Loose Blues News

Vocalist Terra Hazelton should be proud of her debut release, "anybody's baby." (release party 6pm, June 1st, Healey's). Backed by an international cast of all-star players, Terra showcases her songwriting along side her powerful voice on the title track. Catch this rising star at her two weekly gigs: Healey's (Saturday 4-7pm) w/ the Jazz Wizards, and the Cameron House (Wednesday 6-8pm)w/ her easy answers.

Radio Dials: John Valenteyn, a long-time blues deejay on the former CJRT FM, has commenced a broadcast audio version of "John's Blues Picks" every second Thursday at 4pm on Let the Good Times Roll on CIUT 89.5-FM in Toronto.

And, on CKLN 88.1 FM in Toronto, the 20 year-old blues show recently renamed "Lowdown to Uptown" currently features alternating hosts Steve Gash and Dr. Feelgood (aka TBS co-founder David Barnard). Due to the increasing demands of his professional commitments in the music industry, Steve Gash will be taking a leave of absence from the show, and the Blues Doctor, the TBS's own Julie Hill, will be filling Steve's mighty shoes for the interim. So, every Wednesday night from 8 to 10 pm, you can get on the blues couch with one of the two doctors!

Up the street at JAZZ-FM, Danny Marks continues to lay down 4 hours of great blues every Saturday night and one of the secret ingredients to this highly-rated show is a line-up of knowledgeable and interesting guests. Next week, May 29, the guest will be Richard Crouse, host of Reel to Real, just back from seeing Eric Clapton live at the Albert Hall with the inside story from behind the scenes. June 5, Sonia Brock, the Blues Mama will be back, with a history lesson on the Blues and Ragtime. On June 12, Jazz Mistress Lisa Particelli, presents the blues chanteuse, ladies who sing the blues, and tells us about a great cause to help the kids. Danny presents a Father's Day Special on June 19 with a look at the lives of Father and Son, Muddy Waters and Bill Morganfield. Bill is Muddy Water's son, and he'll be Danny's guest, along with Sandra Tooze who wrote the book on Muddy, literally!

Healey-O-Phonic: Jeff Healey's New Record Label will be launched at Healey's on Tuesday June 1, by celebrating 2 CD releases - Jeff Healey's Adventures In Jazzland and Terra Hazelton's Anybody's Baby. All are invited to enjoy some great music and complimentary snacks from 6 to 10 pm. No cover.

Celebration of the life and music of Rick Fielding: A great music advocate and talent was lost when Rick Fielding died on March 20 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. On Saturday June 5, there will be a tribute at the Tranzac (292 Brunswick, near Bloor and Spadina). Confirmed performers to date are Eddie Baltimore, Club Django, Bill Garrett and Sue Lathrop, Eve Goldberg, Norm Hacking, Joe Hall, Tim Harrison, Grit Laskin, Paul Mills, The Puffins, Tony Quarrington, Glen Reid, Chick Roberts, Mose Scarlett, Aaron Solomon, Ken Whiteley, Noah Zacharin, David Stone, Garnet Rogers, Sandy, Caroline Paton and more TBA. For more details: go to: www.borealisrecords.com/news_fielding1.html. There is an early start at 4 pm for a meet and greet, a concert from 6 to 10 pm, and then an acoustic jam - Rick's community way of ending a concert. At CIUT 89.5 FM in Toronto, Heather Fielding will is continuing the 15-year Acoustic Workshop radio show on Mondays 7-8 pm.

GENIE Award for the busy Ken Whiteley: When the Genie Award for Best Original Song was announced at the Genie Wards last month, the winner, Ken Whiteley, was getting ready to give a concert at the Barrie Public Library for the local folk society. A few songs into his set he borrowed a cell phone from an audience member and called his wife from the stage to get the good news. He won the award for the song "Tell Me", composed for the soundtrack of the film "Falling Angels". Directed by Scott Smith, the movie is based on a novel by Barbara Gowdy, with whom Ken went to school. Whiteley wrote a number of songs for this story of a dysfunctional family at the close of the sixties. "Tell Me" features the vocals of Alex Pangman, Rebecca Campbell and Amoy Levy, and has the timeless sound of an earlier era . Ken has been busy promoting his newest CD, Gospel Music Makes Me Feel Alright!!, which was released in February on Borealis Records, recorded last spring at a series of gospel shows at Toronto's Hugh's Room, done concurrently with his work on "Falling Angels". This summer will see him busy performing in festivals from coast to coast, including stops in Toronto, Ottawa, Sudbury, Vancouver Island, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Owen Sound and others. Ken Whiteley is a six-time Juno award nominee in the Roots and Traditional, Blues and Children's Music categories and also a perennial nominee at the Maple Blues Awards. The Genie Award however, he won on his first shot. www.kenwhiteley.com

