GA Russell

If today really is your birthday, Happy Birthday to you both! I assumed that Jan. 1 was the default for members who didn't list a day, but then again many more than two would have declined to list a day.

We've done this the past couple of years, with interesting responses. I guess what I find most interesting in the responses is that they have been quite varied and often reflect music not frequently discussed here on the forum. So...What did you listen to the most this past year? For me it was the vibraharp. I listened to a lot of Cal Tjader; some Terry Gibbs, Milt Jackson and Stefon Harris; and a little Bobby Hutcherson, Red Norvo and Gary Burton. I also listened to more ECM than I have since I went on an ECM kick about 20 years ago. I expect to be listening to a lot of ECM in January. So were there any albums or artists that you played most of all this year?

Wow! Thanks for the heads up, Tjazz! I've just put these two at the top of my queue. I've been waiting for that Maynard since the word first went out that it would be reissued!

I don't disagree with the points made here. But I have to wonder how much illegal downloading results in lost sales of music aimed at adults. I understand that college kids get most of their music now through illegal downloading, so the sale of rock music should suffer, and it does. But jazz? I have to think, with no evidence to back it up, that the people who are illegally downloading music would not have bought the CD anyway.

Happy New Year everyone! Some years NPR has New Year's midnight jazz concerts. Last year's was pretty good, with Karrin Allyson in the Central time zone and McCoy Tyner with Joe Lovano on Pacific time. I'll tune in tonight to see if they are doing it again this year.

Happy Birthday Tony!

In 1972 season the league made a big deal that the Dolphins were the first to go undefeated. But someone pointed out that Indianapolis in 1928 also went undefeated. I guess that since nobody cared about pro football in the 20s the league decided that it wouldn't care either.

I didn't know that Sam Jones could play like that!

I received from my niece an Amazon gift certificate email (something I had never received before), which I spent via the Organissimo link. I bought a book that came out a couple of years ago but which I learned of only recently called The Canadian Football League - The Phoenix of Professional Sports Leagues. I also got a book on the American Football League entitled Long Gone. My nephew gave me a subscription to a magazine he likes called Culture Wars. My sister gave me (at my request) a subscription to a Catholic newspaper called The Wanderer. And my aunt gave me a pair of cashmere socks from LL Bean! I have never heard of cashmere socks before, but that sounds as luxurious and decadent as you can get! I'm looking forward to wearing them soon.

Thanks for posting that, Chewy. We've talked about Gravatt here before. I saw him twice in college - the first time with Lloyd McNeal in 1968 and the second time with Weather Report in 1971. I hope he records with McCoy.

Happy Birthday!

CKNW in Vancouver is reporting... Dave Ritchie will retire. He has been the Lions' defensive coordinator since he lost his last job as head coach three years ago. Last year he was hoping to land another head coaching job like in Saskatchewan. My guess is that he was not interviewed this year for the three job openings, so at his age he has decided to retire. But that's just a guess on my part. Roy Shivers will replace Bob O'Billovich as the Lions' player personnel director. I met Shivers when he had that job around 1990, back when Joe Galat was with the Lions, I guess as their GM. They don't get much more outspoken than Shivers, as the fans of Saskatchewan can tell you! After one year at Edmonton where he was the fall guy for the Eskimos' last place finish, Jacques Chapdelaine will return to the Lions as their offensive coordinator. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/BC/...736385-sun.html

ak, I'm a big Mike Nock fan, but I've never seen that one. Let us know what you think of it! ga, i have it on scratchy vinyl already...it is a trio session from 1970? 1971? the fourth way rhythm section, basically. mclure is on ebass the whole time. nock is half on acoustic, half on epiano. a few spacy funky-ish tracks, a few more jazz-sounding but still spacy and only one song that is a bit out. i wonder if i will hear it as less spacy with CD remastering as opposed to my scratchy and muffled LP. I loved The Fourth Way at the time! I had all three of their albums. In fact, their second album (The Sun and Moon Will Rise Together) was the second cassette I bought (1969 as I recall). I guess I'll have to look for this. Thanks.

