Tara LaRosa to fight Mar. 29

Women's MMA superstar Tara LaRosa has a fight coming up Mar. 29 for Extreme Challenge against Sally Krumdiak. I'll talk about that in a moment but first I finally got my hands on a video of Tara's match against Alexis Davis from January. Tara was idle for quite a while and admitted to some ring rust. That big AFL contract sure seemed like a good idea at the time but that hasn't turned out so well. As I'm sure you heard, Tara won the fight by TKO in the third round. She won the fight anyway. Canadian Alexis Davis was unknown but she turned out to be a tough opponent. Tara won round one. She tagged Alexis and then kept her down for the rest of the round. But Alexis came back in round two and seemingly had Tara in trouble with a guillotine choke. Tara said afterwards she wasn't in trouble. I agree with that but Alexis scored enough points that Tara really had to take control in round three. She did that and the ref stopped the fight due to a cut to Alexis. I expect Tara's next fight to be a little easier. Sally Krumdiak is from Seattle and her record is 5-1. Her background is in Muay Thai and she hasn't fought anyone nearly as accomplished or experienced as Tara. Her last win was over Val Coolbaugh at the June 28 MAX MMA show in Toppenish, WA. This is uncharted territory for Sally Krumdiak. Can Tara LaRosa get back to the top? Sure. She's one of the best fighters anywhere. After Strikeforce owner Scott Coker concentrates on signing Gina Carano, he should look at Tara. She's a money fighter and he can build a lighter weight division around her. And though Tara would like to fight Gina, I wouldn't do that. So enjoy rhe fight. BTW, the commentary is horrible. If you're going to do a live broadcast, hire professionals instead of your brother-in-law.
Alexis Davis vs Tara Larosa

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-R.L. Burnside

Artist:R.L. Burnside
Song:Goin' Down South
Album:Too Bad Jim




Robert Lee Burnside is another Misissippi Delta bluesman who was discovered late in life. He was born Nov. 23, 1926 in Oxford, MS. For the most part, he was a farmer who played at parties on weekends. He learned to play guitar from Mississippi John Hurt. The Burnside family moved to Chicago in the early 50s but Burnside's mother, father and uncle were all murdered and he moved back to Mississippi in 1959 and returned to farming. He served six months for a murder conviction when his boss pulled strings to get him a short sentence. Burnside recorded for Arhoolie in the 60s but music was mostly a part time gig until he was discovered by Fat Possum Records. Fat Possum was owned by Living Blues Magazine owners Peter Redvers-Lee & Matthew Johnson and their mission was to rediscover forgotten bluesmen. Too Bad Jim was his first studio CD in 1994 and was produced by music critic Robert Palmer. It's very basic Mississippi juke joint blues. Burnside got a lot of attention when he toured with Jon Spencer in the 90s. His son Duwayne plays guitar with the North Mississippi All Stars, his other son Garry plays bass and grandson Cedric plays drums. R.L. Burnside had heart surgery in 1999 and his health continued to decline until his death on Sept. 1, 2005 at age 78. Garry & Cedric continue to record as Burnside Exploration. Here's R.L. Burnside performing Rollin' & Tumblin' in the mid 90s.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Leo Kottke

Artist:Leo Kottke
Song:The Train And The Gate
Album:The Instrumentals: The Best Of The Chrysalis Years




