GA Russell

I saw a tweet last week: Men, don't try to understand women. Women understand women, and we hate each other.

Bordeaux Concert Documents Keith Jarrett's Last Solo Performance in France  The Improvised Thirteen-Part Suite from 2016 Finds the Pianist at a Creative High Point Available September 30 via ECM Records WBGO Interview and Track Premiere Bordeaux Concert documents a solo performance, the last that Keith Jarrett would give in France, at the Auditorium de l'Opéra National de Bordeaux on July 6, 2016, and finds the pianist at a creative high point. Each of Jarrett’s 2016 solo piano concerts had its own strikingly distinct character, and in Bordeaux – although the music would progress through many changing moods – the lyrical impulse was to the fore. In the course of this improvised thirteen-part suite, many quiet discoveries are made. There is a touching freshness to the music as a whole, a feeling of intimate communication shared with the 1400 attentive listeners in the hall. This time there is no recourse to standard tunes to round out the performance; the arc of spontaneously composed and often intensely melodic music is satisfyingly complete in itself. In the later concerts part of Jarrett’s achievement as an improviser has been the way in which he has not only channeled the music in its moment-to-moment emergence but implied a sense of larger structure as he balances its episodes and atmospheres. Reviewing the July 2016 performance, the French press spoke of hints of the Köln Concert and Bremen-Lausanne in the flow of things, and extended sections of Bordeaux Concert are beguilingly beautiful. Tender songs are coaxed from the air, “rousing a community of listening at the edge of silence," as Francis Marmande put it in Le Monde, “an awareness of time out from the noise and weariness of the world.” *  Bordeaux’s community of listeners had long been aware of Jarrett’s music. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine capital was one of the first European cities where Jarrett presented his music, as early as 1970 - with his trio, then, with Gus Nemeth and Aldo Romano. He was back in the early 1990s, with the ‘Standards’ trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. The July 2016 concert, however, was his only solo performance in the city (made possible via the Jazz and Wine Bordeaux Festival and its director, Jean-Jacques Quesada). Previous releases from Keith Jarrett’s 2016 solo concert tour: Munich 2016 “His elegance, restraint, freedom, austerity, richness, breadth of allusion, heartfelt depths, rhapsodic heights, passionate musical intelligence, rigorously disciplined expressiveness, development of forms invented in the moment, and concentrated brilliance – all executed with undiminished perfection of technique – are amazing, at times overwhelming. No one else does anything that comes close. No one ever has.” Richard Lehnert, Stereophile “Munich 2016 features Jarrett at his fluent and inventive best... The pianist re-constitutes the core ingredients of his aesthetic in fresh and unexpected ways.” Mike Hobart, Financial Times Budapest Concert “This composite suite could be considered a concentrated compendium of his talents, of his entire career.” Jacques Denis, Libération “The second half features a few of Mr. Jarrett´s most ravishing on-the-spot compositions. Those ballads, like ‘Part V’ and ‘Part VII,' spark against briskly atonal or boppish pieces, gradually building the case for a mature expression that might not have been possible earlier in his career. A magnificent achievement.” Nate Chinen, New York Times Keith Jarrett | Bordeaux Concert ECM Release Date: CD: September 30, 2022; 2-LP: October 14, 2022 For more information on ECM, please visit: ECMRecords.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter ‌ ‌ ‌ # # # The Song Is You Documents the Inspired Meeting Between Italian Trumpeter Enrico Rava and American Pianist Fred Hersch Available September 9 via ECM Records The Song Is You documents the inspired meeting of two master improvisers. Italian trumpeter and flugelhornist Enrico Rava and US pianist Fred Hersch share a love of the music’s history and together explore standards including Jerome Kern’s “The Song Is You," Thelonious Monk’s “Misterioso” and “’Round Midnight," Jobim’s “Retrato em Branco e Preto," and George Bassman’s “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You." They also play their own tunes, Fred’s “Child’s Song” and Enrico’s “The Trial," and create music freely together. It’s a subtle and far-reaching performance: when jazz reaches this level of understanding and interplay, a performance becomes less about the material – however distinguished it may be - than what the interpreter brings to it. Rava and Hersch bring vast experience and a finely honed sense of jazz improvisation as a storyteller’s art. Enrico Rava has recorded for ECM since the 1970s, beginning with The Pilgrim and the Stars, now regarded as a modern jazz classic. The Song Is You is Fred Hersch’s first for the label, following albums as a leader with Nonesuch, Palmetto, Sunnyside and others. Throughout his long career as a player, Hersch has returned very often, to duo instrumentation. In his memoir Good Things Happen Slowly Hersch reflects upon his preference for the format: “The duo suited my ability to use the entire keyboard to do multiple things at once. It also let me orchestrate the music instead of just playing block chords with the left hand... I indulged my love of spontaneous counterpoint – two or more independent melodic lines going on simultaneously. I can go from roaring loud to pianissimo instantly. It’s collaborative and also intimate. You have to be compatible but also different enough for each musician to offer something unique.” (Enrico’s discography also includes some notable duos, including The Third Man with Stefano Bollani). The November 2021 recording of The Song Is You followed just a handful of Italian dates earlier that year. But from first of these it was evident that something special was happening. Fred Hersch: “One of the things that I really liked from the beginning was that Enrico doesn’t feel like he has to be soloing. It’s not as clearly defined. We make things together,” Fred told interviewer Nicola Ferrauto. “He lets me get in there and push him a little bit. Other times I might give him a lot of space. The best duo partnerships are the ones where you don’t have to talk about it too much. You just play. And I’m getting the feeling this is going to be a long partnership. It’s really very simpatico, and Enrico’s a great master.” * Born in Trieste in 1939, and growing up in Turin, Enrico Rava came early to jazz, inspired by Miles Davis and Chet Baker among others. Active in the international free jazz milieu of the 1960s, he contributed to historically important recordings including Steve Lacy’s The Forest and the Zoo, Carla Bley’s Escalator Over the Hill and Manfred Schoof’s European Echoes. From the outset it was clear however that Rava’s concept of musical freedom would always embrace lyricism as one of its key components and this has been a constant though all his artistic adventures. Now acknowledged as the most important representative of Italian jazz, Enrico Rava has been the recipient of many awards including the Jazzpar, Europe’s biggest prize for jazz musicians. In 2011 Rava published the book Incontri con musicisti straordinari, with reflections on fifty years of music-making. Recent ECM releases with Enrico Rava have included two live albums: Roma, a collaboration with Joe Lovano, and Editione Speziale; both albums also feature pianist Giovanni Guidi, one of many younger players who consider Enrico a mentor. * Fred Hersch was born in Cincinnati in 