Maple Blues Online Cover Story

The TBS' biggest event of the year, the Women's Blues Revue will feature Sue Foley, Rita Chiarelli, Saidah Baba Talibah, Ellen McIlwaine, Diana Braithwaite, and more. The Women's Blues Revue Band led by Lily Sazz and the amazing WBR Band will take place at Massey Hall on Saturday, November 25. Tickets available online or at the Massey Hall Box Office: 416-872-4255. TBS Charter members receive a 20% discount.

Rita Chiarelli (top right) is featured at the 20th annual Women's Blues Revue at Massey Hall, 8 p.m on Nov. 25, along with Ellen McIIwaine, Sue Foley, Diana Braithwaite, Saidah Baba Talibah and more, all backed by the phenomenal WBR Band. Chiarelli, who has been a regular at the event over the years, performed at the first WBR at Club Rhythm on Queen Street West -- "a club the size of a postage stamp," she recalls. This is the third consecutive year for the WBR at Massey Hall.

Rita Chiarelli was honoured to be the opening act for Koko Taylor recently and so at the show she gave Taylor a token of her admiration, a satin and velvet burgundy scarf with hand beadwork. "She was so thrilled, I couldn't tell you," Chiarelli says. "It really moved me because of how much she's given me without her knowing it." Chiarelli, who's in mid-career, also recently opened for Alberta Adams, a singer who's in her 80s. "It's great to feel young, to feel you just have so much more to do, and so many more places to go when you're around these people," Chiarelli says. "Alberta Adams is still full of piss and vinegar, just rockin', as is Koko Taylor (who's 71)."

The daughter of Italian immigrants, Chiarelli discovered the blues while growing up in Hamilton, Ont. Chiarelli, who has a rich, powerful voice, has been singing professionally since she was 15, after guitarist Ralph Pugliese persuaded her father to allow her to join a high school and bar band called The Tempest. "I couldn't feel the blues more than if I had been born in Mississippi," she says. But, as Chiarelli says, there are "so many more places to go," and she has indeed found one of them with the release of Cuore: The Italian Sessions, songs that were hits in Italy from the 1930s to the '50s. A live CD, it was recorded at Unitarian Hall in Thunder Bay over two nights. Along with blues, Chiarelli, who is Canadian born, absorbed Italian culture like a sponge in her youth, learning the language and listening to the music her parents played. She performed a couple of Italian tunes at a concert in Orillia six months ago, at the request of childhood friends in the audience, and brought the house down. She got a similar response at the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival and then, any time she performed Italian tunes, she received emails from audience members who encouraged her to record them. Making an Italian recording had been on her mind for a while and Chiarelli decided the time was right. Chiarelli stressed that Cuore (Heart), which she produced, is unlike current slick pop recordings of ethnic music, and falls into the category of roots music. "It's very sparse, yet sounds full. I'm playing rhythm guitar, and there's a lead guitarist (Tony Agostino), a mandolin player (Damon Dobak) and a bass player (George Koller), and that's it.

"It's very raw and very real, and very much in the style of how I perform live, and how I do the roots and blues stuff. And this is roots music. It's old tunes, as if I was doing an old blues tune."

One of the songs on the recording, Chittara Romana (Roman Guitar), about a musician who has lost everything but music and his guitar, is a tango that Chiarelli and her players turned into a blues shuffle. "Everyone will be surprised at how hip it is," she says.

Chiarelli says performing and recording the songs on Cuore "stretched her" as a vocalist. "These songs are not easy to sing… I've been singing a long time. I was classically trained. These songs have stretched me. I think that having had to learn this music, having had to perform this music will make me a better artist."

With the release last month of Cuore on Chiarelli's website, she has already been approached by some U.S. Italian festivals. Meanwhile, Heather McLeod of CBC Radio One in Thunder Bay gives Cuore top marks. She wrote: "I didn't understand a word, but my heart understood every note. This album rings with love and respect for Chiarelli's Italian heritage, and skill as a singer and an artist. I couldn't bear to pry it out of my CD player."