Leo Kottke is the master of the twelve string acoustic guitar. His technique and musicianship has earned him a loyal fanbase and this comp is a perfect introduction to his music. He was born Sept. 11, 1945 in Athens, GA and moved around a lot as a child. Kottke was a big fan of Mississippi John Hurt. A mishap with a firecracker caused hearing loss and that resulted in him being discharged from the Naval Reserves. He wound up playing the coffee house circuit in St. Cloud, MN and his 1969 debut album got the attention of another guitar whiz. So John Fahey released Kottke's second album 6 & 12 String Guitar on his Takoma label and that led to a contract with Capitol Records. But Capitol tried to turn Kottke into a singer songwriter. Kottke has described his singing voice as "geese farts on a muggy day". That didn't work so Kottke moved to Chrysalis Records in 1976. Though Kottke had to change his picking style due to tendinitis, it hasn't slowed him down. He built his fanbase performing at folk festivals and his Chrysalis albums sold well enough to keep him there until 1983. This comp is from those years. The Train And The Gate is from his 1980 album Live In Europe. Kottke moved to the RCA owned Private Music in 1983. Private was RCA's attempt to emulate the very popular new age label Windham Hill. He has recorded there ever since. His most recent CD is a duet album with Phish bassist Mike Gordon called Thirty Six Steps released on RCA in 2005 after Sony BMG closed Private in 2004. I suspect we'll see him record on his own label in the future. Guitar fans should check out Leo Kottke. Here's Leo Kottke performing The Train And The Gate on German TV in the early 80s.

Meet Jackie Mikalsky

Here's a promotional video for an upcoming fight on the Mar. 20 The Fight Club show in Edmonton. The video is about Jackie Mikalsky. Her record is 0-1 and her loss was to Megan Williams at the Dec. 5 PFC show. Her opponent is Gina Mazany. Gina is from Alaska and her debut was a win over Violeta Rodriguez at the Aug. 20 Alaska Fighting Championships show in Anchorage. Hey, promoters! Do a promo of your female fighters and send me the link at frankp316@rogers.com and your fighter could wind up on the #1 female fight blog in the universe. Good luck to both fighters.

WAVE announces tag team title

Pro Wrestling WAVE held a press conference yesterday at Colosseo to announce the TLW Young Woman's Tag Team Championship and the accompanying. What is TLW? Damned if I know but they claim that it's based in San Francisco. Chickfights is in that neighbourhood but I don't see any gaijin wrestlers in this tournament so it could be nonsense. There will be eight teams in this tournament. The matches will be a 15 minute time limit and both teams are eliminated if there's a draw. The tournament is supposed to be for young wrestlers and with one exception that's what we get. The first round matches will be at the Mar. 20 Osaka World Pavillion show. The matches are The Shirai Sisters vs Kyoko Kimura & Mikado. Kimura is 31 so she doesn't really belong in this. Mikado is the big girl in MAKEHEN. Apple Miyuki & Cherry will face Kana & Chiharo Oikawa. That should be an interesting team. Moeka Haruhi & Tomoka Nakagawa will face Kayo Fujimori & HARU. Shuu Shibutani & Ayumi Kurihara will face Hanako Kobayashi & Misaki Ohata. One semi final match will be at the Mar. 25 Shin-kiba 1st Ring show and the other will on the Apr. 4 Shin-kiba 1st Ring show. The final will be on the Apr. 29 Shinjuku FACE show. Shibutani & Kurihara seem like the likely favourites to win this tournament.

Sakura vs Mogi cancelled

The scheduled fight on today's GCM Demolition show at Shin-kiba 1st Ring between VALKYRIE matchmaker and Sakura was cancelled. Apparently Mogi wasn't feeling well. Well, that's what happens when you're running a company. You feel sick most of the time. This picture is Sakura in the ring addressing the crowd. She said she was very disappointed as she has trained very hard. Of course she called out Mogi but it's likely that Sakura will have a match on the Apr. 25 VALKYRIE show but probably against a different fighter. Maybe Mogi should stick to running VALKYRIE for now.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Elvis Costello & The Imposters

Artist:Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Song:The Delivery Man
Album:The Delivery Man



Elvis Costello started out as one of the leaders of the new wave movement of the 70s. But over the years his music became more diverse and included stabs at jazz and classical composition. Costello signed with PolyGram in 1998 and when Universal Music bought PolyGram in 1999, they moved him to Island but he has also released classical music on Deutshe Gramaphone. In 2001 he was named artist in residence at UCLA. He reformed his band The Attractions as The Imposters and released When I Was Cruel in 2002. He married jazz singer Diana Krall in 2003 and released North in her honour. He also worked on Krall's 2004 album The Girl In The Other Room. And his first orchestral composition Il Sogno was performed in New York and an album was released in 2004. Through all this, he found time to go to Oxford, MS and record a tribute to the American South called The Delivery Man. It was probably his best album in several years and was released on Universal's Lost Highway label. This 2CD Deluxe Edition includes an EP of live versions of several of the songs called The Clarksdale Sessions. It is recommended to long time Costello fans. Elvis Costello is still a busy boy with Diana giving birth to twin sons in 2006, his Sundance Channel variety show and a new album called Secret, The Profane and Sugar Cane coming out shortly. Here's Elvis Costello performing The Delivery Man on Later With Jools Holland 2004.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Milton Nascimento

