Loose Blues News

Changing Venues: Just as the Red Devil BBQ chain was hosting the gala grand opening of their new location, RD's BBQ & Blues in Toronto's downtown theatre district, the padlocks were being placed on the BarCode & Ted's Wrecking Yard, home of Terry Wilkins' successful Wednesday night Swing Gang gigs for the past many years, as well as other blues friendly shows such as Hey Stella and Jack de Keyzer.

RD's BBQ & Blues: The Lincolns including vocalist Steve Ambrose, keyboardist Denis Keldie and saxman Gene Hardy opened the new venue at 14 Duncan Street (at Pearl near King & University), which promises "award-winning barbeque and the hottest blues entertainment". Seen in attendance were Downchild saxophonist Pat Carey, CIUT's Ian Angus, Blues FM's Danny Marks, keyboardist Martin Aucoin back from Nashville, guitarists and vocalists Paul James, Randy Dawson, Rita Chiarelli, Brian Blain, and vocalist Kim Doolittle, as well as Michael & Louise Pickett, and Sue Foley drummer Tom Bona.

For those blues fans in the Niagara Peninsula, there is a new venue for blues music. Tulky's at 1644 Merritville Hwy, just north of Welland is now offering live blues and roots music every Wednesday and most Saturdays. Wednesdays from 8-12 there is an open blues jam with Juke. Come and bring your axe, mouth, fingers or sticks and sit in. Saturdays have top notch artists performing from 9-1. Previous shows include Dutch Mason and Paul Reddick and the Sidemen. For November, they feature 3-time Maple Blues Award winner Gary Kendall on November 10th and on November 17th the dynamic organ trio Sparkjiver featuring Gene Hardy, Rod Phillips and Jim Casson. In December watch for Danny Brooks and the Rockin, Revelators and Chuck Jackson's All Star Band. For more info call the club at 905-384-0786 or email jcasson@hotmail.com

Another great spot for live blues in Niagara is Arizona's on Merrittville Hwy at Beaverdams Rd. in St. Catharines (just south of Brock University). Every Saturday afternoon from 2-6 Mojo Willie hosts this show with different special guests each week.

The Tranzac (Brunswick and Bloor) resume their Acoustic Blues Thursdays on November 1st with host Brian Blain. The first guest will be Rick Zolkower (see listings page for complete line-up). Guests are encouraged to play original material and the series has provided a great opportunity for artists to try out new material.

In The Studio: Jack de Keyzer is recording his fourth CD at Liquid, featuring Alec Fraser (bass), Tony Ajo (drums), Michael Fonfara (organ and piano), David Rotundo (harp), Perry White (tenor sax) and Sab (rhythm guitar). The songs cover every decade from the 30's solo Delta Blues through to the present. The new CD Six String Lover will be released this December. Blues legend Pinetop Perkins has also been tickling the ivories at Liquid working on Snooky Pryor's 80th birthday album for Electro-Fi. Also featured were Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Bob Stroger, Mel Brown and Jeff Healey. Fathead has started recording their new album and Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne just finishing mixing. Native blues band Pappy Johns Band from Buffalo/Fort Eirie have also recently cut some tracks at Liquid. Brian Blain has been doing some sessions at The Studio at Puck's Farm and Ken Whiteley's Casa Wroxton, with NorthernBlues label mates Paul Reddick and Harry Manx (now on a 2-month Australian tour) as well as the young pianist/vocalist/songwriter Julian Fauth who is taking the Toronto blues scene by storm and preparing a much-anticipated recording of his own.

Roots N' Blues radio: The Voice 88.7 FM in Orangeville Ontario has launched a two-hour show of blues and roots music every Thursday from 7:00 - 9:00 PM with host Larry Kurtz, focussing on supporting Canadian talent along with the masters of the blues, as well as featuring live in-studio performances, interviews, and club listings. Blues recording artists and record labels wishing to be considered for airplay are invited to forward CDs and promotional materials to: Roots n' Blues, c/o Larry Kurtz, 493 Broadway Avenue, Orangeville, Ontario L9W 2Y9, or contact The Voice 88.7 FM at 519-940-4806, Thursdays from 7:00 - 9:00 PM, by fax at 519-941-3734, or by email at kurtzmill@auracom.com.

Blues comings and goings: December 1 through 16, slide guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Ellen McIwaine will be touring Switzerland, Austria, & Germany with Kester Smith on drums and & Bill Rich on bass. Carlos del Junco is touring Germany this month with Big Steve's Blues Attack. They are playing Hamburg, Essen and other German blues hot-spots. Ken Whiteley recently returned from the U.S. where he was doing some recording with Guy Davis.

Blues Distribution: YDGS of Peterborough has just signed on as the Canadian distributor for Severn Records' catalogue in Canada. This will hopefully provide better access (better prices?) for Severn's fine selection including two new releases from artists that will be coming our way in November: Big Joe and the Dynaflows and Sugar Ray & The Bluetones. Owner Mike Taveroff's Moondance Records has been a fixture on Peterborough's main street for over 25 years and claims to sell more blues than any other style of music.