1955, and studied at the New England Conservatory with teachers including Jaki Byard and Joe Maneri. In 1977, he moved to New York, where he soon found work with Art Farmer, Joe Henderson, Stan Getz and others. His first recording as a leader, 1984’s Horizons, introduced his trio with Marc Johnson and Joey Baron, and established Hersch as an independent and original voice on the piano. His affinity for duo playing has led to collaborations with Anat Cohen, Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, Chris Potter, Avishai Cohen and Miguel Zenon. His solo playing is widely celebrated: in 2006 he became the first artist to play a week-long engagement as solo pianist at New York’s Village Vanguard. Hersch has also been acclaimed for his compositions, including Leaves of Grass, his 2003 settings of Walt Whitman’s poetry, the 2010 multimedia project My Coma Dreams, and his Variations on a Folksong, which was premiered by Igor Levit at Carnegie Hall in January 2022. Fred Hersch’s memoir Good Things Happen Slowly was voted Book of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, one of many awards the pianist has received. * The Song Is You was recorded at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in November 2021, and produced by Manfred Eicher More information: www.fredhersch.com, www.enricorava.com Enrico Rava & Fred Hersch | The Song is You ECM Release Date: September 9, 2022 For more information on ECM, please visit: ECMRecords.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter ‌ ‌ ‌ # # # On The Next Door, Julia Hülsmann Returns with the Quartet from 2019’s Not Far From Here, and Presents Her Unique Pianistic Voice in a Varied Program of Almost Exclusively Original Music Featuring Saxophonist Uli Kempendorff, Drummer Heinrich Köbberling and Bassist Marc Muellbauer  Available August 26 via ECM Records “Our various responsibilities within the quartet are more open and free than in the trio. Even though there’s an additional player, assigning stricter roles isn’t necessary. There’s plenty of room for me to move around on piano, manoeuvre from contributing unison lines to melodic accompaniment, then switch to playing basslines – all seamlessly, because we are always listening to each other. That’s our first and foremost priority” – Julia Hülsmann  The follow-up to 2019’s Not Far From Here sees Julia Hülsmann reconvening with the same line-up as last time, in Studios La Buissonne, and entering into intense interplay with a band that has been extensively worked-in on the road. The Guardian called the quartet’s debut “a standout, for understated reinvention of the familiar and cool virtuosity” and spoke of “clever, thoughtful, inquisitively contemporary jazzmaking." These virtues have been further refined and new idioms added to the blend on the quartet’s second stance, with each member – tenor saxophonist Uli Kempendorff, Heinrich Köbberling on drums, Marc Muellbauer on bass and Julia – contributing original material to The Next Door. “Since the last album we’ve been on the road a whole lot," Julia notes. “We’ve had time to further develop our rapport as a quartet and, as a result, our interplay has become even more intuitive.” Even when most live-activity was intermittently shut down, Julia and her quartet participated in alternative performance projects and spent many weeks vigorously rehearsing new material. The fruit of their labour, presented on this album, is as multi-facetted as it is uncompromising, with a strong emphasis on an intimate ensemble sound. Flashes of jazz’ tradition, somewhere between '60s modal customs and post-bop swing, pull through The Next Door like a guiding light, but it’s how the group subsequently transforms these notions and makes them their own that stands out. “Empty Hands," the album’s pensive opener, is a blank canvas, gradually filled in with tender key strokes, searching melodies and delicate accompaniment. As Julia, who wrote the song, explains: “When your hands are full, you have to juggle everything back and forth, you’ve too much to deal with simultaneously. Empty hands, on the other hand, are like a clean slate – you have all the possibilities in the world to do what you please”. “Made of Wood” contrasts this impressionist design with an earthy tone, set in a modal frame and propelled forward by straight-ahead swing: “Time and again I feel like writing something solid, conciliatory in a way. This piece refers to my inner foundation, which I associate with something made of wood, something comforting.” The pianist’s brief duo exposition in exchange with saxophonist Uli Kempendorff on “Jetzt Noch Nicht” – later reprised as a variation with all members of the group – is a moody theme with a twisty melody, inviting the players’ most expressive playing. On Julia’s “Fluid” the band presents a tight, spirited unit in a mesmerizing performance of a smooth, steadily crescendoing arc: “This piece is based around the thick, layered piano sound that’s introduced after a couple of bars. Melodies can crystallize over this fluid tapestry and flow on in waves. Water is an important element to me, which frequently appears in my images.” Uli’s warm tone complements Julia’s trio with exceptional warmth, entering into a natural symbiosis with the piano’s subtle action, and his own piece, “Open Up," is among the set’s highlights: “When writing ‘Open Up’ I was exclusively focused on the melody’s forward-motion. The line dancingly weaves its way through three octaves. The bass part is notated and creates a counterpoint, while piano and drums are free to interject, comment and mingle at will. There’s much room for free interpretation and alteration throughout.” Marc Muellbauer’s compositional contributions go through various pulsations – “Polychrome” being a rubato exercise built around a, mostly, diatonic melody that wants to escape its tonal framework. “Wasp at the Window” on the other hand finds the group conspiring in an extensive workout in nine-time with an ostinato bending and bulging to the quartet’s beat. Again different by design, Marc wrote the bossa nova “Valdemossa” with composer Frédéric Chopin in mind: “It is based on the harmony of Chopin’s well-known Prelude No.4 in E Minor, from his cycle of 24 Preludes, op.28. I wrote a new melody expanding the harmony’s chromatic suggestions and exploiting its ambiguity in modulating into two other, far removed keys. It is named after the beautiful place in Mallorca where Chopin wrote his piece…” With a playful and slightly deconstructed inclination, drummer Heinrich Köbberling’s first original in the programme, “Lightcap," initially suggests the sketch-like framework of a Paul Motian tune. Actually, the piece is inspired by Köbberling’s early trio endeavours in the '90s with saxophonist Lisa Parrott and bassist Chris Lightcap, giving the song its name. The drummer’s other composition is “Post Post Post” – a subtle group improvisation with a veiled melody that has occupied the drummer for several years. It has become customary for Julia’s records to highlight revamps of known songs from the pop world and with Prince’s “Sometimes it Snows in April” the quartet uncovers another neat treat. The piece’s catchy melody, immediate harmonic hook and laid-back groove are thoughtfully explored by the entire band, with Julia’s gentle touch at the centre of attention. The Next Door, recorded at Studios La Buissonne in the South of France in March 2022, is issued as the quartet embarks on a European tour, with concerts in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Norway. Julia Hülsmann Quartet | The Next Door ECM Release Date: August 26 2022 For more information on ECM, please visit: ECMRecords.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter ‌ ‌ ‌ # # #

