GA Russell

That's great, Ken! I'll have to pull out the Lennie's CD and re-read your notes.

Live at Lennie's on the Turnpike April 15, 1965 Joe Farrell (ts, ss, fl) Jaki Byard (p) George Tucker (b) Alan Dawson (d)

Me too!

Bobby Caldwell has passed away at 71. RIP. Bobby Caldwell dies - Search (bing.com)

Steve Allen defined a jazz singer to be a singer who either... a) sings jazz, or b) sings in front of a jazz band.

for the first time since 1987. US vinyl overtakes CD sales - Search (bing.com)

Yelena Eckemoff Presses Forward with Her Bold, Conceptual Vision of Jazz on "Lonely Man and His Fish," Releasing April 28 on L&H Production Pianist/Composer Weaves an Inspiring, Deeply Human Narrative With the Superlative Talents of Kirk Knuffke, Masaru Koga, Ben Street, & Eric Harland   March 10, 2023 Pianist-composer Yelena Eckemoff’s body of elaborate, ambitious jazz concept albums reaches a new virtuosic summit with Lonely Man and His Fish, to be released April 28 on her own L&H Production label. A double-CD set, the album is also a long-form parable, a story of deep affection between a human and his beloved pet. An all-star lineup—cornetist Kirk Knuffke, flutist Masaru Koga, bassist Ben Street, and drummer Eric Harland—helps Eckemoff breathe life into the tale. Eckemoff, who is an artist and poet as well as a pianist and composer, typically creates imagery and text to augment her programmatic music. In the case of Lonely Man and His Fish, she outlines the concept as a prose narrative, broken down into short chapter-like sections that correspond to each track on the album, along with paintings that illustrate key moments. Yet, as with all of her multidisciplinary projects, it’s the music that is front and center. “Every album I do is conceptual,” she explains. “At first I get an idea about a project, whether it’s stages of life, colors, smells, or animals. Once I get an idea, I don’t write out the story before the music. I have the story worked out in my head. When I compose, I already know how the story is going to come out.” In a sense, the actual execution of the music brings in an aspect yet another creative discipline: theater. Knuffke and his cornet perform the role of Tim, the “lonely man” of the album title (who is a retired orchestral trumpet player). Koga wields a shakuhachi—a Japanese bamboo flute—to channel the character of Spark, Tim’s fish and companion. Each has impressive solo features, like Knuffke’s on “The Lonely Man” and Koga’s on “Life in the Pond.” But the two musicians also exchange and interact beautifully on tunes like the funky “A Man and His Fish” (on which Yelena plays celeste, the first time she’s recorded on anything but piano in a studio setting) and the warm, fond closer “Dreaming Together.” Not to be dismissed, however, is the strength and empathy of the splendid rhythm section. Eckemoff, Street, and Harland bring remarkable alchemy to “First Evening at Home” and “Into the Wild” and a startling urgency to “Accident,” but also treat “Empty House” and “Survivor” with elegance and sensitivity. Lonely Man and His Fish comes from Eckemoff’s narrative, but ultimately it’s the product of five ingenious storytellers. L. to r.: Ben Street, Eric Harland, Yelena Eckemoff, Kirk Knuffke, Masaru Koga. Yelena Eckemoff was born and raised in Moscow—capital of what was then the Soviet Union—where she started playing by ear and composing music when she was four. She would go on to study classical piano the most prestigious music academies in Russia: the Gnessins School for musically gifted children, where she was a protégée of the great piano pedagogue Anna Pavlovna Kantor, and then the Moscow State Conservatory. Gradually, however, Eckemoff’s ears wandered beyond her classical training; fissures in the Iron Curtain allowed her to discover first rock, then jazz. When she saw Dave Brubeck’s performance in Moscow in 1987, she settled on jazz as her permanent musical path. That path turned out to run through the United States, where Eckemoff immigrated in 1991 and settled in North Carolina. Now ensconced in the country that gave birth to jazz, she went in search of players who could do justice to her intricate ideas. The search was a long and sometimes frustrating one, but it paid off when she was able to work with the likes of bassist Mads Vinding and drummer Peter Erskine on her 2010 album Cold Sun. That project opened the door to Grass Catching the Wind and Flying Steps, collaborations with Vinding and Erskine, respectively; those, in turn, opened the door to a full and prolific career. Subsequent collaborators have included Mark Turner, Joe Locke, Billy Hart, Chris Potter, Ralph Alessi, Drew Gress, and Nasheet Waits along with Knuffke, Koga, Street, and Harland. Her unique, sophisticated, and highly expressive music continues to draw support and creative energy from the finest musicians in the world. Band photo by Sehee Kim   Yelena Eckemoff EPK: "Lonely Man and His Fish"  Yelena Eckemoff Web Site  

