Here’s a quick roundup of stories you may have missed today.Anne Hathaway-Led Grounded Reschedules OpeningGeorge Brant’s Grounded, starring Anne Hathaway, has pushed back its official off-Broadway opening night to April 26; the date had previously been set for April 23. Directed by Julie Taymor, the one-woman show exploring the consequences of war and the struggle to find a balance with home life, will still begin previews on April 7 at the Public’s Anspacher Theater. We can’t wait for the Les Miz Oscar winner’s return to the New York stage!Cats’ Nicole Scherzinger & More Tapped for the OliviersThe Olivier nominated (and hopefully Broadway-bound) Nicole Scherzinger will sing “Memory” from Cats at London’s Olivier Awards ceremony on April 12. Olivier nominees Katie Brayben (Beautiful) and Beverley Knight (Memphis) are also set to take the stage to perform numbers from their respective shows. Other big names to join the event’s lineup at the Royal Opera House include Tony winners Angela Lansbury and Judi Dench, Broadway alums Emilia Fox and Michael Urie, along with Olivier winner Chiwetel Ejiofor. Can’t wait? Listen to Scherzinger’s rendition of the famous feline 11 o’clock number here.Netflix Orders Second Season of Bloodline Netflix has renewed Bloodline, starring Broadway faves Norbert Leo Butz, Kyle Chandler, Ben Mendelsohn, Linda Cardellini and Sissy Spacek, for a second season. According to Deadline, the family thriller will return to production later this year and be released in 2016. Not started binge-watching yet? Maybe Tony winner Butz will talk you into it! Related Shows Grounded Show Closed This production ended its run on May 24, 2015 View Comments
View Comments Charlie Stemp(Photo: Manuel Harlan) We were right: Half a Sixpence’s dream team is West End-bound! Co-created by mega-producer Cameron Mackintosh and School of Rock scribe Julian Fellowes, the play ran in the U.K.’s Chichester Festival this year. Performances will commence at the Noël Coward Theatre beginning on October 29, with opening night scheduled for November 17. The entire Chichester cast will transfer to the West End, including newcomers Charlie Stemp as Arthur Kipps and Devon-Elise Johnson as Ann Pornick alongside three-time Olivier-nominees Ian Bartholomew as Chitterlow and Emma Williams as Helen Walsingham.Half a Sixpence, the musical adaptation of H.G. Wells’s semi-autobiographical novel Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul, is a fresh adaptation which reunites book-writer Fellowes with George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the musical team that Mackintosh first put together to create the hit stage adaptation of Mary Poppins with Disney. The score is inspired by and features several of composer David Heneker’s exhilarating songs from the original production, including “Flash Bang Wallop,” “Money To Burn” and “Half A Sixpence.”In Half a Sixpence, Arthur Kipps, an orphan and over-worked draper’s assistant at the turn of the last century, unexpectedly inherits a fortune that propels him into high society. His childhood companion, Ann Pornick, watches with dismay as Arthur is made over in a new image by the beautiful and classy Helen Walsingham. Both young women undoubtedly love Arthur – but which of them should he listen to? With the help of his friends, Arthur learns that if you want to have the chance of living the right life, you need to make the right choices.Mackintosh’s Miss Saigon will open on Broadway in March 2017; Hamilton is scheduled to open in 2017 at his renovated Victoria Palace Theatre in London.
BINGHAMTON (WBNG) — Binghamton Mayor Rich David said he expects the Boscov’s in downtown Binghamton to sign a one-year lease. This is the third one-year lease for Boscov’s after a five-year agreement made in 2013. Mayor David said the lease extension was approved on Thursday, May 20 by Broome County’s Industrial Development Agency. He said he has been talking with the store since the lockdown began.
Mayor David told 12 News the lease has not been signed by Boscov’s yet because they are waiting for phase two of the reopening process. He also said once the lease is signed, Boscov’s would operate in the city location through May 2021.