Skid, what is on that one besides the three Aladdin LPs? Are there any alternate takes? I ask because I have the CD of the second Aladdin LP which has alternate takes (I think) from the first LP; and although I like it a lot, I don't feel like springing soon for a Select of which I already own a third.

ak, I'm a big Mike Nock fan, but I've never seen that one. Let us know what you think of it!

Well, the article says that they were feeling political pressure. In addition, I don't see any loss of revenue for them, because the NFL Network is not pay-per-view. In this case, I don't see it to be a matter of the league losing out on the money of anyone who might choose to subscribe to NFL Network to see the game. Rather, the game is unavailable to most households because the cable systems won't carry the NFL Network on the terms the NFL demands. Until the NFL moves to a pay-per-view system, I have to think that their bottom line is best served by having the greatest number of viewers watch their big games. I think this move does hurt the sports bars, however. They would have benefited from the increase of one-off customers who would have come in to watch this game.

My pick this month was Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian. Believe it or not, it's my first Frisell album. I've spent the month listening to Christmas music, so I haven't opened it up yet. I'm going to play Xmas music straight through New Year's Day, and then open up a number of things that have been accumulating.

Only you, Aggie! Apparently the server senses that no one wants to be wished a Merry Christmas by you!

Merry Christmas everyone! As I mentioned, agreat deal happened the week of Dec. 2 when I was in Chicago. Let's get caught up. The Ticats hired Bob O'Billovich as their new GM. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home Pinball Clemons stepped away from his coaching job, and was named the new CEO of the Argos. http://tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=224338&hubname John Hufnagel was named the new head coach of the Stampeders. http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...df-969815747985 Marcel Desjardins, fresh from being punted as the Ticats' GM, has landed on his feet as the Asst. GM of the Alouettes. http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=newser&...y&nid=22170 Rich Stubler was named the new head coach of the Argos. http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/283397 The Alouettes hired former NFL asst. coach Marc Trestman as their new head coach. I believe that this is a big mistake. The guy has no Canadian rules football experience. The last coach to jump from the NFL to the CFL and do well was Marv Levy in 1974. http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/footba...228&k=23692 The Eskimos signed Ricky Ray to a four-year contract, and named Rick Worman their new offensive coordinator. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=225521&hubname=cfl The Ticats decided not to fire head coach Charlie Taaffe. http://www.thespec.com/Sports/article/295727

Why thank you, BClug! Merry Christmas!

MG, that's well said, and about a lot of people!

LOL! I've done the same thing in the past! Click on the edit button on your first post, and you will be able to change the header as well as the post.

Merry Christmas! I received three: Bobo Stenson - :rarum Laurindo Almeida and Bud Shank - Brazilliance, vol. 2 Cal Tjader Plays the Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil I have wanted all three of these for quite some time, so I'm a happy camper!

