Loose Blues News

Radio News: Some much-welcome good news about blues radio... In Toronto, CIUT FM 89.5 has doubled its blues programming, as Ian Angus' show, Let the Good Times Roll, has moved to a two-hour slot on Thursday afternoons, 3 to 5 pm. Angus states that "The additional time will allow me to do more features and interviews. I'm particularly looking forward to playing more of the old stuff - blues and R&B from the 30s, 40s and 50s. And the new time slot means I won't be competing with dinner time and the evening news; The station hasn't yet decided what show will be taking over the 6 - 7pm Monday slot: Stay tuned!" ... And in St. Catharines, Deborah Cartmer of Eclectic Blues on CFBU 103.7 FM (Tuesdays 12 - 2pm) sends "a very big "Thank you!" to all the kind souls who have forwarded CDs to the CFBU music library". She respectfully requests that CD contributors advise her by email when a CD has been sent to the station for her. She also is happy to receive concert and recording updates at eblues@post.com.

Harmonica Knights Return: On November 3 & 4 Chicago's in Toronto is remounting the harp-fest originally programmed during the Downtown Jazz festival this year. Friday night will feature Kelly "Mr. Chill" Hoppe (Big Sugar), Mark Stafford, and Chris Whiteley, while Saturday will feature Michael Pickett, Little Bobby, and Dr. Nick, with a house band of Peter Schmidt (guitar), Joe Burns (upright bass), Bob Vespaziani (drums Friday), and Randy Millikan (drums Saturday). The previous multi-harmonica shows also inspired special guest appearances.

The Rubber Chuckies: This band deserves mention for the entertainment value of their name alone, but also features top-drawer talent in Chuck Jackson, Rod Phillips, Steve Grisbrook, Jay Speciale, Mike Sloski, and Pat Carey. They'll be matineeing Saturday afternoons 3 to 7 pm at Bert & Ernie's in Toronto at 5555 Dundas St. West.

Blues De-Unionized: Due to a three way dispute with a U.S.-based band and an Australian clothing company, Toronto band Dylan Wickens and Blues Union have been renamed The Dylan Wickens Project. The renamed band continues to host a weekly Tuesday night jam at Toronto's Black Swan.

Guests usually perform in the second set, with the third set open to jammers. November's special guests include Big Daddy G (7th), "Wild T" (14th), Michael Pickett (21st), and Randy Dawson (28th). No cover.

Celebrity Quiz: Name a movie star who carries a Marshall stack and a tenor sax player with him when he goes on location? Action movie hero Steven Segal surprised everyone in the Silver Dollar when he was called to the stage by Deborah Coleman at her recent gig - everyone but his considerable entourage and perhaps club booker Gary Kendall, who never looks surprised. Segal had a very distinctive right hand technique - playing searing leads with only his thumbnail. He sang a couple of tunes and played out the rest of the evening with Deborah, who let him take the spotlight, but who tore the roof off the place when she came back for her encore. While Segal was still on stage, she invited local guitarslinger Shawn Kellerman to climb on board as well, and he kicked into a jaw-dropping instrumental for two or three minutes - and broke a string! This classy lady then took off her guitar and gave it to Shawn to finish the song. Probably just as well, because at that point there were four guitar players on the stage at the same time - Say, isn't there a Toronto bylaw against that? Further on up the road, one of the advantages of a blues house gig in the heart of Yorkville is the proximity of the chi-chi hotels used by the celebrities. At one of their regular Sunday nights at Blues on Bellair, Raoul & the Big Time recently had the pleasure of performing for and with Tony award winner Ben Vereen. He was joined by another excellent vocalist Obba Babatunde, in town shooting the movie John Q with Denzel Washington, and poet & actor Jason Olive, who has frequently returned. They've already had the pleasure of audience-member and now multi-million-dollar man Carlos Delgado.

Beneficial Benefits: The second instalment of the Smile Down On Me Benefit in Memory Of Roxanne Raczycki took place in Clinton, Ontario, and, in combination with the previous Toronto event, raised over $15,000 for cancer research. Jim Krueger (Broken String Music) again thanks all those who donated time, money, food, CDs, and auction items, and all of the musicians, venues, volunteers, lighting and sound technicians, printers, and many others who contributed to the success of these benefits ... Blues on the East Side, supporting the Cambridge Association for the Mentally Handicapped, will be held on Sunday Nov. 5 (doors at noon, show at 1:30) at the Li'l Big Horn Saloon, on the northeast corner of
Hwy 8 and Franklin Blvd. in Cambridge (behind the Royal Bank). The benefit will feature Downchild, Mel Brown, Shawn Kellerman & the Soul Providers, Tiffany Thompson Band, Bluesynergy & Noodles Romanoff. Tickets are $15 and include entry into draws for over 30 door prizes, including a new electric guitar.

