Music On At The Moment: Sugar Camp Music with Steve Fruitman. This was a live-in-studio session we recorded last month at CIUT. My oldest musical buddy, Allan Fraser was Steve Fruitman’s special guest on this one-hour special. They talked about Fraser & DeBolt and they sure talkied a lot about me… then Allan played a batch of tunes in the sweltering Map Room of Hart House at the University of Toronto accompanied by guitarist Bob Cohen, Joel Axler on piano and myself on bass. You can listen to the archived show here: http://www.backtothesugarcamp.com/sc21.html
Great to see (er, hear) live music sessions on the radio – last night I heard Danny Marks with Rita Chiarelli and Donnie Walsh live from the jazz.fm performance space. I don’t think Mother CBC is going to be doing as much live music recording with their budget cuts so it’s good that private and community radio are prepared to take the extra trouble of bringing real live musicians into the studio and letting them play.
When the Sugar Camp ended I heard Suzie Vinnick’s new CD on John Valenteyn’s radio show and it sounded great – in fact her little guitar, Mabel, never sounded so good. And it’s just her. If you’re reading this in Thurs 12 July, her CD launch is TONITE at Hugh’s Room. That’s where I’m headed later tonight.
Last weekend I did a lot of walking as Afrofest was in my neighbourhood and simultaneously the Festival of South Asia was in full flight at the foot of my street. Maybe there were some outstanding artists from the mother country but all I saw was more like a fashion show or Bollywood dancer exercises. And even Afrofest, where I usually discover some phenomenal music, was musically not to my liking – Mind you the stage caught fire when Madagascar Slim (as part of the African Guitar Summit) tore up the Woodbine Park with some searing blues guitar solos. That’s right, it wasn’t at Queen’s Park this year, and though they’ll never admit it, Woodbine might be a better home for this growing festival. It’s the first time I’ve seen this park working at capacity. It’s quite pathetic looking when there’s only a few hundred people in front of the stage.
Jazzfest redux: I already posted some daily blogs during the Toronto Jazz Festival but in case you don’t check in regularly at brianblain.ca, I’ll work my way backwards from the closing night with Tower of Power. They get the “blew my mind and I never expected” prize. I didn’t know much about the band but recently had seen a DVD on them. And also around the same time, I received the Tedechi-Trucks live double CD and I listened once but was not affected anywhere near what I experienced live with both of those bands. Tower of Power so tight because they’ve been together 42 years and the Tedeschi-Trucks because they put together a dream band of players who are all equal in virtuosity to the phenomenal Derek Trucks. The ticket price bore witness to the high cost of A-list sidemen and extra rehearsal time (I’m assuming). They have mastered the flow of energy from song to song just as every Derek Trucks solo builds and builds to the point where he’s got everybody on their feet.
In contrast with Tedeschi-Trucks who arrived with two tour buses and 2 semi-trailers of gear (which couldn’t even turn onto Nathan Phillips Square), next day Canadian blues buzz-act Matt Andersen arrived on the site by himself with his guitar and a Long & McQuade plastic bag with a set of strings and a Boss tuner. He then proceeded to change his strings 20-minutes before showtime – yikes! That’s something most of us guitar players would be very reluctant to do. He must have stretched them out pretty good because he didn’t have any tuning trouble and he tore through a great set for maybe 500 fans. He’s still a gentle, unassuming character for someone who’s now in the big leagues. Joan Osborne played first and did her hit (what if God….) but I didn’t really feel a connection with her music. Mind you, I loved what she did with the Funk Brothers.
I wanted to go back up to the Orbit Room to hear Donna Grantis. The previous night I went up with Clayton and Colleen Allen was the special guest. Colleen was playing great, with lots of sax/guitar doubling. Clay sat in for a tune and I tried to corner the very-busy Colleen for a recording session. Saida Baba Talibah and her other guitarist, Hill, arrived to jam but I just had to head home.
I was thrilled to hear Trombone Shorty again, since the last time they came to town (a show that Downtown Jazz presented at the Opera House) there was such a crowd in the place there was no oxygen and then after imbibing a little too much (and it doesn’t take much imbibing to get me over the edge) I felt the need to sit down and there were no chairs anywhere. I stepped outside and “when I regained consiousness…” I must have written about this in a previous blog, but the joke around the festival HQ now was that they brought back Shorty so I could get a chance to see the show. I’m sure there were some other factors...
Saida Baba Talibah did the opening set – I caught only the last couple of tunes (though I could hear the rumble from the media trailer). Turns out a lot of the low-end was coming from Tuba Joe, from NYC. We had a nice chat after and he was explaining his rig – how he gets a tuba to sound like a punchy Fender bass. We got talking so much that I never made it over to the Spectrum Road show at the Sound Academy. I heard that show rocked, though I must say that Jack Bruce is not a bass hero (at least not to other bass players). On the other hand, the glamorous, gorgeous and super-talented Esperanza Spalding would qualify as today’s bass “goddess.” Two of the top players in town were certainly entranced and I don’t think they would mind if I named them: David Woodhead and Henry Heilig. I found that Esperanza’s music kinda went over my head as did her opening artist Gretchen Palato (sp?). Her spontaneous duet with Esperanza at the encore was the highlight but her music also escaped me. I will remember her more for the delicious cookies she left behind in the media trailer
I caught some of the 5-o’clock show and it was a loving tribute to George Shearing played by some local musos who played with George a lot, Reg Schwager, Don Thomson, and Neil Swainson. The played perfect recreations of the “Shearing sound” with piano and vibes playing the same lines.
George Benson played amazing guitar and was positively chatty with the crowd, finally stopping himself “hey, I came here to play guitar!” I made my way out halfway through his set, but ended up talking with the Treasa Levasseur gang outside the tent (she opened the show) so I heard him changing gears into a more acoustic sound but I was trying to get down to the Opera House for Soul Rebels, a New Orleans horn band produced by my friend Scott Billington. They did great and made lots of new fans in Toronto. They’re getting the big push so you’ll be hearing more of them. Before Benson I was at the sold out show for guitar god Bill Frisell at Harbourfront and what grabbed my attention right away was the immense respect for him that the audience was radiating. Almost religious. Everybody felt like it was a privilege for them to be in this space about to be transported into another realm, and they were. It started out with spacey guitar sounds and special effects – not unlike some new-age mood music that jazz fans would typically dismiss – but then a Beatles melody would appear in the mix and he would take it to another place and of course the guitar playing was exquisite. Many years ago I walked out of a Bill Frisell show because it was just so atonal (and so loud) that I couldn’t take it. All is forgiven now, Bill.
I won’t dwell on Monday (aka Black Monday) when many artists who were supposed to be playing in Toronto were stranded at the airport in New York including the guitarist from Los Amigos Invisibles, Roberta Gambarini’s pianist (the amazing Dave Restivo filled in and saved the day) and Natalie Cole and her band (nobody could sub for her!). I had never heard of Los Amigos Invisibles, or Robert Glasper who played later that night but both shows were sold out (Glasper had a second show added and that was a good example of social media in action – they packed the house for a last-minute midnight show at the Wrongbar). And then there was my man, Roy Hargrove. He couldn’t give a bad show if he tried (and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s tried on occasion). I was standing right next to him as he was getting his horns out of the case to jump on stage and I wanted to say “Hey remember the time we jammed the blues together at the Rex?” but I restrained myself. He is always amazing and surrounds himself with the top players on the planet.
I dropped in to the after hours jam at the Now Lounge with organist Clayton Doley but there was no one there except myself, Clayton, one other table with two guys, and host Ken Skinner. Ken and bass player did a few tunes and then got the two fellows that were sitting there to play a couple of tunes. I asked the piano player his name but of course I’ve forgotten it – Patrick Hewen, maybe. I think they were from Montreal and they played some pretty “official” jazz. Ken is a helluva player – I hadn’t seen him play in a long time. He invited me to come back with my guitar and I did put my guitar in the car next day but never mad it back.