Canadian Musicians for Liberty: In order to raise funds for the people of the United States, musicians from all over the country donated their talents to set a world record for the longest nonstop performance. (7 days and 7 nights, 180 hours straight) ending at midnight October 28th, 2001. With no money & less resources the longest rock performance in the world will raise money for the Red Cross US Relief Fund, create a number of Guinness Book of World records .....and, this event was organized in less than 2 weeks. With Help From Bell Canada, Torontostartv.com and Isys Technology Inc. this event was broadcast across the world over the Internet, and broke the world record for longest live webcast of a performance Touchdowns Bar & Grill, in Mississauga. You can still make a donation by visiting www.cmfl-td.com.

We were saddened to hear that Downchild's Chuck Jackson (who was the guiding force on the Canadian Musicians for Liberty project) suffered the loss of his father who passed away unexpectedly on October 14. Our condolences to Chuck and his family.

Speaking of Downchild: Their new drummer is Greg Cooper, from Baldwin, Ontario. He has been based in Montreal, Halifax, and Vancouver, and now we are lucky to have him in Toronto. He has worked with Jack Lavin, Jimmy James, Mark "Bird" Stafford, The Swing Gang and Raoul and the Big Time. He appears with Downchild at the Silver Dollar Room on Nov. 17th.

More Altruistic Blues: On November 3rd, Virgil Scott (who put in a lengthy shift on the previous benefit) is staging one of his own for the same good cause at P.K Creek Bar and Grill, 355 Dundas West in Mississauga (2 lights west of Highway 10). The proceedings begin at 2:00 p.m. with scheduled appearances from Krista Blondin, Danny B., The Bear, Frank Cosentino, Danny Brooks, Raoul and the Big Time and many more. For info call 905-306-1999 or email onyxcan@wezel.com

Blues musicians went to the rescue on October 7, when twenty of them staged a benefit to raise financial assistance to cover travel costs for medical treatment for 9 month-old Ava Stacpoole, whose compound hemangioma (strawberry birthmark) may threaten the use of her left eye. The hemangioma will be removed by Calgary specialist Dr McPhalen, necessitating at least two trips to Calgary. While OHIP covers the costs of surgery, the travel costs for the family are not covered. Performers who donated their time at the Beaver Bar and Grill in London included Jack DeKeyzer, Chris Chown, Chris Murphy, Douglas Watson, Tim Woodcock, Grant Smith, Doug Varty, Tim Tyler, Chuck Keeping, John Knapp, Marty Verweel, Terry Lee, Janalynne Rogers, Benoit, Kenn Allison, Larry Myles, Robie Antoine, Andy Lowe, Scott McCutchson and others, as well as Shawn Stacpoole, Ava's father, a popular blues musician.

Stony Plain News: Stony Plain has signed a recording contract with Chris Thomas King, the young New Orleans guitarist and singer who's been recording what he calls "21st Century Blues" since 1986. His first release on Stony Plain is The Legend of Tommy Johnson (see John Valenteyn's review on page 9). It's his eighth album, his previous releases have sold a total of more than 200,000 to date (and insiders know what an astonishing figure that is for blues artists these days.) Those who have seen O Brother Where Art Thou will have been impressed by Chris' sensitive portrayal of blues singer Tommy Johnson, who, while no relation to the better-known Robert Johnson, WAS one of the pioneers of the Delta blues idiom, along with Son House and Charley Patton. His contribution to the 2 1/2-million selling soundtrack brought him additional attention, and he is featured in the documentary Down from the Mountain, as well as its accompanying soundtrack. He will continue to tour as part of a tribute to Muddy Waters, and there will be increased touring next year as the cast of O Brother take the film's music to concert audiences around the world. Expect to see him on the Canadian folk festival circuit in 2002. The new Stony Plain album features an acappella version of O Brother, and what will be a new classic, "John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto". He'll also be featured in a Pepsi commercial featuring one of his own songs.

More Stony Plain News: "Hello Stranger," a cut from Billy Boy Arnold's Boogie `n' Shuffle is featured on Da Vinci's Inquest, a popular CBC-TV dramatic series that is also building a following in the United States. The show last year featured five songs from the Stony Plain catalogue.

Electro-Fi News: Electro-Fi Records announces two new releases: Homewreckin' Done Live is a live set from 2001 W.C. Handy Award winner, guitarist Mel Brown and his band The Homewreckers. Mr Rock `n' Soul captures R&B pioneer Curley Bridges at the peak of his powers, with special guests Chris Whiteley, Bucky Berger, Pat Carey, Dan Whiteley and Victor Bateman. Audio samples and additional info on both releases are available at www.electrofi.com. Electro-Fi Records are distributed in Canada by Festival Distribution.

