Maple Blues Online - Loose Blues News

The elusive Canadian harmonica legend Fraser Finlayson (right) has been invited to play at the prestigious Ponderosa Stomp in Memphis Tennessee on May 8-10. The Stomp festival and its year-round activities provide both a voice and career revival to overlooked sidemen, session musicians and other influential pioneers whose contributions have shaped American culture for over 50 years. A renowned harmonica player throughout the 70's and 80's, Finlayson performed with various Rockabilly legends, bluesmen, and founded the popular Cueball band. Finlayson proudly holds the record for most appearances by any musician at Toronto's El Mocambo Tavern. He stopped live performance in the mid-80s to pursue studio work and other artistic ventures. Recently, Finlayson has been working with the University of Toronto documenting special aspects of pop culture from the 1950s and early 1960s. He is now representing several international art collections. We can only hope that he'll have so much fun in Memphis that he'll get back to performing in Toronto,

Jeff Healey makes speedy recovery from cancer operation: Musician Jeff Healey underwent a successful operation last month in Toronto's Mount Sinai hospital to have a cancerous growth removed from his left thigh. This was the second such sarcoma for Healey, who had another removed in May last year. Regular testing caught both occurrences early, and a speedy recovery is expected again, with Healey already up and around the day after the operation. Healey was born with a rare gene defect which predisposes him to cancer growth, having lost his eyesight at the age of one to retino blastoma, a form of eye cancer. Healey stresses that those who have had cancer continue routine check-ups to detect and prevent further occurrences. Healey's new live album, It's Tight Like That, was recorded with the Jazz Wizards and Chris Barber at Hugh's Room in Toronto last summer, and is set for release this month. Healey's radio show, My Kinda Jazz, was pre-taped until he was back in the JazzFM studios to share his favourite 78 rpm records of '20s and '30s traditional jazz.

Encore Music Exchange Yard Sale: No reasonable offers refused on old inventory, delinquent repairs, odds & ends, guitars, guitar parts, amps, basses, drum stuff, keyboards - it's priced to go. Trade-ins welcomed, vendors welcomed - tables are cheap and turnout is great. Saturday May 13, 9 am to 5 pm (rain date Sunday May 14), at 40 Danforth Road in Toronto. www.encoremusicexchange.com

Blues Cruise Ontario-style: For their 9th year, Wayne Buttery & The Groove Project will perform on the MS Georgian Queen on the Sunday night of every holiday weekend this summer, May 21, July 2, August 6, and September 3, from the Penetanguishene Town Dock in Penetanguishene. Boarding at 7:30 pm, cast off at 8:00 pm, and docking at 11:30 pm, tickets are $20 at 705.549.7795, toll-free at 1.800.363.7447, or on-line at www.georgianbaycruises.com.

The Mojo Willie Matinees ride again: Club Belvedere on John Street in Thorold, Ontario, in conjunction with The Canal Bank Shuffle, have resurrected the Saturday matinees with some of the finest blues and roots players weekly. Pro jammers are invited sit in with Bluesafire. You can expect to hear such fine artists as Gary Kendall, Aaron Griggs (The Velvet Bull Dozer), Shrimp Daddy, Maria Aurigema, Michael Keys, and Johnny Lovesin.

Guitar Workshop Plus Bass, Drums, Keyboards, and Vocals: Guitar Workshop Plus will once again be offering three sessions at two locations during its 2006 summer schedule. Confirmed session dates are Toronto July 16-21, and July 23-28, and Vancouver August 14-19. "Both Toronto sessions will once again be held at Appleby College in Oakville, just west of Toronto and the Vancouver session will be held on the campus of the University of BC. Confirmed guest artists include Canadian guitar heroes Alex Lifeson (Rush) and Rik Emmett, blues greats Robben Ford and Duke Robillard, legendary bassist Billy Sheehan (David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Steve Vai), the ever versatile John Jorgenson (Hellecasters, Elton John, Solo), Nashville icon John Knowles, drummer Mark Kelso, and more. 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, etc.). Due to popular demand, the additional location and 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 eleven years. This unique Canadian program has been sold out the last few years running. With the addition of the west coast campus last year, musicians of all ages and levels have been attending from across Canada, the U.S., Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. 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. Joe Satriani, Robben Ford, Rik Emmett, Randy Bachman, Andy Summers (The Police), Wayne Krantz, John Abercrombie, Lorne Lofsky, Paul DeLong, and Orin Isaacs 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, keyboard, and vocal 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. Resident and non-resident tuitions are available and registration has already begun for the 2006 sessions. For more information on the Guitar Workshop Plus program, contact: Guitar Workshop Plus, 190 Robert Speck Parkway, Suite 201, Mississauga, ON L4Z 3K3, 905-897-8397, info@guitarworkshopplus.com, or www.guitarworkshopplus.com."

