Maple Blues Band: 

[Band Bios]  [Audio Sample] [Pics]

THE MAPLE BLUES BAND


The Maple Blues Band: left to right-Chris Murphy baritone & tenor sax, Pat Carey tenor sax, Gary Kendall bass, Tom Bona drums, Michael Fonfara keyboards, Chris Whiteley trumpet, harmonica & guitar, Teddy Leonard guitar, Al Lerman harmonica & tenor sax 

Photo by Rick Zolkower

The Maple Blues Band was formed in 1999 to be the house band at the annual Maple Blues Awards Ceremony in Toronto, Ontario. In association with The Toronto Blues Society and under the guidance of Musical Director/Band Leader/Bassist, Gary Kendall, the band was put together by choosing musicians from Southern Ontarios “cream of the crop”, the best players that regions Blues Scene had to offer. All members are multiple Maple Blues Award winners and nominees. As well as providing the awards ceremony`s musical background and theme, The Maple Blues Band has backed all the special guests who have performed as part of that special night. Sue Foley, Big Dave MacLean, Steve Hill, Harry Manx, Kevin Breit, Dawn Tyler Watson, Colin James, Jackie Richardson, Paul Reddick, Jackie Washington, Ken Whiteley, Mel Brown, Jim Byrnes, Suzie Vinnick, Rick Fines, John Campbelljohn, Diana Braithwaite, Duke Robillard, Colin Linden, Roxanne Potvin, Garrett Mason, Dave Hoerl, Ndidi Onukwulu and Madagascar Slim, have all appeared with the The Maple Blues Band at The Maple Blues Awards.

The Maple Blues Band began to stretch out by playing a few select shows a year (under the name Maple Blues Revue www.maplebluesrevue.com ) besides the annual Maple Blues Awards ceremony. In 2003 and 2004 they closed Port Credits Southside Shuffle by the hosting The Super Jam that featured Jeff Healey, Kim Simmonds, Murray Porter, Faron Johns, Michael Pickett, Jimmy Bowskill, Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne, Donnie "Mr. Downchild" Walsh, Chuck Jackson, John Mays and Dawn Tyler Watson. In 2004 The Maple Blues Band formed a permanent union with three of Canada's best blues singers to form The Maple Blues Revue. MBR has performed at The Ottawa Blues Fest, The Wasaga Beach Blues Fest, The Southside Shuffle's Gala, The Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival and The Toronto Blues Society's 20th Anniversary Celebration.

BOOKING & MEDIA CONTACT:
BLUESTIME PRODUCTIONS
416-467-1453 PHONE
416-467-6652 FAX
Website: www.maplebluesrevue.com
Email: gary_kendall@rogers.com

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THE MAPLE BLUES BAND IS..............

GARY KENDALL: Musical Director/Band Leader/Bassist
http://www.garykendall.com

Gary Kendall is probably the best known bass player in Canadian Blues, having toured and recorded with the legendary Downchild Blues Band twice, 1979-83 and currently since 1995. He has won the Maple Blues Award for Bassist of the Year five times and received nine nominations. In 1993 Gary received the prestigious “Blues With A Feeling Award”. The city of Thunder Bay presented him with the “Thunder Blues Award”, along with The Thunder Bay Blues Society`s “Keeping The Blues Alive Award”, in 2002. Gary Kendall has performed with Snooky Pryor, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Big Jay McNeeley, Bob Margolin, Big Dave MacLean, Duke Robillard, Morgan Davis, Zora Young and Phil Guy, to name only a few. Besides Downchild, he has recorded with Chris Murphy, Little Bobby & The Jumpstarts, Peter Schmidt & Shane Scott, Brian Blain and Maria Aurigema. He released his first solo CD, “Dusty & Pearl” on his own 47 Records label in late 2004. When not with Downchild or The Maple Blues Band, Kendall fills his insatiable need to play the Blues by performing with The Gary Kendall Band.

TEDDY LEONARD: LEAD GUITAR

Teddy Leonard has won The Maple Blues Award for Guitarist of The Year once and been nominated in that category twice. He was a member of the Juno Award winning band when they received that honour and also when they won The Maple Blues Award for Electric Act of The Year twice. A guitarist who is known for his own original blues sound, Teddy has recorded with Fathead, Little Mack Simmonds, Big Daddy G and Rita Chiarelli. He continues to play in Fathead as well as Paul Reddick, Pork Belly Futures, The Gary Kendall Band and The Maple Blues Band.