Somebody I didn’t want to miss was the extraordinary pianist Hiromi. Last time I saw her she was with bass guru Stanley Clarke and I remember him walking over to the piano with his electric bass guitar and trading riffs with her with their faces just inches apart. The intensity was unbelievable. The energy was still there this time, but did not get to the level I remember with Stanley (mind you, she had a wonderful 6-string bassist this time). I skipped out of Bad Plus to see nearly a whole show of Mike Stern – I’d only seen a song here and there and I was determined to get the whole experience this time. I was not disappointed – he is a guitar wizard, and like so many bands I’ve seen this week, he had a drummer that was phenomenal. I usually make my exit when there’s a long drum solo – you know it’s going to be a long one when all the other players leave the stage – but these drummers this week are so musical, you are captivated. You can’t go anywhere.
I started the day with a couple of matinees in clubs up north. Saw my old bandmate Roberta Hunt doing a great New Orleans tribute (with my new favourite female sax player, Alison Young) then up to Chalkers to hear Fern Linzdon, who I have met a couple of times but never seen. Rob Fogle was in the audience and said “don’t you get a nosebleed coming this far north?” It’s true, I don’t make my way past Eglinton very often).
The kick off concert with Janelle Monae was amazing - people loved it but it was a real torture test for the sound system. I never heard so much kick drum coming out of those speakers. Lots of bass (just the way my son the DJ likes it) - I went for ear plugs, which I rarely do (I rarely remember to bring them) - but this time I needed them if I was going to be standing in front of those speakers. She had her own guy doing the sound and he loved his kick drum. He made it the centerpiece of the sound. I think I saw a slightly pained look on Brad, our long-time front-of-house engineer. The jazz festival tent has always been renowned for a “natural” sound. The piano sounds like a big piano in a big living room. Vocals are clear and you never hear “the box.” Still, Janelle is a great artist – and she proved it (literally) when she did an instant canvas live on stage…I captured a little bit on my video camera (hope I don’t get in trouble). I wondered what an easel was doing in the production trailer... At the end of the show she asked who was having a birthday and when a young woman's ID was verified she became the proud and delighted owner of a Janelle Monae canvas. Now that's how you nurture fans!
The festival started with this (barely)managing editor and intermittent IT guy trying to get all these computers online. This time it was exasperated by the fact that all the logins and passwords started with the same name and the provider dropped the "i" in one of the logins but you had to look real carefully to see that an "i" was missing (between a "t" and a "1"). Anyway I finally noticed that, typed it in that way and "Halleluya!" the Box Office was open for business (and great business was done). In addition, the website crashed from more volume than it was used to and we had to get that back online. But when not putting out the occasional fire, I got to hear music played at the highest level – jaw dropping talent. Enough to make you want to put away your guitar for good (but I won’t). Some noticed that I didn’t get a play in the festival this year, but nobody can expect to play a festival every year – even when they work there!
On this day I think it cost me cost me more than the paying customers. I arrived in the morning with the intention of getting a printer up and running and put $3.50 in the meter (for 1 hour!) and of course, things took longer than I expected so when I got back to the car I had a ticket. So I figured I might as well leave the car where it is and wouldn't you know I get a second ticket three hours later. Then I put the car in the parking lot. Between the tickets and the paid parking it's nearly 80 bucks. Painful.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Toronto Jazz Festival - Day 6,7,8,9
I was thrilled to hear Trombone Shorty again, since the last time they came to town (a show that Downtown Jazz presented at the Opera House) there was such a crowd in the place there was no oxygen and then after imbibing a little too much (and it doesn’t take much to get me tipsy) I felt the need to sit down and there were no chairs anywhere. I stepped outside and “when I regained consiousness…” I must have written about this in a previous blog, but the joke around the festival HQ now was that they brought back Shorty so I could get a chance to see the show. I’m sure there were some other factors. Saida Baba Talibah did the opening set – I caught the last couple of tunes (though I could hear the rumble from the media trailer). Turns out a lot of the low-end was coming from Tuba Joe, from NYC. We had a nice chat after and he was explaining his rig – how he gets a tuba to sound like a punchy Fender bass. We got talking so much that I never made it over to the Spectrum Road show at the Sound Academy. I heard it rocked.
Next night was the most anticipated show of the festival (by many), Esperanza Spalding. And she delivered some heavy jazz. A couple of my bass-player mates were in the crowd and seemed to be suitably impressed. Esperanza is a sweetheart but I will have to say the award for most thoughtful opening act goes to Gretchen Parlato who played some equally serious jazz, with impeccable vocals, and also left behind some delicious cookies for the media staff. It’s the small things you remember. I caught some of the 5-o’clock show and it was a loving tribute to George Shearing played by some local musos who played with George a lot, Reg Schwager, Don Thomson, and Neil Swainson. The played perfect recreations of the “Shearing sound” with piano and vibes playing the same lines.
On Friday (Day 8) Tedeschi-Trucks hit Toronto with a vengeance. Last time Susan Tedeschi played the festival it was at The Opera House on Queen East. It was not a blues crowd and it was not a blues opener, it was Alex Pangman doing her thing with Colonel Parker. Old Timey. This time the opener was a country/bluegrass outfit fronted by a young woman who carried the rhythm on her flat top guitar. And the fiddle & mando players were virtuosos. But still, it was a little generic for a jazz festival. They ‘ll probably do better than any jazz act as the next Lady Antebellum.
On the break, I was sitting by the stage entrance and who came in to sit next to me but the whole Trucks clan – grandparents and kids. I asked if he was “the dad” and he said yes – he was Butch Trucks, legendary drummer of the Allman Brothers. After a couple of tunes, I said to him “your boy plays every solo like it’s the last one he’ll ever play” and he responded something like “yea he’s got a lot of soul.” The little ones were maybe 5 & 7, very well-behaved and digging the show - I asked the little girl if she played guitar and she said no, shyly. I said “not yet.” Grandma looked like a “hippie chick of a certain age” and she was standing most of the time grooving to the music. The band played a killer set – best blues show of the year (so far) if you ask me.
Tedeschi-Trucks are at the top of the blues food chain and they’ve worked there way up there slow and stead, first individually and now together. They spared no expense to put together this show – top sidemen, 3 horns and 2 back-up singers. Everybody on that stage could be a star in his own right, and some are. They brought not only their own monitor guy but they brought their own monitor board. And the show sounded great. There had been reports of a very loud sound-check but they were probably just seeing how much they could get out of the mains because it was not too loud at showtime. When I swung by the square to pick up my car there was a big truck loading out all the extra gear they brought. I haven’t seen that much backline since Bootsy Collins last year.
In contrast the Tedeschi-Trucks with two tour buses and all that extra gear, next day Canadian blues buzz-act Matt Andersen arrived on the site by himself with his guitar and a Long & McQuade bag with a set of strings and a Boss tuner. He then proceeded to change his strings 20-minutes before showtime, something most of us guitar players would be reluctant to do. He must have stretched them out pretty good because he didn’t have any tuning trouble and he tore through a great set for 500 fans. He’s still a gentle, unassuming character for someone who’s now in the big leagues. Joan Osborne played first and did her hit but I didn’t really feel a connection with her music. Mind you, I loved what she did with the Funk Brothers. Before Matt ended his set, I took a walk down Queen Street to the Horseshoe to hear two more artists I had never heard of, Becca Stevens and Nellie McKay. Yawn.
I wanted to go back up to the Orbit Room to hear Donna Grantis. The previous night I went up with Clayton and Colleen Allen was the special guest. She was playing great, with lots of sax/guitar doubling. Clay sat in for a tune and I tried to corner the very-busy Colleen for a recording session. Saida Baba Talibah and her other guitarist, Hill, arrived to jam but I just had to head home. It’s been a long week.