The Manhattan Transfer with WDR Funkhausorchester "God Only Knows" from their forthcoming album Fifty (Craft Recordings / Concord) releasing September 23 (digitally) and October 21 (CD) Collection hits #1 Amazon Movers & Shakers chart: Legendary vocal group The Manhattan Transfer celebrates their Golden Anniversary with forthcoming album Fifty and a final world tour. The 10-track set finds the best-selling act partnering with Germany’s renowned WDR Funkhausorchester Köln (WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne), plus symphony arrangers including GRAMMY® Award winners Jorge Callandreli and Vince Mendoza, as well as vocal arrangers including Amanda Taylor of säje, to revisit their biggest hits from throughout the decades plus covers from George & Ira Gershwin and this beautiful version of The Beach Boys' classic. Their global farewell tour kicks off in October for a cross-continental run across the US then travels to Europe, UK, Japan, and more. Today, the quartet features Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, Cheryl Bentyne, and Trist Curless, who became a member following the death of Tim Hauser. They have collectively earned 10 GRAMMY Awards and induction into the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame. They have collaborated with an illustrious group of Artists, including Tony Bennett, Bette Midler, Smokey Robinson, Laura Nyro, Phil Collins, Take 6, B.B. King, Chaka Khan, James Taylor, Frankie Valli, Joe Zawinul, Asleep at the Wheel, Stéphane Grappelli, Bobby McFerrin, Chick Corea, and Dizzy Gillespie. Brian Wilson shares the The Manhattan Transfer's lush version of "God Only Knows" across his socials! The Manhattan Transfer's latest tour dates: https://manhattantransfer.net/tour-dates/ Artist Title Time The Manhattan Transfer, WDR Funkhausorchester God Only Knows (radio edit) 04:45 The Manhattan Transfer, WDR Funkhausorchester God Only Knows 05:33