Ziggy's: The cozy Pape Avenue pub which has featured live blues on Saturday evenings for the past year, has shifted it's entertainment to a Saturday matinee program, 3pm to 7pm. The stretch of Pape where Ziggy's is located is busy with pedestrian traffic, shoppers and club patrons hungry for entertainment during Saturday afternoons. Over the coming months Ziggy's will feature a number of fine blues acts including Blues Approved, The Gary Kendall Band, Mr. Rick & the Biscuits, Madd Scientists, Burgess Brothers, Brian Blain, Kenny Brown and more. Ziggy's is located at 951 Pape, 416-423-5444, no cover.

Matt Andersen: East coast musician Matt Andersen, from Baridsville New Brunswick, showcased in Toronto last month at Healey's, his debut appearance in Toronto, after much positive response to his East Coast Music Awards showcase in St. John's, Newfoundland in February, and a previous honour as Best New Artist showcase at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Fest in 2002. Difficult to live up to the hype from the ECMAs, Matt Andersen nevertheless impressed with his warm voice and accomplished and comfortable guitar playing, and musical phrasing on both. And at only 23 years of age, he has lots of time to advance his repertoire. His demo CD includes 5 originals, with the title track "One Size Never Fits" referring to his 6'2" and 350-pound build.

Dior Lounge news: This west end club has eliminated their Friday night live blues shows in favour of more lucrative dance music. Andrew Kempa compliments owners' Miro and Tania for the opportunity to try blues in the venue, and their professionalism and courtesy with the bands; his experience working - and deejaying! - with them was positive.

KOCH signs Malaco for distribution in Canada: The first releases will be in July, mostly from their catalogue, but will Koch will start to work in conjunction with their new releases in August and onwards. Rob Bowman's book, The Malaco Story (Schirmer Books), is an excellent read about what many consider to be "The Last Soul Company." Comprising recording studios, record labels, music publishing companies, direct marketing operations, and distribution services, the Malaco Music Group takes original music from concept to consumer. Malaco has been making and marketing definitive southern soul, blues, and gospel music since 1968. Building on this firm foundation, Malaco's expanded repertoire now includes jazz, urban, Christian, and children's music. Malaco is home to over 75 recording artists and songwriters, a catalogue of thousands of original recordings and song copyrights, and a dedicated family of over 130 employees in Jackson, New York, Nashville, and Franklin, Tennessee. For more information, contact Eric Alper, Director Of Media Relations, KOCH Entertainment, eric@kochcan.com, www.kochcan.com.

Blues With a Feeling 2004: Last month, Remembering Richard Newell a.k.a. KING BISCUIT BOY was held at Mohawk College in Hamilton, featuring the Original Crowbar (Rheal Lanthier, Sonnie Bernardi, Roly Greenway, John "Ghetto" Gibbard, Ray Harrison, John Dickie and, by special appearance, Kelly Jay), Trickbag with special guests Sonny Del-Rio & Guitar Mikey, Jessie O'Brien Band (Obie, John Till, Neil Nickafor & Danny Lockwood), Zark & The Sharks (featuring Greg "Zarky" Zark, a Crowbar alumnus), The Breeze, and Calgary's King Eddie House Band of Bill Dowey & Dylan McDonald. For more information, visit The Official King Biscuit Boy website. www.kingbiscuitboy.com.

Altruistic Blues: Healey's and Now Magazine presented the 2nd annual fundraiser for the benefit of the Action For Brazil's Children Trust (ABC Trust), the charity founded by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and his wife, Jimena, which provides basic needs for street children in Brazil. The evening included live performances by the band Zeppelinesque. Raffled prizes included rare autographed Led Zeppelin memorabilia, and a Gibson guitar donated by Long & McQuade personally autographed to the winner by Jimmy Page himself. www.abctrust.org.uk.

