The Oscar Peterson Trio this weekend, recorded live at the Summer Festival Canada in Peterson's hometown Montreal by CBC Radio in 1968.

Classic Peterson with some original compositions added to the mix. A great concert which I'm not sure has seen the light of reissue, either by The CBC or via the Jazz collector's circuit.

In any event, something groovy the round out your Sunday.

The world was a busy place this week and at last report, it hasn't stopped.

(Elections in Sudan - at least they could listen to music)

From the BBC Africa Service, reports on the elections in Sudan and the growing oppression in Somalia on the parts of Muslim extremists. This week imposing a ban on all music played over the radio.

(China - a disaster made worse by inaccessibility)

By Mid-week, reports of the earthquake near the Tibetan border grew more grim by the minute. First reported hundreds dead, then 600 dead and, at last count over 800 dead. Rescue work is being hampered by the altitude and thin air but miracles are still happening. Also, from this Global News Report from April 14th, updates on the aftermath of the tragedy in Poland, news on land reform in Zimbabwe and the upcoming British elections.

(Helena Guergis and Rahid Jaffer - gives a whole new spin on the phrase "hot chicks with douchebags")

From the CBC World News At Six on April 15th, the continuing scandal and resignation of Canadian MP and Cabinet member Helena Guergis and allegations of "improprieties" on behalf of her husband, former MP Rahim Jaffer. Nice to know we aren't the only ones who get mired in sex and drug scandals. Also reports of torture of Afghan prisoners by troops in 2006 as reported by a member of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

(The first time the UK held televised debates . . what hath God wrought?)

From the BBC Politics site on April 16th, a capsule version of the previous nights first-ever live televised Debate between candidates for Prime Minister. Now it's the UK's chance to drown in spin, pundits and polls. Various news outlets are reporting the Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg won hands down. Let the beauty contest begin.

(The vice-President in Israel reacting to the sound of wingnuts exploding)

If you ever thought the shrill shriek of wingnut radio was the exclusive property of the U.S., that we somehow were the only country on the planet bombarded by noise and extremism, I'm here to tell you it just ain't so. Big relief, right? Well, in Israel they have this prevalent radio network called Israel National Radio and, even by their own admission are probably one of the most hard-line right wing propaganda outlets in the middle-east. In comparison, Fox seems almost moderate by comparison. Take for example an excerpt from this April 16th broadcast of A Light Unto The Nation which features interviews with Daniel Pipes and Dr. Mike Cohen. They despise Joe Biden and pretty much hate Obama. Sounds familiar, no? They don't however, say anything about being "fair and balanced" - that's a relief.

And so went the world this week, continuing its inevitable spin. We survived so far.

With the amount of routine trashing the Canadian Health Care system has received at the hands of their corrupt and greedy neighbors to the south, you'd think a typical day at an average Canadian hospital would be scenes of battled scarred triage. Walls spattered with blood, patients screaming in hallways - waiting rooms littered with corpses.

Well . . that's the picture the health insurance lobbies would like you to see. The reality is something of a different picture. And reason the Canadian healthcare system has achieved its level of success is due in no small part to the crusading efforts of Canadian Supreme Court Justice Emmett Hall.

It was Hall whose Commission on National Health Care arrived at the conclusion in 1961 that the Canadian Health Care System was in dire need of overhaul and implemented a series of changes by which all Canadian citizens be entitled to decent health care.

Needless to say, the CMA (the Canadian AMA) and the drug companies did their level best to paint pictures of horror and endless lines and three year waits to see unfamiliar doctors - all which proved to be untrue.

In 1964, as Hall's report was released and while the Health Care Plan was being discussed, the CBC as part of it's Farm Forum Radio Program ran an interview with Hall where he discussed the then-current state of Medical care in Canada.

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(Martha & The Muffins - Name was temporary but it stuck)

In the off chance you're not feeling highbrow tonight (as in The Newstalgia Mid-Week Concert), but rather fancy a dose of New Wave from 1980, the box of 45's keeps turning up stuff. Tonight it's Canadian Art Rock/New Wave Martha & the Muffins whose only hit was Insect Love from 1978. This track, Saigon was off their first album and was issued as a single, but it went nowhere more or less solidifying their status as a nice band but not cutting edge.

Truths to tell, they actually were a pretty good band, but at the time there were so many bands flocking to the New Wave genre that many got lost in the shuffle, Martha & The Muffins were one of them.

Although the band have gone through numerous personnel changes over the years, there is the persistent rumor they're still together. How current that information is you can only guess.