Motown's Lamont Dozier has died at 81. RIP. Motown songwriter-producer Lamont Dozier dead at 81 (msn.com)

Jackie Ryan Honors Her Late Mother with Classics from the Latin American Songbook on "Recuerdos de mi Madre," Set for October 7 Release By OpenArt Productions Vocalist Collaborates on Her 7th Album With Pianist-Trumpeter-Arranger Marco Diaz, Bassist Saul Sierra, Percussionists Carlos Caro & Louie Romero, & A Top-Flight Cadre of Special Guests Led by Cuban Jazz Legend Paquito D'Rivera CD Release Show at Freight & Salvage, Berkeley Friday, October 28 August 8, 2022 Having established her mastery of the Great American Songbook, San Francisco Bay Area vocalist Jackie Ryan sets her sights on the Latin American Songbook with Recuerdos de mi Madre, set for an October 7 release on the OpenArt Productions label. The album’s ten tracks are all Spanish-language standards—the backbone of Latin American popular music—performed with a core band that includes pianist/trumpeter Marco Diaz, bassist Saúl Sierra, and percussionists Carlos Caro and Louie Romero. It also features a number of special guests, foremost among them the legendary Cuban clarinetist/saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera. The youngest child of a Mexican-born mother and Irish-American father, Ryan recalls Latin music as the first she heard, and has always included at least one Latin song on each of her albums as a marker of that heritage. “Something happens to me when I sing in Spanish,” Ryan says. “Latino people don’t mind talking about sad things. My aunts and my cousins, their emotions are on their sleeves.” These songs let Ryan channel that same passion. When she incorporated them into her live set, she recalls, “People would come up and say, ‘Do you have a Latin album?’” Recuerdos de mi Madre is the answer to that frequent request. It is also, true to its title (“Memories of My Mother”), a tribute to her late parent who introduced her to the songs she sings here. (Soledad Garcia Ryan passed away when her daughter was 15.) The record bears out Ryan’s belief that singing in Spanish enhances her expressiveness. The emotion she pours into “Noche de Ronda,” “Perfidia” and “Sabor A Mí” is as exquisite as her technique. The songs also provide a spotlight for her marvelous rhythmic chops: She glides along the contours of “Maria Elena” and “Siboney” with great precision and a gorgeous time feel. Ryan is not alone in bringing these songs to life. In addition to playing piano and trumpet (and occasional backing vocals), Diaz serves as the album’s musical director and provides impeccable arrangements for nine of the 10 tracks. The rhythm section of Sierra, Caro, and/or Romero is sensitive, even mesmerizing, and occasional guests Seth Asarnow (bandoneon), Hugo Wainzinger (guitar), Braulio Barrera (cajon), Jeremy Cohen or Carlos Reyes (violin), and Steffen Kuehn (trumpet) add depth and color to whatever they touch. D’Rivera, of course, brings the proceedings to another level. His clarinet playing is surpassingly sweet on “El Día Que Me Quieras” and both lively and ponderous on “Perfidia”; his alto saxophone on “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás” is sly and soulful. “I’ve loved his music for many years,” Ryan says in the liner notes to Recuerdos de mi Madre. “Paquito exudes joy, both musically and personally…. To me, he is music incarnate!” Born and raised in San Rafael, California, just north of San Francisco, Jackie Ryan spent her childhood listening to the Spanish classical music and Latin American popular songs that her mother played and sang for her. She was 15 years old when she took her first professional singing job in an R&B dance band. After she blew out her voice on the road, she spent two years healing, doing speech therapy and falling in love with jazz. Reinventing herself as a jazz singer, she went back out on the road, spending some time in Hawaii and in Los Angeles as she honed her chops, studied Portuguese, and gained experience with Sergio Mendes’s original rhythm section and Sarah Vaughan’s onetime pianist George Gaffney before returning to the Bay Area in the 1990s. That link with Sarah Vaughan served Ryan in good stead. Her 2001 debut album For Heaven’s Sake featured a trio led by another former Vaughan accompanist, Mike Wofford; her third, 2003’s This Heart of Mine, featured two Vaughan associates in pianist Jon Mayer and drummer Omar Clay. That was only one of Ryan’s many artistic dimensions, however. She also built a multilingual repertoire of songs in English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese, which she demonstrated on 2002’s Passion Flower. The next three records (2007’s You and the Night and the Music, 2009’s DOOZY, and 2012’s Listen Here) confirmed her ability to stand toe-to-toe with legendary figures like Jeff Hamilton, Cyrus Chestnut, and John Clayton, respectively. With 2022’s Recuerdos de mi Madre she brings all those skills to bear in paying a long-imagined tribute to her mother, the first person to nurture her artistry. Jackie Ryan will be performing a CD release show at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley, on Friday 10/28 at 8pm. Photography: Lisa Tanner Jackie Ryan: "Siboney"/"Quizás, Quizás, Quizás"  Jackie Ryan Web Site ‌ ‌

