Saturday, April 7, 2018
Jason Buie Fundraiser Toronto 2018
When west-coast bluesician Jason Buie died suddenly last week, few folks in the Toronto Blues community had ever heard him though he was a pillar of the blues community in BC. He stuck to the west coast and had given up touring a few years back in order to raise his twins as a single parent. But when he came to town for the Maple Blues Awards in January, we all had a great first impression of Jason. He touched everyone he met and gave a memorable acceptance speech when he received the Maple Blues Award for "New Artist of the Year."
Jason was hardly a "new artist" (he had been playing for 35 years) but he was new to us and a bunch of Toronto musicians jumped in to raise some funds to help out his kids. The Toronto Blues Society set up a GoFundMe campaign (donate here) and Gary Kendall volunteered to organize the music - and he must have spent all week on this project.
My connection with Jason came about because someone had put up a Facebook post offering an internet stream of the Maple Blues Awards gala but in fact it was a scam, a common one, and Jason was the one to discover it when relative of his was victimized. I had to talk to him about that which morphed into a discussion about whose Fender Strat was the most beat-up (distressed). Funny, I ended up having a similar discussion with Dan McKinnon at the fundraiser...
Drummer Al "Baby" Webster, who was a bandmate & roommate of Jason's in BC had brought him to Toronto a while back and introduced him to Jeff Healey, who was one of Jason's guitar heroes. Later when Jeff made his way out west, they would get together and became fast friends.
The Fundraiser has raised over 2K for his kids and it was great to be hanging around with a bunch of my peers, though I think once again I was the oldest person at the band table where we gathered after the sound check. We were offered a complimentary dinner - and dinner at Hugh's Room is something most musicians can't afford, but tonight it was "on the house." I went for the steak - the most expensive item on the menu (as Gary Kendall pointed out to me), but it's the only thing left on the menu that I hadn't tried. I was disappointed in the salmon last time so here was my chance to try the steak (and it was good).
It was great sitting around that table as the "old-timers", Gary, Terry Wilkins & Bucky Berger and Lance Anderson told stories of the glory days to the next generation of blues players (in Quebec, we call them "la releve" (the ones who will take over). As I was eating my steak, I was reminded that a steak dinner (and a trip to Montreal) was what I received as payment for my first professional recording session . "Les Marionettes" with Le Trio BAK on Disques Match (1963). Recorded at RCA Studios on a 3-track Ampex (that was the most tracks available at the time). And here I am, at the "sunset" of my career and I'm back playing for a steak dinner again - but this time for a worthy cause.
Friday, April 6, 2018
Blainletter #101
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Ancestry Update (Careful What You Wish For Department)If you've been following my adventures in DNA-land, you'll recall that I was getting close to finding one of my birth parents (in case you didn't know, I was adopted). We were confident that we knew my great-grandparents on one side and it was just a matter of elimination to narrow it down to possible parents. I was actually in touch with a couple of cousins, making more inquiries, when all of a sudden the line kinda went dead. No response and I expect that was because somebody was getting uncomfortable with all this poking around the past. And I respect that, so I've put on the brakes. But at the same time, someone new just sent in their DNA and I get a notification that I've got a new connection. And my intrepid investigator Margaret Stowe used that connection to verify some previous DNA connections and now we're well on the way to discovering my "other" birth parent. It seems I had two great grandfathers who were cooks at the mining camps in the turn of the century. Another great uncle was a miner in north Africa during the first world war, and travelling in uboat infested waters. More to follow... New RecordingI know I told everybody that I didn't think I had another CD in me, but now I've got a few new tunes and I'm anxious to try some new ideas, mixing up afrobeat and electronica with my bluesy grooves so I think we'll be doing some recording next month. I would not be so confident that this would be happening if I hadn't just received confirmation that a certain very busy and super-talented player has put aside some time to record with me while he's in the area. Stay tuned. Out and About
I was not getting out very much last month. Under the weather and no wheels. But I did make it out to Hugh's Room Live for Sugar Brown's CD launch which kicked off with an old favourite of mine, Ray Bonneville. I knew him back in Quebec and saw him whenever I could after he moved to the states. He's an impeccable guitarist and the best rack-harmonica player this side of John Hammond. I told him that and I hope I wasn't being out of line comparing him to John Hammond. Ray has a most identifiable sound, the harmonica, the guitar, the vocal, even the foot stomping. Right away – you know it's Ray. It's what every musician strives for – an instantly identifiable sound.
Ken (aka Sugar Brown) rocked the house with his raw delivery and a tight band with Michelle Josef and Russ Boswell. Nichol Robertson was playing second guitar, a position I've held on a few occasions, and he was pulling out some licks that were way beyond anything I could do (or imagine). And I had to ask Russ what he was doing to make that string bass sound better than any string bass I've heard on that stage (he brought his own tube pre-amp/DI). As I was trying to line up a keyboard player for the next campfire jam with Harpdog Brown I went up the road to Sauce on Danforth to see if Julian Fauth might be available (he plays at Sauce every Tuesday-6-9). I thought his regular Saturday at Gate 403 was over now that they're closing but as it turns out the big closing concert is the date I wanted him. Oh well, next time Julian! "Po Cholly" Robertson was sitting in with Julian on Tuesday (along with a couple of other harp players). Julian is the most generous of blues musicians on the scene, always inviting people to sit in with him and he wanted me to sing a tune but I was just out of the dentist and not feeling up for it. He is one of those artists whose name I've heard many times since I got to Toronto in 1990. Jack Schechtman (Gabriel) is another (though I may have met him back then). He was a fixture on the Yorkville scene in the 60s and we both ended up at an impromptu kitchen jam at our friend Sarilyn, International midwife. Below is a little video clip that captures a few of my outings last month –and Here's a little video montage of some moments from last month. The video ends with a little clip of jazz flautist Anh Phung who was doing an event for the Markham Jazz Festival. |
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