Latest news with #Riddell
Winnipeg Free Press
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg's late, great musical haunt Blue Note Café came alive in the dead of night
It's been said if you remember the 1960s, you weren't really there. Ditto the Blue Note Café, a late-night live music venue that existed in Winnipeg for almost two decades, originally on Main Street at what is presently Blue Note Park and later on Portage Avenue, near Arlington Street. Curtis Riddell is the former owner of 'the Note,' which became as famous for its cinnamon coffee and exterior neon sign as for the A-list clientele it tended to attract. Since last fall, the 69-year-old grandfather of two has been chronicling his involvement there, via an entertaining Facebook page titled Vague Recollections of the Blue Note Café, 'vague' being the key word. You see, even though Riddell commonly rubbed shoulders with the likes of Neil Young and Dan Aykroyd — but two of the many heavyweights who dropped by his establishment at one time or another, either to perform on the always-open stage or to soak in the atmosphere — his specific memories of the nocturnal space that also helped launch the careers of homegrown acts such as Mark Reeves, Scott Nolan and Walle Larson have become somewhat blurry over time. 'Heck, I can't even remember why we decided to call it the Blue Note in the first place,' he laughs, seated in his second-floor apartment in Altona, where he's been living since 2015. Somebody once questioned him whether the café, which remained open till 4 a.m., seven nights a week, was so-named for Blue Note Records, an American jazz label founded in 1939. His response: he had no idea there was such a thing. Nor was he aware there were already 'something like 55 Blue Notes' in various corners of the world when he settled on the moniker. Had that been the case, he might have gone with something else entirely, he comments while adjusting the collar of a black Blue Note Café T-shirt. 'What I do know for a fact is that we had our first lineup out the door a month or so after we started, and that it remained that way, pretty much, the rest of my time there.' Riddell was 27 years old when his late mother Helen purchased the Main Spot, a homey, 64-seat diner that first opened at 220 Main St. in 1939. It was the fourth or fifth restaurant she ran, he recalls, and because she considered staff to be a needless expense, she was a one-person show, handling all the serving, cooking and cleaning herself, Monday to Friday. Approximately four months into his mom's tenure at the Main Spot, Riddell approached her with a proposition. Since hers was a breakfast-and-lunch nook that closed for the day at 4 p.m., what if he assumed the reins four hours later under the Blue Note banner, and continued forth into the wee hours of the morning? 'At the time I wasn't doing anything of significance, mostly just gigging around in a series of bands,' says Riddell, a drummer who formed his first group, Riverside Oak, while attending Sturgeon Creek High School. 'I was also pretty naive, with no hospitality experience to speak of. Fairly early on a buddy of mine asked 'aren't you worried about this succeeding?' I was like, 'I'd never really considered that as a possibility.'' Riddell credits Frain Cory, a Free Press entertainment writer during the 1980s, for helping to put his fledgling venture on the map. On April 28, 1983, Cory wrote 'There's a village coffee house ambience to the Blue Note,' in his weekly After Dark column. 'Twelve dimly-lit, highback booths have visual access to a tiny seven-foot-square stage. Performers take the stage whenever and for however long the spirit moves them,' Cory continued, praising the five-week-old premises' 'unruffled atmosphere' and 'superior sounding stereo system,' the latter a gift to her son from Helen. By that summer, things were going so swimmingly there that Riddell's mom ceased with the Main Spot altogether, and it became simply the Blue Note. That made things much easier, Riddell says, especially on those occasions when guests chose to hang out well past closing time (Burton Cummings once performed Guess Who classics non-stop from 3 a.m. until 6:30 a.m.), which meant they would still be there, albeit bleary-eyed, when his mom showed up to start her day. As much as he enjoyed the 14 years he spent at the helm, Riddell admits to being ready for a change when he walked away from the Blue Note in 1997. (The café continued for a number of years under new ownership before shuttering altogether in the early 2000s.) He threw himself into a new career, working in the local film industry for almost 20 years, before his move to Altona. In August 2023, he attended a wake for George West that was held at Blue Note Park. (He was touched when Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club owner John Scoles reached out to him in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, to seek his permission to name an empty outdoor site two doors down from his business after the café.) In addition to being a longtime server at the Blue Note Café, West had also been a member of the Crash Test Dummies, back when they were the Blue Note's de facto house band, before the group became internationally known. It was during what was billed as George West Fest that he began to consider compartmentalizing his personal experiences at the Note, having concluded 'I wasn't getting any younger, so if not now, when?' He reached out to Ken Datzkiw, a buddy of his with a writing background who'd also worked and performed at the Blue Note. Following some back-and-forth, the pair devised a plan to share Riddell's yarns with the rest of the world. 