Bobby Broom Celebrates the Jazz Piano Greats With "Keyed Up," Set for September 23 Release By Steele Records Album Features Nine Compositions By or For Iconic Pianists, With Piano Player Justin Dillard Augmenting Broom's Longtime Trio with Bassist Dennis Carroll & Drummer Kobie Watkins CD Release Show: Studio5 Performing Arts Center, Evanston, IL Saturday, October 22 August 5, 2022 Master jazz guitarist Bobby Broom casts his ear on the masters of another instrument—the piano—with the September 23 release of Keyed Up (Steele Records). An exploration of compositions by (or associated with) great jazz pianists, the album is also Broom’s first in almost 30 years to itself feature an acoustic piano player. Justin Dillard, a youngish, fast-rising keyboardist from Broom’s home base of Chicago, joins his working trio with bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Kobie Watkins. In fact, it was an encounter with Dillard at a Chicago jam session that inspired Broom to realize the project (an idea he had long been nurturing). “I heard something intriguing in Justin that made me want to work with him,” he says. “It was a bit risky because I hadn’t played with him in such an intimate and crucial setting before we made this record. But it didn’t take long for me to know I had made the right choice.”  It doesn’t take the listener long, either. Dillard’s incandescent playing is a highlight of the very first track, Bud Powell’s “Hallucinations (Budo),” and maintains that high level throughout the album. From the blues-laden lines of James Williams’s “Soulful Bill” and McCoy Tyner’s “Blues on the Corner” to the exquisite tenderness of Erroll Garner’s “Misty,” Dillard earns his place in the spotlight. He also switches to his “laptop Swurlitzer,” an electronic keyboard, in a nod to fusioneers Chick Corea (“Humpty Dumpty”) and Herbie Hancock (“Driftin’”). He’s not alone, of course. Carroll and Watkins are superlative as always, offering both sensitive support and lightning in a bottle that culminates in a spirited exchange of twelves, eights, and fours on “Blues on the Corner.” As for Broom, his excellence is understood—but he outdoes himself with his brilliant work on “Driftin’,” “Hallucinations (Budo),” and Horace Silver’s “Quicksilver.” It’s the joining of these forces, however, that lets magic happen on Keyed Up. “When we make music, we’re never exactly sure how it’s going to turn out. It’s never a matter of ‘we’re just gonna play these tunes,’” Broom says. “In addition to the arrangements and preparation, there’s a great degree of intrigue and mystery in what we do. But we have developed such trust in each other, there’s never any doubt that the end result is going to be good.” Bobby Broom was born January 18, 1961, in New York City. When he was ten years old, he heard one of his father’s records—by organist Charles Earland—touching off his lifelong love affair with jazz. By the time he was sixteen, Broom was attending New York’s prestigious High School of Music and Art and gigging with pianist Al Haig; by the age of twenty-one, equipped with a freshman year of study at Berklee College of Music, and some already extraordinary pedigree, he began touring with Sonny Rollins. By that time, Broom had also signed with GRP Records and recorded 1981’s Clean Sweep, which was a crossover jazz success. But rather than settle into a comfortable career in the emerging genre of “smooth jazz,” Broom took the road less traveled: He left the New York scene behind and established himself in Chicago. In the 1990s Broom formed the first edition of his bass and drums trio, while also beginning to work with the members of what would eventually become the Deep Blue Organ Trio. During that decade he recorded a couple of quartet records before deciding to make a guitar-bass-drums trio his primary outlet. In 2000, a breakthrough year, he released the statement-making Modern Man (with organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, drummer Idris Muhammad, and Ronnie Cuber on bari sax), as well as the first of what would be many guitar-trio recordings, Stand!. He solidified a trio lineup with bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Kobie Watkins with 2006’s Song and Dance (although Makaya McCraven filled in for the latter on 2014’s My Shining Hour). After establishing a new organ ensemble (the Organ-isation) with 2018’s Soul Fingers, Broom has returned to his longtime trio, but with the notion of supplementing it with pianist Justin Dillard for Keyed Up. The use of a guitar-and-piano frontline remains somewhat novel in the jazz world, but Broom says overcoming that novelty is just a matter of seasoning. “When I first met Justin, he expressed some misgivings about operating with guitar,” he recalls. “I said to him, just listen and play. And he got better and better playing with me.” Lucky for us that we get to hear the results. Bobby Broom and his quartet will perform a CD release show on Sat. 10/22 at Studio5 Performing Arts Center, 1938 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL. Broom is also appearing at the first annual Fretboard Summit (hosted by Fretboard Journal magazine), taking place at the Old Towne School of Folk Music’s Myron R. Szold Music Hall, Chicago, on Sat. 8/27; and at Western Michigan University’s “Jazz at The Crawlspace 2022” series at the Crawlspace Theater, Kalamazoo, MI, on Thurs. 9/8. Photography: Todd Winters Bobby Broom: "Blues on the Corner (Take 1)"  Bobby Broom Web Site ‌ ‌ ‌