Next night was the most anticipated show of the festival (by many), Esperanza Spalding. And she delivered some heavy jazz. A couple of my bass-player mates were in the crowd and seemed to be suitably impressed. Esperanza is a sweetheart but I will have to say the award for most thoughtful opening act goes to Gretchen Parlato who played some equally serious jazz, with impeccable vocals, and also left behind some delicious cookies for the media staff. It’s the small things you remember. I caught some of the 5-o’clock show and it was a loving tribute to George Shearing played by some local musos who played with George a lot, Reg Schwager, Don Thomson, and Neil Swainson. The played perfect recreations of the “Shearing sound” with piano and vibes playing the same lines.
On Friday (Day 8) Tedeschi-Trucks hit Toronto with a vengeance. Last time Susan Tedeschi played the festival it was at The Opera House on Queen East. It was not a blues crowd and it was not a blues opener, it was Alex Pangman doing her thing with Colonel Parker. Old Timey. This time the opener was a country/bluegrass outfit fronted by a young woman who carried the rhythm on her flat top guitar. And the fiddle & mando players were virtuosos. But still, it was a little generic for a jazz festival. They ‘ll probably do better than any jazz act as the next Lady Antebellum.
On the break, I was sitting by the stage entrance and who came in to sit next to me but the whole Trucks clan – grandparents and kids. I asked if he was “the dad” and he said yes – he was Butch Trucks, legendary drummer of the Allman Brothers. After a couple of tunes, I said to him “your boy plays every solo like it’s the last one he’ll ever play” and he responded something like “yea he’s got a lot of soul.” The little ones were maybe 5 & 7, very well-behaved and digging the show - I asked the little girl if she played guitar and she said no, shyly. I said “not yet.” Grandma looked like a “hippie chick of a certain age” and she was standing most of the time grooving to the music. The band played a killer set – best blues show of the year (so far) if you ask me.
Tedeschi-Trucks are at the top of the blues food chain and they’ve worked there way up there slow and stead, first individually and now together. They spared no expense to put together this show – top sidemen, 3 horns and 2 back-up singers. Everybody on that stage could be a star in his own right, and some are. They brought not only their own monitor guy but they brought their own monitor board. And the show sounded great. There had been reports of a very loud sound-check but they were probably just seeing how much they could get out of the mains because it was not too loud at showtime. When I swung by the square to pick up my car there was a big truck loading out all the extra gear they brought. I haven’t seen that much backline since Bootsy Collins last year.
In contrast the Tedeschi-Trucks with two tour buses and all that extra gear, next day Canadian blues buzz-act Matt Andersen arrived on the site by himself with his guitar and a Long & McQuade bag with a set of strings and a Boss tuner. He then proceeded to change his strings 20-minutes before showtime, something most of us guitar players would be reluctant to do. He must have stretched them out pretty good because he didn’t have any tuning trouble and he tore through a great set for 500 fans. He’s still a gentle, unassuming character for someone who’s now in the big leagues. Joan Osborne played first and did her hit but I didn’t really feel a connection with her music. Mind you, I loved what she did with the Funk Brothers. Before Matt ended his set, I took a walk down Queen Street to the Horseshoe to hear two more artists I had never heard of, Becca Stevens and Nellie McKay. Yawn.
I wanted to go back up to the Orbit Room to hear Donna Grantis. The previous night I went up with Clayton and Colleen Allen was the special guest. She was playing great, with lots of sax/guitar doubling. Clay sat in for a tune and I tried to corner the very-busy Colleen for a recording session. Saida Baba Talibah and her other guitarist, Hill, arrived to jam but I just had to head home. It’s been a long week.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Toronto Jazz Festival – Day 3,4,5
OK, it’s all starting to blur into a solid stream of music with musicians playing at the highest level. Some world-renowned and others are total unknowns (in this town, anyway) but when you see them in full flight you know right away that you are witnessing something special. Some have that extra connection with the audience (George Benson last night was positively chatty with the crowd, finally stopping himself “hey, I came here to play guitar” and he played it beautifully). I made my way out halfway through his set but ended up talking with the Treasa Levasseur gang outside the tent (she opened the show) so I heard him changing gears into a more acoustic sound but I was trying to get down to the Opera House for Soul Rebels, a New Orleans horn band produced by my friend Scott Billington. They did great and made lots of new fans in Toronto. They’re getting the big push so you’ll be hearing more of them. Before Benson I was at the sold out show for guitar god Bill Frisell at Harbourfront and what grabbed my attention right away was the immense respect for him that the audience was radiating. Almost religious. Everybody felt like it was a privilege for them to be in this space about to be transported into another realm, and they were. It started out with spacey guitar sounds and special effects – not unlike some new-age mood music that jazz fans would typically dismiss – but then a Beatles melody would appear in the mix and he would take it to another place and of course the guitar playing was exquisite. Many years ago I walked out of a Bill Frisell show because it was just so atonal (and so loud) that I couldn’t take it. All is forgiven now, Bill.
Monday morning, I was dealing with some Internet connection issues on site but when I was talking to Patti, our Director of Operations, she was predicting this was going to be a day from hell, and she was right. Nothing was flying out of New York and we had at least 20 artists and crew left stranded in NYC including Roberta Gambarini’s pianist (the amazing Dave Restivo filled in and saved the day) and Natalie Cole and her band (nobody could sub for her!). Black Monday in jazzland. Transport volunteers spent the whole day at the airport waiting (and hoping). I got to see two artists that had huge followings and yet I personally had never heard of either of them: Robert Glasper and Los Amigos Invisibles. Both had sold out shows (Glasper had a second show added and that was a good example of social media in action – they packed the house for a last-minute midnight show at the Wrongbar). Los Amigos Invisibles had a huge crowd at the Horseshoe and I think it was mostly Venezuelans. They were singing along with the band who gave a very spirited performance). And then there was my man, Roy Hargrove. I was right next to him as he was getting his horns out to jump on stage and I wanted to say “Hey remember the time we jammed the blues together at the Rex?” but I restrained myself. He is always amazing and surrounds himself with the top players on the planet. I dropped in to the after hours jam at the Now lounge but there was no one there except myself and Clayton and one other table. Hosting the jam was Ken Skinner and he played a bit then got the two fellows that were sitting there to play a couple of tunes. I asked the piano player his name but of course I’ve forgotten it – Patrick Hewen, maybe. I think they were from Montreal and they played some pretty “official” jazz. Ken is a helluva player – I hadn’t seen him play in a long time. He invited me to come back with my guitar and I did put my guitar in the car next day but haven’t been back.
Sunday I made a point of seeing that extraordinary pianist Hiromi. Last time I saw her she was with bass guru Stanley Clarke and I remember him walking over to the piano with his electric bass guitar and trading riffs with her with their faces just inches apart. The intensity was unbelievable. The intensity was still there this time, but did not get to the level I remember with Stanley (mind you, she had a wonderful 6-string bassist this time). I raced out to see nearly a whole show of Mike Stern – I’d only seen a song here and there and I was determined to get the whole experience this time. I was not disappointed – he is a guitar wizard, and like so many bands I’ve seen this week, he had a drummer that was phenomenal. I usually make my exit when there’s a long drum solo – you know it’s going to be a long one when all the other players leave the stage – but these drummers this week are so musical, you are captivated. You can’t go anywhere.