Soul And Blues Singer Shemekia Copeland to Host Weekly Blues Show on Sirius Satellite Radio: "Grammy-nominated soul and blues singer Shemekia Copeland now hosts her own weekly blues radio show exclusively on SIRIUS satellite radio, Saturdays from 1 pm to 7 pm ET on Blues channel 74. Copeland couldn't be more excited, saying, `What kind of crazy people are working at SIRIUS to let me loose with a microphone every Saturday afternoon?' Copeland, the daughter of the late blues master Johnny Clyde Copeland, burst on the scene in 1997 with her debut CD, Turn The Heat Up when she was just 19. She followed that with the Grammy-nominated Wicked in 2000, Talking to Strangers (produced by Dr. John) in 2002, and most recently, The Soul Truth (produced by Steve Cropper) in 2005. For her SIRIUS show, Copeland will share stories of her life in the blues and play blues songs both familiar and obscure. `I warned them,' said Copeland. `I'm taking over the airwaves. It's gonna be great.' "

Curtis Salgado to Undergo Treatment For Liver Cancer: Singer Curtis Salgado has been diagnosed with liver cancer and has begun preparations for treatment, according to his longtime friend and manager Shane Tappendorf. Salgado who is battling a chronic liver condition will receive treatments next month with the hope of a liver transplant surgery in the future. "I am fortunate to be under the care of an incredible team of doctors and nurses and am inspired by the courageous people that have faced this fight before me," the 52-year-old performer said from his home this week. I am also extremely grateful for the overwhelming support from my family and friends." A concert performance in Spokane, WA has been rescheduled for June 3rd, and doctors are confident that Curtis and his band will be able to continue to perform this year. The singer-songwriter and harmonica idol was raised in Eugene, OR where he is best known as the visual inspiration for John Belushi's character of "Joliet Jake" in the Blues Brothers, as well as his six-year involvement with the Robert Cray Band. Salgado went on to become a member of the Grammy Award-winning band Roomful of Blues, and enjoyed a short stint as vocalist for Santana. The former Handy Award nominee has currently been working in Nashville, TN on new material for his next album as a follow-up to his last three critically acclaimed CDs for Shanachie Entertainment. In the Pacific Northwest, Salgado is also highly respected for his 17-year commitment to sobriety and for his continued dedication and countless speaking engagements in educating young people on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. A special account has been created for donations to help Salgado with medical costs and an all-star benefit concert is also being planned. Donations can be made for the "Curtis Salgado Fund" at any US Bank or can be mailed to US Bancorp, 2550 NW 188th Avenue, Hillsboro, OR 97124. For additional information, please visit www.curtissalgado.com."

Rhythm & Jews - The African-American-Jewish Musical Connection: "Jewish and black music are both forms of soul. They share the blue note. They share the wail. They share boundless energy and humour. George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leiber and Stoller, Carole King, Bob Dylan, Randy Newman — in fact, almost all of the major American popular music songwriters are Jewish. But they'd be the first to admit their inspiration came largely from the tones, rhythms and scales of black music. How Jewish and African-American musical traditions became linked in the 19th and 20th centuries is the story of American popular music itself. It's a fascinating and unique musical connection that will be explored in a special series at the 14th Annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival (May 6-14). Rhythm & Jews is a collection of 12 films tracing the synthesis of Jewish and African-American music from the wave of Eastern European Jewish immigrants to America starting in the 1880s, through to the vaudeville, Tin Pan Alley and Big Band eras, to the Golden Age of Broadway, the Brill Building years of the `50s and `60s, and the heyday of jazz and blues, right up to the rap, reggae and hip hop of the present day. `The framework of the series was partly inspired by journalist Michael Goldfarb's excellent Boston Public Radio documentary Jews and Blues, and by American comedian Billy Crystal's memories of growing up surrounded by `brisket and bourbon', detailed in his book and one-man show, 700 Sundays,' says the Toronto Jewish Film Festival's Curator, Special Programmes, Ellie Skrow, who conceived and developed the series with the assistance of TJFF programmer Stuart Hands. Crystal's uncle, Milt Gabler, founded Commodore Records and recorded Billie Holiday's haunting protest song "Strange Fruit", which was written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish teacher from the Bronx. Gabler is interviewed in the film Strange Fruit, which the Festival is reprising for the series. Scholars and musicologists have compared the commonalities in tonal expression and musical sensibilities of both cultures — echoes of the cantorial tradition, klezmer and other musical influences of the Jews with the distinct sounds of blues and jazz created by African-Americans. The Jews have the `krecht' or distinguishing sobbing sound, the blues has soul. There is also the history of oppression and subjugation that serves as a backdrop to the music of both groups. At the end of the 19th century, when Jewish immigrants were thrown together with African Americans escaping the segregationist south in the impoverished neighbourhoods of northern cities, a different kind of `street music' emerged. Jews and African Americans living in the Lower East Side of New York and the South Side of Chicago borrowed rhythms and cadences from each other, as well as lyrical styles and song formats. From this cross-cultural, street-level musical stew the Jewish composers of Tin Pan Alley reinterpreted black music for the mainstream white audiences, creating a new and powerful thread in the burgeoning jazz age with such enduring standards as "Fascinatin' Rhythm", "Alexander's Ragtime Band", "Blues in the Night", "Stormy Weather" and "Swanee". Contentious issues emerge in any exploration of this complex topic — notably, the blackface tradition of minstrelsy and the dominant role Jewish entertainers played in it, and the financial exploitation and appropriation of the music by Jewish composers, club owners, managers and record producers. On the other hand, Jewish composers and music entrepreneurs were among the first to feel an affinity for and publicly recognize the talent of African-American musicians. Jewish bandleaders Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw were the first to integrate African-American performers in their orchestras, and Jewish intellectuals such as Meeropol were the dominant force in the history of civil rights and social justice in America."