Olivia Newton-John has passed away at 73. RIP. She seemed youthful till the end. Here is something from the New York Times. Olivia Newton-John, Pop Singer and ‘Grease’ Star, Dies at 73 (msn.com)

Thanks, Mark!

Week 8 analyses and Week 9 picks https://doorfliesopen.com/2022/08/04/cfl-beat-159/ http://17degreesports.com/index.php/2022/08/03/cfl-week-9-preview-2/ https://3downnation.com/2022/08/04/3downnation-cfl-picks-blue-bombers-look-to-remain-perfect-on-short-week/ https://www.cfl.ca/2022/08/03/prediction-time-cfl-ca-writers-week-9-picks-2/

Week 9 starts tonight, so I am going to start with last week, and catch up later. Week 8 results Hamilton 24....Montreal 17 https://www.cfl.ca/games/6238/montreal-alouettes-vs-hamilton-tiger-cats/#videos https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/montreal-alouettes-hamilton-tiger-cats-cfl-recap-july-28-1.6535506 https://3downnation.com/2022/07/29/another-episode-of-the-cardiac-cats-14-other-thoughts-on-hamiltons-24-17-win-over-montreal/ ***** BC 32....Sask 17 https://www.cfl.ca/games/6239/bc-lions-vs-saskatchewan-roughriders/#videos https://3downnation.com/2022/07/30/rourke-shows-patience-is-a-virtue-nine-other-thoughts-on-the-lions-dominance-over-saskatchewan/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/montreal-alouettes-hamilton-tiger-cats-cfl-recap-july-28-1.6535506 ***** Winnipeg 35....Calgary 28 Be sure to see the video highlights of this one. Many lead changes. https://www.cfl.ca/games/6240/winnipeg-blue-bombers-vs-calgary-stampeders/#videos https://3downnation.com/2022/07/30/blue-bombers-beat-stampeders-in-cfls-game-of-the-year-13-other-thoughts/ https://3downnation.com/2022/07/31/stampeders-fall-short-in-heavyweight-tilt-with-bombers-seven-other-thoughts-on-a-second-straight-loss/ ***** Ottawa 23....Toronto 13 https://www.cfl.ca/games/6241/ottawa-redblacks-vs-toronto-argonauts/#videos https://3downnation.com/2022/08/01/redblacks-find-winning-formula-10-other-thoughts-on-beating-the-argos/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/montreal-alouettes-hamilton-tiger-cats-cfl-recap-july-28-1.6535506 ***** Week 8 Plays of the Week https://www.cfl.ca/2022/08/02/great-grabs-highlight-the-week-8-plays-of-the-week/ ***** Power rankings https://3downnation.com/2022/08/01/3downnation-cfl-power-rankings-boatmen-sink-following-loss-to-previously-winless-redblacks/ https://www.cfl.ca/2022/08/02/power-rankings-a-two-tier-world-for-now/ ***** 8/3 QB index https://www.cfl.ca/2022/08/03/qb-index-hamiltons-two-headed-qb-monster/ ***** Week 9 Checking Down https://www.cfl.ca/2022/08/03/checking-down-news-and-notes-from-week-9/

RIP. Here is a book about Mo Ostin. SONIC BOOM: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Records from Hendrix to Fleetwood Mac to Madonna to Prince by Peter Ames Carlin $7.95 https://www.hamiltonbook.com/sonic-boom-the-impossible-rise-of-warner-bros.-records-from-hendrix-to-fleetwood-mac-to-madonna-to-prince-hardbound

A general noticed one of his soldiers behaving oddly. The soldier would pick up any piece of paper he found, frown and say, "That's not it" and put it down again. This went on for some time until the general arranged to have the soldier psychologically tested. The psychologist concluded that the soldier was deranged, and wrote out his discharge from the army. The soldier picked it up, and said, "That's it."