Artist:Milton Nascimento
Song:Vera Cruz
Album:Amigo




Milton Nascimento is one of the all time greats of Brazilian music. His ethereal voice has transcended Brazil and he has a rabid fanbase all over the world. He was born Oct. 26, 1942 in Rio de Janiero. His mother was a maid and died when he was a toddler and he was adopted by the family she worked for. His father was a banker but he also owned a radio station and Nascimento was a DJ as a teen. He moved to Belo Horizonte and his big break came when pop singer Elis Regina recorded one of his songs in 1966. This led to a TV appearance in Brazil and Nascimento recorded his debut album in 1967. He's been recording and touring ever since. His big break outside Brazil came when he appeared on jazz sax legend Wayne Shorter's 1974 album Native Dancer. He has also appeared with Paul Simon, Quincy Jones, James Taylor, Peter Gabriel and he even wrote a song for Duran Duran in 1993 and toured with them in Brazil. Amigo is a 1996 collection of Nascimento classics recorded live with a full orchestra and choir arranged by veteran Brazilian arranger Nelson Ayres. Vera Cruz was originally recorded in 1969. Milton Nascimento's latest CD Novas Bossas was recorded with descendents of the great guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim and was released on EMI Mar. 2008. He's a fabulous performer and if you've never seen him, here's Milton Nascimento and orchestra performing Nos Bailes da Vaida 1996.

K-1 to start women's division

The hybrid kickboxing MMA company K-1 held a press conference yeaterday to announce that they are starting a women's division. And to herald this announcement, K-1 producer Sadaharu Kanigawa announced that the first women's match will be on the Mar. 20 show in Seoul, Korea. Kanigawa said they haven't decided what the women's division will be called or the start date but it will start in 2009. The decision to do this was influenced by the popularity of women's kickboxing and by the celebrity status of amateur women's wrestling champs Saori Yoshida & Kyoko Hamiguchi and Kanigawa's recent encounter with them. The match in Korea will have 23 year old Korean Lim Su Jeong (pictured) against 17 year old shoot boxer REINA. Lim has a 19-5 Muay Thai record with 8KOs and has been a South Korean Bantamweight Champion. She is also an actress and recently appeared in the 2008 film Ong Bak 4: Chocolate. REINA is a regular in Shoot Boxing. So obviously they are playing to the Korean fans. Kanigawa said this is just the beginning and K-1 has ambitious plans to bring in fighters from all over the world. This could be a significant move in the Japanese fight business. K-1 was likely influenced by the success that the similar company M-1 has had with their women's division. It is also fueled by the popularity of women's kickboxing companies like J-GIRLS & Shoot Boxing. Also there have been rumours in the past about MMA companies like DREAM looking to start a women's division but maybe K-1's involvement could encourage those companies to pull the trigger. This could be a very positive development for the women's fight business in Japan.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Ben Kweller

Artist:Ben Kweller
Song:Commerce, TX
Album:Sha Sha




Singer songwriter Ben Kweller has built his fanbase on the slacker vibe of this 2002 debut CD. He seems to be headed in a more country direction. He was born June 16, 1981 in San Francisco and grew up in Greenville, TX. His doctor father is long time pals with E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren and Lofgren encouraged Kweller to write songs at a very early age. Kweller formed the group Radish in 1993 and Lofgren helped them get a contract with Mercury Records. Radish was a victim of the 1999 Universal takeover of Polygram. Radish split up and Kweller moved to New York and started performing in clubs. He released some EPs and Evan Dando of The Lemonheads invited him on tour. When he came back, he signed with Dave Matthews' ATO label. The 2002 Sha Sha was his debut CD and presents Kweller as a slacker. His albums have sold well and Kweller is a very popular live act. His latest CD Changing Horses was released last month and takes Kweller in a country direction with pedal steel guitar and other country music trappings. It should be interesting to see how this plays with his established fanbase. Here's the video for Commerce, TX by Ben Kweller which definitely plays into the whole slacker thing.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Larry Davis