Sick Kids Hospital benefit: Also last month, Big Daddy G performed at the 4th annual Benefit of Dreams concert in support of the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, which showcases a variety of talent in a family event at the Eastdale Collegiate in Oshawa. www.benefitofdreams.com.

The B.A.D. Ride Blues & BBQ Bash: This fundraiser at the Silver Dollar Room last month featured The Barney Adams Blues Attitude, with proceeds supporting the Distress Centres of Toronto.

Ride For Sight: More than 16 live bands donated their time and talent, including Rave On, Blueshound, Cottonmouth Blues Band, Prophecy, Redhill Road, The Sardines, Chris Kenny, Cruz Chaos, Grace, Jam Nation with Grant Fullerton, Michael White, Linda Cara, SAB, Speed Wobble, The Johnny Max Band, Rick Wells Band, The Cronics and more, at IT on Dundas in Mississauga. All proceeds benefited the Foundation Fighting Blindness www.ffb.ca.

Canadian Musicians Lend Voices to Unique Arctic to Amazon Ecology Project: Friends of the Earth (FOE) Canada announces the launch of Life is a Flyway, the new campaign to protect a unique ritual of renewal - the annual journey by hundreds of species of birds from the northern nurseries of the Arctic to the breeding grounds of the Amazon and back. "The threats these birds encounter on their journeys equally threaten the ecological security of citizens of every country on the flyway," says Beatrice Olivastri, Chief Executive Officer. "From the Arctic to the Amazon, migratory birds and humans alike suffer the consequences of inappropriate development - be it pesticide poisoning, loss of habitat and food, forest destruction and climate chaos. Life is a Flyway will bring together Canadians from every walk of life to explore ways each can make a contribution to building the ecological security needed today for humans and other living beings along the flyway." Notable Canadian musicians including vocalists Suzie Vinnick, Willie P. Bennett, Georgette Fry and the late Colleen Peterson, lend their talent to Gypsy Wind, a benefit CD to garner financial support for "Life is a Flyway". Sixteen songs on this 100% Canadian CD chart the ancient aerial pathway flown every year by millions of falcons, hawks, geese, ducks, swans and songbirds. The songs resonate with the beat of stopovers on the flyway ranging from Latin rhythms to world music to folk and country. To raise funds for critical flyway fieldwork from the Arctic to the Amazon, Friends of the Earth is calling on friends and supporters to host a "Fiesta for Friends" - dinners, even picnics and barbeques where donations to the Flyway fund are made in lieu of typical host/hostess gifts. Each host or hostess can register at Foe's website for a complimentary copy of Gypsy Wind to set the mood for an inspirational meal. FOE pledges that 100% of funds raised through Fiestas for Friends will go to support critical fieldwork on the flyway. June 5 is World Environment Day and the launch date for Life is a Flyway. The 2004 campaign will then run until October 11, Canadian Thanksgiving. Friends of the Earth, the world's largest grassroots environmental network, uniting 68 diverse national member groups, campaigns on today's most urgent environmental and social issues. For more information: www.foecanada.org.

Festiblues Talent Contest Semi-finals: The six semi-finalists, Dale Boyle, Bottleneck, Mike's Lucky Mojo, Oil, Classic Cats, Sonny Wolf & Mojo Boogie, 3Zinxs, and Malted Milk, will perform on June 19 at Maison de la Culture d'Ahuntsic in Montreal. Three of these artists will be selected to move on to the finals, to be held at Ahuntsic Park during the Festiblues in August. Free tickets available. www.festiblues.com/indexEN.html.

International Songwriting Competition Now Accepting Entries For 2004: All musicians, bands, solo artists, and songwriters are invited to enter their songs, to share in $100,000 in prizes for 50 winners in 16 categories. Since its inception in 2002, ISC 2004 offers both aspiring and established songwriters the opportunity to have their songs heard by a prestigious panel of judges, including Aaron Lewis (Staind), John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting), Monte Lipman (President, Universal Records), Stacey Earle (Americana Artist), Clint Black (Country Artist), Alan Meltzer (President, Wind-Up Records), Kim Stephens (VP of A&R, Lava Records), with more judges to be added soon. The ISC has added three new categories for 2004 - Children's Music, Instrumental and a Performance category; the latter is based not only on songwriting but also the overall performance and delivery of the song. There are no requirements as to the quality of recording. The entry may be a recording of a live performance, a studio recording, or a home recording. You can enter a song of any style into the Performance category. You may also enter the same song twice (or more) in the Performance category if the performance elements are substantially different, that is, if it is performed, produced, or recorded differently, for example, performed with a band and performed solo acoustic. Visit songwritingcompetition.com for updates, an entry form and more information. The International Songwriting Competition, 211 7th Ave. North, Suite LL-20, Nashville, TN 37219. 615-251-444.