Pangea Audio Interconnect Cable RCA to RCA - 1.0 Meter - Single $25.95 (Amazon's lowest price) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017WJLXH0

Mike & Dorothy Longo Tell a Story of a Search for Musical, Spiritual, & Racial Enlightenment With the Co-Written "The Rhythm of Unity," To Be Published by Redwood Publishing, May 9 Esteemed Jazz Pianist & His Widow Explore the Relationship Between Life, Art, & Faith In a Story of "The Essential Oneness of All Peoples"   March 6, 2023 When Mike Longo—the New York jazz pianist who was a longtime protégé, collaborator, and friend of Dizzy Gillespie—passed away in 2020 from COVID-19, he left behind a manuscript of his journey to musical and spiritual fruition. His widow, Dorothy Longo, completed the memoir as The Rhythm of Unity: A Jazz Musician’s Lifelong Journey Beyond Black and White, to be published May 9 by Redwood Publishing. To Mike’s chronicle of his personal quest, Dorothy added the story of their 39-year romance and life together. Longo’s search for fulfillment as a jazz artist began when he was a very small child, growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, picking out tunes on his grandparents’ piano. His spiritual search began at roughly the same time, when he discovered the cruel absurdity of racism. Jazz was the vehicle that brought the two missions together, giving Longo a means of both developing his artistry and finding a world in which Black and White people could coexist in equality and mutual respect. His relationship with Gillespie is also a major aspect of that journey. The Rhythm of Unity charts Longo’s path from being the bebop legend’s adoring fan, to employee, to comrade-in-arms battling the forces of racial prejudice, to, at last, close friend and confidant. In addition to discovering new musical frontiers, the pianist and trumpeter were also together in their exploration and acceptance of the Baháʼí faith—another journey that Longo documents as part of his story. Ultimately, music, friendship, righteousness, and faith come together to shape Longo’s experience of the world as an artist and as a human. After decades of being told that he “sounded Black,” or that he shouldn’t or couldn’t fraternize with people he loved, the pianist comes to the firm realization that “unity in diversity” is the way forward for a harmonious society. While maintaining respect for the validity of diverse cultures and backgrounds, he sees that he “wasn’t Black or White and that any innate distinction between Blacks, Whites, Asians, Native Americans, and other races was based on false premises.” A musician herself, Dorothy Longo serves as both an observer of and active participant in her late husband’s story. In addition to filling out his account with their shared one (titled “Reflections of a Jazz Wife”), Dorothy peppers Mike’s account with context and commentary about her husband’s experiences and philosophies as well as his character. Her contribution to The Rhythm of Unity elevates Mike Longo from just his own written-word perspective to a three-dimensional human being with compassion and empathy who puts his thoughts about humanity and brotherhood into practice. Mike and Dorothy Longo, 1985. Mike Longo was born March 19, 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio, moving to Fort Lauderdale when he was eight. His parents were both musicians, and when his gifts made themselves known at an early age, they enrolled him in formal music lessons. Soon his interest shifted toward jazz, and by the time he was in high school, Mike was joining his father, bassist Michael Sr., on gigs around Fort Lauderdale. Inspired by hearing Dizzy Gillespie (at right with a young Mike Longo) on the radio as a teenager, Longo dove deep into bebop. After graduating from Western Kentucky University, he played his way to New York City, where he got a job as house pianist at Manhattan’s famed Metropole Café. There, he met Gillespie when the trumpeter and bebop titan came to play opposite Longo. The pianist spent some time studying with Oscar Peterson in Toronto before returning to New York and becoming Gillespie’s pianist and musical director for seven years (1966–1973). Their friendship and collaboration continued until Gillespie’s death in 1993. Establishing his solo career in earnest after leaving Gillespie’s band, Longo recorded nearly two dozen albums under his own name—most of them for his self-established Consolidated Artists Productions label. He led small combos and his big band (New York State of the Arts Jazz Ensemble) in New York City and at many national and international venues. Longo also taught countless master classes, produced a 4-DVD series entitled The Rhythmic Nature of Jazz based on the rhythmic principles he learned from Dizzy, and wrote 10 books on jazz education. Longo was a devoted Baháʼí who created and hosted a weekly jazz series for 16 years at the New York City Baháʼí Center, where he and other jazz artists performed. He passed away on March 22, 2020 from COVID-19 at the age of 83. A native of the Ohio Valley, Dorothy Longo fulfilled her dream of moving to New York City in 1970 and stayed there for 50 years. Dorothy received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and music education, then became a regular singer/pianist in small clubs and cocktail lounge settings. She met Mike Longo in 1981 when she began taking lessons with him. They married in 1988 and remained together for the next 32 years. Dorothy was Mike’s partner in music, business, faith, and life. She served at the Baháʼí International Community’s United Nations office for over 31 years (27 as Operations Officer for the New York and Geneva offices). Dorothy Longo proudly wears the title of “Jazz Wife.”   Dizzy Gillespie, 1970, à la Maison de la Radio, playing Mike Longo's "Sunshine" (with Mike Longo, p; George Davis, g; Red Mitchell, b; David Lee, d)  Mike Longo Web Site  

