GA Russell

Happy Birthday 2009 zen!

Free agent signings started today. So far, a number of good players have been announced, but only two stars, both offensive linemen. Rob Murphy left the Lions for the Argos. Alexandre Gauthier left the Bombers for the Ticats. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports

My thought doesn't really fit in with what is being said here, but I was always struck by Georgie Fame's inclusion in the lyrics of The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde the line "Acting upon reliable information". I'd bet that's the only song that has that lyric!

I don't think that the issue is limited to the Blue Note label. The problem is that the scene today is not creating the quality music that it did in the 50s and 60s. Not only is Blue Note of the 2000s not the Blue Note of the 60s, no other label of the 2000s is either.

Congratulations Dave and Bill! I agree with your view that Victor Feldman made the date.

Happy Birthday Tommy! Moose, I heard it on the radio this afternoon. It's 867.

Mike, I have the Specialty Story box. The first disc is all jump blues from the late 40s. I wouldn't recommend that you buy the box just for the first cd, but I can recommend the Specialty artists from that period, and I've been planning to get some myself. Maybe they are at discount now at the Concord website. Some names to look for are Louis Jordan, of course, and Roy Milton, Jimmy Liggins and Joe Liggins. You might also want to look at Lloyd Price and Percy Mayfield.

I forgot to mention one of my very favorites, Matt Monro. I came across a cd of his today and enjoyed it as usual. I'll have to get another sometime.

I met Forrest Gregg in 1979 when he was the head coach of the Toronto Argos. Nice guy, but he indicated a preference for the four-down game.

Some of these recorded at times in front of a jazz band, which would make them jazz singers, at least on the particular record. Tony Bennett Jack Jones Paul Jones (Manfred Mann - Do Wah Diddy, The Blues Band) Richard Sinclair (Caravan, Hatfield & the North) Georgie Fame Van Morrison Bobby Blue Bland Otis Redding Julie London Linda Purl Petula Clark Joanie Sommers Lani Hall (Brasil '66) The Four Freshmen The Hi-Lo's and for nostalgia's sake: Dick Dale Eric Burdon Colin Blunstone (The Zombies) Michael d'Abo (Manfred Mann - The Mighty Quinn) Pye Hastings (Caravan) Robert Wyatt

Happy Birthday!

Jon Hassell's new album is called Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street. That is a line from a favorite poem of his. I used to listen to a lot of music like this thirty years ago. It's been a long time, but I as I recall tracks from Soft Machine Six and Seven and Hugh Hopper's Hopportunity Box and 1984 are along the same lines. It is very spacy, with a very, very slow tempo throughout. Mostly electronic keyboards, with some trumpet on the last three (of ten) tracks. For the entire album, I can't say for sure where the melody ends and the improvisation begins. Maybe this should be considered good new age rather than jazz. It's interesting and pleasant to listen to. If you don't have anything like it, I can recommend it.

Happy Birthday 2009 Michael!

Lon, if my memories were limited to my experiences with women, I'd kill myself!

Here's her LA Times obit: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...0,4427856.story

Great news! Congratulations, Michael!

The Be Bop Betty Boop! RIP. She was once of my favorites. Once Upon a Summertime was one of my favorites as well. As I recall, the first times I heard her on the radio, the DJ had in rotation two songs, I'm Following You and Peel Me a Grape. This was about '75 or '76. I read an interview with Gerry Mulligan some time ago which said that Blossom was one of the gang during the Birth of the Cool sessions. I first heard of her from the liner notes to a Bobby Jaspar album mentioning that they were married. She had quite a career for someone that most people have never heard of.

I have a Joe Locke channel on Pandora. Really enjoy it.

Milt Stegall will announce his retirement in a few weeks. Marcus Brady will not only be the Als' backup QB this year, he will also be the assistant coach for receivers. http://sports.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/...tsFootball/home ***** This will be Bryan Hall's last year doing the play-by-play for the Eskimos. He will turn 75 this year, and has been covering them for 55 years. I met him at the 1978 Grey Cup. Nice guy. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Edm...303476-sun.html ***** The Bombers have cut Tom Canada. You will recall that he discovered a health problem when they traded him to the Ticats last year, voiding the trade. I suspect that he will not play again. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Win...303596-sun.html

My recollection is that for the first ten years most stereos were consoles, pieces of nice furniture, so the speakers were close together, and the high fidelity rather than the stereo separation was the sales pitch. I am referring to most consumers, not the audiophiles. High fidelity is a relative term, and by the mid 70s when nearly everything sold was component systems the fidelity of those consoles would seem quite poor.

Happy Birthday!

Dave Dickenson announced his retirement yesterday. Believe it or not, he retired because the doctors wouldn't give him medical clearance. Apparently he was willing to go back out there after all those concussions. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Cal...274101-sun.html ***** The Ticats cut Tony Miles and Pat Woodcock this week. I guess that might be the end of the road for them both. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Ham...8277391-cp.html

So two middle-aged college professors in the music dept. of a school in Denver I have never heard of before (not that I have heard of every college in America) are chatting, and one says, "Wouldn't it be fun to do a CD with orchestra?" So they apply for a grant, and surprise! it's approved. The result is Just a Little Taste - Al Hood Plays the Writings of Dave Hanson. Now that sounds to me like the recipe for a really mediocre record, but it's not! Al Hood is a trumpeter whose prior claim to fame is that he had a trumpet solo on Phil Collins' 1999 album A Hot Night in Paris. He has a great, rich, mellow, full sound, spending most of his time in the lower register. (The bio that came with the album says that he can comfortably hit a high F.) Dave Hanson wrote the charts and half of the songs. The arrangements dominate the album. It could just have easily been called "Dave Hanson featuring Al Hood". One of Hood's favorite albums is Clifford Brown with Strings, and so that album was used as a reference/inspiration. The core band is trumpet, piano, bass and drums. In addition to the string section, the instruments include flute, oboe, french horn, and one track each with alto sax, tenor sax and vocals. The standards are Ceora, Pure Imagination, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, If I Loved You, I Remember Clifford and a song Shirley Horn did called Here's to Life. Speaking of Pure Imagination, you learn something new every day. I didn't know that it was written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, and that it is from the movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Although the disc is on the "Al Hood Music" label, it is up on Amazon and various download sites as well as CD Baby. If either Hood or Hanson were famous, I think that this album would be a best seller. (By the way, they are on the University of Denver faculty.)

Have to respectfully disagree there, GA. That's a tough act to follow. Please elaborate. FFA, what I have in mind is that the texture is rough, not smooth and effortless. To compare to another instrument, not at all like Paul Desmond.

Sal, I didn't know that you were a Canadian league fan too!