I was pleasantly surprised to see this included midst the old music on page 30 of the May-June Oldies.com CD catalogue.

That's great, Larry! Congrats!

Let's see if we can catch up before tonight's game. All four of Week 6's games rank among the year's best. The video highlights are well worth your while. Edmonton 32....Montreal 31 https://www.cfl.ca/games/6230/edmonton-elks-vs-montreal-alouettes/#videos https://3downnation.com/2022/07/15/squeaking-out-another-one-eight-thoughts-on-the-elks-improbable-win-in-montreal/ ***** Winnipeg 26....Calgary 19 https://www.cfl.ca/games/6231/calgary-stampeders-vs-winnipeg-blue-bombers/#videos https://3downnation.com/2022/07/16/ellingson-has-career-day-as-bombers-beat-stamps-in-battle-of-unbeatens-12-other-thoughts/ https://3downnation.com/2022/07/16/stampeders-receivers-let-bo-levi-mitchell-down-during-self-inflicted-loss-in-winnipeg/ ***** Toronto 30....Sask 24 https://www.cfl.ca/games/6232/saskatchewan-roughriders-vs-toronto-argonauts/#videos https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders-toronto-argonauts-recap-july-16-1.6522947 ***** Hamilton 25....Ottawa 23 https://www.cfl.ca/games/6233/ottawa-redblacks-vs-hamilton-tiger-cats/#videos https://3downnation.com/2022/07/17/sweet-redemption-for-ticats-as-they-get-their-first-win-of-the-season-and-12-other-thoughts/ https://3downnation.com/2022/07/18/redblacks-discover-new-way-to-lose-11-other-thoughts-on-falling-just-short-to-the-ticats/ ***** Week 6 Plays of the Week The #1 play is one of the best I've ever seen. Dunbar catches the pass with one hand while the defender is committing pass interference. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/07/16/dunbar-with-a-ridiculous-one-handed-grab/ https://www.cfl.ca/2022/07/18/highlight-reel-grabs-in-week-6-plays-of-the-week/

Episode 29 https://artpepper.bandcamp.com/track/straight-life-audiocast-episode-twenty-nine ***** "Art Pepper" https://artpepper.bandcamp.com/album/freebie-plus-art-pepper ***** Episode 30 https://artpepper.bandcamp.com/track/straight-life-audiocast-episode-30

Ben Sidran Lets His Fingers Do the Singing On "Swing State," Set for September 16 Release On Nardis Records, Distributed by Bonsai Venerable Pianist and Jazzman-of-All-Trades Records His First All-Instrumental Album with Longtime Collaborators Bassist Billy Peterson, Drummer Leo Sidran CD Release Shows at Crooners, Minneapolis, 8/19-20; Cafe Coda, Madison, WI, 8/23; Neranenah, Atlanta, 8/25; Green Mill, Chicago, 8/26-27 July 25, 2022 Sixty years into a wildly accomplished career that counts music as only the foremost of many aspects, Ben Sidran takes yet another new direction with the September 16 release of Swing State (Bonsai/Nardis). Long known for his lively, bluesy singing style (in the vein of his mentor Mose Allison), the 78-year-old finally gives his vocal cords a rest with an all-instrumental jazz album with Leo Sidran, his son, on drums and Billy Peterson, a co-conspirator of nearly five decades, on bass. If a strictly instrumental album seems to have been a long time coming, Sidran can honestly say that he's been busy with many, many other things. Aside from singing and playing piano, the hats he's worn across the years include academic, rock star, session player, songwriter, record producer, film composer, author, and broadcaster. Let nobody accuse him of being afraid of trying something new. Even so, Sidran acknowledges that he got nervous about putting out a piano record when he considered the competition. "With all the brilliant piano players around," he says, "I never wanted to enter that fray." The finished product, however, is not a leap into some great unknown. Anyone who knows the boisterous personality, blues roots, and storyteller's polish of Sidran's singing voice will immediately recognize it in his piano voice, too. He need not open his mouth to imbue either the classic swinger "Stompin' at the Savoy" or the ballad "Laura" with his quirky perspective and wry humor. Likewise, his original "Swing State" makes as powerful a rhythmic and melodic statement as Sidran's vocals ever did--without his uttering a syllable. Nor does the lack of vocal work throw off his accompanists, both of whom are more than acquainted with Sidran's sound and persona. "The three of us share a special musical feel," the pianist says. Indeed, Leo Sidran (another multifaceted artist of equal accomplishment to his father) has played drums with Ben practically since he was old enough to reach the kit--and almost as long with Peterson, who's worked with the elder Sidran since before the younger was born. All told, these elements make Swing State less a bold new venture than another very natural extension of Sidran's considerable artistic range. The wait for it only increases the welcome. Ben Sidran was born August 12, 1943, in Chicago. He grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, but learned jazz through the records that his advertising executive father brought him from work in the Second City. His first love was boogie-woogie, which he taught himself to play on piano--but when he received a Horace Silver album for his bar mitzvah, he knew that that was the direction for him. Attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sidran befriended future icons of the San Francisco scene Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs, joining them in a blues band called the Ardells. They separated when Sidran traveled to England to earn his master's and doctorate degrees but reunited in 1968 to record what would become the first album by the Steve Miller Band. Sidran would soon enjoy a brief stint as a member, and for several years remain an auxiliary contributor to the band, writing their early hit "Space Cowboy." Meanwhile, Sidran was working on his dissertation (which became the first of his five books); working on sessions with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Peter Frampton; and making records of his own, beginning with 1971's Feel Your Groove. He also became a renowned and highly successful producer, collaborating with artists ranging from the Steve Miller Band and Van Morrison to Diana Ross and Mose Allison in addition to producing his own albums. He even became a broadcaster, hosting two award-winning National Public Radio series (Jazz AliveI and Sidran on Record) and the VH1 television program New Visions, which won a Cable Ace Award. Making music remained Sidran's primary passion, however, and his discography has become extensive. Swing State is his 40th release under his own name. He and his trio will celebrate its release with engagements at Crooners, Minneapolis, 8/19-20; Cafe Coda, Madison, WI, 8/23; Neranenah, Atlanta, 8/25; and the Green Mill in Chicago, 8/26-27. Photography: Nathan Fox  Ben Sidran Talks About "Swing State"  Ben Sidran Web Site ‌ ‌