I started the day with a couple of matinees in clubs up north. Saw my old bandmate Roberta Hunt doing a great New Orleans tribute (with my new favourite female sax player, Alison Young) then up to Chalkers to hear Fern Linzdon, who I have met a couple of times but never seen. Rob Fogle was in the audience and said “don’t you get a nosebleed coming this far north?” It’s true, I don’t make my way past Eglinton very often (though I will be doing a gig at the Mad Bean on Eglinton on Saturday afternoon, July 7, 2-4pm)
Monday morning, I was dealing with some Internet connection issues on site but when I was talking to Patti, our Director of Operations, she was predicting this was going to be a day from hell, and she was right. Nothing was flying out of New York and we had at least 20 artists and crew left stranded in NYC including Roberta Gambarini’s pianist (the amazing Dave Restivo filled in and saved the day) and Natalie Cole and her band (nobody could sub for her!). Black Monday in jazzland. Transport volunteers spent the whole day at the airport waiting (and hoping). I got to see two artists that had huge followings and yet I personally had never heard of either of them: Robert Glasper and Los Amigos Invisibles. Both had sold out shows (Glasper had a second show added and that was a good example of social media in action – they packed the house for a last-minute midnight show at the Wrongbar). Los Amigos Invisibles had a huge crowd at the Horseshoe and I think it was mostly Venezuelans. They were singing along with the band who gave a very spirited performance). And then there was my man, Roy Hargrove. I was right next to him as he was getting his horns out to jump on stage and I wanted to say “Hey remember the time we jammed the blues together at the Rex?” but I restrained myself. He is always amazing and surrounds himself with the top players on the planet. I dropped in to the after hours jam at the Now lounge but there was no one there except myself and Clayton and one other table. Hosting the jam was Ken Skinner and he played a bit then got the two fellows that were sitting there to play a couple of tunes. I asked the piano player his name but of course I’ve forgotten it – Patrick Hewen, maybe. I think they were from Montreal and they played some pretty “official” jazz. Ken is a helluva player – I hadn’t seen him play in a long time. He invited me to come back with my guitar and I did put my guitar in the car next day but haven’t been back.
Sunday I made a point of seeing that extraordinary pianist Hiromi. Last time I saw her she was with bass guru Stanley Clarke and I remember him walking over to the piano with his electric bass guitar and trading riffs with her with their faces just inches apart. The intensity was unbelievable. The intensity was still there this time, but did not get to the level I remember with Stanley (mind you, she had a wonderful 6-string bassist this time). I raced out to see nearly a whole show of Mike Stern – I’d only seen a song here and there and I was determined to get the whole experience this time. I was not disappointed – he is a guitar wizard, and like so many bands I’ve seen this week, he had a drummer that was phenomenal. I usually make my exit when there’s a long drum solo – you know it’s going to be a long one when all the other players leave the stage – but these drummers this week are so musical, you are captivated. You can’t go anywhere.
I started the day with a couple of matinees in clubs up north. Saw my old bandmate Roberta Hunt doing a great New Orleans tribute (with my new favourite female sax player, Alison Young) then up to Chalkers to hear Fern Linzdon, who I have met a couple of times but never seen. Rob Fogle was in the audience and said “don’t you get a nosebleed coming this far north?” It’s true, I don’t make my way past Eglinton very often (though I will be doing a gig at the Mad Bean on Eglinton on Saturday afternoon, July 7, 2-4pm)
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Toronto Jazz Festival – Day Two
Lots of stuff going on Saturday afternoon but I opted to do my laundry and other household necessities. Missed my buddy Clayton Doley at Don Mills stage but we caught up later at the Bettye Lavette show. Bettye is fabulous – when she sang George Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity” the whole tent was dead silent with rapt attention. Riveting. But I remember going to see her last time at the Phoenix and I was showing around some visiting musician and we were enjoying Bettye but at a certain point he turned to me and said “she’s done three ballads in a row and if the next tune is a slow song, I’m outa here.” And sure enough it was another slow-burner so we cut out and went to hear Tony Monaco, or maybe it was Mike Stern). Bettye sort of did the same thing this year but she can pull it off in a setting like this where she’s got the audience in the palm of her hand.
After Bettye, Clayton was anxious to hear Texas keyboard guy Bobby Sparks at the Rex but alas Bobby had to sub out to an equally amazing keyboard genius, Caleb McCampbell who joined Snarky Puppy's Michael League on bass and Jason “J.T.” Thomas, who will be playing drums with Roy Hargrove on Monday night in the tent. They were one powerful trio and the audience at the Rex loved it. I didn’t hear anybody complaining “Where’s Bobby,” (and he too will be playing with Roy on Monday night)
I cannot end without a mention of the Motown tribute band, “Big Sound” who opened for Bettye. Eight singers, many of who could sound just like the artist who did the original recording, backed up by 17 musicians who made the rest sound just like the original recording – I kid you not. All the smallest details of the arrangements of those Motown hits were covered – much more attention to detail than the Funk Brothers and no less soul.
It was great to see Paula Shear is getting back to performing and I have to say the Trane is not only establishing itself as a premiere jazz venue but they’ve got a great kitchen. I’ve never been disappointed at that place and they just have a way of putting together a meal that leaves you totally satisfied and ready for some serious listening. There was a solemn moment when Paula refered to her bass player, Louis Botos, of the near-legendary Botos brothers (how many of them are there, anyway? Enough to make an entire band, I think). Anyway there was some talk of a petition so I guess their immigration troubles are not over. They’ve certainly provided a great contribution to the jazz scene here so let’s cherish them …even though I have to say that Robi Botos is one of two musicians in this town who have declined to play with me…I remember it well, I was hosting a blues jam at the Rex during the jazz festival a few years back and all the heavy hitters like Roy Hargrove, Russell Malone and Antonio Hart were all lovin’ sitting in on my 12-bar blues but Robi left the stage, I guess in the hopes he would have a chance to play some “serious” jazz with RH a little later. But Roy and the boys just wanted to play blues all night long. Probably a nice change for them. Anyway, I don’t hold it against you, Robi. I hope you and your family can stay here forever.
After Bettye, Clayton was anxious to hear Texas keyboard guy Bobby Sparks at the Rex but alas Bobby had to sub out to an equally amazing keyboard genius, Caleb McCampbell who joined Snarky Puppy's Michael League on bass and Jason “J.T.” Thomas, who will be playing drums with Roy Hargrove on Monday night in the tent. They were one powerful trio and the audience at the Rex loved it. I didn’t hear anybody complaining “Where’s Bobby,” (and he too will be playing with Roy on Monday night)
I cannot end without a mention of the Motown tribute band, “Big Sound” who opened for Bettye. Eight singers, many of who could sound just like the artist who did the original recording, backed up by 17 musicians who made the rest sound just like the original recording – I kid you not. All the smallest details of the arrangements of those Motown hits were covered – much more attention to detail than the Funk Brothers and no less soul.
It was great to see Paula Shear is getting back to performing and I have to say the Trane is not only establishing itself as a premiere jazz venue but they’ve got a great kitchen. I’ve never been disappointed at that place and they just have a way of putting together a meal that leaves you totally satisfied and ready for some serious listening. There was a solemn moment when Paula refered to her bass player, Louis Botos, of the near-legendary Botos brothers (how many of them are there, anyway? Enough to make an entire band, I think). Anyway there was some talk of a petition so I guess their immigration troubles are not over. They’ve certainly provided a great contribution to the jazz scene here so let’s cherish them …even though I have to say that Robi Botos is one of two musicians in this town who have declined to play with me…I remember it well, I was hosting a blues jam at the Rex during the jazz festival a few years back and all the heavy hitters like Roy Hargrove, Russell Malone and Antonio Hart were all lovin’ sitting in on my 12-bar blues but Robi left the stage, I guess in the hopes he would have a chance to play some “serious” jazz with RH a little later. But Roy and the boys just wanted to play blues all night long. Probably a nice change for them. Anyway, I don’t hold it against you, Robi. I hope you and your family can stay here forever.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Toronto Jazz Festival - Day 1
As many of you know, I work for the jazz festival but you could only call it a "full time" job for these ten or eleven days. Yesterday, Day 0, was the real killer - trying to get all these computers online is always a challenge. This time it was exasperated by the fact that all the logins and passwords started with the same name and the provider dropped the "i" in one of the logins but you had to look real carefully to see that an "i" was missing (between a "t" and a "1"). Anyway I finally noticed tha, typed it in that way and "Halleluya!" the Box Office was open for business (and great business was done). In addition, the website crashed from more volume than it was used to and we had to get that back online. Musically I heard a bit of Brian Barlow's tribute to Duke Ellington - a lot of the crowd were members of the "Duke Ellington Society." Jannele Monae was the headliner today and she is a real buzz act (she sings on a Number One record by a group called Fun) and she delivered a terrific show - people loved it but it was a real torture test for the sound system. I never heard so much kick drum coming out of these speakers. Lots of bass (just the way my sone the DJ likes it) - I went for ear plugs, which I rarely do (I rarely remember to bring them) - but this time I needed them if I was going to be standing in front of those speakers. She had her own guy doing the sound and he loved his kick drum. He made it the centrepiece of the sound. I think I saw a slightly pained look on our in-house, front-of-house engineer, who has been with the festival for many years and has a global reputation. I don't think I'll go looking for more music tonight, but I think this day cost me more than some of the patrons. I arrived in the morning with the intention of getting a printer up and running and put $3.50 in the meter (for 1 hour!) and things took longer than I expected so when I got back to the car I had a ticket. So I figured I might as well leave the car where it is and wouldn't you know I get a second ticket three hours later. Then I put the car in the parking lot. Between the tickets and the paid parking it's nearly 80 bucks. Painful.
