Maple Blues Online - Loose Blues News

Coco Montoya (right) is a Toronto favourite and returns to the Silver Dollar on Saturday, March 17.

Junos Awards April 1: The Maple Blues Awards may be over for this year but there's still another Canadian music awards show to look forward to -- the Junos. Nominated for Blues Album of the Year is six-time Juno award-winner Colin James for Colin James & The Little Big Band 3. Singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Colin Linden is up for Easin' Back To Tennessee, while two-time Maple Blues winner David Gogo is nominated for Acoustic. Jim Byrnes, who has played with such legends as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, is a nominee for House Of Refuge. The lone woman in this category is Roxanne Potvin for The Way it Feels. A few blues musicians are in the running for other categories, such as Ken Whiteley whose Join The Band is nominated for Children's Album of the Year. Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, comprised of Colin Linden, Stephen Frearing, and Tom Wilson, is nominated in the Roots & Traditional category for Let's Frolic. Instrumental Album of the Year includes Run Neil Run by Sister Euclid, which features guitarist Kevin Breit who, along with Harry Manx, performed at the Maple Blues Awards this year. Past performer at the Toronto Women's Blues Revue, Molly Johnson, is up for vocal jazz album with Messin' Around. www.junoawards.ca/07_nominees.php

2007 Blues Grammy Winners: R & B veteran Ike Turner took home the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for Risin' With The Blues. He beat out Tab Benoit, Dion, James Hunter, and Duke Robillard. Turner last won a Grammy in 1971 with Tina Turner for "Proud Mary." Irma Thomas won for Best Contemporary Blues Album for After The Rain, which was recorded before and after Hurricane Katrina. Her competition was The Robert Cray Band, Keb' Mo', Dr. John & the Lower 911, and Susan Tedeschi. Thomas, known as "The Soul Queen of New Orleans," had been nominated for a Grammy twice before.

And Yet More Awards: The 28th Blues Music Awards is set for Thursday, May 10 in Memphis. Toronto-based NorthernBlues Music was recognized for new releases by Janiva Magness and Watermelon Slim. Up for Contemporary Blues Female Artist are Marcia Ball, E.G. Kight, Barbara Blue, Janiva Magness, and Shemekia Copeland. Nominees for Contemporary Blues Male Artist are: Kim Wilson, Tab Benoit, Guitar Shorty, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Michael Powers. Traditional Blues Female Artists in the running include Zora Young, Diunna Greenleaf, Etta James, Nora Jean Bruso, and the late Ruth Brown. In the Traditional Blues Male Artist category, Charlie Musselwhite, Robert Lockwood Jr., Big George Brock, Hubert Sumlin, and Watermelon Slim are nominated. For all 25 categories go to www.blues.org/bluesmusicawards/nominees.php4

The National Jazz Awards always provides an amazing array of talent and this year is no exception. Though most of the musical guests are straight-ahead jazz (Oliver Jones, Jim Galloway, Hugh Fraser, Guido Basso and many others) there will surely be a bluesy vibe from the co-hosts, Dione Taylor and David Clayton Thomas. The Awards gala is April 10 at the Palais Royale. Voting is open now at www.nationaljazzawards.com

Finally, a hearty congratulations to John Campbelljohn for taking the "Best Blues Album" award for Weight of the World at the East Coast Music Awards.

New Live Music Club: Downtown Toronto is home to a new live music club with no cover charge. The Amadeus Viennese Restaurant Bavarian Beer Strube & Cafe opened last month with a performance by blues band Mark "Bird" Stafford. Amadeus is located at 111 Richmond Street West (at York). (416) 366 - 3500. Amadeus Cafe shares ownership with Little Anthony's (next door) in the downtown core of Toronto. There will an open door policy (no cover) welcoming you into this Bavarian Style atmosphere (Good Beer!). Stafford has been the music coordinator at several clubs over the years as well as being a popular headliner on the blues circuit. He played last month with Aaron Griggs on guitar, Bob Vespaziani on drums and Jeff Daye on piano. Mark writes "Please do what you can to drop in and check out this new live music venue. Were hoping for lots of support to re-introduce live music into the core of the city, especially `roots music'. Hope to see you there."