The lyrics speak for themselves.Oh, Lord, don’t let ’em shoot us!Oh, Lord, don’t let ’em stab us!Oh, Lord, don’t let ’em tar and feather us!Oh, Lord, no more swastikas!Oh, Lord, no more Ku Klux Klan!Name me someone who’s ridiculous, Dannie.Governor Faubus!Why is he so sick and ridiculous?He won’t permit integrated schools.Then he’s a fool! Boo! Nazi Fascist supremacists!Boo! Ku Klux Klan (with your Jim Crow plan)Name me a handful that’s ridiculous, Dannie Richmond.Faubus, Rockefeller, EisenhowerWhy are they so sick and ridiculous?Two, four, six, eight:They brainwash and teach you hate.H-E-L-L-O, Hello.Were Mingus still alive today, I’m sure he’d have some music to indict Trump, his clan, and his racist gubernatorial and senatorial enablers.Mingus was born on April 22, 1922, and died Jan. 5, 1979. The Charles Mingus website maintains his legacy; content includes a biography and Mingus’ complete discography.One of the most important figures in 20th century American music, Charles Mingus was a virtuoso bass player, accomplished pianist, bandleader and composer. Born on a military base in Nogales, Arizona in 1922 and raised in Watts, California, his earliest musical influences came from the church—choir and group singing—and from “hearing Duke Ellington over the radio when [he] was eight years old.” He studied double bass and composition in a formal way (five years with H. Rheinshagen, principal bassist of the New York Philharmonic, and compositional techniques with the legendary Lloyd Reese) while absorbing vernacular music from the great jazz masters first-hand. His early professional experience, in the 1940s, found him touring with bands like Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory and Lionel Hampton.Eventually he settled in New York where he played and recorded with the leading musicians of the 1950s—Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Art Tatum and Duke Ellington himself. One of the few bassists to do so, Mingus quickly developed as a leader of musicians. He was also an accomplished pianist who could have made a career playing that instrument. By the mid-50s, he had formed his own publishing and recording companies to protect and document his growing repertoire of original music. He also founded the Jazz Workshop, a group which enabled young composers to have their new works performed in concert and on recordings.Mingus soon found himself at the forefront of the avant-garde. His recordings bear witness to the extraordinarily creative body of work that followed. They include: Pithecanthropus Erectus, The Clown, Tijuana Moods, Mingus Dynasty, Mingus Ah Um, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Cumbia and Jazz Fusion, Let My Children Hear Music. He recorded over a hundred albums and wrote over 300 scores.- Advertisement – – Advertisement – Enjoy “Wednesday Night Prayer Service,” from 1960’s Blues & Roots.As a person who was raised on (and loves) the poetry and short stories of Langston Hughes, it wasn’t until recently that I became aware of the fact that in 1958, Mingus collaborated with Hughes on an album.Two years after Hughes read “Jazz as Communication” at the Newport Jazz Festival, he collaborated with Feather’s All-Star Sextet and Mingus and the Horace Parlan Quintet on an album first released as The Weary Blues. It has recently been re-released by Fingertips as Harlem in Vogue—22 tracks of Hughes reading poems like “The Weary Blues,” “Blues at Dawn,” and “Same in Blues/Comment on Curb” (top) over original compositions by Feather and Mingus, with six additional tracks of Hughes reading solo and two original songs by Bob Dorough with the Bob Dorough Quintet. (Mingus plays bass on tracks 11-18.)Here’s “Double G Train.”One of Mingus’ compositions that always touches me is his 1959 tribute to saxophonist Lester Young, known in the jazz world as “Prez,” whose sartorial signature was his hat.In a 1963 re-release, Mingus renamed the song “Theme for Lester Young.”One would not normally put the name of Charlie Mingus together with that of Joni Mitchell, and yet, toward the end of his life, he reached out to Mitchell, to initiate an unlikely collaboration: adding lyrics