Artist:Larry Davis
Song:Goin' Out West Parts 1 & 2
Album:Box Of The Blues




Most music fans are probably familiar with Stevie Ray Vaughan's recording of Texas Flood. But they probably don't know that the song was written and originally recorded by guitarist Larry Davis. Davis was a veteran sideman who was finally getting noticed as a solo artist when he died in 1994. He was born Dec. 4, 1936 in Kansas City, MO and grew up in Little Rock, AR. He started out in the mid 50s playing bass with guitarist Fenton Robinson. They signed with Don Robey's Duke label on the recommendation of Bobby Bland. Texas Flood was one of three singles released before they were dropped. Davis became a studio musician and bass player for Albert King. King taught him to play guitar. He recorded some singles for Virgo in the late 60s and a 1972 motorcycle accident left Davis paralyzed on the left side. He recorded a couple of albums in the 80s but finally got his big chance when Ron Levy signed him to Bullseye Blues. Goin' Out West is from Davis' 1992 CD Sooner Or Later featuring the Memphis Horns. It's also part of this 4CD various artists box set from Rounder. But just as things were looking up, Larry Davis died of cancer on Apr. 19, 1994 at age 57. It's too bad it took him so long to get noticed. He was an excellent guitarist. Here's Larry Davis performing in the early 90s.

Fuuka celebrates 5th anniversary

Fuuka celebrated her 5th anniversary on Feb. 22 with two shows at Shin-kiba 1st Ring. Why two shows? It's called "soak the suckers". Some idiots get annoyed with me because I won't give Fuuka any credit. I agree that she's improved in five years. She doesn't suck as bad and has improved her technical skills. But she still comes to the ring, especially in big matches, like she's going to a tea party and has a bad habit of stinking out shows very badly. She doesn't have to improve her mental attitude anymore because she's the biggest star in joshi today and fans aren't going to Fuuka Matsuri shows for the wrestling. Other than the two main events and the matches featuring special guest Sarah Stock, most of the matches were comedy matches. But maybe you want to see Fuuka dance and sing. She came out at the start of the first show in a wedding dress and then danced in a pink cheerleader outfit complete with pompoms. Before the second show, she came out in that pink Darth Vader outfit she wore in her shoot boxing match and danced in a gold outfit. Later she came out to sing with her group Panic Power with RICA and the Shirai sisters. If you read this blog, you see the kind of music I listen to. So I've never cared much for this part of the joshi business.

The main event in the first show had Fuuka teaming with Nanae Takahashi against Yoshiko Tamura & Haruka Matsuo. Of course Matsuo & Tamura heeled it up and beat up Fuuka until Takahashi turned things around and Fuuka got the win over Matsuo with the F-Doll at 19:51. The second show main event had Fuuka against Kyoko Kimura in a match with with strange rules. It was divided up into rounds where the first round was by pinfall and round two was by submission. Normally you would expect Fuuka to win but Kimura is a top heel so it's a strange situation. Not surprisingly, it turned into a draw. Kimura controlled the first round with rough tactics and won with the Big Boots. In the second round, Fuuka used kicks (something she's actually pretty good at) to wear down Kimura until she hooked an armbar submission to win the round. Round three was more back and forth. Fuuka tried a top rope splash but Kimura got her knees up and then softened Fuuka up with footstamps. But it ended in a draw. So at least Kimura didn't lose.