Janelle actually created a painting on stage (I wondered what an easel was doing in the production trailer) and at the end of the show asked who was having a birthday and when a young woman's ID was verified she became the proud and delighted owner of a Janelle Monae canvas. Now that's how you nurture fans.
Janelle actually created a painting on stage (I wondered what an easel was doing in the production trailer) and at the end of the show asked who was having a birthday and when a young woman's ID was verified she became the proud and delighted owner of a Janelle Monae canvas. Now that's how you nurture fans.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Blainletter #53, June 17, 2012
Greetings Blainreaders. I don’t have much in the way of gigs but I want to let you know about something special happening tomorrow (Tuesday) night: My oldest musical buddy Allan Fraser is in town to play a rare performance at the Musideum, 401 Richmond at 8pm and what is more rare, I dare say historic, he will be joined by Ian Guenther, who was such an important part of that first Fraser & DeBolt album. Allan and Ian haven’t played together in 40 years but they got together last night and picked up right where they left off. Also in the band are David Woodhead, Bob Cohen and Joel Axler. Allan and some of these folks will be playing live on Heather Fielding’s Acoustic Workshop on ciut.fm at 7pm tonight
I’m about to dive into full-tilt jazzfest mode. Now off to the last meeting with the entire team and a BBQ, I think. It’s been an untypical week, full of musical memorials - Kate McGarrigle, Oliver Schroer, and last night Frazier Mohawk. I did not attend the first two but heard great reports. The Frazier memorial was a more intimate affair but quite special – where else would you ever find the two lead singers of the legendary 60s super-group Rhinocoros in the same room (if not on stage together). I got up to do a solemn version of “Wonderful World” but then some guys at the front started shouting “Play ‘Don’t Forget Your Mother.’ ” I didn’t recognize them right away but then I said “Are you guys Jackson Hawke?” and sure enough it was Tim Ryan and Bob Yeomans – they were recording an album with Frazier at the same time as we were recording Mother…and they still remembered it…they were even singing along! Sitting with them was renowned film composer Jonathan Goldsmith who I hadn’t seen in 40 years, but I sure have seen his name in film credits many times. Frazier had played him “Mother” – probably more than once, and I found out in the course of the afternoon that that production was one that Frazier was most proud of. Jonathan was kind enough to sit in on piano for a couple of gospel tunes along with my old campfire pal, Bela Ray. My previous Blainletter talks about how I met Frazier and some of the stuff we did together. It includes a link to “Don’t Forget Your Mother” if you care to hear it for yourself. Adieu, Frazier.
Out and About
Day One of North by Northeast (aka nxne). Actually this was not day one of this festival – it’s been going for a couple of days but I just got my pass today. Yesterday I was working at home till I headed out to see the world premiere of a documentary film about Jane Bunnett. Jane herself invited me the night before as we were both in Pecaut Square grooving to the sounds of AfroCubism at the Luminato Festival. What a beautiful setup they had – staging on a grand scale where they actually enclosed the Square into a giant blue cozy enclave.
It was a great documentary on Jane – I think I heard the expression “warts and all” on more than one occasion but it was a revelation and just shows what a dedicated artist she is. After the film screening I had so many musical choices…go to the after-party and listen to Hilario Duran plus Jane & band of course. Or I could head over to Hugh’s Room where they Occhippinti brothers were launching a CD of jazzified John Lennon. Then there was the usual bluegrass night at the Silver Dollar…and the one I SHOULD have gone to, Noah Zacharin’s regular Wednesday night open stage & jam. They’re always happy to see me there. But I did none of the above – just came home to hang out a bit with my housesguest, Bill.
Speaking of “happy to see me,” I have to say that despite all the great talent they bring to our town, they are so full of attitude it has even trickled down to the media interns. I didn’t bother getting media accreditation from Luminato this year because even though they gave me a media laminate last year, they turned down pretty well all of my requests for shows to see (admittedly, they weren’t jazz or blues). So never mind! But now, just for the fun of it, I walk into the media tent to see if I can do a last-minute guerilla accreditation and get a pass. This is something that is “above and beyond” but some festivals would bend over backwards to accommodate media but not these gals. “What do you need a media pass for, it’s a free show” Okay.... I think I might have had the same reply for some media mooches who walked in to the Jazz Festival media trailer looking for a laminate which would allow them access to the shows.
NXNE, on the other hand, was quite happy to have me covering their festival. I attended a few panel discussions at NXNE and heard experts on “fuid grid” design to make sure your content displays properly on websites and hand-held devices. Then I skipped out to a movie about the last days of Woodie Guthrie and Cisco Houston. After that I walked back to the hotel where I heard a “celebrity interview” with Bernie Finkelstein. After taking care of some business at home, I headed back down to the Gladstone Hotel to hear an artist I had met in Memphis and was anxious to see, but it was a different artist with a similar name (that’s what happens when you have 500 artists playing at the same time). And this gal was not my cup of tea – all style and no substance. The next band up was called “God Made Me Funky” but I call them God Made Me Funky Made Me Deaf. When the singers shrieked into the mic, it was pain threshold, but I liked what they were doing. They put on a Show – with a capital “S” and that’s what it takes to get noticed in this town. I took in a couple more NXNE sessions and everything was about social networking – no sessions on touring or conventional promotion – just social networking.
Then I noticed an invitation to attend a “Hackathon” at the MARS centre – a place they call an “incubator” for new tech businesses and this was a gathering of over a hundred programmers and developers. I thought maybe this is a chance to find a programmer who can help me get the Blues Society event calendar working on mobile devices and maybe even help create the generic calendar engine that would pull event info and share it with other online calendars. I made my 60 second pitch in front of an auditorium full of developers but there was not exactly a stampede to my table. At the networking session that followed I collared a couple of young guys with blue tags (they were the back-end coders) but I don’t think any of these guys saw the value of an app that would pull all the event information that’s on the internet and organize and display it. I suppose by value I mean “Where’s the Money?” I’ve never thought of this as a money-making project, only a way to spread the word about who’s playing where. But maybe this will never get to second base until I can demonstrate how it will make money. It was a week of rejection because just a few days before I was pitching to have a “Blues Campfire” at a couple of upcoming music conferences and was told there is no value in that. Well it’s not like a showcase where you play your three best songs and get heard by the tastemakers who book you for their festival but it has proven to be a great networking opportunity and I have testimonials from musicians who went on to collaborate or tour with artists they met and jammed with at the campfire. Or even watching the thrill of a young artist who gets to jam with one of his heroes…that’s value, if not career development. Then I did a little coffee shop gig – got there only to find an empty room – just me and the barista. I had a nice iced latte and we chatted until a few folks trickled in, including one genuine fan (thanks, Dan) but none of this gets me down. I’m not going to stop playing guitar or hosting campfires but I’m through twisting people’s arms – especially when they’re friends who know exactly what I do and have decided that it’s not for them.