FROM SHTETL TO SWING (Sunday May 7, 3.15 p.m., Bloor Cinema) is the story of American music and its Yiddish roots. Writer-director Fabienne Rousso-Lenoir will be present.

RHYTHM & JEWS: Panel Discussion (Tuesday May 9, 8 p.m., Bloor Cinema, Free ticketed event) Panellists include Jeffrey Melnick, author of A Right to Sing the Blues: African Americans, Jews and American Popular Song; Marc Levin, director of GODFATHERS AND SONS and BROOKLYN BABYLON; Danny Marks, Toronto musician and host of BLUZ-FM on JAZZ FM91.1; and Norman "Otis" Richmond, journalist/commentator, CKLN Radio.

PORGY AND BESS (Monday May 8, 2 p.m., Al Green Theatre) Famed British stage veteran Trevor Nunn directs the Glyndebourne Opera in a stunning production endorsed by the Gershwin family.

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW: HAROLD ARLEN (Thursday May 11, 4 p.m., Al Green Theatre) The life and work of the legendary Tin Pan Alley composer are detailed in this engaging documentary portrait, introduced by Larry Weinstein, Rhombus Media. Mr. Weinstein will be showing a clip from his own work, Stormy Weather: The Music Of Harold Arlen.

HITMAKERS: THE TEENS WHO STOLE POP MUSIC (Sunday May 14, 5 p.m., Bloor Cinema) Profiles of Carole King and other Jewish songwriters of the Brill Building era, beyond the Tin Pan Alley years.

GODFATHERS AND SONS (Thursday May 11, Midnight Screening, 11.45 p.m., Bloor Cinema) The legacy of Chicago's groundbreaking Chess Records and the "Jews and Blues" connection, directed by Marc Levin.

BLUE NOTE: A STORY OF MODERN JAZZ (Saturday May 13, Midnight Screening, 11.45 p.m., Bloor Cinema) A musical tribute to the Blue Note jazz label and its Jewish German founders.

IMMACULATE FUNK (Saturday May 6, Midnight Screening, 11.45 p.m., Bloor Cinema) Legendary music producer Jerry Wexler' s collaborations with musical greats Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Etta James and others are featured in this fascinating profile narrated by Kris Kristofferson.

PAUL ROBESON: HERE I STAND (Friday May 12, 4 p.m., Al Green Theatre) An examination of the life of the famed African-American singer/actor/activist who became a symbol for Jews around the world and an honorary "son".

STRANGE FRUIT (Tuesday May 9, 4 p.m., Al Green Theatre) The story behind Billie Holiday's controversial ballad, which was written by the Jewish schoolteacher Abel Meeropol.

BROOKLYN BABYLON (Wednesday May 10, 8 p.m., Al Green Theatre) A love story between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Rastafarian musician. Directed by Marc Levin, with shorts MATISYAHU; and KHASENJAH: THE JAMAICAN JEWISH WEDDING.

More info at www.tjff.com or call 416.324.9121 Box Office moves to Bloor Cinema May 6 _ 14

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