Sarah Stock came over from Mexico to appear in these two shows. She worked for Hiroshi Ogawa when Ogawa owned A To Z in 2005. Her match on the first show was against the masked high flyer Ray. From what I read on blogs, Ray couldn't keep up with Sarah and Sarah won with the tiger driver at 9:56. It appears the match on the second show was better. Sarah teamed with Azumi Hyuga vs Tojuki Leon & Fuuka Kidd (Kaori Yoneyama). Sarah did some nice work with Leon. The two seemed to work very well together. The highlight of the match was probably Sarah's plancha from the top rope to the outside. Fuuka Kidd tried to roll up Sarah for the pin but Sarah turned it into a cross arm breaker for the win. Other matches on the first show were Shuu Shibutani over Misaki Ohata with a German suplex at 11:35 and Fuuka Kidd & Riho over Sakura Emi & Bullfight Sora when Riho rolled up Sora. This was a comedy match. On the second show, Mio Shirai & Natsuki*Taiyo defeated Aoi Kizuki & Io Shirai when Mio used the purple flash on Io and Bullfight Sora won over Small Antonio Inoki in another comedy match.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Howlin' Wolf

Artist:Howlin' Wolf
Song:Dust My Broom
Album:Alan Lomax Blues Songbook




Howlin' Wolf was one of the most popular bluesmen of the 60s and a primary rival to labelmate Muddy Waters. Wolf was a fierce vocalist and he was over six feet tall and weighed 300 pounds. So he was an imposing figure on the bandstand. He was born Chester Arthur Burnett June 10, 1910 in West Point, MS. The Howlin' Wolf name comes from Chester's reaction to his grandfather's scary stories. Chester was all set to be a farmer like his daddy when he met his idol legendary bluesman Charley Patton and copied Patton's vocal style. Wolf started getting attention when he recorded for Sun Records in 1951. This led to a move to Chicago and a contract with Chess Records. He had several hits in the 50s that are now considered classics and his success continued in the 60s. He even appeared on the TV show Shindig in 1964 when the Rolling Stones insisted on paying tribute to him. I'm not sure of the source of this version of the Elmore James classic Dust My Broom but guitarist Hubert Sumlin and sax player Eddie Shaw are on it so I would guess it was recorded in the mid 60s. There are several Howlin' Wolf comps available on Chess and this various artists comp is good for beginners. Howlin' Wolf's health started to fail in the early 70s with several heart attacks and he died on Jan. 10, 1976 at age 65. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1991 and even has a US postage stamp. Howlin' Wolf was a legend of the blues and his music is essential listening. Here's Howlin' Wolf performing Dust My Broom in the 60s.

Dr. Rosi Sexton signs with Bellator Fighting Championships

Sam Caplan of Five Ounces Of Pain reports that British fighter Dr. Rosi Sexton (pictured) has a four fight deal with a new promotion called Bellator Fighting Championships. She will face Jessica Aguillar on their April 3 debut show in Hollywood, FL. Who is Bellator? The company is owned by Bjorn Rebney & Brad Epstein. Rebney is best known as an agent for boxers Sugar Ray Leonard & Oscar De La Hoya. Epstein is a veteran film producer. The matchmaker is Matt Stansell. He is a former King Of The Cage Welterweight Champ, a coach in the defunct IFL and is an agent for MMA fighters. BFC has a TV deal with ESPN Deportes, not the main ESPN network. They will tape the show on Friday night and it will run on Saturday. It is not known if the show will run on international ESPN affiliates or anywhere else. Of course Dr. Rosi Sexton is one of today's top MMA fighters. If you're wondering about the "Dr." part, she has a PhD in computer science. So she's smarter than you and she'll kick your ass. Rosi's record is 9-1. She was under contract to EliteXC and her most recent fight was a split decision over Debi Purcell on the Aug. 15 ShoXC show. This was probably the 2008 fight of the year in women's MMA. Strikeforce chose not to pick up her contract probably because she's not from Southern California. Jessica Aguilar is 5-2 and most recently won over Angela Magana on the Mar. 22, 2008 WFC show in Tampa. The fight is at 120lbs which is Jessica's usual weight. Rosi usually fights a little heavier but has fought at 120 in the past. It's no big deal. Rosi is always in top shape and well prepared. According to the Bellator website, they are planning to run weekly shows. Certainly we want another place for women to fight but that's an awfully ambitious schedule.