'Initially he talked about a book, but I wasn't sure how long that might take, or if Curtis would pay attention long enough to see it through,' says Datzkiw with a chuckle, seated in the lobby of the Winnipeg hotel he's staying at, during a quick trip to the city from his home in Fort Frances, Ont. 'Finally I said, why don't we start it as a public Facebook page, and see where that takes us. So that's the route we chose when we created Vague Recollections… in the fall of 2024.' Datzkiw refers to the beginning entries as 'low-hanging fruit' — ones Riddell came up without much prodding. Those include the time when Riddell and his brother Mark, founder of the Spectrum Cabaret (now the Pyramid), shared a few drinks with Robert Plant, ex- of Led Zeppelin. Or the two consecutive evenings in August 1987 when David Bowie's backing musicians commandeered the stage for hours on end, while the English rocker was in town for the Glass Spider Tour. Or the night Edmonton Oilers star Mark Messier jokingly (?) arm-wrestled Riddell for a date with his then-wife. 'The first few (posts) came pretty easily and since then, it's been a matter of jogging our memory banks, trying to pin down when this or that happened, and who all was involved,' says Datzkiw, explaining he's responsible for editing Riddell's lengthy text messages. 'He gets me to clean things up, only he doesn't want it to be too clean. At the end of the day, these are his stories, right?' Back in Altona, Riddell says he tries to come up with a fresh yarn every week or so. To date, he's heard from people living across the country and points beyond, some of whom have suggested chestnuts of their own. Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. 'That's been one of the best parts. They'll read something of mine, which reminds them of a night they were there, and they'll comment, wondering if I remember it that way, too,' Riddell says, adding the reason so many people — A-listers and Winnipeggers alike — regularly darkened the Blue Note's doors was rather straightforward: there was scarcely anywhere else to go after last call at the local watering holes. Riddell says a book still isn't out of the question. And as for future endeavours, he'd love to throw together a podcast of some sort, hopefully augmented with audio somebody may have recorded, all those years ago. 'That's a tough one because it's not like anybody had a smartphone back in the day. I guess it's like they say: what happened at the Blue Note, stayed at the Blue Note,' he says, running a hand through his grey coif. 'In the meantime, I'll keep trying to come up with new stories. Like when Axl Rose (of Guns N' Roses) showed up unannounced. Or when Rod Stewart sat in the back for three hours, listening to members of his band on stage. Or when (blues guitarist) Johnny Winter walked in, and everybody got out of their chairs to give him a standing ovation…' David Sanderson Dave Sanderson was born in Regina but please, don't hold that against him. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
NZ Herald
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- NZ Herald
Racing in Hawke's Bay: Waipukurau racing returning in November, Hastings by spring 2026
Major races from that day were run at Matamata a few days later, and major races scheduled for the last day were run at Te Rapa, Hamilton. Other days scheduled for the 2024-25 season in Hastings were also run at other courses, including the Hawke's Bay Cup at Trentham last month, and no dates have been allocated to Hastings for the 2025-26 season starting on August 1 and ending on July 31 next year. The statement said: 'Pending approval by the NZTR board, we can confirm that work will progress on a partial recambering of the bends leaving the home straight (1600m and 1400m) of the Hastings racetrack. 'Notwithstanding any unforeseen circumstances, this significant, expert-led investment will allow for a safe and confident return to racing in Hawke's Bay for spring 2026.' The work is necessary to make racing sustainable in Hawke's Bay well into the future, Ballesty and Riddell said. Further planning is under way to determine the long-term vision for racing in the wider Hawke's Bay area, which has also in recent years lost racing at Wairoa. It also includes facilities such as grandstands and other off-track facilities. The two organisations expect to share more detailed updates with members and the public in July, the statement said. 'We would like to thank our East Coast racing clubs who continue to work together to shape a strong and sustainable future for the industry and the community. We look forward to racing returning to the Hawke's Bay region.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Bicyclist trying to cross highway in Stevens County hit, killed by car