The jazz festival begins next week. I had a bird’s eye view of the site – Nathan Phillips Square – and it’s not pretty. The area where we would normally have the media trailer and artists’ tour buses is a construction site. Argh! I was looking down from the 35th floor of the Eaton Centre – in the Ontario Ministry of Trade suites where I was invited to a reception for a delegation of French music producers, mostly from Martinique. I saw a few people I know and I got to hear some presentations on the state of the Canadian music market but it’s mostly stuff I knew. The $7.50 I spent for parking was not justified by the egg salad sandwich. I thought there would be a great taste of French Cuisine – and I hoped my friend Didier would be catering it because he does a lot of that sort of thing for the French Embassy. Anyway I was happy to see a coffee machine – hadn’t had a coffee all day. Now that I think about it, an event like this in the past would always have had wine flowing freely – and no coffee in sight! But times have changed.
Got a call on Saturday afternoon from Dr Ric at the Delta Chelsea telling me Lucky Peterson was doing a matinee and had Shawn Kellerman playing in his band. I saw Shawn a little while ago – also at the Delta and he knocked me out with his playing. Now he was opening the show with a couple of tunes and a burning slow blues. Nobody puts on a show like Lucky – He gives it his all even if there’s only 20 people (and at the start there may have been only 20 people). I have to wear a bit of responsibility because I got the time wrong in the MapleBlues and Mike the booker even reminded me on the way out that a bunch of people had arrived at 9 o’clock expecting an evening show. Well, now we know people are reading our newsletter. Actually they’re not reading it that well because the correct time was indicated in the ad on the back page. You always hurt the ones you love…and I love Lucky - ever since he pulled that stunt at the Jzz Festival in the mid-nineties with his wireless guitar and walked all the way down the King Street and jumped into a rickshaw. It was a great photo op – and ran on the front of the entertainment section if I recall correctly. It takes a confident guitar player to follow the phenomenal Shawn Kellerman but if anybody can do it, Lucky can. He ripped it up – and did it while walking through the club and even out the back door. A real showman – but a musician first. His wife (new wife?) was an important part of the show and she deserved every minute of stage time. And she had the same sense of adventure as Lucky – no wonder he married her.
Thursday night I went to the Gladstone to a media launch for Afrofest. They’re moving their festival to Woodbine Park, just down the road from me. The organizers are a little bummed about being relocated from Queen’s Park, which is a wonderful space, but I think they’ll like it at Woodbine Park. We’ll see. Njacko Backo, master kalimba plater did a set – makes me want to get out my authentic African kalimba (aka lekembe). Before the Afrofest Party had wound down, the TBS Blues Thursday had started up with Robin Banks accompanied by Ken Whiteley. I watched very carefully because I accompanied Robin once before and I hope I’ll get a chance to do it again. Ken did a masterful job and did not shy away from tearing into a guitar solo even though he didn’t have the benefit of any other back-up…or (God forbid) a looper. Robin charmed the whole place as always. She is the consummate entertainer.
Then I took off to take in some of J-W Jones’ CD launch and what a great set I heard. Another Whiteley, Jesse, did a great job on the organ and all the band members got their moment in the spotlight and I rarely comment on a drum solo but the young fellow playing with JW really kept us on the edge of our seats. I even remarked to drummer Lindsay Beaver on the way out. I think most, if not all, of the 24th Street Wailers were in the audience and they couldn’t have picked a better example of a textbook perfect blues set. JW is a terrific guitar player but you can see that he spent a lot of time watching the masters at work. I reminded him of how I would always enjoy the worked-out sets of some American roadhouse bands – at least the ones who got to the point in their career that they were touring out of the country, I still remember the Rochester-based Big Dave and the Ultrasonics and then there’s Sugar Ray Norcia and the Bluetones, Little Charlie (now Rick Estrin) and the Nightcats and the incomparable Duke Robillard, although he was a little looser the last couple of times I’ve seen him. I remember seeing Luther Guitar Junior Johnson, too, playing one tune after another in machine-gun precision. They’d be into the next song before the applause had died down. You don’t see that much anymore. JW wasn’t trying for the machine-gun approach but the set was perfectly paced and his presentation of the Magic Sam classic “Lookin Good” was as good as it gets.
I’m outa here. Thanks for reading and I hope you’re having a great summer.
BrianB, aka Colorblind Brian, The Sringbuster
www.brianblain.ca
www.facebook.com/brianblain.musician
@brianblain on twitter.com
I’m about to dive into full-tilt jazzfest mode. Now off to the last meeting with the entire team and a BBQ, I think. It’s been an untypical week, full of musical memorials - Kate McGarrigle, Oliver Schroer, and last night Frazier Mohawk. I did not attend the first two but heard great reports. The Frazier memorial was a more intimate affair but quite special – where else would you ever find the two lead singers of the legendary 60s super-group Rhinocoros in the same room (if not on stage together). I got up to do a solemn version of “Wonderful World” but then some guys at the front started shouting “Play ‘Don’t Forget Your Mother.’ ” I didn’t recognize them right away but then I said “Are you guys Jackson Hawke?” and sure enough it was Tim Ryan and Bob Yeomans – they were recording an album with Frazier at the same time as we were recording Mother…and they still remembered it…they were even singing along! Sitting with them was renowned film composer Jonathan Goldsmith who I hadn’t seen in 40 years, but I sure have seen his name in film credits many times. Frazier had played him “Mother” – probably more than once, and I found out in the course of the afternoon that that production was one that Frazier was most proud of. Jonathan was kind enough to sit in on piano for a couple of gospel tunes along with my old campfire pal, Bela Ray. My previous Blainletter talks about how I met Frazier and some of the stuff we did together. It includes a link to “Don’t Forget Your Mother” if you care to hear it for yourself. Adieu, Frazier.
Out and About
Day One of North by Northeast (aka nxne). Actually this was not day one of this festival – it’s been going for a couple of days but I just got my pass today. Yesterday I was working at home till I headed out to see the world premiere of a documentary film about Jane Bunnett. Jane herself invited me the night before as we were both in Pecaut Square grooving to the sounds of AfroCubism at the Luminato Festival. What a beautiful setup they had – staging on a grand scale where they actually enclosed the Square into a giant blue cozy enclave.
It was a great documentary on Jane – I think I heard the expression “warts and all” on more than one occasion but it was a revelation and just shows what a dedicated artist she is. After the film screening I had so many musical choices…go to the after-party and listen to Hilario Duran plus Jane & band of course. Or I could head over to Hugh’s Room where they Occhippinti brothers were launching a CD of jazzified John Lennon. Then there was the usual bluegrass night at the Silver Dollar…and the one I SHOULD have gone to, Noah Zacharin’s regular Wednesday night open stage & jam. They’re always happy to see me there. But I did none of the above – just came home to hang out a bit with my housesguest, Bill.
Speaking of “happy to see me,” I have to say that despite all the great talent they bring to our town, they are so full of attitude it has even trickled down to the media interns. I didn’t bother getting media accreditation from Luminato this year because even though they gave me a media laminate last year, they turned down pretty well all of my requests for shows to see (admittedly, they weren’t jazz or blues). So never mind! But now, just for the fun of it, I walk into the media tent to see if I can do a last-minute guerilla accreditation and get a pass. This is something that is “above and beyond” but some festivals would bend over backwards to accommodate media but not these gals. “What do you need a media pass for, it’s a free show” Okay.... I think I might have had the same reply for some media mooches who walked in to the Jazz Festival media trailer looking for a laminate which would allow them access to the shows.
NXNE, on the other hand, was quite happy to have me covering their festival. I attended a few panel discussions at NXNE and heard experts on “fuid grid” design to make sure your content displays properly on websites and hand-held devices. Then I skipped out to a movie about the last days of Woodie Guthrie and Cisco Houston. After that I walked back to the hotel where I heard a “celebrity interview” with Bernie Finkelstein. After taking care of some business at home, I headed back down to the Gladstone Hotel to hear an artist I had met in Memphis and was anxious to see, but it was a different artist with a similar name (that’s what happens when you have 500 artists playing at the same time). And this gal was not my cup of tea – all style and no substance. The next band up was called “God Made Me Funky” but I call them God Made Me Funky Made Me Deaf. When the singers shrieked into the mic, it was pain threshold, but I liked what they were doing. They put on a Show – with a capital “S” and that’s what it takes to get noticed in this town. I took in a couple more NXNE sessions and everything was about social networking – no sessions on touring or conventional promotion – just social networking.