Grecian Blues: Legendary drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (Muddy Waters, Legendary Blues Band) spent a week in Athens with a Canadian band featuring Jack de Keyzer (guitar), Al Lerman (harmonica), Alec Fraser (bass), and Michael Fonfara (piano), all of whom are featured on Willie's newest release Blues From The Heart on Juke Joint Records, produced by Lerman and Fraser. A CD release party will take place at Toronto's Silver Dollar on Nov. 23.

Banshee Blues: The former owner of Dines-Eez has now merged his blues operation with The Banshee, to produce Durham region's newest blues club, located in the north end of Oshawa. As well as being a larger venue, it also serves food.

Capital Blues: Jan Hanrath has been elected as the new President of Ottawa Blues Society. Jan replaces Jed Rached (Rocket Rached & the Fat City 8), who co-founded the OBS along with Mark Hall and Maria Hawkins. Jan will be ably assisted by new VP Liz Sykes, new director Ian Tomlinson, newsletter editor Mark Henderson, and the rest of OBS electees. The OBS has been successful in the promotion and enjoyment of the blues in Ottawa ... Ottawa has a new live blues venue, the T-Rex at Wellington and Somerset ... At Ottawa's 6th Annual Guitar Riff-Off, after four great nights of music at Ottawa's Rainbow Bistro, Shakey Mike Elliotte (Shakey, Ed & The Jukes) was pronounced this year's winner. Shakey won a new Fender Strat from Steve's Music Store, a Friday night booking at The Rainbow, and an eight-hour recording session at Distortion Studios

... Ottawa recently lost bluesman Larry "The Bird" Mootham, who died suddenly of heart failure on Monday, October 2 at age 45. "The Bird" was an Ottawa-area bluesman whose gritty vocals, hilarious story-telling and passionate harp playing distinguished him locally and throughout Canada. An avid supporter of the blues scene in Ottawa and all of its participants, Larry will be deeply missed. Friends and family recall his optimistic nature, generous spirit and strong sense of humour, as well as the musical talent he poured into the blues. "Like a lot of the best bluesmen, he was good at improvising, not just musically, but also lyrics. He had this persona that was a mixture of absurd fabrication and somewhat believable fabrication," said guitarist Vince Halfhide, with whom Mootham released the most recent of his three recordings, the mostly acoustic CD, Kitchen Music. Mootham also had plans for a new CD with guitarist Drew Nelson - and one of his final appearances was a main-stage performance with Nelson at Bluesfest in July - but his health had been declining. Despite those problems, The Bird was known for his optimism, which often seemed to border on fantasy. "You learned pretty quickly to take everything he said with two bags of salt, but what it reflected on him is he wanted the best for everyone - the whole world," said Halfhide. Mootham was also one of the Ottawa Folklore Centre's most valued music teachers.

Golden Horseshoe blues: The return of a blues matinee, Saturdays 2 to 6 pm, at a brand new southwest Ontario venue, Arizona's, on the Merrittville Highway (Q.E.W. to the 406 south, up over the escarpment to Beaverdams west, right onto Merrittville, the venue is just past the intersection), with drummer Jim Casson (Downchild), bassist Leonardo Valdesorri, lead guitarist Chris Bosco, and Canada Dave on organ, to back up special guests.

Delmark recording artist Rockin' Johnny (right) will be visiting Southern Ontario this month working with Oshawa's Little Bobby & The Jumpstarts. In addition to a couple of albums on his own, the latest one of which is entitled Man's Temptation, this talented young man has become the guitarist of choice at Delmark, backing Taildragger among others as well as working with Oregonian harp man Paul deLay for his Evidence album deLay Does Chicago. The show hits Good Time Charlies in Woodstock on Thursday, Nov. 9, The Legendary Red Dog in Peterborough, Nov. 10, Arizona's in Fonthill on Saturday afternoon, The Silver Dollar Room on the night of Nov. 11 and Heads Or Tails Sunday afternoon. Check the listings pages for details.

Soul In The City 2000: On November 10, Toronto's Orbit Room invites you to "relive the sweet soul music of the 60s, when Toronto was as much a soul city as Memphis or Motown, but with its own take on R&B that was called `The Toronto Sound'", with an all-star soul revue concert and dance at the refurbished Capitol Event Theatre. Emceed by Grammy Award winner Rob Bowman, the show features The Orbit Room's anchor act The Dexters with Lou Pomanti and a host of special guests including Alex Lifeson (Rush) and Jeff Martin (The Tea Party), and "the cream of Toronto's soul aristocracy, a who's who of Toronto's golden R&B era": Domenic Troiano, George Olliver, Roy Kenner, and Motherlode's Steve Kennedy, plus the new generation of soul, Michael Dunston, Terry Hatty, Vivienne Williams, Planet Earth, and Soul Stew. Owner Tim Notter (also celebrating his 50th birthday) promises that "for one night it'll be 1966". Tickets are $40, and are available through The Orbit Room (416) 535-0613 and all TicketMaster locations (416) 870-8000 or www.ticketmaster.ca.