to the Lester Young tribute. Jazz critic Leonard Feather wrote about the collaboration at the time for the Los Angeles Times.Word reached her a couple of years ago that Mingus had something in mind for her to do. When she called him, Mingus told her that he had an idea for a piece of music based on an excerpt from TS Elliot’s “Four Quartets,” with a full orchestra, and overlaid on it a bass and guitar, with a reader quoting Elliot. “He wanted me to distil Elliot down into street language, and sing it mixed with this reader. “Though Mitchell was fascinated by the idea, and spent time reading the Elliot book, she decided that it was not feasible – “I called Charles back and told him I couldn’t do it; it seemed like a kind of sacrilege.”In April 1977, Mingus called with the news that he had written six songs with her in mind, and wanted her to write words for them and sing them. “I went to visit him and liked him immediately. He was already sick and in a wheelchair, but still very vital and concerned. “We started searching through his material, and he said, ‘Now this one has five different melodies.’ I said, ‘You mean you want me to write five different sets of lyrics?’ He said yes, then put one on and it was the fastest boogie-est thing I’d ever heard, and it was impossible! So this was like a joke on me; he was testing and teasing me, but in good fun.”Mitchell made several visits to the Mingus home in New York, listening to some of the his older themes on records as well as discussing the newer works and his lyrical ideas for them. “Then, because he had become very seriously ill, he and his wife Sue went to Mexico, to a faith healer, and during that time I spent 10 days with them. At that point his speech had deteriorated severely. Every night he would say to me, ‘I want to talk to you about the music,’ and every day it would be too difficult. So some of what he had to tell me remained a mystery.“Sue gave me a lot of tapes and interviews, and they were thrilling to me, because so much of what he felt and described was kindred to my own feelings. He articulated lessons that were laid on him by Fats Navarro, the trumpeter, and others.”Mingus ultimately succumbed to ALS in 1979.xToday we remember Charles Mingus, who, on this day 41 years ago, died from ALS.“Sue and the holy riverWill send you to the saints of jazz –To Duke and Bird and Fats –And any other saints you have.”From Joni Mitchell’s liner notes to the album “Mingus” pic.twitter.com/2M5v51kTb6— Charles Mingus (@Mingus) January 5, 2020Mingus was sheer genius, and whether or not he ranks as your favorite jazz bassist, he will always be regarded as seminal in the history of jazz. Wherever you are, Charlie—take a bow. Stay tuned next Sunday for more bassists, including Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Stanley Clarke, and Esperanza Spaulding! Mingus’ story is also told in the documentary, Triumph of the Underdog—a title which echoes the title of his autobiography, Beneath the Underdog.Charles Mingus–Triumph of the Underdog is the first comprehensive documentary about jazz bassist, bandleader, and composer Charles Mingus. Mingus led a tumultuous life filled with trauma and frustration, joy and creativity. Not light enough to be considered white and not dark enough to fit into the black community, he was an outcast in American society who charted his own path. Likewise, his legacy as a 20th century composer reaches far beyond conventional jazz idioms.Mingus apprenticed with people like Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, and Charlie Parker before going out on his own and becoming a musical force for more than a decade. When interest in his music waned at the height of the rock era in the mid-1960s, and one of his closest collaborators, Eric Dolphy, died, Mingus was institutionalized due to psychological problems. Upon his return to the music scene, he began playing more concerts and his record sales zoomed. This golden period of recognition ended when he contracted Lou Gehrig’s Disease and his muscles began to deteriorate. He died in 1979.His autobiography, Beneath the Underdog, made waves when it was first published in 1971.