Then I noticed an invitation to attend a “Hackathon” at the MARS centre – a place they call an “incubator” for new tech businesses and this was a gathering of over a hundred programmers and developers. I thought maybe this is a chance to find a programmer who can help me get the Blues Society event calendar working on mobile devices and maybe even help create the generic calendar engine that would pull event info and share it with other online calendars. I made my 60 second pitch in front of an auditorium full of developers but there was not exactly a stampede to my table. At the networking session that followed I collared a couple of young guys with blue tags (they were the back-end coders) but I don’t think any of these guys saw the value of an app that would pull all the event information that’s on the internet and organize and display it. I suppose by value I mean “Where’s the Money?” I’ve never thought of this as a money-making project, only a way to spread the word about who’s playing where. But maybe this will never get to second base until I can demonstrate how it will make money. It was a week of rejection because just a few days before I was pitching to have a “Blues Campfire” at a couple of upcoming music conferences and was told there is no value in that. Well it’s not like a showcase where you play your three best songs and get heard by the tastemakers who book you for their festival but it has proven to be a great networking opportunity and I have testimonials from musicians who went on to collaborate or tour with artists they met and jammed with at the campfire. Or even watching the thrill of a young artist who gets to jam with one of his heroes…that’s value, if not career development. Then I did a little coffee shop gig – got there only to find an empty room – just me and the barista. I had a nice iced latte and we chatted until a few folks trickled in, including one genuine fan (thanks, Dan) but none of this gets me down. I’m not going to stop playing guitar or hosting campfires but I’m through twisting people’s arms – especially when they’re friends who know exactly what I do and have decided that it’s not for them.
The jazz festival begins next week. I had a bird’s eye view of the site – Nathan Phillips Square – and it’s not pretty. The area where we would normally have the media trailer and artists’ tour buses is a construction site. Argh! I was looking down from the 35th floor of the Eaton Centre – in the Ontario Ministry of Trade suites where I was invited to a reception for a delegation of French music producers, mostly from Martinique. I saw a few people I know and I got to hear some presentations on the state of the Canadian music market but it’s mostly stuff I knew. The $7.50 I spent for parking was not justified by the egg salad sandwich. I thought there would be a great taste of French Cuisine – and I hoped my friend Didier would be catering it because he does a lot of that sort of thing for the French Embassy. Anyway I was happy to see a coffee machine – hadn’t had a coffee all day. Now that I think about it, an event like this in the past would always have had wine flowing freely – and no coffee in sight! But times have changed.
Got a call on Saturday afternoon from Dr Ric at the Delta Chelsea telling me Lucky Peterson was doing a matinee and had Shawn Kellerman playing in his band. I saw Shawn a little while ago – also at the Delta and he knocked me out with his playing. Now he was opening the show with a couple of tunes and a burning slow blues. Nobody puts on a show like Lucky – He gives it his all even if there’s only 20 people (and at the start there may have been only 20 people). I have to wear a bit of responsibility because I got the time wrong in the MapleBlues and Mike the booker even reminded me on the way out that a bunch of people had arrived at 9 o’clock expecting an evening show. Well, now we know people are reading our newsletter. Actually they’re not reading it that well because the correct time was indicated in the ad on the back page. You always hurt the ones you love…and I love Lucky - ever since he pulled that stunt at the Jzz Festival in the mid-nineties with his wireless guitar and walked all the way down the King Street and jumped into a rickshaw. It was a great photo op – and ran on the front of the entertainment section if I recall correctly. It takes a confident guitar player to follow the phenomenal Shawn Kellerman but if anybody can do it, Lucky can. He ripped it up – and did it while walking through the club and even out the back door. A real showman – but a musician first. His wife (new wife?) was an important part of the show and she deserved every minute of stage time. And she had the same sense of adventure as Lucky – no wonder he married her.
Thursday night I went to the Gladstone to a media launch for Afrofest. They’re moving their festival to Woodbine Park, just down the road from me. The organizers are a little bummed about being relocated from Queen’s Park, which is a wonderful space, but I think they’ll like it at Woodbine Park. We’ll see. Njacko Backo, master kalimba plater did a set – makes me want to get out my authentic African kalimba (aka lekembe). Before the Afrofest Party had wound down, the TBS Blues Thursday had started up with Robin Banks accompanied by Ken Whiteley. I watched very carefully because I accompanied Robin once before and I hope I’ll get a chance to do it again. Ken did a masterful job and did not shy away from tearing into a guitar solo even though he didn’t have the benefit of any other back-up…or (God forbid) a looper. Robin charmed the whole place as always. She is the consummate entertainer.
Then I took off to take in some of J-W Jones’ CD launch and what a great set I heard. Another Whiteley, Jesse, did a great job on the organ and all the band members got their moment in the spotlight and I rarely comment on a drum solo but the young fellow playing with JW really kept us on the edge of our seats. I even remarked to drummer Lindsay Beaver on the way out. I think most, if not all, of the 24th Street Wailers were in the audience and they couldn’t have picked a better example of a textbook perfect blues set. JW is a terrific guitar player but you can see that he spent a lot of time watching the masters at work. I reminded him of how I would always enjoy the worked-out sets of some American roadhouse bands – at least the ones who got to the point in their career that they were touring out of the country, I still remember the Rochester-based Big Dave and the Ultrasonics and then there’s Sugar Ray Norcia and the Bluetones, Little Charlie (now Rick Estrin) and the Nightcats and the incomparable Duke Robillard, although he was a little looser the last couple of times I’ve seen him. I remember seeing Luther Guitar Junior Johnson, too, playing one tune after another in machine-gun precision. They’d be into the next song before the applause had died down. You don’t see that much anymore. JW wasn’t trying for the machine-gun approach but the set was perfectly paced and his presentation of the Magic Sam classic “Lookin Good” was as good as it gets.
I’m outa here. Thanks for reading and I hope you’re having a great summer.
BrianB, aka Colorblind Brian, The Sringbuster
www.brianblain.ca
www.facebook.com/brianblain.musician
@brianblain on twitter.com
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Remembering Frazier Mohawk
This weekend I played the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival and on my last night I played "See That My Grave is Kept Clean" in rememberance of my old buddy Frazier Mohawk who passed away on Saturday. Then I did a short reprise of the song in the last set because Frazier was never satisfied with the first take. On Saturday afternoon, I had a nice long coffee with Alan Gerber and all we talked about was Frazier and all he had done to help us out at crtical times in our lives/careers. I hadn't seen Alan since this time last year (also at Orangeville - he is a staple at that festival and now they've made him an honorary citizen of Orangeville). Then we both got the news that Fraz had passed away during the night.
I had gone to see Frazier in the hospital on the previous Wednesday and Alan had dropped in on his way to Orangeville on the Thursday. We both just wanted to hold his hand and say a final thank you. Both of us had our gripes with Fraz over the years but it's easy to put aside the little tiffs when you consider all that he did to enrich our musical journeys. I almost wrote "help and encouragement" but the fact is he was never big on encouragement. Maybe he encouraged some others I don't know about but in my case I always felt he was always working around whatever intrinsic talent I may have brought to the table. For a music producer, he never got really excited about any music. I thought it was just me, but Brad Spurgeon mentions the same thing in his blog. You never heard him say "come in here, you've got to hear this". Actually, I do remember one time now that I think about it. It was in Montreal where he (and I) had been taken under the wing of the legendary Andre Perry and Fraz came in with this old vinyl recording of the Swan Silvertones and played me a track called "Saviour Pass Me Not". That track lit him up but I don't even know how he felt about the rest of the tracks on the album but I can imagine him dissecting the harmonies or the choice of microphones.