MICHAEL FONFARA: HAMMOND ORGAN & ELECTRIC PIANO
http://www.iridescentmusic.ca

Long known as one of the busiest, most versatile keyboard players in North America, Michael Fonfara has added immeasurably to hundreds of recording sessions in a career that began in the 60s when he was a member of Mike Bloomfield's, Electric Flag and the supergroup, Rhinoceros. Since then he has played with artist's as varied as Lou Reed and Solomon Burke. A member of The Downchild Blues Band since 1992, Fonfara has won The Maple Blues Award for Keyboard Player of The Year twice and has be nominated in that category six times.

CHRIS MURPHY: TENOR, BARITONE AND ALTO SAXOPHONES
http://www.chrismurphysax.com

Blues Saxophonist, Chris Murphy has been a full-time musician since 1978. He was the first recipient of London, Ontario's Lifetime of Blues Award. Murphy has eight Maple Blues Award nominations and two London Music Award nominations. Chris has recorded two CD's for his own Speakeasy label, “Blowin' The Horn” and “I'm A Happy Guy”. The second and most recent recording was produced by the legendary, Jack Richardson. He has toured and recorded with Juno Award winning guitarist, Jack de Keyzer and Detroit Blues Legend's, Chicago Pete and Alberta Adams. Chris Murphy has lead the horn section for many touring artist’s performing in his home town of London, Ontario, including Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole.

AL LERMAN: HARMONICA & TENOR SAXOPHONE
http://www.fathead.biz

For well over thirty years Al Lerman has made his living playing the blues. His harp playing has been nominated for ten Maple Blues Awards and he has previously been nominated in the Horn Player of The Year and Songwriter categories. As leader of the Toronto-based band Fathead, Al has received a Juno Award, Canadian Indie Award, The Jazz Report's, Blues Group Of The year and two Maple Blues Awards for Electric Act of The Year. He has produced and appeared on numerous internationally acclaimed recordings, including Blues Legends, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Mel Brown.

PAT CAREY: TENOR SAXOPHONE
http://www.patcarey.ca

Pat Carey has been the saxophone player with The Downchild Blues Band since 1985. He's received five Maple Blues Awards for Horn Player of The Year and has been nominated ten times in that category. A very busy freelance musician, Pat has appeared on recordings by Sam Myers, Jack de Keyzer, Rita Chiarelli, Curley Bridges, Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne, Downchild and many others. He also leads and records with his own jazz group, Pat Carey's Jazz Navigators and is the President of Iridescent Music.

CHRIS WHITELEY: TRUMPET, GUITAR, HARMONICA
http://www.chriswhiteley.com

Chris Whiteley has been performing, recording and composing blues and roots music for over 30 years. He has received numerous awards, including Maple Blues Awards for Horn Player of The Year and Songwriter of The Year, a Jazz Report Award for Blues Album of The Year, and six Juno Award nominations. He has performed on Saturday Night Live with Leon Redbone and with his brother Ken at the Chicago Blues Festival. He has appeared on over 150 recordings and his compositions have been recorded by Amos Garrret, Fathead, Cindy Church, Penny Lang and Quartette. His most recent recording "Morning Sun" is a collaboration with Diana Braithwaite on Electro-fi Records.

TOM BONA: DRUMS
http://www.tombona.com

Tom Bona is a four time Maple Blues Award winner for Drummer of the year. A long time member of the award winning band Raoul & The Big Time, he is also a member of Roxanne Potvin's touring band and Wickens-Knight. Tom has performed with a variety of national and international artists including Sue Foley, Junior Watson, Duke Robillard, Mark Hummell, Jack de Keyzer, Colin James and The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. Playing drums for Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (Muddy Water's long-time drummer) is one of Tom Bona's favourite musical moments.

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Audio Sample:

Audio: Edited MP3 sample the Maple Blues Band track "Thanks Alot" from the CD Dusty and Pearl (Gary Kendall). [thanks_alot.mp3]

To view a segment of The Maple Blues Revue live at Festival International du Blues de Tremblant click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=femni3yurGc

Pictures:

Maple Blues Revue at The Harvest Jazz Festival in Fredericton (Sept. 05)
(click to enlarge)

Maple Blues Bandleader and bassist, Gary Kendall