Buffalo Bluesfest: The Western New York Blues Society is sponsoring its first Blues Festival with all national artists on March 9 & 10 at The Creekside Banquet Facility in Cheektowaga, NY. Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Roomful of Blues, Phil Wiggins of Cephas & Wiggins, and Joe Filisko from Chicago will all be appearing on Saturday. Friday headliners include Kelley Hunt and Jimmy Thackery. The complete schedule and directions can be found at www.bluesnmarch.com

Melt Your Winter Blues Away: Eight hours of dancing and live music take place at the Third End of Winter Blues Festival at Loyalist College's Shark Tank Pub in Belleville on Saturday, March 10. Listen to Quinte's top musicians from 3 to 8 pm, fill your belly at a southern buffet from 5 to 7, and dance the evening away to Flaming Cheese artists Cheryl Lescom, Loco Zydeco, and the Juno award-winning Jack de Keyzer Band. The festival is produced by Hospitality & Tourism students and New Media & TV students in conjunction with the Loyal Blues Fellowship. Student passes are $10, adult passes are $20, and buffet tickets, $15. Pick up tickets at Sam's in the Quinte Mall, the Quinte Arts Council in the Village, or the Loyalist College Bookstore. www.loyalblues.ca

Electro-Fi Blues Legends Show: The Orangeville Town Hall Opera House is set to rock Saturday, March 24 with its "Electro-Fi Records Legends of the Blues" concert. The show stars W.C. Handy Award winner Mel Brown, who has recorded and toured with such blues greats as B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and Lightnin' Hopkins. Sharing the stage will be vocalist and pianist Curley Bridges, best known for his atomic-powered recording of Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog." As the lead singer and keyboard player with Frank Motley and his Motley Crew, Bridges introduced live rhythm & blues music to Canada in 1955. The Juno award-winning band Fathead will also play at the concert. Vocalist for the band John Mays has sung it all -- gospel, doo wop and soul. Al Lerman, who plays harmonica & sax for Fathead, also writes songs, produces, and plays guitar. Playing bass is Alec Fraser, while Al Cross, who has played with bands such as David Wilcox and The Whiteley Brothers, will be on drums. Show opener is The Mojo Beats, whose sound is inspired by music of the 1960's British Invasion. These talented artists are helping Electro-Fi Records celebrate its tenth anniversary and raising funds for The Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival. Showtime is 8 pm. Tickets are $20 or $25 at the door. (519) 942-3423

Talkin' Blues: Production has begun on the exciting new musical series, "Rhythm, Roots and Soul." In typical Talkin' Blues fashion, this series will focus on the words and music of soul, R&B, gospel, and roots musicians. BRAVO! Canada, which co-produced 39 episode of the "Talkin' Blues" series, has agreed to 13 episodes of this new series. (Reruns can be seen on BRAVO!, Cool TV and BETJazz.) Talkin' Blues will continue to work closely within the category of the blues _ a number of DVD projects are currently being considered. To view some videos of such blues musicians as Mel Brown, Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whitely, David Rotundo, and Jerome Godboo, go to www.talkinblues.com and click on the link to YouTube.

Wickens-Knight is now 'Soulstack': After three years of performing and recording under the name, Wickens-Knight, Jon Knight and Dylan Wickens, have changed the band name to Soulstack to avoid the questions and confusion associated with the former moniker. "We've heard it all from the interesting to the absurd," says Wickens. "People ask us why the reference to witchcraft...we've seen our name appear on marquees and in print as 'Wicked-Knight' and 'Weekend Nights'." The music however, remains unchanged -- original soul and blues-influenced roots music. The band plays Friday, March 2 at Sticky Fingers Bar & Grill in Barrie, Friday, March 9 at Wally's Tavern in Guelph, and Sunday, April 1 at Gate 403.

Homeless Blues: The Homeless Blues Band will be performing Sunday, March 11 at 7 pm at the Olde Eton House, 710 Danforth Ave. Originally from Mexico, The band is influenced by blues, funk, soul and R&B. Their live act blends original work with the music of such artists as Etta James, Koko Taylor, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Eric Clapton. To sample their sound please visit http://www.blueanima.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/homelessbluesband.

Nothing Stops New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest: Hundreds of musicians (including more than a few blues artists) will take part in this year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Some of the musicians with a blues bent include Marcia Ball, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Lucky Peterson, and, of course, Blues Grammy Award winner and New Orleans native Irma Thomas. Over 80 percent of the performers are from Louisiana. Clarinetist Pete Fountain said he's excited to perform again: "It means I'm still alive," said the 76-year-old, who performed at the first Jazz & Heritage Festival in 1969.The festival takes place over two weekends (April 27-29 and May 4-6.) www.nojazzfest.com

Blues Musicians Comic Now An eBook: Buddy and Hopkins, the comic strip about two bumbling blues musicians, has been released as a Cartoon eBook through Mobipocket.com. Now you can enjoy the first 52 comic strips (the 2003 "Tour") on your computer or personal digital assistant or your Personal Computer. www.cartoonebooks.com/booklink.php?au=42

Donnie Walsh and Chuck Jackson were rockin' out at the Palais Royale. Downchild's CD launch on March 2 at Healey's Roadhouse will be another "Night to Remember."

