mu'tet To Release 6th CD, "Into the Air," September 4 CD Features Special Guest Lionel Loueke In Addition to Current Mu'tet Lineup: Bill "The Spaceman" Fanning, Kofi Burbridge, Felix Pastorius, & Jeff Sipe August 8, 2012 Saxophonist/composer Jeff Coffin has maintained a singular balancing act for the last 15 years: His demanding, high-profile stints with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and Dave Matthews Band provide a creative counterweight to his thriving careers as bandleader and educator. Since 2001, he's led the one-of-a-kind Mu'tet, whose 6th CD, Into the Air, expresses off his unique, wide-ranging musical passions and will be released by Ear Up Records on September 4. "This is not easy music to play, but these guys make it sound easy," says Coffin of his current Mu'tet colleagues -- Bill "The Spaceman" Fanning, so attuned to Coffin's approach that "it's like listening to me playing trumpet"; keyboardist (and flutist) Kofi Burbridge, a veteran of the Derek Trucks/Susan Tedeschi Band; electric bassist Felix Pastorius, 30-year-old son of Jaco, hired on the recommendation of Flecktones bassist Victor Wooten (Felix also plays with the Grammy-winning Yellowjackets); and drummer Jeff Sipe, another longtime collaborator and a founding member of rock experimentalists the Aquarium Rescue Unit. Special guest Lionel Loueke, the Beninese singer-guitarist, is featured on two numbers, including the like-named "Loueke," composed by Coffin and Pastorius. "All of my favorite musicians -- Ornette Coleman and Louis Armstrong and Bob Dylan and Radiohead -- have a similar quality," says Coffin. "They all give me goose bumps. I think if you're not getting goose bumps from what you're doing, if your hair isn't standing on end, then the music is missing something. That's what I'm looking for when I play and write and explore. Improvisation is, by original definition, about surprise or the unexpected. I want to be surprised." Indeed, the Mu'tet's name was inspired by the Shelley poem, "Mutability" (Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow; Nought may endure but Mutability"). When Jeff Coffin enrolled in the renowned jazz program at North Texas State (now called the University of North Texas), many of his fellow saxophonists were trying to emulate Michael Brecker, Bob Berg, and Bob Mintzer. Coffin became determined to find his own voice. A turning point came when a percussionist at the school turned Coffin on to African music. Coffin was carried away by the revelatory Juju music of Nigeria's King Sunny Ade, Congolese field recordings, and much more. "It changed my life," he says. "Just realizing there was this ceremonial music for everything: for birth, death, puberty, marriage, rain, drought. I had no idea it existed. Listening to these four- and five-year-old African kids dancing and singing in polyrhythms blew my mind." Coffin's hunger for different kinds of music, from Asia and Europe and India as well as New Orleans and Mississippi, has never stopped. He made the unusual (for an improvising musician) move to Nashville in 1991 because "it felt like New England to me." (Coffin, 47, was born in Massachusetts and grew up there and in Maine and New Hampshire.) In 1997 Coffin made his solo recording debut with the Jeff Coffin Ensemble's Outside the Lines, featuring Fanning. That same year he joined Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, remaining with the group until 2010 (and earning three Grammys during his tenure). Following the 2008 death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore, a founding member of Dave Matthews Band, Coffin joined DMB. He's featured on their upcoming CD Away from the World, to be released September 11, and is the subject of a cover story in DownBeat magazine's October issue. The Mu'tet debuted in 2001 with Go Round, followed by Bloom (2004), Mutopia (2008), the double-CD set Live! (2011), and the belatedly released 1997 recording, 3iomusik. L. to r.: Jeff Sipe, Kofi Burbridge, Jeff Coffin, Felix Pastorius, Bill "The Spaceman" Fanning. A passionate music educator and a top Yamaha Performing Artist/Clinician, Jeff Coffin has presented more than 300 clinics at schools of all kinds around the world. "I love teaching and being involved with students," he says. "I feel it might be the most important thing I do. I hope students experience something beautiful and life-changing through music." Upcoming clinics include: 8/14 PM Woodwind, Evanston, IL; 8/16 Summerhays Music, Murray, UT; 8/17 Caleb Chapman Music, American Fork, UT (with a Mu'tet performance that evening at Downtown Jazz at Gallivan Center, Salt Lake City); and 8/20 Saxquest, St. Louis, MO. Jeff Coffin & the Mu'tet will be appearing 8/10-12 at Blues Alley, Washington, DC; 8/13 Nighttown, Cleveland; and 8/18 Snowbasin Resort, Huntsville, UT, with additional dates to be announced. Photography: Greg Kessler (Coffin with horn), Robert Hakalski (Coffin), Caleb Mitchell (Mu'tet). Web Sites: www.jeffcoffin.com www.earuprecords.com Like: Follow: "Into the Air":

LOL! Now that I have said that, I hear the audience every time I listen!

