GA Russell

Someone with a discography would be able to speak definitively about this, but here is my understanding of the situation. I think Riverside went bankrupt in 1965. The last recording that they did that I am aware of was a Charlie Byrd solo album, which was available from BMG/Your Music two years ago. I always assumed that Orpheum purchased the company out of bankruptcy. I am not aware of their making any new recordings. Orpheum didn't last long. I believe that ABC purchased the catalogue in 1968. Don't take anything here as authoritative. This is just my understanding of how it went down.

I'm surprised there haven't been more posters to this thread over the past month. I guess not many of us here are into Christmas music.

I believe so, Ghost.

I've been digging Jazz Yule Love I and II all month long. I appreciate Vol. I much more than I did in the past. I came to the conclusion that I don't like Teddy Edwards' Silent Night on it, so I've been skipping over that one track, and have really enjoyed the album. The first two tracks of Vol. II no longer stand out as obviously the best. It's all good. I had never heard of the Hot Club of Detroit before, but now I'm thinking about getting one of their albums. They're good! Another act to watch is the singer Ilona Knopfler. Her voice is not very distinctive, but her recordings of I'll Be Home for Christmas and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas are solid contributions to the album.

Very cool, Ed! **** The other day the Argos traded Keith Stokes to the Als for Richard Karikari. Both guys are former stars who played their way onto the bench this past season. Maybe new surroundings will help them both. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...895419-sun.html

Happy Birthday Swinger!

The Yellowjackets - Peace Round I was given this one. It's OK for background music, but not really very good IMO.

When I first started buying jazz records, I was able to find some Riversides for $1.99, and had quite a positive attitude about the label, because of Monk, Mark Murphy, Charlie Byrd, George Russell, Wes Montgomery, Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans. However, as time has passed, I have begun to wonder if I didn't right then get the best that label had to offer, and if most of their catalogue is not up to the same standards. About five years ago I got the Fantasy 4 CD box compilation called The Riverside Records Story. It's enjoyable, but on the whole not as good as the albums I got when I was in college. I got a few in the Concord blowout sale that I haven't listened to yet, and I'm looking forward to doing so in the New Year. But I'm wondering now if I didn't overestimate the company for all these years.

It was announced today that cable channel TSN (The Sports Network) will have the exclusive Grey Cup broadcast rights for five years starting in 2008. I guess people like me who don't have cable will just have to go to a sports bar to see the game. Also, all of the TSN broadcasts of the league's games will be in high definition. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

I look forward to any good news from Verve. I read somewhere that they are making no plans to reissue CDs, and are devoting all of their efforts to getting the albums online for downloading.

ss1, do we contribute to a pot for this?

Ed, I don't think Ottawa will get a team in the forseeable future. There is now only one applicant for the franchise, and he has received negative opinions coming from the anonymous sources who always seem to be right. It's not clear to me that the Ottawa community wants a team. The Renegades had the highest rent in the league. If Ottawa didn't already have a ballpark in place, I don't think it would be under discussion. ***** The Globe & Mail is reporting that the league is set to announce a new TV deal paying each team $2 million a year for five years. CTV/TSN will get internet rights as well as cable and broadcast rights. The past two years the league has shown its games live on its website for those who have broadband - pay per view set at $9.99 per game (or I think $6.99 for archived webcasts). I'll be curious to see if the price will come down for the internet webcasts. Maybe they will charge $30-40 for a season's subscription. This new deal doesn't start till 2008. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

My two favorites are: Mike Nock - Ondas Kenny Wheeler - Double Double You

Antonio Carlos Jobim's Meditation

I agree with John; my "new to me" CDs were not as good this year as they were last. But going over the list, it hasn't been a bad year. The * indicates reissue/vault. *Bill Evans - Plays for Lovers *Stan Getz - Plays For Lovers David Murray 4tet - Waltz Again Moacir Santos - Choros & Allegria Joey DeFrancesco - Organic Vibes Karrin Allyson - Footprints Bennie Maupin Ensemble - Penumbra Jeff Gauthier Goatette - One and the Same *Miles Davis - Legendary Prestige Quintet, disc 1 Jovino Santos Neto - Roda Carioca *Kenny Dorham - Quiet Kenny *Joe Henderson - Milestone Profiles *Richard "Groove" Holmes - Soul Message Mort Weiss - The B3 and Me Sonny Rollins - Sonny, Please *Sergio Mendes - Pure Bossa Nova Mike Marshall and Hamilton de Hollanda - New Words Novas Palavras Various - Jazz Yule Love II 11 new issues, 7 vaults.