That was the headline on ads and posters for what was probably the first blues show at the newly- renovated Palais Royale. The main attraction was Canada's favourite blues band, Downchild and leader Donnie Walsh, "Mr. Downchild," decided to document the night with a live recording. It was a great call, because they captured a magical evening. Some band members will tell you it was just another Downchild gig, but to this audience member, there was a definitely an extra edge to Chuck Jackson's singing and in particular, Donnie Walsh's guitar playing.

The historic ballroom, where Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway used to entertain, was abuzz after an opening set from Jack de Keyzer and an all-star band assembled by event promoter Mory "The Sockman" Wardinger, who called it "A Night To Remember" (it was held on November 11th, Remembrance Day).

Downchild has their own audience and a lot of folks who don't usually go out to blues shows were in attendance for this one. Downchild doesn't play that often in the GTA, so when they do, the fans come out. And no Downchild fan will want to be without this CD.

It's their 15th album and the second live Downchild album - the first, recorded at the El Mocambo in Toronto, was called "But I'm on The Guest List" and was released in 1982. It's been a little over 37 years since Downchild launched its career at Grossman's Tavern on Spadina Avenue - a long journey, marked with good times and hard times, triumph and tragedy, a lot of laughs and a few tears - and through it all, some hardcore, entertaining, and influential music. The band still plays regularly across Canada, as well as at clubs and festivals in the United States.

The Downchild story has been told a thousand times, probably because music publicist Richard Flohil has been their biggest booster from Day One, so no need to repeat it here. Flohil was largely responsible for hooking up Downchild and Linus . "This is excellent," says Donnie Walsh on the phone from Costa Rica, "Linus entertainment and Geoff Kulawick are really enthusiastic about what's going on and that's really exciting for me." Linus Entertainment is a Toronto-based company with a roster that includes Gordon Lightfoot, Ron Sexsmith, Quarteto Gelato and Sophie Millman. "Live at the Palais Royale" is the first release under the agreement (Linus will be re-releasing some earlier Downchild titles as well).

What's amazing about this story is that the band is still going strong after all these years and sound fresh and tight. They've been though a succession of lead singers starting with Richard "Hock" Walsh, Donnie's late brother (wherein lies the inspiration for the "Blues Brothers"). There have been almost a hundred players who have come and gone over the last 35 years. For this session, the usual Downchild line-up was augmented by Peter Jeffrey on trumpet.

When asked if he did any special preparation for the recording, Donnie replied, "Well, thirty-seven years." He continues, "We pulled out a couple of oldies like 'I've Been a Fool' and another tune called "What You Gonna Do" that we originally recorded in Danny Lanois' studio years ago. It was the first time I ever recorded with a Marshall amplifier. It was tough figuring out which tunes to keep but we just had a ball in the studio mixing this." The engineer was L. Stu Young, nominated as Engineer of the Year in this year's Juno Awards and the man behind the board on Come On In one of Downchild's most successful albums.

The official release is March 2 at Healey's Roadhouse followed by some gigs in Alliston (The Roxy, March 3) and Peterborough (The Trentwinds, March 9). Donnie adds "I'm really looking forward to be playing out there (Peterborough) because I live out by there and we haven't played there in two years."

Tate's Vintage Gallery

Here is another in our ongoing series of revealing portraits of relatively obscure artists who dared to be different written by Blues aficionado and reporter Gary Tate. Gary welcomes your comments at gmtgt@yahoo.com.

Lightnin' Slim: Baptized as Otis Hicks in 1913, Lightnin' Slim was a 50's swamp Blues kingpin. Prior to his recording career, Slim had already honed his craft as a seasoned veteran of the backwater speakeasies and juke joints that dotted the Louisiana hinterland.

His recordings were fashioned in a cubby-hole sized recording studio in Crowley, Louisiana, under the auspices of legendary producer J.D. Miller. Distributed on the Nashville-based Excello label, Slim's sides were an important factor behind the imprint's success.

Relying on sparse arrangements and primitive rhythms, Slim's vocals were stark, unadorned, and expressive. Accompaniment was confined to rudimentary guitar---and perhaps a drummer and harmonica. Although his performances were simple, they were eminently listenable, and some early efforts also included Slim Harpo on harmonica, while others benefited from his highly productive partnership with Lazy Lester. Slim's growling, down-home, brooding delivery was often devoted to re-shaping material from other artists----especially Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters.

Slim scored one of Excello's first R&B chart hits with "Rooster Blues" in 1959. He had a knack for writing some of the quirkiest lyrics in Blues history. On "G.I. Slim", as an example, he bragged about how "I've shot dope with the king"; while on "It's Mighty Crazy" he spins a weird tale about masturbation. It's no wonder Lightnin' Slim is considered a country Blues raconteur of the first order.

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