Bass player extraordinaire Charles Mingus, (was) one of the essential composers in the history of jazz, and Beneath the Underdog, his celebrated, wild, funny, demonic, anguished, shocking, and profoundly moving memoir, is the greatest autobiography ever written by a jazz musician. It tells of his God-haunted childhood in Watts during the 1920s and 1930s; his outcast adolescent years; his apprenticeship, not only with jazzmen but also with pimps, hookers, junkies, and hoodlums; and his golden years in New York City with such legendary figures as Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. Here is Mingus in his own words, from shabby roadhouses to fabulous estates, from the psychiatric wards of Bellevue to worlds of mysticism and solitude, but for all his travels never straying too far, always returning to music.You will either love this book or hate it. It is raunchy, gritty, honest, sex-laden, and sad in many ways.- Advertisement –
Probably one of the most interesting biographical takes on Mingus, the man and his music, is more recent: Nichole Rustin-Paschal’s The Kind of Man I Am: Jazzmasculinity and the World of Charles Mingus Jr., which was published in 2017. Nearly four decades after his death, Charles Mingus Jr. remains one of the least understood and most recognized jazz composers and musicians of our time. Mingus’s ideas about music, racial identity, and masculinity―as well as those of other individuals in his circle, like Celia Mingus, Hazel Scott, and Joni Mitchell―challenged jazz itself as a model of freedom, inclusion, creativity, and emotional expressivity. Drawing on archival records, published memoirs, and previously conducted interviews, The Kind of Man I Am uses Mingus as a lens through which to craft a gendered cultural history of postwar jazz culture. This book challenges the persisting narrative of Mingus as jazz’s “Angry Man” by examining the ways the language of emotion has been used in jazz as shorthand for competing ideas about masculinity, authenticity, performance, and authority.As a person who has taught gender studies, this book piqued my interest, since Rustin-Paschal not only addresses Mingus, but also the erasure of women in jazz like Hazel Scott, who I wrote about in October.Often acclaimed as the greatest jazz bassist, Mingus was and always will be a figure of controversy, as Adam Shatz wrote for The Nation in 2013.It enraged him that Miles (Davis) and the hard boppers had been given credit for his innovations. It enraged him even more when Ornette (Coleman) blew into town with his plastic yellow saxophone, pianoless quartet and ideology of collective improvisation, launching the free jazz revolution and attracting nearly as many imitators as Charlie Parker. Ornette and his followers, Mingus complained to (biographer John) Goodman, were like surgeons who couldn’t retrace their steps: “if I’m a surgeon, am I going to cut you open ‘by heart,’ just free-form it, you know? … I’m not avant-garde, no. I don’t throw rocks and stones, I don’t throw my paint.” Still, Mingus knew a good idea when he heard one. His 1960 session Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus features a pianoless quartet that ventured even further from Mingus’s melodies than Coleman did from his, as if Mingus were bent on proving that he was more modern than the avant-garde. Whatever moved Mingus ended up in his music, whether it was the mariachi he heard on his trips to brothels south of the border and included in Tijuana Moods, recorded in 1957, or the experimental tape music of his 1962 self-portrait “Passions of a Man,” in which he overdubbed himself mumbling in an unintelligible made-up language while his band invoked half-remembered fragments of other Mingus compositions, taking us deep inside the funhouse of his unconscious. […]Mingus’s reverence for the tradition—and his mockery of free jazz musicians as unschooled dilettantes—made it easy to mistake him for a conservative: a “black Stan Kenton,” in the dismissive phrase of Amiri Baraka (then LeRoi Jones), the high priest of black nationalist jazz critics. In fact, Mingus’s music was precisely the kind of vernacular modernism that Baraka had championed in his 1963 study Blues People, as well as a textbook illustration of his argument that black musical styles, however superficially divergent, were joined at the hip by a blues impulse that Baraka called “the changing same.” Like Baraka, Mingus viewed music as a surrogate church for black Americans. “James Brown was their church,” he told Goodman, “but they got a church in jazz, too. As long as there’s the blues.” Blues feeling saturates Mingus’s work: as Sy Johnson notes, “it’s always got its feet in the dirt.” His music immerses us in the blues rituals of black American life, while at the same time depicting them from a warm and playful distance. Given what we have been going through with an open white supremacist ensconced in the White House and refusing to leave, I thought it would be apt to open with Mingus’ “Fables of Faubus,” which was his take on the staunch segregationist governor of Alabama, Orval Faubus. In 1957, Faubus forced the use of federal troops to desegregate Little Rock, Arkansas’ Central High School.- Advertisement –
Governor Wolf: Trump Budget Puts Pennsylvania Seniors Last May 23, 2017 SHARE Email Facebook Twitter
National Issues, Press Release, Seniors, Statement Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf today released a statement detailing the devastating effect President Trump’s budget will have on seniors.Governor Wolf’s full statement:“President Trump’s budget puts Pennsylvania seniors last. It makes deep cuts to Medicaid and will force seniors to pay more for health care.“Medicaid is a lifeline for seniors across Pennsylvania that helps pay the costs of nursing home care. The Trump budget proposes deep and devastating funding cuts over the next ten years, which would force many seniors out of nursing homes.“We cannot turn our backs on seniors and force them to bear the greatest pain of these cuts.”