Chiarelli, who writes songs for herself and has written for other artists, says the melodic aspect of Italian music has influenced her songwriting and as a result she spends a lot of time working on the melodies of her own songs. That's evident on her first collection of original material, and her fourth CD, Breakfast at Midnight, a Juno-nominated recording released in 2001. The release of Breakfast at Midnight, which featured Chiarelli's genre-tripping songwriting _ from blues to bluesy country, bluesy jazz and rockin' blues _ was a turning point for her. After that, she performed exclusively in concert halls and theatres and at festivals, leaving the then-smoky bar scene behind her, and she was in demand by her European audiences more than ever. With the success of Breakfast at Midnight, Chiarelli was able to persuade producers that people would listen to blues in a concert hall, that blues didn't have to be in a bar at 3 a.m., but it was a battle. "I insisted and persisted," she says. It turns out she was right. Currently, one of the most popular spots for blues in Toronto is Massey Hall, which has featured many blues acts, and is the venue for the 20th annual Women's Blues Revue, on Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. This is the third year the WBR has taken place at Massey Hall. Chiarelli, who has been a regular at the event over the years, performed at the first WBR at Club Rhythm on Queen Street West _ "a club the size of a postage stamp," she recalls. She is one of the performers featured this year. Soon after the WBR, Chiarelli begins recording a new CD of original songs, her seventhrelease. Shortly after Breakfast at Midnight came out, she said she'd "grown more honest as a songwriter." About the upcoming CD, she says, "I've continued on that line. It has to be real and it has to be true." Cuore will be released at Swanmore Hall in Orillia on Sept. 7; at Hugh's Room in Toronto on Sept. 9; at the Hamilton West Side Concert Venue on Sept. 10 and at the Da Vinci Centre in Thunder Bay on Oct. 15. For more information, visit www.ritachiarelli.com.

To order any of Chiarelli's CDs, including Cuore, send $23.00 (cheque or money order) to: Mad Iris Music, P.O. Box 119, Red Rock, Ont. P0T 2P0.

Chris Whiteley talks about Diana Braithwaite

Toronto's own Diana Braithwaite will be bringing her heartfelt, authentic blues style to this year's Women's Blues Revue. A dynamic performer, a talented songwriter, and a soulful blues singer, Diana began singing at a very young age, and as a child she performed on some local television shows with her older brother Cecil, doing such songs as "When The Saints go Marchin' In" and "Kansas City". They also featured some "revival style" gospel numbers learned from their mother and grandmother..

Although she grew up in a musical household, listening to lots different styles, her natural feel for the blues soon became apparent. Early in her career she impressed such legends as John Lee Hooker and Albert Collins with her music, and Collins even asked her to go on the road and open shows for his band. Since then she has gone on to share the stage with many greats such as Eddie Clearwater, T-Model Ford, Robert Cray, Big Bill Morganfield, and Buddy Guy among others.

Since her last appearance at the Women's Blues Revue, Diana's career has blossomed through the release of her fine CD Blues Dance, and through her growing international success in Europe and the U.K. Her shows in England and France have met with acclaim from fans and critics alike, and a tour of Spain is in the works soon.

Diana and I have been musical collaborators and friends for many years, and this year we have had the opportunity to record a CD together. The disc, entitled Morning Sun, is a tribute to the classic blues sounds of the 30s and 40s . The album, although done acoustically in the traditional style, is all original material, and the chance to write and record with Diana has given me even greater respect for her skills as a singer and a songwriter. The album will be released on the Electro-Fi label this September.

The Women's Blues revue is one of many exciting shows upcoming for Diana Braithwaite, but one she says looks forward to because of the wonderful opportunity to interact with her peers. It is certainly going to be a treat for all the blues fans who are in attendance.