I opened up a "new to me" CD today: The Weavers - We Wish You a Merry Christmas (MCA)

Olympic Stadium, home of the Montreal Concorde (!), is finally paid off! It took thirty years. I once saw a game on TV, I think it was the last year of the Alouettes before they folded, and the announced crowd was 4,000; but 400 would have been more like it. Great plays were made to complete silence. It was like watching a scrimmage. I attended the '79 and '85 Grey Cup games there. I'm pretty sure a Grey Cup game there in the near future is scheduled, but I don't recall when. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...portsOther/home

Happy Birthday David! Good luck to you. Hope your health improves pronto!

Chris, a few minutes after I posted the above, I remembered Mike Vickers with Manfred Mann! However, it should be noted that when they were on TV Vickers always played guitar. He doubled on sax and flute for the albums of course. I became a huge Manfred Mann fan three years after Do Wah Diddy hit. I heard their third album and loved it. I thought that their hits were their worst songs. It was my feeling that Manfred Mann had the most talented musicians of all the British Invasion groups. By the way, the group reformed as The Manfreds with everyone except Mann himself about ten years ago, and has released a number of CDs. I have three of them. No new compositions. The songs are either remakes of their old songs or covers of 60s hits. Lots of fun. Vickers was a member of The Manfreds for a number of years, but left the band a few years ago. As I recall, Mike Vickers was the orchestra conductor on the Beatles' All You Need Is Love.

Denny Payton of The Dave Clark Five has died. We spoke of the DC5 not long ago on a thread about the R&R Hall of Fame. Payton was the only sax player of the British Invasion that I was aware of. This makes me feel old! Here's his obituary from the LA Times: Denis Payton, 63; played saxophone with the Dave Clark Five From Times Staff and Wire Reports December 19, 2006 Denis Payton, 63, the saxophone player in the British pop band the Dave Clark Five, died Sunday of cancer in Bournemouth, southern England, Clark's office said Monday. Payton, who was born in Walthamstow, East London, England, appeared on all the group's records and also played guitars and harmonica and sang backup vocals. The group was London's answer to the wave of hits pouring out of Liverpool in the 1960s. Their hit records include "Bits and Pieces," "Do You Love Me?" and "Glad All Over." "Denis was a very dear friend who I've known since we were teenagers," Clark said in a statement. "Denis was very brave and not afraid of death. He will be greatly missed by me and all who knew him." Just weeks ago, the group was nominated for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Now the Argos have cut Clifford Ivory! He has been with the team five years, and was an all-star for three of them. I guess the Argos have decided that they can't stand pat, but they're letting their best players go! I agree with John that they are making room for Casey Printers' salary, but Printers' can't win it by himself. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...877140-sun.html

"I'll do the thinnin' around here, Baba Louie." I was an adult before I learned that Babalu was a hit of Desi Arnaz. I was watching when the first Hanna-Barbera TV show was broadcast. It was called Ruff & Reddy. It was an adventure serial featuring a dog and a cat who encountered the mysterious Mr. Gizmo from the planet Munimula, which is aluminum spelled backward. Next came Huckleberry Hound with Yogi Bear and Pixie & Dixe (with Mr. Jinx). Then came Quick Draw McGraw with Augie Doggy and I think Snagglepuss. Then Yogi Bear got his own show, and was replaced on Huckleberry Hound by Hokie Wolf, which I didn't think was very good. I don't remember the cartoons on the Yogi Bear Show, as that was about the time I quit watching.

Jeff Garcia made the front page of USA Today yesterday! The upper left corner is reserved for a couple of sports headlines and a photo, and yesterday's photo was of Garcia. The article in the sports section was just the usual, suggesting that because the Eagles have won the past three games they are a force to be reckoned with. The Eagles play the Cowboys this week, and if they win they will be in first place in the NFC East with the advantage of the tiebreaker.

I'm not really hip about what is going on now. My interest is primarily in the 50s and 60s. That said, I'm not aware of any young musicians considered original and innovative who are playing melodies I can hum along to. I think that the market for free jazz will forever be miniscule; and until people write songs which have the potential to become jazz standards, I see jazz petering out.

Have they been good recently carrying Sony/Columbias? I'm wondering if they will have the Soft Machine remasters due out in February.