Nothin' But the Blues (Session 2): With Frank Cosentino, This seminar is designed for players who love the raw energy, feel, and power of Blues music from Delta and Chicago to Texas and electrifying blues/rock sounds. This course explores the styles of some of the greatest blues guitarists including Muddy Waters, T. Bone Walker, Albert, B.B., and Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and others. Topics covered include various blues progressions, chord voicings, various comping patterns, turnarounds, phrasing, scale and arpeggio usage, double stops, slide and how to get a good blues tone. Students will also learn how to improve their bending, vibrato, sliding, and legato techniques. There will be plenty of playing and jamming in this course, so if you're feeling the Blues, this one is for you! With many CD and movie credits to his name, Frank is a Blues vet, who plays 150-200 dates per year and has won the mPulse top Blues award 3 years in a row. Session 1 is July 18-23, 2004, and Session 2, July 25-30, 2004, with both sessions held at Appleby College in Oakville (just west of Toronto). 2004 Special Guests include Canadian legends Randy Bachman (The Guess Who, BTO, solo artist) and Rik Emmett (Triumph, solo artist), one of today's most prolific and progressive jazz guitarists John Abercrombie, and acoustic guitar sensation Peppino D'Agostino. Designed for aspiring musicians of all ages including teenagers, adult hobbyists, students pursuing music careers, semi-professional and professional musicians, the program offers students a unique setting for intense musical and personal growth. As well, this program allows for group development (entire bands will sometimes attend) and the family experience (Father and son, Mother and daughter, brothers and sisters). Due to popular demand, the additional session has been added to provide students with the opportunity to study multiple styles, courses, and levels with some of the industry's leading musicians. Having enjoyed the experience of a lifetime, students leave each session with enough material to work on until the following year. The program's administration has been organizing and directing summer music workshops across North America for ten years including the past seven years in Oakville. Clearly regarded as the only program of its type in Canada, the additional session represents the natural expansion of the program, which was sold out last year. By directing instruction to the student's personal style, level of experience, and musical goals, the program creates a healthy, non-competitive environment in which to learn. Furthermore, in addition to an outstanding faculty roster, the list of artists who have worked and continue to work with the administration is truly astounding. Robben Ford, Rik Emmett, Andy Summers (The Police), Mike Stern, Lorne Lofsky, Yngwie Malmsteen, Larry Coryell, John Knowles, and Scott Henderson are just a few of the world class artists on this list. Courses are offered for all levels (Beginner to Advanced), ages (12 through Adult), and styles including blues, jazz, rock, acoustic, and classical. The intensive bass, drum and keyboard courses cover many styles and afford students with many rhythm section and ensemble performance opportunities. Each day consists of morning and afternoon classes that involve a hands-on approach, late afternoon clinics (songwriting, improvisation, vocal, etc.), ensemble performances, and evening concerts. For more information, Guitar Workshop Plus, P.O. Box 21207, Meadowvale Postal Outlet, Mississauga, ON L5N 6A2, 905-785-7087, info@guitarworkshopplus.com, www.guitarworkshopplus.com.

