Loose Blues NewsMichael Jerome Browne

Disques BROS recording artist Michael Jerome Browne is appearing at the Greenbank Centennial Hall on January 15. Browne is a student of blues performing styles all the way back to the late 1800's. He has reconstructed a gourd banjo of the style that would have been used before guitars and manufactured banjos became widely available. His self-titled CD also has contributions from members of The Stephen Barry Band and Vann "Piano Man" Walls. Greenbank is located one-half hour north of Whitby on Highway 12. For tickets or information call Rene at (905) 852-7578.

Congratulations to the Ronnie Douglas Band, for winning Best Album in the Blues/Jazz/Gospel category of the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. With their win of the 1999 Toronto Blues Society Talent Search, and the recent Maple Blues Award nomination for New Artist or Group of the Year, that makes 1999 a banner year for Ronnie and company!

JW Jones has won Ottawa's 5th annual Blues Guitar Riff-Off. His prizes include a slot at Ottawa Bluesfest 2000 - Brand new Telecaster; a $200 Gift Certificates to Retrotown Music - a Friday night gig at The Rainbow Bistro -and 16 hours of studio time. For more info about JW check out http://home.istar.ca/~jwjones/.

Simcoe, Ontario native Rick Danko of The Band, passed away in his sleep at his Woodstock, N.Y. home Dec. 10th, 1999. Danko and The Band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. During the early sixties, Danko and his bandmates backed Ronnie Hawkins, and performed as The Canadian Squires and Levon And The Hawks before hooking up with Bob Dylan.

Gary KendallMaple Blues Award winner and Downchild bassist Gary Kendall (left) leads the MBA All-Star Band featuring past MBA winners and nominees, and special guest, from Winnipeg, Big Dave McLean, plus more to be announced. The ceremonies take place Tuesday, February 8, at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto. The evening includes a reception, dinner, the awards presentation, and a jam featuring MBA winners and nominees. Tickets are $45/TBS members $40. Call the TBS office for more info.

Razie goes Hollywood: Razie Brownstone, one of our members, acted in the movie Wish You Were Dead with the lead from KISS's Gene Simmons, filmed in Ajax recently.

Michael Pickett passes on this message about Trent radio blues host Al Kirkcaldy: It would seem that rumours of Al's condition have been greatly exaggerated and he wants everyone to know that he is doing very well and that, in fact, he never even missed one show! You can catch Al on Tuesdays at 9pm."Blue In The Face" on Trent Radio CFFF FM 92.7.

The venerable Brunswick house, home of the blues shrine Albert's Hall ("we're not a club we're a legend") has been sold effective December 1 to the Fox & Fiddle folks, who recently purchased the Wheat Sheaf and Xanadu. Mary de Keyzer's Melody Ranch on Sat afternoons continues for the time being.

The new Liquid recording facility built by Alec Fraser and Ben will be the studio-of-record for the next batch of Electro-Fi releases. The studio has already turned out product for Fruteland Jackson, Raoul & The Big Time, Brian Blain, Hokum Blues, Mel Brown, Snooky Pryor & Mel Brown (due out next year), Michael Keith (in progress) and the Nationals. Alec is twice-nominated as producer of the year for current recordings by Morgan Davis and Jack de Keyzer. Electro-Fi expects to be releasing 6 or 7 albums in the next year. The studio is already undergoing an upgrade with new wiring and a 24-bit hard-disk recording system so they will now be able to do mastering as well. Equipment has never been the attraction at Liquid, though, it's the three E's of Alec Fraser: Enthusiasm, Energy and Ears.

Steven C reports that Boxing Day, December 26, marked not only the last Sunday Grossman's Jam...but, per the folks in charge, the last ever such event! The Grossman's Jam had been running for nearly 20 years, and was one of the first open-stage sessions providing the first "big time" stage appearances for folks like Jeff Healey and Jerome Godboo here in T.O., along with any number of "lesser lights"; as well, any number of well-known musicians made guest appearances when in town! The club has Bruce Domoney performing Sunday evenings in January.

Guelph's resident acoustic blues innovator (and newly inducted "Porcupine Award" Winner!): Dennis Gomo is off to Australia for a year! He promises to post some reports on the blues scene in oz-land.

Toronto blues barnstormer Big Daddy G recently returned to the recording studio with two incredible guests. Dave Glover, with musical partner Tortoise Blue, are working on the followup CD to the well received 1998 release 4 Blues. They enlisted Canada's greatest blues legend Dutch Mason to sing on two tracks, one of which was a duet with Tortoise Blue entitled "Nothing Left to Lose". This song was recorded originally by Mason 20 years ago on his Special Brew album and has been part of Big Daddy G's live repertoire for some time. The second guest is blues guitar hurricane Tony D who contributed lead guitar on two tracks: "What You're All About", a swing tune by Big Daddy G & Tortoise Blue, and "Stringbean `n Tater", a Freddie King-style instrumental by Big Daddy G. The studio get-together was a special occasion for Tony, Dave and Tortoise as they have all played together at one time or another several years ago. Tortoise Blue and Tony D were part of Ottawa's popular Saints & Sinners blues band in the early eighties. Big Daddy G performs at The Silver Dollar on Jan. 14 as part of a benefit for Eddy B.