I think Mike Richmond has been recording with Andy LaVerne for fifty years!

Ford has filed for a patent which will allow them to remotely shut down your car (or a part of it) if you are behind in your payments. Miss a Car Payment and Ford’s Patent Could Shut Off Your A/C (yahoo.com)

Walmart has decided to close all its stores in Portland, Oregon.

One of my strongest memories of Wayne Shorter is the strong promotion his Schizophrenia album received in the record stores. I lived in DC at the time, and it was the same in every store. It was on display like you would expect the #1 rock album to be. I guess he could thank Liberty for that.

LOL! Eric, I didn't know there is such a thing as "Urban Kansas."

Great! I'll have to dig out my copy!

The IRS decides to audit Grandpa, and summons him to the IRS office. The IRS auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his attorney. The auditor said, “Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I’m not sure the IRS finds that believable.” “I’m a great gambler, and I can prove it,” says Grandpa. “How about a demonstration?” The auditor thinks for a moment and says, “OK. Go ahead.” Grandpa says, “I’ll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.” The auditor thinks a moment and says, “It’s a bet.” Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor’s jaw drops. Grandpa says, “Now, I’ll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.” The auditor can tell Grandpa isn’t blind, so he takes the bet. Grandpa removes his dentures and bites his good eye. The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Grandpa’s attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous. “Want to go double or nothing?” Grandpa asks. “I’ll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.” The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there’s no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again. Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can’t make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor’s desk. The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win. But Grandpa’s attorney moans and puts his head in his hands. “Are you OK?” the auditor asks. “Not really,” says the attorney. “This morning, when Grandpa told me he’d been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and pee all over your desk and that you’d be happy about it.”

RIP. His passing has been featured by Bing today. Wayne Shorter dies at 89 - Search (bing.com)

There is now an ETF for those who want to bet against everything Jim Cramer recommends! It's called The Inverse Jim Cramer ETF (ticker SJIM).

Is denim pop music? Bing is not coming up with anything musically related.

That's good to know, Rooster!

Episode 34 https://artpepper.bandcamp.com/track/straight-life-episode-34

I don't know who besides the United Nations makes these things up, but every single day is a "National something Day." Well, tomorrow is National Cigar Day. I'll keep my eye out, and if I see a great deal, I'll post it here.

Thanks for your responses! Has anyone had a bad experience with a brand because of leaking?

Morris and his wife Esther went to the state fair every year, and every year Morris would say, "Esther, I'd like to ride in that helicopter." Esther always replied, "I know Morris, but that helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars." One year when Esther and Morris went to the fair Morris said, "Esther, I'm 85 years old. This might be my last chance to ride that helicopter." Esther replied, "That helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and $50 is $50". The pilot overheard them and said, "Folks I'll make you a deal. I'll take both of you for a ride. If you stay quiet for the entire ride and don't say a word I won't charge you a penny! If you say one word it's fifty dollars." Morris and Esther agreed. The pilot did all kinds of fancy manoeuvres and daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word. When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said, "By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn't. I'm impressed!" Morris replied, "Well, to tell you the truth, I almost said something when Esther fell out, but you know, fifty dollars is fifty dollars!"