Women's Blues Revue 2006 - Featured Vocalists

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In alphabetical order:

Diana Braithwaite:
Toronto's own Diana Braithwaite brings her heartfelt, authentic blues style to this year's Women's Blues Revue. An award-winning performer, songwriter, and vocalist, Diana began singing at a very young age, and as a child she performed on local television with her older brother Cecil, and also some "revival style" gospel numbers learned from their mother and grandmother. 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 shared the stage with many greats such as Eddie Clearwater, T-Model Ford, Robert Cray, Big Bill Morganfield, Magic Slim, and Eddy Shaw and the Wolfgang, 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 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 and Portugal is in the works.  This year, Diana recorded a new CD with long time friend and musical collaborator, Chris Whiteley. Morning Sun is a tribute to Blue Bird Records and the classic blues sounds of the 30s and 40s, an acoustic recording of all original material, in traditional style.

Rita Chiarelli:
Rita Chiarelli performs original material, blues and R&B tunes, Italian folk songs, or Elvis Presley covers. Her voice and three octave range garner initial attention, but Rita's songwriting has substantially contributed to her four JUNO nominations. Her songs shimmer with blues-based rock undertones, jazz riffs, Cajun, and country-tinged melodies, blended with a folk-roots flavour. An accomplished entertainer who quickly develops a rapport with her audience, Rita has been performing since the age of fifteen. She toured with Ronnie Hawkins, then, after spending most of the 1980s performing in Italy, Chiarelli returned to Canada where her independent single "Have you Seen my Shoes" was included in the soundtrack of Bruce McDonald's 1989 film Roadkill, now a cult classic. Along with touring extensively in Canada, the USA and Europe throughout the 1990s, Rita released four albums, and earned a JUNO nomination for Best Blues Album. A 2004 release, a tribute to the blues which pays homage to some of the great blues masters whose music has influenced her over the years, earned her another JUNO nomination.  During the past decade, Rita has toured continuously, playing festivals and concert halls throughout North America and Europe. She has earned numerous Maple Blues Awards and nominations. In 2002, Rita was honoured by Canadian fans, receiving CBC radio's annual "Great Canadian Blues Award". Rita's most recent release is a dramatic departure from her usual repertoire, although her recording of old Italian folk songs has an emotional impact on even those who don't understand Italian. An upcoming CD of original songs is anticipated in spring 2007.

Sue Foley:
Powerhouse singer/songwriter/guitarist Sue Foley has solidified her place as one of the leading lights of the contemporary blues scene. Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, her love of the Rolling Stones and other blues rock bands led her study and appreciation of the blues. For her thirteenth birthday, she received her first guitar, and, by age sixteen, she was gigging around Ottawa clubs. At eighteen, she left home for Vancouver, and was soon backing blues harmonica whiz Mark Hummel touring the US and Canada. During her first trip to Memphis for the Handy Awards, jamming with renowned guitar icon Duke Robillard led to an offer from Austin, Texas blues club and record label owner Clifford Antone. Recording an album and playing his hallowed nightclub – the regular haunt of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Angela Strehli and Lou Ann Barton, Sue immediately relocated from Canada. She released four recordings while in Austin, while also touring extensively, including overseas to Europe and Japan. She was soon sharing the stage with Buddy Guy, Tom Petty, George Thorogood, Joe Cocker, and Koko Taylor. Returning to Canada for motherhood in 1997, she continued to release albums and perform live dates. In 2000, Love Comin' Down (Shanachie) won the JUNO Award for Best Blues Album, and Sue swept the nation's Maple Blues Awards, winning for Recording, Songwriter, Entertainer, Guitarist, and Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as France's blues music award, the Trophee de Blues de France, for Best Female Guitarist. Britain's MOJO magazine honoured Love Comin' Down as one of the top 10 releases of the year. Her live performance profile heightened as she opened for BB King and John Lee Hooker among others. Following 2002's Where the Action Is, Sue again swept Canada's Maple Blues Awards, bringing home five more trophies, while, in the US, she was nominated for a prestigious WC Handy Entertainer of The Year Award. In 2003, a live performance in Toronto was recorded for an acoustic release in 2004 by Ruf Records, named simply Change. Having been inspired in her teen years by the work of Memphis Minnie, Sister Rosetta Tharp and Elizabeth Cotton, among others, she decided to document the relationship of the woman guitar player, from past to present and beyond, in a book profiling past and contemporary guitarists, and she also co-produced the Ruf Records album Blues Guitar Women, a two-CD compilation featuring contemporary and traditional players. She has just released her 10th recording, New Used Car.