NZ Herald 12 Mar 2013Church leaders are making a last-minute appeal to MPs to protect teachers who believe marriage should only be between opposite sexes even if Louisa Wall’s gay marriage bill is passed tomorrow. National leaders of the Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist and several Pentecostal churches issued an open letter yesterday asking MPs to vote down the bill. Failing that, they want them at least to amend it to prevent discrimination against any teacher or other person who believes that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Christian Network director Glyn Carpenter said it was still possible for the bill to be defeated when it comes up for a second reading about 8pm tomorrow. But, after a vote of 80-40 at its first reading last August, he urged MPs to at least amend it. He proposed an amendment that “any person or organisation shall retain the right to hold the belief (on cultural, religious or other grounds) that marriage should only be between opposite sexes, and persons and organisations holding or respectfully expressing such a belief may not be discriminated against in any way”.… Some teachers worried they could face accusations of discrimination if they did not teach that all marriages were equal. The Rev Stuart Lange of the Presbyterian Affirm movement said the change was needed to stop the Government from fixing funding criteria that discriminated against religious-based social service agencies that did not support gay marriage. However, the two men said they did not yet have an MP willing to move such an amendment.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870643
Moroccan forward Youssef En-Nesyri celebrates his late winner for SevillaRead Also: La Liga: Felix back with a bang as Atletico brush aside VillarrealSevilla looked like they had thrown away victory when Osasuna came from two goals down to level after Aridane scored and Roberto Torres converted a penalty.But En-Nesyri, who had also struck the opener before Lucas Ocampos made it two, scored his second of the game and Sevilla’s third in injury time to snatch a dramatic winner.Nemanja Maksimovic scored Getafe’s only goal against Mallorca, who remain three points behind Celta Vigo in 18th.FacebookTwitterWhatsAppEmail分享 But Diego Simeone’s side have stumbled against the league’s lower teams this season and so it proved again, as Espanyol dug deep for a deserved share of the spoils. Atletico take on fellow top-four hopefuls Sevilla next weekend and Simeone will have to decide to what extent he keeps one eye on the second leg at Anfield three days later. Espanyol took the lead in the 24th minute when Savic turned in Wu Lei’s cross at the near post and they might have doubled their advantage had Atletico’s goalkeeper Jan Oblak not made a brilliant save by tipping Victor Sanchez’s thundering effort onto the crossbar. Instead, Atletico equalised shortly after half-time when Saul took the ball out of the air on the edge of the box and banged a wonderful volley into the far corner. Joao Felix almost grabbed a winner when his deflected cross came off Diego Lopez and hit the post while Alvaro Morata was unable to turn in the rebound from the angle. Promoted ContentThailand’s 10 Most Iconic Landmarks6 Most Breathtaking Bridges In The WorldBear Cubs ‘Dancing’ In Forest Delight The InternetThe Very Last Bitcoin Will Be Mined Around 2140. Read More10 Risky Jobs Some Women DoA Hurricane Can Be As Powerful As 10 Atomic Bombs20 Photos Of Kendall Jenner That Force You Love Her Even MorePlaying Games For Hours Can Do This To Your Body7 Of The Wealthiest Universities In The WorldInsane 3D Spraying Skills Turn In Incredible Street Art8 Superfoods For Growing Hair Back And Stimulating Its GrowthWho Is The Most Powerful Woman On Earth? Atletico Madrid slipped up in the race for La Liga’s top four on Sunday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom club Espanyol. Saul Niguez (R) scored a terrific equaliser but Atletico dropped points away to struggling Espanyol Saul Niguez volleyed in a stunning equaliser at the RCDE Stadium but Atletico were unable to find a winner as Stefan Savic’s first-half own-goal earned Espanyol a valuable point in their struggle against relegation. The result is less useful for Atletico, who sit fifth, behind Getafe, who prevailed 1-0 away at Mallorca, and Sevilla, who beat Osasuna 3-2, thanks to a 93rd-minute winner from Youssef En-Nesyri. Real Sociedad are only a point behind and have a game in hand. Espanyol stay 20th but are now only five points adrift of safety. After their excellent victory at home to Liverpool in the Champions League, Atletico appeared to be building some momentum when they defeated Villarreal 3-1 five days later.Advertisement Loading…