We remember Porky Cohen: Trombonist Zalman "Porky" Cohen, the brash, big-toned trombonist who capped a long and varied career by performing with Grammy-winners Roomful of Blues from 1981-1987, died in April at age 79 in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island of complications resulting from a stroke. He had been experiencing health setbacks over the last few months. Porky began performing publicly in his mid-teens, and studied with the legendary Miff Mole at that time. At age 19 he began playing with the Charlie Barnet Orchestra, where he was often featured as a soloist. Stints with Tony Pastor and Glen Gray's "Casa Loma" Orchestra followed, and in 1948 - a time when segregation was the rule even in the jazz and blues worlds - he was one of a few white musicians to perform with the great, swinging Lucky Millinder Orchestra, a band which spawned blues shouters Wynonie Harris and Bull Moose Jackson. After marrying and "settling down," he limited his performing career to local gigs in Rhode Island and southeastern New England; however, upon retiring from record sales, he joined the great jump-blues band Roomful of Blues in 1981, touring all over the U.S. and Europe, giving people another taste of his big, effusive and exuberant sound. "He joined [Roomful] at 54," said Carl Querfurth, who eventually replaced Cohen in Roomful in 1988. "I'm 48 and I left the band five years ago. I said, `I'm too old to be doing this.' He joined when he was six years older than I am now!" Bob Bell first saw Cohen and Roomful in Atlanta in 1980. "When we walked in, they were playing (the Duke Ellington tune) `Caravan,' and that was Porky's feature number with the band. And that was my very first glimpse of Roomful of Blues and Porky, walking through the door of this club. There were people literally dancing on the tables. Dancing on the tables! And there's this old guy playing trombone, the eyes bulging out of his head, and I thought `Wow! This is just fantastic!'" Bell started talking with Cohen during the break, and a few months later he began working with the band. He managed them for 23 years. "He really had a very down-to-earth, professional attitude toward playing," Bell said. "He knew the value of space; he wouldn't play extra notes. He played what fit the song." John Rossi, the band's longtime drummer, said Cohen was "really the most professional musician he'd ever played with," according to Bell. According to Querfurth, Cohen appeared on several Roomful records, including Hot Little Mama, Live at Lupo's and Dressed Up to Get Messed Up, as well as those the band did with Big Joe Turner, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Jimmy Witherspoon and Earl King. Cohen also played on a Charlie Barnet 78 from the '40s. And in 1996, he released Rhythm & Bones, his only solo album, a big-band rhythm and blues, with a swinging feel and with Cohen leading the way, which was produced by Querfurth and featured the members of Roomful as his backing band. By 1987 he had had enough of the rigors of constant touring, and returned to Providence and various bands in that area. After leaving Roomful, Cohen played around Rhode Island for the rest of his life, on a freelance basis and in the band Swingtime. He continued performing until increasing ill-health sidelined him late last year. Asked how he got his name, he said his cousin "Beans" was his best friend, so their friends began calling him "Porky," in reference to Pork and Beans.

Barney Kessell: A jazz guitarist who performed with Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and other music greats, died of brain cancer last month in San Diego, at 80 years of age. His early style was heavily influenced by electric guitarist Charlie Christian, but he branched out in his early 20s, working with the big bands of Artie Shaw, Charlie Barnett, and Benny Goodman. He served as a music ambassador during the Carter administration, only the third person to be named to that office, after Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. His performing career ended with a stroke in 1992.

Elvin Jones: The renowned jazz drummer and member of John Coltrane's quartet who also played alongside Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, died of heart failure following a long illness last month at age 76. Jones, called by Life magazine "the world's greatest rhythmic drummer," was born in Pontiac, Michigan, one of ten children. He had two musician brothers: Hank, a jazz pianist, and Thad, a trumpet and flugelhorn player. Jones entered the Detroit jazz scene in the late 1940s after touring as a stagehand with the Army Special Services show Operation Happiness. After a brief gig at the Detroit club Grand River Street, he went to work at another club, backing up such jazz greats as Parker, Davis and Wardell Grey. Jones went to New York in 1955 for an unsuccessful audition for the Benny Goodman band but stayed in the city, joining Charlie Mingus' band and making a record called J is Jazz. In 1960, he became a member of John Coltrane's quartet. Jones, with his rhythmic, innovative style, became one of jazz's most famous drummers under Coltrane. He can be heard on Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" and "Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard." After leaving the Coltrane quartet, Jones briefly played with Duke Ellington and formed the Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine. He put out several solo albums and continued to tour, including last month in Oakland, California.

Volunteers Needed!

Cisco Systems Toronto Bluesfest 2004 is seeking volunteers for this year's festival.

It is a great way to make new friends, hear amazing music, and support your city. You must be a lover of music, reliable, hardworking, good with people, and not afraid to have a good time.

The festival takes place at Exhibition Place from Friday, July 16 to Thursday Sunday, July 25.

For more information or to sign up to be a volunteer please check out our website www.torontobluesfest.com. You can also call or email our Volunteer Coordinator Greg Brozek at 416-489-2583 or volunteers@torontobluesfest.com

Our Volunteer Orientation will take place at Metro Hall on 55 John St. in the Council Chambers located on the 2nd floor on Thursday, June 3rd, 2004 from 7-9 pm.