Nerves Of Steel: John Campbelljohn's new CD has now been released in Canada, the USA, and Europe (see John Valenteyn's review on page 8). In Canada, it's available through Festival Distribution. John Campbelljohn has become celebrated in Europe, where his last CD, Hook, Slide & Sinker, has become the best selling blues release for the Hermans label, a division of Taxim Records. More recently, the track "Martha Mae" from Hook, Slide & Sinker was included on a high profile international compilation CD that includes tracks from artists including Sting, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Willy Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Lady Smith Black Mombassa & Robben Ford. Two other tracks were used for the popular TV series Dawson Creek.

We remember: Etta Jones, 72, died of complications from cancer last month at her home in Mount Vernon, N.Y. She had a long career in jazz, including more than 25 albums as well as countless club dates. She was best known for her 1960 recording of "Don't Go to Strangers", which earned more than $1 million for the Prestige label. Jones then became a respected interpreter of standards like "Stormy Weather," "Say It Isn't So," "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You" and "But Not for Me." She received Grammy Award nominations for "Save Your Love For Me" (Muse, 1981) and "My Buddy: The Songs of Buddy Johnson" (HighNote Records, 1998). She died on the day that her most recent album was released, Etta Jones Sings Lady Day (HighNote), a tribute to Billie Holiday. Of all those with whom she performed, including saxophonist Illinois Jacquet at Carnegie Hall, her most recognizable partner was tenor saxophonist Houston Person. They were first booked together in 1968 at Jimmy McPhail's Gold Room in Washington, and, until their final date together three weeks ago, their interaction was often likened to the fruitful pairing of Holiday and saxophonist Lester Young in the 1930s. Despite her long career, Jones never achieved household name recognition. A native of Aiken, South Carolina, Jones grew up in New York. In 1944, she made her first recording, for composer-critic Leonard Feather. Through the 1940s, she recorded with clarinetist Barney Bigard, guitarist Kenny Burrell and vibraphonist Milt Jackson, among others. She became a vocalist for three years with legendary pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines. During the last decade, she performed with pianist Benny Green and blues pianist and singer Charles Brown. She received the Eubie Blake Jazz Award and the International Women in Jazz Foundation's lifetime achievement award. Survivors include her husband, John Medlock of Washington; two sisters; and a granddaughter.

Musicians Take Note: Here's your friendly reminder that the deadline for submissions for Best Blues Album in the Juno Awards is November 14. You can download the submission instructions from www.juno-awards.ca or receive personal assistance by e-mailing caras@juno-awards.ca or calling CARAS at (416)485-3135, toll free at 1-888-440-5886

Reg "The Bouncer Poet" Bovaird has just released a really cool C.D. collection of his introspective and retrospective poems, recited and sung by him. The CD's called The Few and the Far Betweens, and features a painting on the front cover of the CD of a happy looking Reg watching a dog catching a Frisbee, while the back cover features a photo of happy, homeless, "Alex the Holy". On several of the 13 enjoyable tracks on the CD, besides Reg's cool, philosophical recitations, there is fantastic (and sometimes, subdued) background music, provided by the capable musical hands of Jerome Godboo (harp player for Ronnie Hawkins, and The Phantoms), on harp/vocals, Mike Sloski on drums (of The Prima Donnas & Checkmates), Tom Layton (piano, accordion, Indian drum), Mark Haines (violin and accordion), and Rusty McCarthy (guitar, bass), who also produced the CD. The C.D. was recorded refreshingly live at Toronto's historic Horseshoe Tavern, at Spadina and Queen. Two of my favourite tracks, "Elfish", and "Hey, Big Guy", were performed "live" by Reg at a recent fundraiser for him (to help financial recovery after a serious throat cancer operation). "Elfish" is a metaphysical fantasy about fishin' for the "Kingfish", which in turn offered some "philosophical insight" to Reg. The other favourite, "Hey, Big Guy", portrays Reg in a moment of doubt, asking "The Big Guy", (God), for help in his life by dialing area code F-A-I-T-H, on the E-T-E-R-N-I-T-Y exchange. (I hope long distance charges don't apply!)

The whole C.D. is remarkably well put together, conceived and delivered. Reg's cool vocal delivery (talking and singing), is masterful and imaginative storytelling at it's best. One bonus is that there's no offensive off-color, "dirty" humour in it—a rarity in this day and age! The back-up musicians are some of Canada's finest and most popular, as is the club where the C.D. was recorded "live". Catch the whole "Reg" show yourself in this captivating, all-Canadian C.D. masterpiece, and be highly entertained, as I was.

Reg's CD can be ordered through him directly at 416-760-8869. Cash donations to help during his cancer recovery are still being gratefully accepted, too!

The BluesBook is Going On-Line!

We are planning an updated web-based version of the BluesBook Directory. Performing artists (solo or bands), managers, agents, venues, festivals, producers, publications, radio stations, specialty retailers, teachers, schools, audio technicians, photographers, should send their contact info to info@torontobluessociety.com.

Please include name, full mailing address, telephone, fax, web site and e-mail. Performers can include a brief description of their music, and if CDS or videos are available (titles are not necessary) Type "BLUESBOOK LISTING" in the subject line.