Blues Across the Border: One of Buffalo's herd of Buffalo is a Blues Buffalo. The inspiration of local blues photographer Ed Sobala, the hip bison boasts photographs, shades made of 45s, and a fedora, among other blues-appropriate adornments ... Dona Oxford, keyboardist and vocalist, has announced that she will be leaving Shemekia Copeland's Band to resume her solo career ... Big Jack Johnson is recovering from surgery. We wish him a speedy recovery.

From The Blues Foundation: Ray Charles, the Father of Soul, was awarded this year's Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, at the LA House of Blues. Quincy Jones presented a tribute that included performers Willie Nelson, Ashford & Simpson, Diane Schuur, and Billy Preston, among others. The event also celebrated the legendary artist's 70th birthday ... Willie Nelson was presented with this year's B.B. King Blues Hero award, in recognition of his 1985 launching of the Farm Aid concerts, yearly benefits to raise money and awareness for family farmers, particularly those who are victims of destruction. Nelson is the fourth recipient of the Blues Hero Award, which was established in 1997 to recognize an artist whose career has been characterized by community service and charitable activity ... The W.C. Handy All Stars Tour will bring six blues legends to a single stage in four East Coast cities including New York from November 8 to 12, 2000. The bill features Little Milton, Johnnie Johnson, Charlie Musselwhite, Duke Robillard, Joe Louis Walker and Trudy Lynn. A portion of the proceeds will go to The Handy's Artist Relief Trust (The Hart Fund), a new fund established to aid blues artists in need. For more information: www.rosebudus.com/handy ...

Images of the Blues: Snappin the Blues, Eddy B's photo exhibit of blues artists in performance at the Silver Dollar has been held over for an extended stay in the Dollar's pool room/photo gallery - at least until the end of November, says Eddy. Visualizing the Blues, a photography exhibition organized by the Dixon Gallery of Memphis, explores the historical, cultural, and visual foundations of blues music, particularly as associated with the Mississippi Delta. The collection includes both black & white and colour images, and includes works by such masters as Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, and William Eggleston, as well as work by emerging artists including Birney Imes and Huger Foote. VTB is co-sponsored by The Blues Foundation and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. After its Memphis exhibit, VTB is scheduled to embark on a tour that currently encompasses museums in 9 American cities and 4 European destinations.

Cuban Blues: Miguel de Oca reminds us that the Habana Blues Society was founded in approximately 1995. The society has been able to locate venues to hold meetings and musical jams, but, unfortunately, these activities are on hold due to the significant shortage of guitar strings, picks, microphones, and information faced by Cuban musicians. As a result, the Society's only current activity is a blues radio program. The society is soliciting help for this endeavour as well, as they "desperately" need new CDs, all blues styles, and indicate that "Canadian blues is especially welcome because it is almost unknown here". To help, contact P.O. Box 113, CP 10100, Ciudad, Habana, Cuba. Email: bluesoca@hotmail.com, but due to limited computer access, Miguel advises that email responses may require more than one week.

Musicians Take Note:

Cultural Competitions: Singers or buskers under the age of 35 are invited to apply to participate in the IV Games of La Francophonie, scheduled for Ottawa and Hull, July 14 to 24, 2001. Material to be performed must include a brief presentation in French, and translation for songs performed in English must be provided. Selected competitors receive money to offset the cost of their performance, and winners are awarded medals. The deadline to apply is November 15. For more information visit these web sites, www.jeux2001.ca, www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/francophonie2001, or contact the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française at 1 800- 267-2005 or 613-241-8770, fccf@franco.ca

Ontario Contact 2000: There is still time to register for the workshop component of this annual forum for Ontario-based presenters and performing artists, taking place November 17 & 18 at the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toronto. Topics to be covered include Creating Community Collaborations, Developing Networks and Linking Schools and Communities. For more information contact Orenda Yuzicapi, 416-961-7462, or 1-800-387-0058 ext 7462, e-mail oyuzicapi@arts.on.ca, www.arts.on.ca.

Wanted: Able-bodied blues lover to help move TBS merchandise and supplies at occasional TBS events. Please contact Barbara Isherwood, Executive Director, 416-538-3885 or toll free 1-866-871-9457