Artist Profile:

Danny Brooks has been a prominent figure on the Canadian Blues and Soul scenes for several decades. Yet his abiding love of Gospel has provided the most lasting backdrop to his career. Brooks' recent releases fashioned songs built upon that devotion. The results - as those familiar with his recent CD Rock This House can attest - have been remarkably satisfying. Moreover, Brooks has a magnetic stage show, with his backup band the Rockin' Revelators providing solid support thanks to the likes of Richard Bell, John Mays, Papa John King, Dennis Pinhorn, Bucky Berger, Hiram Joseph, Amoy Levy, and Steven Ambrose..

It wasn't easy getting to this plateau. That difficult climb has been written about extensively. Brooks remembers vividly a time when he stared into the dark abyss and it cost him 20 years of sanity and health. Yielding to the temptations of drugs and alcohol was the start of the slippery slope. It got him so near death he's still amazed he managed to surmount those demons that reduced him to a sickly, skeletal 85 pounds. Once you've sunk to those depths, it's virtually impossible to pull yourself out of the downward spiral, unless there's some sort of outside help, and Brooks attributes his recovery to a combination of family help and divine intervention.

Since childhood Danny has loved Gospel. At first, for its energizing properties, but, with maturity Brooks began to link together all the great Soul singers from Joe Tex, Solomon Burke, Bobby "Blue' Bland, and others with such Gospel influences as the Soul Stirrers and the 5 Blind Boys Of Alabama. Beyond Gospel's universally uplifting message, Danny has threaded his own experiences into its immense testifying powers. The Soulsville Trilogy bear witness to a man's fascinating struggles - and their successful resolution.

His lyrical content makes it abundantly clear where the inspiration comes - and it's straight from the heart and soul. These messages are intertwined with the poetry of the common man rooted in the great Blues figures like Leadbelly and Robert Johnson, but especially the repertoire of the legendary Hank Williams who could turn a phrase like no other.

Over the decades, Danny has been proud to have worked with some major figures in the industry, including legendary producer Jim Dickinson, Blues legend Brownie McGhee, and Toronto keyboard great Richard Bell. In some respect, every such encounter has had an influence on Danny's style and approach to his art.

Renouncing drugs and alcohol in 1987 after years of addiction, Brooks dedicated his life to the service of God. Most of his compositions since then have reflected this spiritual re-awakening. A string of nominations for best artist and/or best recording followed thereafter, being issued by organizations and publications such as the Junos, the Maple Blues, and Real Blues magazine, of which the most recent was an award for best 2004 Gospel CD for Souled Out `n` Sanctified. For details how to order any of Brooks' fabulous CDs, just log on to www.dannybrooksmusic.com.

Danny is equally proud of his public service record, believing it is one's civic and moral duty to impart those hard lessons learned from operating on the wrong side of the law. Danny's charisma goes far beyond his stage presence. He has demonstrated time and again that he can also inspire people on a one-to-one basis. His volunteer work speaks for itself. He is a recent recipient of a Correctional Services Award from the Ministry of Government Services, given for Danny's work with those who benefit from that program.

Danny Brooks and The Rockin' Revelators shows are straight out of the Old School; they don't hold back anything. These thoroughly experienced prime time players lay down a torrid mix of rockin' Blues, hard-edged Soul, and classic R&B. It's all shaded by a Gospel-inflected message of course! These gigs are simply not to be missed.

A noteworthy stalwart at Hugh's Room, Brooks has high regard for this elegant club that caters to a very sophisticated and knowledgeable clientele. Hugh's Room seems perfect for his commanding Soul Revue, being configured with comfortable stage, great sightlines, and superior acoustics, although just grooving to the Revelators' 4-piece horn section is worth the price of admission alone.

Brooks is a peerless performer who knows how to handle an audience like few others, and his charismatic performances never fail to consistently elicit positive reactions from audience members of all ages. It's called: Having universal appeal. His good times music will lift your spirits - and make your troubles seem less heavy.

Danny Brooks is a class act and everyone associated with him - both on and off the stage--feels proud to be part of his love train.