GA Russell

RIP. I remember my first record of his, Mark Murphy's Playing the Field on Capitol.

Former Bears QB Bob Avellini has passed away (msn.com) RIP.

That's good to know! The number of performances being only double the number of recordings suggests that nearly every performance after a certain date was recorded and released.

My sister sent me a clipping of a recent WSJ article by John Edward Hasse called "Duke Ellington's Singular Swing." He writes, "He led his ensemble through 10,000 recordings, an estimated 20,000 performances..." Does that sound right? His performances were only double his recordings? For every 12 songs he recorded, he performed only 24 times? 10,000 recordings divided by 12 would equal 833 albums. What do you think? 1,000 recordings?

RIP. When I was in high school, my favorite song was Constant Rain by Brasil '66.

Sony Pictures, Apollo Offer to Buy Paramount Global for $26 Billion in Cash: Report (msn.com)

RFK Stadium cleared for demolition after 5 years of sitting empty - WTOP News The Senators moved to Dallas in part because the owner (Bob Short) had no control over the RFK food. He was frustrated by the cold hot dogs and warm beer.

I see that the new Cal Tjader at the Penthouse is now available at YT Music.

Happy Birthday Soulpope!

The eBook version of Jared Diamond's Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball's Home Run Revolution is on sale today for $2.99. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V9HD4XP

Duane Eddy, 'the first rock 'n' roll guitar god,' dead at 86 (msn.com)

Great! I didn't know NFL teams allowed such transfers.

Kevin, how many years did you have to wait to become first in line?

I have found this at YT Music as well.

RIP.

Dodgers play an entire game without striking out once for the first time since 2006 (msn.com)

Flavio Silva Explores Multiple Dimensions of Electric Guitar With the June 7 Release of "Eko" on Break Free Records Recorded in São Paulo, Album Features Six Originals, One Brazilian Standard Performed by a Top-Flight Quartet That Straddles Fusion, Postbop Jazz, Brazilian Traditions   April 30, 2024 Guitarist Flavio Silva gives his beloved Brazilian jazz a new electrical charge with Eko, set to arrive June 7 on his own Break Free Records. The follow-up to 2018’s Break Free, Silva’s third album digs deeper into the fusion sound that has always been a simmering ingredient in his heady brew of various jazz and Brazilian flavors. Brazilian rhythms have, of course, been an indispensable piece of the jazz fusion puzzle ever since percussionist Airto Moreira played on Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew sessions. With Eko, Silva drives home the hand-in-glove relationship of those sonic palettes. “This is an electric album,” Silva affirms. “Even though there’s double bass, the aesthetic is way more toward the electric side.” That much is certain. The album’s opening “Motaba” is a veritable whiplash of rock-infused power and attitude. In addition, the title track and the closing “Sunflower” are nothing if not hard-driving, plugged-in stuff, irradiated as much by keyboardist Gabriel Gaiardo’s Fender Rhodes and synths as by Silva’s sinewy but crystalline guitar tone. With that said, there’s no question but that more traditional Brazilian and jazz musics also exert a powerful influence within these seven tracks. “Pare de Saranhar Meu Cabelo Menino” is remarkably lilting and delicate, driven by Cuca Teixeira’s brushwork on the cymbals and Sidiel Vieira’s stolid upright bass; both Milton Nascimento’s “Dom Quixote” and Silva’s “To Blade and Cowherd” exhibit a lighter, postbop-oriented touch; and “Heroes and Friends,” for all its scalding electric textures, is ultimately a full-on swinger. This says as much about Silva’s collaborators on Eko as it does about the guitarist himself. Gaiardo, Teixeira, and Vieira are three of the most acclaimed and in-demand players on the scene in the musically rich city of São Paulo, where they’ve cultivated a repertoire as wide as it is deep, thus establishing themselves as Silva’s peers by any measure. You can hear it in the music. Flavio Silva was born February 11, 1985 in in São Paulo, Brazil. His was a household immersed in music, whether in the northeastern folk music that his father loved or the more contemporary MPB that his mother favored. Silva himself preferred the sounds of Black American pop music: funk and R&B, which inspired him to try his hand at the guitar he grew up hearing his father’s friends play. When he was 13, Silva’s guitar teacher bent his ear toward jazz fusion guitarists; a later teacher introduced him to acoustic jazz. The discovery literally changed his life. It started him on the course to earn a degree in jazz, which in turn led him to the professional jazz circles of São Paulo—and later to Europe. He spent six years in Belgium and the Netherlands, honing his craft and recording his eponymous first album with fellow Brazilian expats (including drummer Cuca Teixeira). The next stop was New York, where Silva matriculated at Queens College in 2015 to earn a master’s in jazz studies. His teachers included fellow guitarists Paul Bollenback and Mike Moreno, as well as alto saxophonist Antonio Hart, who turned Silva loose on the endlessly fecund New York scene. He was soon a first-call guitarist among the jazz elite, several of whom joined him to record his second album, Break Free—an important breakthrough for the young guitarist. The 2018 release of Break Free, however, more or less coincided with the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and Silva chose to wait out the lockdowns in his hometown of São Paulo. His return and two-year stay in the Brazilian metropolis led him to reconnect with his colleagues there. The bounty of that reconnection is Eko, which reflects everything that the guitarist has done and learned in his accomplished musical career. Paulistas can catch Flavio Silva this month at the following São Paulo venues: Thurs 5/2 Let’s Beer Brewery; Sat 5/18 O Picco; Thurs 5/23 Cine Clube Cortina. Photography: Bill Douthart   EPK: Flavio Silva | Eko  Flavio Silva Web Site  

A lawyer is talking to an elderly couple seated in his office. “You’ve been married for over 70 years! Why on earth do you want to get divorced now??” The old lady responds “We wanted to wait until the kids were dead.”

I give about 100 books each year as Christmas presents. I like to give cookbooks to the various women in my life, because cookbooks can be feminine without being a romantic gesture. Most of these cookbooks are about cookies or chocolate. The guys get books about backyard grilling or hot sauce. I give teens interesting stories to read, so that they will discover the joy of reading for pleasure rather than under compulsion (schoolwork). Who knows? Maybe I am the only person giving books to these people!

NFL to allow players to wear protective soft-shell helmet covers during games (msn.com)

This arrived in the mail today, and I like it a lot. No weak tracks. Good for relaxing before getting ready for bed.

Well, you're welcome to disagree, but I'm quite certain that I have seen the Coltrane recordings referred to as a "power trio."