Press Association Weaver also hit a fine wedge approach to seven feet, but White missed the birdie attempt. Porteous’ birdie was conceded and GB&I claimed a three and one victory. Pugh said: “It gets my [competitive] juices flowing playing for Great Britain and Ireland. It’s an honour and brings the best out of me.” The hosts then hit back in the final match of the session, Patrick Rodgers and Justin Thomas defeating Gavin Moynihan and Kevin Phelan two and one. The United States took a lead they never relinquished on the 15th before Rodgers recorded the clinching birdie on the 17th, hitting a 111-yard wedge to six feet. Great Britain and Ireland hold a two and a half to one and a half lead against the United States following the foursomes session on the first day of the 44th Walker Cup in Southampton, New York. The first match was halved with GB and Ireland winning the next two before the United States won the final foursome of the session. The first match-up saw home pair Cory Whitsett and Bobby Wyatt refuse to let the visiting duo of Nathan Kimsey and Max Orrin capitalise on the one up lead they held on six occasions. Instead each time Whitsett and Wyatt came back to tie including on the 18th hole when Orrin hit his eagle putt 12 feet past the hole with Wyatt sinking a two-foot birdie to win the hole and halve the match. Next up was Sheffield’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, who became the first Englishman since 1911 to win the US Amateur Championship – propelling him to number one in the world amateur golf rankings – and also win the Silver Medal at July’s Open Championship at Muirfield. He was partnered by Neil Raymond and they went one up against Jordan Niebrugge and Nathan Smith at the par-four fifth, a lead they held until the 15th. The GB&I duo won the par-five 18th when Raymond hit an eagle attempt to three feet and Fitzpatrick calmly rolled the ball in for a one up victory. Raymond told www.usga.org: “To go out in foursomes over here and get the first solid point on the board was very important. I was just really happy to get it done. “I believe in my ability, and obviously believe in the world number one [Fitzpatrick] over here.” The visitors moved further ahead when Garrick Porteous and Rhys Ough defeated Michael Weaver and Todd White, three and one. Victory was clinched at the 372-yard 17th. Welshman Pugh hit his wedge approach shot to four feet.
Alex Bruce also missed out with Boyd and Maynor Figueroa slotting into a switched 4-4-2 formation. Swansea showed no change from the team that beat Norwich 3-0 last weekend. Hull’s fans were in full voice from the first whistle and would have had an early goal to shout about too, but for Michel Vorm’s quick reflexes. Shane Long ran on to Figueroa’s perfectly-weighted cross to the back post only for Vorm to turn his side-footed volley wide. Hull had most of the initial possession but Swansea were a threat on the break and Jonathan De Guzman should have at least tested home goalkeeper Steve Harper when released on goal. The midfielder ran 30 yards unchecked into the area before cutting inside his marker, but delayed his shot and allowed Hull’s back-tracking defence to block. Wayne Routledge then failed to get enough elevation on a lobbed shot when he got to a through-ball before Harper. Hull’s attacks were more sustained, although they were forced to the flanks to try and break down Swansea’s rearguard. Curtis Davies headed an Ahmed Elmohamady cross wide while Long lost a Boyd centre in the sun when in space at the back post. Hull’s perseverance paid off after 39 minutes, thanks to a lovely Liam Rosenior cross from the right. His delivery to the back post was set-up for Boyd to jump over a static Angel Rangel and the Hull midfielder did so easily before directing his header back across Vorm. Swansea were brighter after half-time and Hull needed to be awake to cut out deft passes in behind first from Routledge and then Wilfried Bony. When Swansea turned to the flanks Davies won everything in the air. The away side’s increasing grip on the game forced Bruce to reinforce midfield with Sone Aluko dropping deeper after coming on for Long just after the hour. Still Swansea threatened and Jonjo Shelvey shot straight at Harper, who momentarily spilled the low shot with Routledge lurking. Routledge then outmuscled Figueroa and played