Haruka Matsuo announces retirement

Haruka Matsuo announced at today's NEO Korakuen Hall show that she plans to retire on May 5 at age 27. The announcement was a big shock to fans in attendance but she posted her reasons for retiring on the NEO blog and it's clear that she thought she was getting nowhere in her wrestling career. She's a pretty girl and a decent but inconsistent performer. She can rise to the occasion but doesn't always do that. She's another example of a wrestler who was in main events by default because a lot of today's wrestlers are worse than her. But if you put her in the 90s heyday of joshi, she never would have got past midcard. So she seems better because of the poor state of today's joshi business. Matsuo's primary reason for retiring appears to be a direct result of her poor run with the NEO Singles Title. She says on the NEO blog that she decided to retire after she lost the belt to Kyoko Inoue last year but when Misae Genki announced her retirement, she decided to delay retirement. Matsuo gave it one last shot for the NEO belt against Nanae Takahashi on Dec. 31. But the loss confirmed her decision to retire. The main problem with her title run was she was booked very poorly as a weak champ. Many fans told NEO President Koda that Matsuo wasn't championship material. He defended the decision on the blog and proceeded to book Matsuo as poorly I've seen any champ booked. So if you like Matsuo and you want to blame someone, he's the guy. Matsuo said that when she started in joshi, she planned to retire at age 25 but decided to delay that until 30. So I guess it's time to get out while she's still healthy. It hurts NEO because though Matsuo was doing jobs, those jobs were in the upper midcard. I suppose they're hoping that Passion Red will fill that gap but it means that NEO is depending a lot on freelancers.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Country Joe & The Fish

Artist:Country Joe & The Fish
Song:Rock & Soul Music
Album:Woodstock: Music From The Original Soundtrack And More




With their anti Vietnam war songs and counterculture appeal, Country Joe & The Fish were a very popular band for a couple of years in the late 60s. And they are probably best remembered for their appearance at Woodstock. The group was led by singer songwriter Country Joe McDonald (born Jan. 1, 1942 in Washington, DC) and guitarist Barry "The Fish" Melton (born June 14, 1947 in Brooklyn, NY). McDonald grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte and his father named him after Joseph Stalin. After McDonald finished a stint in the US Navy in 1964, he moved to Berkeley and started performing and getting involved in political protests. He had a group called the Instant Action Jug Band and that's where he met Melton. They went through various lineups but eventually Country Joe & The Fish signed with folk label Vanguard. They were very successful and The I Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag got them the most attention. By the time they played Woodstock, the group was on its last legs. But their performance is memorable and the Woodstock soundtrack is available in this 2CD set. McDonald has recorded solo over the years and Melton went on to form the group Dinosaurs. He's a criminal defense attorney and is currently public defender in Yolo County, California. Here's Country Joe & The Fish performing Rock & Soul Music at Woodstock 1969.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-The Bodeans

Artist:The Bodeans
Song:She's A Runaway
Album:Joe Dirt Car




The Bodeans could be classified as either rock or country. I guess they're a roots rock band with a significant following in the country market. The band started in Waukesha, WI by high school pals Sammy Llanas (born Feb. 8, 1961 in Waukesha) and Kurt Neumann (born Oct. 9, 1961 in Waukesha). Both are singer songwriter guitarists. Bob Griffin was on bass and Guy Hoffman was on drums. The Bodeans were very popular on the Milwaukee music scene and got the attention of producer T-Bone Burnett and signed with Slash Records in 1985. Burnett produced their 1986 debut CD Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams. She's A Runaway was their first single. The album got critical acclaim but was not a hit. Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads produced their second CD Outside Looking in and The Bodeans got some attention for their live act when they toured with U2. Hoffman left and was replaced by Danny Gayol and keyboard player Michael Ramos was added. The Bodeans gained some fans when their song Closer To Free was used as the theme song for the TV show Party Of Five. It reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is their biggest hit to date. Joe Dirt Car is a 2CD live set and they are a strong live act. It's a very good album. The Bodeans left Slash after their 1996 CD Blend. Llanas & Neumann recorded solo but reformed in 2004. Their latest CD is Still was released in Mar. 2008 on their own He & He label. The Bodeans are recommended to roots rock fans. Here's the video for She's A Runaway by The Bodeans.
The BoDeans - She's A Runaway