Ellen McIlwaine:
Born in Nashville, and adopted by Southern Presbyterian Missionaries, McIlwaine was raised in Japan, where she began playing rock & roll piano at age five, and listened to New Orleans-style rhythm & blues, Latino (should this be Latin?) groups, Japanese classical and folk music, American jazz, country music, and European classical music. Returning in 1963, she began appearing in Atlanta clubs, then, in New York, met Richie Havens, Dave Van Ronk, Odetta, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Jimi Hendrix, and others. Since 1969, she's released more than a dozen recordings, all on major labels, and has also been included on numerous guitar player and woman guitarist compilations. She has lived between Atlanta, New York, Montreal, Toronto, and Calgary, and has toured Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and North America, among others. She's performed solo, and as a power trio (including with Jack Bruce of Cream on bass and drummer Paul Wertico of Pat Metheney's band), and has shared the bill with Laura Nyro, Howlin' Wolf, Son House, Weather Report, Lily Tomlin, Taj Mahal, George Thorogood, Tom Waits, Chicago, Bruce Springsteen, Koko Taylor, Taj Mahal, and Johnny Winter, among others. She has additionally incorporated Jamaican, Egyptian, and Lebanese influences into her music, and written scores for live theatre and for films. She's also recorded and toured playing Japanese electronica and dance music, and is currently performing and recording with classical Tabla. Her multi-cultural influences, and her unique style of slide guitar, playing bass lines against driving rhythms and singing lead guitar lines, along with her powerfully moving vocals and scatting acrobatics, have earned her legendary cult status. DJs have released remixes of Ellen's recordings, including Fat Boy Slim's sample of her guitar in his chart-topping single. A one-hour documentary on her life and musical background entitled A Slide Through Time: Ellen McIlwaine Live! was filmed and aired on Bravo television.

Jackie Richardson:
Raised in Richmond Hill, which she still considers her home town, Jackie Richardson began singing in her church choir at seven, and her successful musical career started at the age of sixteen when she joined local quartet "The Tiaras". She later performed at Canadian Forces bases across Canada, the South Pacific, and the Far East. A veteran of the stage, and the small and large screens, Jackie Richardson forged a successful acting career with numerous prestigious roles, and became particularly well known for her part in "Ain't Misbehavin'", which earned her a Dora Mavor Moore Award. Over the years, she has performed and recorded with a who's who in the music industry, and released her own contemporary jazz CD, A Woman's View: Child Eyes. She has helped to promote the James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies, a worthwhile cause that benefits African Canadians in the field of higher education, history, culture and research. A dazzling performer, Richardson has a powerful and supple voice, and a warm, vibrant stage presence. The music of Jackie Richardson is an experience of soul, in the service of spirit, a profoundly personal synthesis of the remarkable gospel, blues and jazz women she has embodied on stage and screen. Jackie Richardson continues to be honoured with awards such as the 2004 Dora Mavor Moore for Best Female Principal Role in a Musical for Cookin' at the Cookery: The Music & Times of Alberta Hunter, and Gemini, Dora, Juno, Jessie, Betty, Toronto Blues Society, and NAACP Award nominations.

Kim Richardson:
One of Jackie's talented daughters, bilingual Kim Richardson is formally trained as a singer, actor and dancer. Since 1980, she's starred in theatre (including in Ain't Misbehavin' with her mother), television, concerts, and special presentations (including with Gino Vanelli, Oliver Jones, Roch Voisine, David Foster, and her family, among many others) from Montreal & Toronto, to western Canada & the US, and to Paris and Prague. She's sung in films, and in nearly 100 commercials for top products. She's made numerous recordings, and sung backing vocals for over 50 major recording artists, including Paul Anka, Robert Palmer, and Barry White. She's received Juno awards for Most Promising Female Vocalist, Best R&B/Soul Recording, and Best Contemporary Jazz Album, as well Black Music Association of Canada awards for Top Female Vocalist and Best Single.  We're pleased to welcome Kim Richardson to join her mother in our 20th Anniversary Women's Blues Revue.

Saidah Baba Talibah:
The daughter of jazz/blues singer Salome Bey (Tony and Grammy nominated, and Dora Mavor Moore award winner), Saidah Baba Talibah was on stage by 6 years of age. Attending the Claude Watson School for the Arts, she honed her love of dance, music, art, and drama. At 19 years, she joined the Toronto touring cast of Showboat, paving the way and encouraging her desire to continue integrating these art forms. Most recently, Saidah was seen in The Adventures of a Black Girl In Search Of God, and was featured on the original cast CD recording. While planting her roots in the musical theatre world, she was also tending to her love of the live music scene as a lead vocalist in the rock/soul/fusion band Blaxäm, who released their EP Kiss My Afro in 1998. For six years, Blaxäm created a loyal Toronto following while also touring the rest of Canada & the US. She also backed hip-hop artists including Maestro Fresh-Wes, k-os ,Saukrates and Redman, singer/songwriters Marc Jordan, By Divine Right, Alannah Myles, and Res, and R&B singer-songwriters Divine Brown and Jully Black, to name a few. Currently, Saidah hosts a weekly Toronto show entitled Skiffle in My Ear, that showcases women and their original songs, she is writing and recording her debut solo album, she sings backgrounds for Divine Brown, and she teaches yoga to youth affected by HIV.