But in the meantime, here's another dose of early 1980's.

A particularly grim day in 1940. Starting with news reports that France had appointed delegates to receive the German surrender terms. From the relocated French government in Bordeaux, Marshall Petain appealed to the French people, and the remaining French troops, to give up the War, that France had been defeated.

And while the appeals were going out and the envoys were readying to receive terms, the German Army were quickly advancing on all fronts, taking the important French Port city of Brest and the rumored capture of numerous French warships. What was left of the French Army had been separated into four areas and cut off from communication with each other. The German Army was also poised to take Paris.

All this had an uneasy affect on London, as it was reported that emergency cabinet meetings had taken place and plans for the defense of Britain were underway. Among those plans was the initial evacuation of some 20,000 children to Canada and the Dominions for the duration. The first ships were scheduled to convoy out in 2 weeks and offices handing the evacuation requests were flooded with applicants. It was widely believed that, now with the fall of France, Britain was facing Germany's Final Objective. German Bomber raids overnight hit the industrial cities of Billingham and Hull. The fires from Billingham could be seen for 30 miles. Reports from Berlin claimed they were reprisal bombings for British raids on German cities.

News from Washington initially came in the form of a bulletin that stated FDR made a surprising motion to form a Coalition Cabinet and the unprecedented move of appointing two high-ranking Republicans, Col. Frank Knox and Henry L. Stimson to the posts of Secretary of The Navy and Secretary of War, respectively. Knox was vice-Presidential Candidate for the Republicans in 1936 and Stimson was Secretary of State in the Hoover Administration and Secretary of War in the Taft Administration. The dismay came from the Republicans who felt it created damage to their 1940 Platform and it was purely a political move on FDR's part.

Another nail-biting day in history, this June 20, 1940, as reported on the NBC News Of The World.

Since it's still a holiday weekend, I thought I would post a Weekend Gramophone entry that was originally intended for yesterday. It comes via the Transcription Service of Radio Canada.

A piano recital by the legendary French-Lithuanian Pianist Vlado Perlemuter, given at the Jeuneses Musicales du Canada in 1964.

Perlemuter was one of the great interpreters of the music of Ravel, as well as Debussy. Having performed their works for them while they were still alive. With Ravel, Perlemuter developed a friendship and introduced several of the composer's works to an audience.

In this concert he plays, not only Ravel and Debussy but also the music of Faure and Chopin and gives three encores to a wildly enthusiastic crowd.

Since the discs were only good for one year before being destroyed, it's not too likely a lot of copies are around. It's a great concert by a highly influential pianist and I haven't seen it reissued anywhere.

So enjoy the rarity.

With a Guilty verdict for Voluntary Manslaughter, rather than the hoped for Guilty of Murder, convicted killer of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, Dan White, triggered a night of violence that saw scores of arrests and some 60 Policeman injured as San Francisco's Gay community vented its outrage at what was considered almost an acquittal. The fallout from the verdicts and the damage done, primarily to relations between the City and the Gay Community, would have long term and lasting affects.

Another set of protests went on in the wake of executions of convicted killers John Spenkelink and Willie Darden in Florida - the first to be held in that state since 1964. At the time of this broadcast, appeals were still pending.

Also pending was the outcome of elections in Canada which, according to polls, was a neck-and-neck race between incumbent Pierre Elliot Trudeau and challenger Joe Clark.

Secretary of State Vance went on a meet-and-greet with members of newly elected Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government while on a visit to London.

On Capitol Hill - Ethics hearings were continuing for Herman Talmadge and a Grand Jury were meeting to determine what would happen next in the brewing scandal of Bert Lance.

And California may become the first state to relax it's odd-even Gas rationing since it was being better-than-good about reduced driving and consumption, resulting in more plentiful gas supplies. Like the oil companies really cared.

And so went this particular May 22 in 1979 - an Even Day, if you were sitting at a gas station on Empty. All reported on The CBS World News Roundup.

A significant day in history, but one that was moving so fast we didn't appreciate it at the time.

On February 7, 1990 sweeping changes were taking place in the Soviet Union, almost hourly and predominating the news of the day. As Mikhail Gorbachev repealed Article 6 in the Communist Party platform, making way for a multi-party system and Democracy to replace the old Communist system of government. Everyone was in favor, except for one - Boris Yeltsin, regarded by most as a maverick politician. The news was greeted in the West with enthusiasm, although President Bush quickly rushed to claim at least partial credit for the changes. Ironically, he also called for increased spending of the Star Wars Defense system, which baffled everyone, including Central Committee Member Georgi Abatov who said:

"I think you are, you Americans, not yet prepared to live without an enemy. You just don't know what to do without an enemy".