May 14—A bicyclist trying to cross State Route 231 Tuesday 1 mile south of Ford, Washington, was hit and killed by a driver, according to Washington State Patrol. David D. James, 53, of Ford, was riding north along the southbound shoulder of the Stevens County highway at 1:20 p.m. when he failed to yield trying to cross the highway and was struck by a 2016 Chevy Malibu, WSP said in a news release. James was airlifted to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where he died Wednesday morning, according to WSP Sgt. Greg Riddell. Riddell said the driver of the Chevy swerved to try to avoid hitting James but "clipped" him. The driver, who was uninjured, was cooperative and not impaired. No charges are expected against the driver, Riddell said. WSP District 4, which includes Adams, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens and Whitman counties, has investigated 10 fatal crashes this year compared to three for the same time period in 2024, according to WSP. The leading causes of the crashes were impairment (four) and failing to yield the right of way (two).
USA Today
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Peyton Manning and Carrie Penner check in on high school helmet project
Peyton Manning and Carrie Penner check in on high school helmet project The Denver Broncos are making a big impact in 2025, on and off the field. As part of the ALL IN. ALL COVERED. campaign, where the Broncos pledged to provide new Riddell helmets to all 277 Colorado high schools, Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and team co-owner Carrie Walton Penner took a tour of the Riddell facility to check on the progress of the project. Manning and Penner were shown each step of the helmet-making process: picking, painting, decal application, packaging and shipping. Penner was able to help paint a few of the helmets, while Manning helped with decal application. While reviewing completed helmets for the Peyton Panthers, Manning poked fun at the name of the team. "Peyton Panthers, appropriately named because the Broncos beat the Panthers ten years ago in the Super Bowl," said Manning. "We're combining all these worlds. Peyton Pride, baby!" You can watch the full video of Manning and Penner's visit below. You can read more about the team's helmet program on the team's official website. Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
BBC News
19-03-2025
- BBC News
Police hunting more gold toilet heist gang members
The other burglars involved in the theft of a £4.8m gold toilet are still being hunted following the convictions of two of the gang, police have smashed their way into Blenheim Palace and ripped out the toilet hours after a glamorous launch party at the Oxfordshire stately home in September Tuesday Michael Jones was found guilty of planning the burglary and Fred Doe was convicted of conspiring to sell the gold. Ringleader James Sheen previously pled guilty to the Supt Bruce Riddel said it was clear there had been "others involved" in the crime. Five men were seen on CCTV carrying out the heist, but only two, Sheen and Jones, have ever been days of the robbery the artwork, called America, had been broken up and sold on, the court previously heard. None of the gold has been is believed that Sheen moved some of the gold through other criminal contacts in Birmingham, as well as through Doe, who is from Windsor in Berkshire. Speaking outside court following the verdicts, Det Supt Riddell said: "As part of the investigation, a number of other arrests were made, but further charges could not be brought at this time."He urged anyone who may have new information regarding those involved to contact the the "complex investigation", the force had made "multiple arrests" and "investigated numerous scenes across the country", he kingpin Sheen, from Oxford, pleaded guilty last year after police found his DNA at the scene and gold fragments in his was described in court as the "common denominator", having been charged with planning and transferring criminal property, as well as burglary. Det Supt Riddell said it was "clear" Sheen was the man behind the the convictions, the BBC revealed his full criminal has been jailed at least six times since 2005 and has led organised crime groups that made more than £5m from fraud and theft - money authorities have largely failed to recover."It is clear that Sheen has only one intent, and that is to steal money and property regardless of the impact it has on others and communities," Det Supt Riddell added that Thames Valley Police would "look to exploit every opportunity we can to recover assets made from the Blenheim burglary".A fourth man, Bora Guccuk, was cleared of conspiring to sell the gold at Tuesday's hearing. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
