The Mingus Big Band is a hot band at any time, and on this night, it added extra star power, featuring Ku-umba Frank Lacy on trombone and vocals, Randy Brecker on trumpet, Vincent Herring on sax, Dave Kikoski on piano and Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums.

NPR: Mingus Big Band: A Rousing, Raucous Concert

From the first throbbing bass notes by Boris Koslov in "Gunslinging Birds" to the animated trombone and vocals of Ku-umba Frank Lacy in "E's Flat, Ah's Flat Too, " and the roaring full-band choruses that close out "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting, " the Mingus Big Band was on.

NPR: Mingus Big Band: A Rousing, Raucous Concert

Even the rivers of the Kola peninsula, so heavily promoted by American and British travel companies, now seem under threat, with biologists estimating that poachers kill up to 50% of the salmon run on the Kola River and as much as a third on the Umba, Kharlovka and Rynda.

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