I'm enjoying this one a lot. It's a very solid 3.5 star album. In no way groundbreaking, just swinging. If this were the house band of a club nearby, I'd go see them once a week. Eric Vaughn has a couple of things up at Spotify, but this one isn't up yet. I'll keep checking.

Dan, the new Vince Guaraldi book is going for $45.00. No wonder so many people are switching to eBooks!

I remember one year in the mid-80s. I think it was 1985. I was on a business trip to Houston the Monday following their three-day home opening weekend. They gave a free cap to everyone who attended one of those three games. That Monday nearly half the people in downtown Houston were wearing their orange caps. I can still see it in my mind!

Jimmy Jones of Handy Man and Good Timin' fame has died. He was 82. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings-20120807,0,1324718,full.story

Today was the Civic Holiday in Canada. It gives the Canadians a last three day weekend while it is still warm enough to go swimming. British Columbia Lions 18....Toronto Argonauts 9 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4519646 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402508 It seemed like there were a lot of penalties and turnovers.

The Riders have signed Sandro DeAngelis. His collapse was always a mystery to me (and maybe the Ticats as well), and maybe he'll bounce back now that he is back in the windy West. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402503

Here is a YouTube video of the Argos' new kicker Swayze Waters kicking a 70 field goal in practice. Apparently he is a self-promoter. Here is his website: http://www.swayzewaterskicking.com/

That's how I feel about the interviewees on Ken Burns' Baseball series!

Bud Riley has died. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402491

Bill Veeck made the same point in one of his books, probably Veeck As In Wreck. He said that it was Stoneham who needed the move and pushed it along, and persuaded O'Malley to join him on the west coast.

I always enjoy articles about the many uses for household staples like vinegar and baking soda, and here's one about WD-40. http://www.rd.com/slideshows/13-amazing-uses-for-wd-40/?trkid=outbrain-all

TTK, I see that the program's Wikipedia page says that the music was composed by Marty Paich, Pete Rugolo, Morton Stevens, John Williams and Stanley Wilson. That's quite a lineup for only two seasons! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_%28TV_series%29

Matthew, whether that's true I couldn't say, but I'm not making it up. PS - I found it at his Wikipedia page: "He created the 1960 American detective TV series Checkmate."

The DVD box of Checkmate has been on my camelcamelcamel list for a while. There was one day that it dipped to $20, but that copy was sold before I checked my email to take advantage of it. I believe that Eric Ambler was the show's creator. The box currently goes for $38.01. http://www.amazon.com/Checkmate-Complete-Series-Over-Hours/dp/B003K1NGXE?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camels-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003K1NGXE

ss1, I wondered in the past about canning. So many farm women do it, I figure it can't be that hard if you know what you are doing. I remember there was a great deal of interest in it leading up to Y2K. Let us know how it goes!

Stevie Baggs has signed with Baltimore. He's 30 years old, so I don't give him much of a chance to make the team. I think that he was unwilling to play anymore for CFL money. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402394

Happy Birthday 2012 Shawn!

Happy Birthday Lon!

Montreal Alouettes 36....Winnipeg Blue Bombers 26 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4518929 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402289 The Als led 21-3 after three, and coasted the rest of the way. After six games, the Bombers have scored a total of 7 points in the first quarter.

The Eskimos have released Rashad Jeanty. I guess he never recovered from his injury. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402241 ***** Justin Medlock is competing for the Carolina Panthers' placekicking job. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402183

I've just listened to an interview with the organist on the CBC Radio program As It Happens. He did indeed play Three Blind Mice. The PA Announcer was also ejected. The Florida State League has fined the organist, who is an unpaid intern!

Al Cameron Week 6 picks and power rankings http://www.cflblogzone.com/2012/08/predictions-and-power-rankings-heading-into-week-6/