Here's his LA Times obituary, taken from the AP: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...news-obituaries Pianist, jazz great Oscar Peterson dies at 82 AFP/Getty Images One of the best-loved figures of the jazz world, pianist Oscar Peterson played with all the greats during his seven decades in the business, displaying a versatile style that included boogie-woogie, stride and bebop. From the Associated Press 12:59 PM PST, December 24, 2007 TORONTO -- Oscar Peterson, whose early talent, speedy fingers and musical genius made him one of the world's best known jazz pianists, died at age 82. Peterson died at his home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga on Sunday, said Oliver Jones, a family friend and jazz musician. He said Peterson's family were with him during his final moments. The cause of death was kidney failure, said Mississauga's mayor, Hazel McCallion. "He's been going downhill in the last few months, slowing up," McCallion said, calling Peterson a "very close friend." During an illustrious career spanning seven decades, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also remembered for touring in a trio with Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar in the 1950s. Peterson's impressive collection of awards include all of Canada's highest honors, such as the Order of Canada, as well as a Lifetime Grammy (1997) and a spot in the International Jazz Hall of Fame. His growing stature was reflected in the admiration of his peers. Duke Ellington referred to him as "Maharajah of the keyboard," while Count Basie once said "Oscar Peterson plays the best ivory box I've ever heard." In a statement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said "one of the bright lights of jazz has gone out." "He was a regular on the French stage, where the public adored his luminous style," Sarkozy said. "It is a great loss for us." Jazz pianist Marian McPartland called Peterson "the finest technician that I have seen." McPartland said she first met Peterson when she and her husband, jazz cornetist Jimmy McPartland, opened for him at the Colonial Tavern in Toronto in the 1940s. "From that point on we became such goods friends, and he was always wonderful to me and I have always felt very close to him," she said. "I played at his tribute concert at Carnegie Hall earlier this year and performed 'Tenderly,' which was always my favorite piece of his." The American jazz pianist Billy Taylor called Peterson one of the finest jazz pianists of his time. "He set the pace for just about everybody that followed him. He really was just a special player," Taylor said. Born on Aug. 15, 1925, in a poor neighborhood southwest of Montreal, Peterson obtained a passion for music from his father. Daniel Peterson, a railway porter and self-taught musician, bestowed his love of music to his five children, offering them a means to escape from poverty. Oscar Peterson learned to play trumpet and piano at a young age, but after a bout with tuberculosis had to concentrate on the latter. He became a teen sensation in his native Canada, playing in dance bands and recording in the late 1930s and early 1940s. But he got his real break as a surprise guest at Carnegie Hall in 1949, after which he began touring the United States and Europe. He quickly made a name for himself as a jazz virtuoso, often compared to piano great Art Tatum, his childhood idol, for his speed and technical skill. He was also influenced by Nat King Cole, whose Nat King Cole Trio album he considered "a complete musical thesaurus for any aspiring Jazz pianist." Peterson never stopped calling Canada home despite his growing international reputation. But at times he felt slighted here, where he was occasionally mistaken for a football player, standing at 6 foot 3 and more than 250 pounds. In 2005 he became the first living person other than a reigning monarch to obtain a commemorative stamp in Canada, where he is jazz royalty, with streets, squares, concert halls and schools named after him. Peterson suffered a stroke in 1993 that weakened his left hand, but not his passion or drive for music. Within a year he was back on tour, recording "Side By Side" with Itzhak Perlman. As he grew older, Peterson kept playing and touring, despite worsening arthritis and difficulties walking. "A jazz player is an instant composer," Peterson once said in a CBC interview, while conceding jazz did not have the mass appeal of other musical genres. "You have to think about it, it's an intellectual form," he said.

Don Chevrier has died. Some of you may not remember his work because he was a true professional without the goony personality so many sportscasters have nowadays. I had the pleasure of meeting him in 1978 at a Grey Cup party. Nice guy. Here's his LA Times obituary: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...news-obituaries December 21, 2007 Don Chevrier Broadcaster called Blue Jays' 1st game Don Chevrier, 69, a longtime broadcaster who covered several Olympics and called the Toronto Blue Jays' first game, was found dead Monday at his home in Palm Harbor, Fla., according to his daughter, Melanie. The cause of death was not immediately known. The Toronto native began his broadcasting career in Canada at 16 announcing high school sports. He eventually worked on TV and radio for several networks, including ABC, NBC, ESPN and the Canadian Broadcasting Co. At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., he called the USA-USSR "Miracle on Ice" hockey game for ABC Radio. By one count, Chevrier had broadcast 21 sports, including team handball at the 1976 Olympics. Chevrier called the Blue Jays' opener in 1977 and did his best to make the baseball games sound exciting during the team's dismal inaugural season. During the 1970s and '80s, Chevrier covered some of boxing's biggest bouts, often with Howard Cosell, on ABC's "Wide World of Sports." In addition to doing the play-by-play on "Monday Night Baseball" for ABC Sports, Chevrier called National Hockey League games for ESPN and other networks, Canadian Football League games for ESPN and United States Football League games for ABC Radio. He spent more than 20 years on radio covering the Kentucky Derby, 14 years as the television voice of curling in Canada and was the longtime host of ABC Radio's "World of Sports" show.