Next VALKYRIE show on April 25

VALKYRIE announced today on their blog that VALKYRIE 02 will happen on Apr. 25 at Differ Ariake. That means they're going to use the cage again. The scheduled start time is 2PM. Nothing has been announced yet but my guess is a CAGE FORCE show will follow the VALKYRIE show as it did in November. On its own, I have doubts that VALKYRIE can fill Differ Ariake. Of course that's the problem with using the cage. They can't use a smaller venue like Shinjuku FACE. It really puts VALKYRIE behind the eight ball and forces GCM to be impatient. No fights have been announced yet but Yuka Tsuji, Naoko Ohmuro, Roxanne Modafferi and Kyoko Takabayashi will appear on the show. I expect a press conference in a couple of weeks.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Modern Jazz Quartet

Artist:Modern Jazz Quartet
Song:It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
Album:Dedicated To Connie




The longevity of the Modern Jazz Quartet speaks for itself. They were one of the most popular jazz bands for decades. And the group would still be around if the guys were still alive. The leader was pianist and musical director John Lewis (born May 3, 1920 in LaGrange, IL). Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson (born Jan. 1, 1923 in Detroit), bassist Ray Brown and drummer Kenny Clarke would play together between sets as members of Dizzy Gillespie's big band. They first recorded together as the Milt Jackson Quartet in 1951. Percy Heath (born Apr. 30, 1923 in Wilmington, NC) replaced Brown in 1952 and Connie Kay (born Conrad Kirnon Apr. 27, 1927 in Tuckahoe, NY) replaced Clarke in 1955. And that was the basic lineup for two decades. Jackson was successful as a solo artist and Heath & Kay played a lot of session so MJQ was mostly Lewis' group. They recorded mostly for Atlantic Records. MJQ worked with symphony orchestras and other classical musicians along with guest vocalists and jazz musicians. Jackson left MJQ in 1974 but he returned for reunion recordings and tours. Dedicated To Connie is a 2CD set recorded in Slovenia in 1960 and Atlantic released it in 1995 as a tribute to Connie Kay. Kay was replaced by Mickey Roker when his health started to fail and he died in 1994. Milt Jackson died in 1999. John Lewis died in 2001. Percy Heath died in 2005. But the music of the Modern Jazz Quartet still lives. Here's the Modern Jazz Quartet performing It Don't Mean A Thing in Munich 1988.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-New Lost City Ramblers

Artist:New Lost City Ramblers
Song:The Battleship Of Maine
Album:40 Years Of Concert Performances




If you're a folk music fan, you don't want to overlook the New Lost City Ramblers. They may not have been as commercial as other groups but they are equally significant. The group was formed in 1958 as a tribute to old time folk music of the 20s & 30s. Members were Mike Seeger (born Aug. 15, 1933 in New York City), John Cohen (born 1932 in Queen's, NY) and Tom Paley (born Mar. 19, 1928 in New York City). Of course Mike Seeger is the brother of Pete & Peggy Seeger. The New Lost City Ramblers recorded for Folkways Records which was owned by the Smithsonian Institute. So there were never any commercial pressures put on the group. The goal was to make authentic folk music. Paley left in 1962 and was replaced by Tracy Schwarz (born Nov. 13, 1938 in New York City). Paley has lived in England for many years. This Rounder 2CD comp of live performances is a pretty good intro for beginners as it has recordings spanning many years. The Battleship Of Maine is from 1958. The New Lost City Ramblers have reunited over the years while the individual members do their own music. John Cohen is better known as a documentary filmmaker. Those interested in traditional folk music should check out the New Lost City Ramblers. Here's the New Lost City Ramblers performing Man Of Constant Sorrow on Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest TV show 1964.