Robert Harley says early in the book that the typical audiophile budgets 15% of his income toward buying new components. So let us know when you get the $3,200. together!

Here is one man's (from cnet) opinions regarding value-priced components. He mentions the Emotiva BasX A-100 integrated amplifier, the Emotiva Airmotiv B1 speakers and the NAD C 538 CD player. https://www.cnet.com/pictures/the-audiophiliac-best-affordable-audio-guide/

They don't make them like this any more!

I owe you, Michael! I am learning so much. Not long ago, I was told that the NAD company specializes in value. I remember a classmate so many years ago raving about an NAD component of his. I think it was a cassette deck. I wish the author would mention brands he likes.

Is she no longer with us to ask? Judging by the airplay, that record was huge in New Orleans.

TTK, was your mom on Love Me With All Your Heart?

Michael, my copy will arrive Wednesday!

Cyrus Chestnut My Father's Hands Impacting July 19th, 2022 Format(s): Jazz Artist Title Time Cyrus Chestnut Nippon Soul Connection 07:24 Cyrus Chestnut Thinking About You 05:19 Cyrus Chestnut Cubano Chant 04:05 Cyrus Chestnut Baubles, Bangles and Beads 04:43 Cyrus Chestnut Yesterday 04:15 Cyrus Chestnut I Must Tell Jesus 03:24 Cyrus Chestnut Working Out Just Fine 06:32 Cyrus Chestnut There Will Never Be Another You 04:15 Cyrus Chestnut But Beautiful 02:58 Cyrus Chestnut Epilogue 05:58 New from Cyrus Chestnut on HighNote Records Cyrus Chestnut - My Father’s Hands HighNote Records HCD 7339 Cyrus Chestnut, piano Peter Washington, bass (except track 6) Lewis Nash, drums (except track 6) AIRPLAY STARTS NOW SUGGESTED TRACKS 2. Thinking About You 5:24 • 3. Cubano Chant 4:08 4. Baubles, Bangles and Beads 4:46 • 7. Working Out Just Fine 6:36 HCD 7339 H... 7339 Cyrus... Tom Harrell Oak Tree Impacting July 19th, 2022 Format(s): Jazz Artist Title Time Tom Harrell EVOORG 04:59 Tom Harrell FIVIN' 05:06 Tom Harrell OAK TREE 03:35 Tom Harrell TRIBUTE 03:49 Tom Harrell ZATOICHI 05:21 Tom Harrell SUN UP 05:06 Tom Harrell IMPROV 04:29 Tom Harrell SHADOWS 05:23 Tom Harrell ARCHAEOPTERYX 05:25 Tom Harrell ROBOT ETUDE 07:02 Tom Harrell LOVE TIDE 06:35 New from Tom Harrell on HighNote Records Tom Harrell - Oak Tree HighNote Records HCD 7332 Tom Harrell, trumpet & flugelhorn (tracks 4,5 & 8) Luis Perdomo, piano & Fender Rhodes (tracks 2, 4 & 6) Ugonna Okegwo, bass Adam Cruz, drums AIRPLAY STARTS NOW SUGGESTED TRACKS 1. Evoorg 5:01 • 4. Tribute 3:48 8. Shadows 5:22 • 11. Love Tide 6:35 7332 HighN... HCD 7332 T...