True, that. And still true, some 20 years later.

In other news - Vaclav Havel was scheduled to arrive in Washington for a visit and address a joint session of Congress. Jesse Jackson was scheduled to arrive in Johannesburg South Africa, continuing his call for an end to Apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela. Schools in Selma Alabama were closed on this day, as racial tensions rose and black marched in protest to the recent dismissal of black School Superintendent Norbert Rousseau by a mostly white Board of Education.

The State Department was up to its eyeballs in scandal as it suspended employee Felix Bloch on spy charges. Chicago was minus 20 organized crime figures as the DOJ did a sweep and handed out indictments like party favors.

And a study found the majority of high school students had no idea about geography or even where they were on the map. The good news was 87% could find Canada - but that was about it.

And we were now The Big Kids Left Standing.

And so went this particular day in history as reported by CBS Radio and The World Tonight along with Special Reports and a word or two from Dan Rather.

Another day our news was absorbed with war - Cold and Korean.

February 2nd 1951 and reports came in of marginal advances towards Seoul on the 9th day of a UN offensive in Korea. Reports also came in of an alarming increase of Frostbite cases among the troops, with an estimated 10-20% of those cases requiring amputations of one sort or another. The question of morale was on the minds of many, including those responding to rumors from "high placed officials" that a line of defense would be established at the 38th Parallel in Korea. The rumors were flatly denied, saying it would be detrimental to the morale of the troops if such a strategy was considered. Ironically, it was - but at the time, no one would admit it.

General Eisenhower was scheduled to make an Address To The Nation at 10:45 pm (EST) on the need for an increase in military strength around the world, including Europe. It was hinted Gen. Eisenhower would ask to establish a military draft of 18 year olds to shore up the sagging troop numbers.

On Capitol Hill a call for relaxation of the Wage Freeze was being considered, as well as legal action against key participants in the Railroad strike, saying the strike was doing harm to the war effort as much needed winter supplies were being delayed in shipping as the result (i.e. the frostbite report).

And the fourth Atomic Test took place in Yucca Flats Nevada, with reports of sizable earth tremors being felt in Las Vegas and the explosion being clearly visible In Los Angeles, some 300 miles away.

Coinciding with news of the Nevada Tests it was also revealed that radioactive particles were turning up in snowfall around Canada and other parts of the Eastern U.S. - although the AEC were quick to assuage fears by claiming the amounts were only trace and posed no harm to living things. No mention of plants or ground water, but people and animals were in no direct fear of becoming radioactive.

And all of this talk of The Bomb, the War and The Soviet Union had Americans clamoring for institutions of religion. A dramatic uptick in Church attendance and construction of new churches, of religious studies at colleges and Universities led many to believe this was all the result of the overwhelming fear that had gripped the world in 1951. That somehow the world had just become too dangerous a place to live without some higher authority being consulted. Clearly, we were losing control.

And that's the way it looked on this February 2nd, 1951 as reported by Don Hollenbeck, substituting for Edward R. Murrow on Edward R. Murrow And The News over CBS Radio.

News on this day in 1948 began with breaking news from New Delhi that Mohandas Gandhi had been shot and killed. Reports were sketchy at first and it wasn't until the second of the two newscasts on this post was broadcast on the evening of the 30th that the full shock and grief of what had happened became apparent.

But during the morning newscast, after the initial reports and a bio on the life of Gandhi, news resumed and reports on the Opening Day of the 1948 Winter Olympics, the trials and tribulations of Capitol Hill and the Spy Trial in Canada filled up the broadcast. Also Cold War news with Russian protests over U.S. warships anchored off the Italian coast, seen as a show of support to the Anti-Communist government.

Domestic news included political scuffles on Capitol Hill over price controls on grain for Whiskey, Tax bills, the problems with Dixiecrats and the cold front sweeping over the Northeast.

Other news included a report on the opening of The Mikado for the first time in Japan, to mixed and curious reviews since the Opera had been banned prior to this. France voted to cancel 5,000 Franc notes, creating an uproar with the holders of those notes.

The second newscast, NBC News Of The World Night Special reported on reactions throughout the world of the Gandhi assassination with an exclusive report from the BBC and an eyewitness account of the assassination, as well as a wrapup on news of the day, including activities during the first day of Winter Olympics.

An extraordinary day in history for January 30, 1948.