The new configuration of the The Stephen Barry Band will have made their first appearance December 29, 1999 at Kola Note (formerly Club Soda). The new lineup features co-founder Andrew Cowan on guitar, Gordon Adamson, the original drummer, recently returned to the band, Jody Golick the soulful saxophonist, and the electrifying Jordan Officer on guitar.

Nominees for the East Coast Music Awards Blues Artist/Group of the Year are Glamour Puss, Denis Parker, Andy Cottle & Double Cross, Ian Janes and Barry Mack. Recently nominated as Electric Act of the Year and Recording of The Year for their CD Blues du Jour in the Maple Blues Awards being held February 8 in Toronto. Moncton based Glamour Puss have 1999 ending on a real high and the guys are well into plans for 2000 with national tours, discussions with American and European agents, buyers and distributors. Taking place in Sydney, the 12th annual East Coast Music Awards and Conference starts February 3 and will culminate three days later Sunday, February 5 with the CBC/ECMA nationally broadcast Gala Awards Show to be held at Centre 200. Glamour Puss has received two East Coast Music Award Nominations for 2000. (Awards held on Feb. 5 - more info www.ecma2000.com).

R&B Legend Curtis Mayfield dies! Curtis Mayfield died of unknown causes at age 57. He suffered from diabetes brought on by an accident in 1990 that left him paralyzed. He became a Grammy Legend Award winner in 1994 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner the following year. He had a string of hits in the 1960's including People Get Ready, Talking About My Baby and Keep on Pushing.

Blues Hall of Fame Inductees Announced: The Blues Foundation announces six inductees to be immortalized in the Blues Hall of Fame with a gala ceremony to take place February 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Washington D.C. The Blues Hall of Fame is a historical record of those who have made the Blues timeless through documentation and recording. Since its inception in 1980, The Blues Foundation has inducted new members annually into the Blues Hall of Fame. This year's inductees: Classics of Blues Recordings: Album-Mississippi Delta Blues (Arhoolie 304) by Mississippi Fred McDowell; Classics of Blues Recordings: Song - "Down Home Blues" from the recording Down Home (Malaco 7406) performed by Z.Z. Hill, written by George Jackson; Classics of Blues: Literature - Country Blues (Da Capo Press) by Sam Charters; Individuals: Performer - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Otis; Individuals: Non-Performer Dick Waterman. Tickets will go on sale January 16.

Some of the "Keeping The Blues Alive" Award Recipients include Blues Organization-Wichita Blues Society ; Blues Club-Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie Bar (Nashville); Blues Promoter-Bull Durham Blues Festival (Durham, NC); Historical Preservation-Maxwell Street Coalition (Chicago); Art & Photography-Jeff Dumas for State of the Blues; Journalism-Bill Dahl (Chicago); Literature-Adam Gussow Mister Satan's Apprentice (New York); Print-Juke Blues (United Kingdom).

The Blues Foundation also announces their Charter BluesMaster Membership: The Blues Foundation has just announced the availability of a very special Limited Edition Charter BluesMaster Membership. Limited to 40 members, this special opportunity will stand at the vanguard of those individuals and companies who recognize and advance the many endeavors of The Blues Foundation that benefit the Blues. The Membership includes many special privileges including an intimate dinner with some of the greatest entertainers in Blues including Rufus Thomas, Ruth Brown, Bobby "Blue" Bland, James Cotton and exciting new Blues artists like Shemekia Copeland, Susan Tedeschi and Jonny Lang. The Charter BluesMaster Membership contribution is US$5000.00.For more information or to receive a Charter BluesMaster Membership brochure email stovall@blues.org or call The Blues Foundation at 1-800-861-8795.

BluesKids! BluesKids is the Blues Talent Competition for children and young adults. Any band or solo artist under 18 years of age is eligible to participate in BluesKids. Applicants should submit a VHS tape of the group performing 2 songs. Deadline: January 6, 2000 Judging Criteria: BluesKids applicants will be judged on Musicianship, Talent, Blues Content and Showmanship. Prizes: All expense paid trip to Washington DC to perform at the 2000 Blues Hall of Fame Induction ceremony. Turn to www.blues.org/bluesed/index.html for complete details!

- Brian Blain, Jacquie Houston, Barbara Isherwood, John Valenteyn

Musicians Take Note

BluesFirst: Convention and EXPO: The Blues Foundation presents an international convention of blues societies, musicians and organizations, taking place in Memphis, Tennessee, Jan 20-23, 2000. Along with seminars on marketing, publicity, event planning and a wide range of topics of interest to blues societies, the $125 (US) registration fee also includes a club crawl on Beale St., the Keeping the Blues Alive Awards Brunch, a barbeque and admission to the International Blues Challenge, the Foundation's annual talent competition. For more information, visit the Blues Foundation's web site, www.blues.org, or contact Jean Reid at tel: 901-527-2583. Reservations: 800-861-8795 Registration Fee: $125 Includes two days of strategy-packed learning opportunities designed to make your Blues organization succeed, a VIP Pass for free admission to all the clubs on historic Beale Street Plus admission to Memphis Blues & Brews Reception, The Keeping the Blues Alive Awards Brunch and more.

Aboriginal Arts Projects: The Ontario Arts Council offers a new program open to Ontario-based professional Aboriginal artists, collectives and non-profit organizations (including individual musicians and music groups). The next deadline is March 1, 2000. For information contact Denise Bolduc, Aboriginal Arts Officer, tel: 416-969-7454 or 1-800-387-0058 ext 7454.

- Barbara Isherwood

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