GA Russell

OK, eMusicheads! Sonny, Please should be available at eMusic today. Have at it!

Hang On Ramsey! was also on CD, but with a different title. I think the title was just The Ramsey Lewis Trio. As I recall it was not on the Chess label but rather a Universal discount label such as Rewind. I remember seeing it at Borders about 2000.

About 25 years ago I read a terrific review of a guitarist named something like Yngwe Malmsteen. So I took a chance and bought the record. Biggest disappointment ever.

Here's a good article that discusses the game in chronological order: http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4050286.htm

Jim Popp is a personnel guy who took over as the interim head coach. If he returns as the permanent coach next year, I'll have big doubts about the Als' chances. I think he didn't challenge the call because of his lack of experience. This was I think only the 8th game he has served as a head coach (at any level) in his career.

BC, I have attended, seen on TV or listened on the radio to about 25 Grey Cup games, going back to 1962's famous Fog Bowl. This year's game was the worst in my book. The 1986 game was a blowout, but I found it interesting because Edmonton was expected to clobber Hamilton but instead Hamilton clobbered Edmonton. Oh well, last year's game was one of the best, and they can't all be good!

That trio was my gateway to jazz. My first jazz album was their Hang On Ramsey! with the hits Hang On Sloopy and A Hard Day's Night. I believe that the Ramsey Lewis CD Finest Hour will satisfy your immediate wants.

The Onion couldn't have said it better!

Thanks Claude. The 2.0 is what I had in mind. I think I'm using the 1.4.

The Calgary Stampeders have signed Marc Boerigter for next year. After playing out his option with the Stamps, he played four years with Kansas City, and spent some time this year with both Green Bay and Indy. In his rookie year with KC he caught only twenty passes all year, but eight were TDs. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Cal...2431129-cp.html

Didn't Mozilla just recently release a new version of Firefox? If so, where do I get it?

Maybe it's just me, but I haven't felt like there has been a lot to offer in regard to new Christmas albums in the past five years. I think we were spoiled in the 90s when so much great Christmas music of the past was released for the first time on CD, plus the occasional CD from the likes of Wynton Marsalis or some compilations from the Young Lions. Last year I got Michael Franks' Christmas album from 2003 called Watching the Snow. It's a great one, if you don't mind that all of the songs are originals and secular. I'm looking forward to pulling that one out the day after Thanksgiving. Three years ago I reviewed a new release for AAJ called Jazz Yule Love. It was a Christmas compilation from the Mack Avenue label. As I recall, Stix Hooper, the label's a&r man and former Jazz Crusader, had each of the label's artists finish his recording session with a Christmas song. After a year or so of recording, Hooper had enough to issue a CD. It left me cold at the time. Part of the problem was that I opened it up fairly early in November and before I was in the mood to listen to Christmas music. But as Christmas albums go, this one was definitely not cheery. All of the songs were good taken out of context, but together the album was somewhat dreary. Last year Jazz Yule Love clicked for me, and I started to enjoy it more than I had in the past. This year, it's not an album I'll be listening to by itself, but I'll definitely include it in the mix when I am listening to more than one at a time. So now this year Mack Avenue has issued a new Christmas compilation entitled Jazz Yule Love II. I would give it four stars out of five. It is not dreary like the 2003 edition was, and the music is quite good. The two standouts for me are the first two cuts on the CD: trumpeter Sean Jones doing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and Gerald Wilson with an all star lineup in his orchestra doing Jingle Bells. Other artists include Bud Shank doing Let It Snow, Oscar Castro-Neves playing two classical pieces on accoustic guitar, a good vocalist I am unfamiliar with named Ilona Knopfler singing two standards, and a group called the Hot Club of Detroit (which borrows from the swing style of Django Reinhardt's group) making a jazz version of The Chipmonk Song. Oscar Brown, Jr., contributed the only original of the album in what I suppose was one of his final recordings. The album is 11 songs totalling 48 minutes. It won't be the best Christmas album of my collection, but I'm glad I have it, and it will suffice for my new Christmas album of the year.

Buyer beware. I got this today. It is a reissue of the Atlantic album The Beat of Brazil which was issued on CD by Collectables in 1999. It was released on Atlantic in the US in 1967, but the liner notes here say that the recordings were made in 1964. If you do not already have it, I can recommend it. It is a good album, but not hard core jazz. The above is not 100% accurate. Pure Bossa Nova has 14 tracks, two from 1962. The liner notes are not accurate, but it appears that four are from 1964 and an Atlantic album called The Swinger From Rio. The remaining eight are from 1967 and The Beat of Brazil. The causes of my confusion were the inaccuracies of the Pure Bossa Nova liner notes, the fact that The Beat of Brazil and The Swinger From Rio were included on the same Collectables disc, and that comparing the Atlantic/Collectables issues with Pure Bossa Nova is difficult because some of the titles are given in English on one but in Portugese on the other.

Here are the first two articles about the game, hot off the press: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Gre...19/2429608.html http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

Yes, but unfortunately you picked the wrong team! I remember fifteen years ago when the NFL went on strike the bookies recommended that their customers not bet on CFL games because they were too unpredictable! Speaking of Canadian league scoring...there were no single points (rouges) tonight!

Total points: 39. Nobody was under. Indestructible! was closest with 51. So he wins the prize. Congratulations Shane! I'm sure that everyone will be curious as to what CD you pick, so you might as well post your choice here. PM me your name and address, and I'll order it right away.

B.C. Lions 25....Montreal Alouettes 14 The Als fumbled on the Lions' 1 yard line with four minutes left in the game which pretty much sealed it for the Lions. Dave Dickinson was named the game's MVP, although he didn't have a great game. Paul McCallum was named the Canadian of the game with six field goals, tying the Grey Cup record.

After three the Lions lead 19-12. The Als O showed nothing in the first half, but came to life with six minutes left in the third and made a game of it. It often happens in the CFL that when a team dominates the first quarter and fails to put the other team away on the scoreboard, that team winds up losing. Tonight the Als got zero first downs in the first quarter. And now they have some momentum.

Since we now know that the kickoff will not be until 6:00 pm eastern, let's extend the deadline till then.

In what - the "songs" or the playing? The songs and Symphony Sid.

Blue Note s Three Decades of Jazz - 1959-1969, Volume 1 In 1969 Liberty issued six twofers of Blue Note compilations, two for each decade of the company.

Thanks goodness for CDs! When I started listening to jazz in the mid-60s, I NEVER saw a Bird record in the stores. I believe that they were all out of print. I have one Savoy studio CD and two Dial CDs. I have been meaning to get the 3 CD set of those from Your Music to complete my collection in that regard. A few years ago I bought the box of Savoy Live recordings which I enjoy, but not as much as the studio work. I have not listened to it all; I usually break out a new CD from that set every Jan. 1. So far I have found what seems like too much repetition in the Live box.

SOW, are you sure you want to make a move now? It looks to me like chances are excellent that prices will be much lower a year from now and even lower two years from now. I can understand how a TV fanatic wouldn't have the patience to wait, but considering your interest in music I would think that you would rather spend that kind of money on upgrading your stereo system rather than your television.

In the past couple of days I have listened to both of the Mort Weiss albums that we have discussed here as well as Disc 3 of the Buddy DeFranco Mosaic box. I was surprised to realize that although DeFranco is an extraordinary musician, I find Weiss's tone to be much more warm and pleasant.

In addition to the website cited above, Sirius satellite radio will carry the game on ch. 186. The kickoff will be 6:00 pm eastern time, with a pre-game radio show of at least a half an hour.