a pass across for Nathan Dyer who screwed his shot horribly when he had plenty of time. Hull’s attacks were at a premium so when Jelavic blazed a free-kick high over the groans from home support were audible. Bony stabbed over when Shelvey played him behind the defence and then was almost given a tap-in by some hap-hazard home defending only for Harper to recover the loose ball. It was hardly a convincing way to sign off before their FA Cup venture, but the Tigers at least held on to head to London in a winning mood. The Tigers will play in their first FA Cup semi-final since 1930 in the capital next weekend and will do so with their Barclays Premier League status almost certainly assured following George Boyd’s first-half header. They were, however, made to hang on in a second half when Swansea might have equalised but for a lack of cutting edge as the Tigers appeared guilty of prematurely casting their minds ahead to Wembley. Hull began their Wembley celebrations a week early with a 1-0 win against Swansea. A party mood was apparent inside the KC Stadium well before the opening whistle as the home support, somewhat alarmingly armed with face masks of boss Steve Bruce, settled in for a final farewell before a rare adventure to the national stadium. The Tigers are odds-on to return again to the capital for the FA Cup final – with League One Sheffield United lying in wait next weekend – and the feelgood factor of a memorable first season back in the top flight initially uplifted the home team before their second-half wobble. Nonetheless this was a 10th league win of the season and lifted City to 36 points – more than the total they managed when staying up in their first top-flight campaign in 2008/09. If survival still remains Bruce’s primary objective then he will at least head to London safe in the knowledge his side have a gap of nine points over the relegation places. With five league games remaining it therefore appears unlikely Hull will be caught – even if they still do have a tough run-in that includes Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton. In amongst the home joy Swansea were left still with a fight to maintain their Premier League status as their poor recent record extended to just one win in their past 11 matches in all competitions. Rookie manager Garry Monk will hardly relish the prospect of welcoming title-chasing Chelsea to south Wales next week either. With Wembley in mind Bruce exercised caution in his team selection, resting playmaker Tom Huddlestone due to a slight back strain. Press Association
Press Association Brad Guzan has hailed Thibaut Courtois as one of the world’s best goalkeepers and insists the Belgium international deserves to be Chelsea’s number one. “It’s a great feeling when you eventually establish yourself,” he said. “It’s not easy being a goalkeeper because you have strikers trying to take your head off – and it’s different from outfield positions in that only one can play. “You have to wait for your chance, or even your half-chance. You have to take it because you don’t know when the next one is coming around. “Thibaut has gone to Spain, not knowing the language and league, and gone on to achieve individual and team accolades.” The Aston Villa keeper believes Courtois is Chelsea’s future ahead of Villa’s trip to Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Courtois has replaced Petr Cech between the posts for the Blues this season after three years on loan at Atletico Madrid, where he won the Europa League, Super Cup, Copa del Rey and La Liga. “He’s someone who I believe is one of the top five goalkeepers in the world,” Guzan told Villa’s official site. “Thibaut’s resume is outstanding. His accolades for the past few seasons at Atletico speak for itself, with Belgium too. “He’s only 22 so these things are unbelievable. He’s a top, top keeper and someone Chelsea sees their future with. “There’s nothing better that having the confidence of the manager and coaching staff. “You want to be dependable and the guy the lads look to if an opposition player gets through the defence. “You want them thinking that you’re going to come up with the goods and make a save at the vital time. You want that responsibility. “You relish that opportunity to be number one – be the guy that’s going to hopefully help the team. That’s what it’s all about.” Guzan was back-up to Brad Friedel and Shay Given before eventually becoming first choice at Villa Park under Paul Lambert, and knows how Courtois would have felt after signing for Chelsea from Genk in 2011.