Alan talked about meeting Frazier (then Barry) in Paul Rothschild's office at Elektra Records and how later in California he took him around to meet Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Carole King, where Alan spent an afternoon at the piano swapping songs with her. Barry pops up in Carole's recent autobiography and also get's name-checked in many recently released bios where the backdrop in the LA music scene of the 60s.
When he arrived in Toronto in 73, there seemed to be an element of intrigue in his exit from LA and though he sometimes referred to some unsavory characters, I never got the real story. I think there may have been many reasons for him the change his name, I made his acquaintance when I came to work one morning at a brand new studio in Toronto (Manta Sound) where I was producing an album for Fraser & DeBolt on behalf of Columbia Records in New York. Frazier had dropped in to the studio earlier that day and left behind an album he had produced on the recording console. I don't think we listened to the album but when I picked it up I couldn't quite make out the abstract artwork until I held it back and could see it was a close up of two naked intertwined bodies. It was called "Primordial Lovers" and the artist was ex-wife Essra Mohawk, formerly known as "Uncle Meat" when she was in the Mothers of Invention. It was only a matter of a couple of days later when I was introduced to Frazier in the kitchen of 127 Hazelton, a legendary hang-out/crash pad in Toronto's Yorkville district and I said "You're the guy that left behind that album at Manta." I'm not sure how much time elapsed but at a certain moment he said he needed an "assistant" (nowadays we'd call that an intern because there wasn't any money changing hands though he may have uttered some variation of that old Ronnie Hawkins pitch "...but you'll get more pussy than Frank Sinatra"). We certainly got more drugs than Frank Sinatra and there were a few liasons the last of which ended when one young lady's older brother, who was a police officer, came from Nova Scotia to fetch his little sister from this den of iniquity.
Frazier had rented a huge space on Richmond Street, an old house that had been completely gutted and painted black inside. It had previously been a photographer's studio. Fraz built himself a sleeping loft with a wobbly ladder that would discourage any curious visitors and the main project was a group called the "Blackstone Rangers" which was essentially a reincarnation of Rhinoceros minus Alan Gerber (who had been the sole American in Rhino). This was a pretty glamorous bunch of rock stars and they made a big impression on this kid from hills of Quebec. The band was set up in the middle of this big room with a huge concert PA ("Voice of the Theatre" speakers) and they rehearsed a bit and partied a lot. Frazier wanted me to "supervise" a second group that he was going to produce. They were called "Flying Circus" and had just arrived from Australia where I think they were a pretty big deal. I don't think I had more than a couple of sessions with the band when I had to extricate myself from that crazy scene. I don't think they ever made a record and only one of those Aussies stayed in Canada but he has been a profound influence on the Toronto music scene and that is bassist Terry Wilkins.
Then we fast forward a couple of years to Montreal where Frazier introduced himself to another recording studio and this time he hit the jackpot. The studio was built by Andre Perry (a Quebec music industry titan but best known outside Quebec as the man who recorded "Give Peace A Chance") and - as luck would have it - André had just sold the studio for big bucks and now had plans to start a record label and break out of the Quebec market. When he saw Frazier's credentials and connections he immediately set him up in a cute little apartment in Old Montreal and gave him free reign of the studio (where he still had thousands of hours of credit as part of the sale). Frazier immediately showed him how to set up a big-time record label, starting with a succession of full-page teaser ads in Billboard magazine announcing the birth of "Good Noise" Records. They printed oversized/overpriced stationary and business cards, hired the most expensive publicist in the music business, Connie deNave and started flying people in from New York and LA. I'm not sure that they had signed a single artist at that point but around that time, Andre heard me sing a song called "Don't Forget Your Mother" with a country-rock group I was playing with that included Sue Lothrop, Russ Kelley, Wayne Rose and I think a couple of brothers from Wilmington Delaware. I can't remember Frazier's initial involvement but André was totally smitten with that song if not with the group. He convinced me to go into the studio with Frazier producing. First we did a demo with a lot of local players including Sue, Ronney Abramson, Ron Dann and many others. Then for the "real" recording, he brought in John Lissauer as music director, Laurel Masse and Jance Siegel from Manhattan Transfer for vocals, and top-session players like Tom "Bones" Malone (later of Blues Brothers fame and much more) on horns and Jim Gordon on drums. At the time Malone and Gordon were part of Frank Zappa's Mothers so Andre was seeing this as a great "tie-in" - The Mothers recording "Don't Forget Your Mother". The Mothers were performing at the Montreal Forum as part of their "Petit Wazoo" tour and most of the other members of the band came to the studio - some played and some just hung out, but try as they might, they couldn't get Zappa himself to participate. I believe the quote was "Frank doesn't help other people make their rock and roll records". As a further aside, drummer Jim Gordon, hot off a Derek and the Dominoes tour, ended up in an institution for the criminally insane for killing his own mother in a psychotic rage. I think I noticed he was not having a good time when he was laying down that drum track. I wondered if it was just that I might have not been laying down the most confident guitar track - after all this was probably the third or fourth song I had written and I had never sung on my own till then. I hardly sang any vocals with the group but "Mother" was my little "feature spot." And I had my doubts about my performance on that track but I was surrounded by so many brilliant players it had to be OK.
Well many months were spent mixing and remixing and overdubbing - they hired a whole string section from the Montreal Symphony under the direction of Otto Armin, then a boys choir from an elite private school. Everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. You can hear it for yourself here.
Up to this point thousands of dollars had been spent on this recording (as well as a daily allowance for me) and yet nothing had been signed. Alas, when I was called in to a meeting, I sat down with Frazier across this beautiful antique pine table with nothing on it but a big fat (unsigned) recording contract. I was humming and hawing about how I wasn't really happy with my performance on that recording when Frazier lurched across the table grabbing me by the throat and screaming "Sign the contract, motherfucker!). I think anyone who has since tried to produce Brian Blain has had the same impulse. Anyway I hastily scribbled in a short rider that offered me some guarantees and I signed. This was old Hollywood-style negotiations. I think if he'd had a gun he would have pulled it out.
This story goes on, but to wrap up this chapter of my adventures with Frazier, suffice it to say the "Mother" was never released, though the B-side, "The Story of the Magic Pick" did get released on Good Noise/Polydor but had the misfortune of being released in the same week and on the same label as that monster hit "Spiders and Snakes" and there was not room for two "novelty" releases in the Polydor promo man's bag of tricks that week. Despite some choice gigs (mostly arranged by Frazier) like opening for Lou Reed and Seals & Crofts, a hi-profile benefit show with Joni Mitchell and Loudon Wainright and a tour with April Wine, I disbanded the Blainettes and went on the road for five years as a "bassman-for-hire". Well I didn't really disband the Blainettes, because another Frazier prodigé, Lewis Furey, scooped 2 of them to be in his band but in a delicious turn of karmic retribution, they were soon hijacked from Lewis by his friend Leonard Cohen who decided he wanted to try having female back-up singers,
After being on the road for 3 or 4 years I settled back in Toronto briefly and Frazier hired me to be part of his "Rent-A-Fool" clown troupe. I would wear a sequinned tuxedo and play incidental music as Mark Parr, Brad Spurgeon and the lovely Lynne Cavanaugh frolicked around. At one point, he was taking "contracts" to attack people with cream pies. We were a pie-hit-squad. I think that's about the time I went back on the road. But it was a great diversion, as was every adventure I had with Frazier.
Fast forward another decade or two and I land in Toronto, not quite on my feet, and one of the first people I look up is Frazier - who is back in Toronto, living a in a caboose on a farm in Kleinberg. He gives me $200 and says he's sure we can find a way for me to work it off. Well first he wanted me to be a "wrangler," shuttling ponies to rich kids' birthday parties. I managed to get out of that but ultimately became an occasional "sub" for Anthony, the Singing Cowboy. I'll always remember trying to play guitar on very bumpy hayride where I would sometimes get airborne with nothing to hold onto except my guitar. I also helped with some desktop publishing projects and mailing promotional material - I remember one time that I was running a little late and had him screaming at me "You just lost me twenty-thousand dollars! You owe me twenty-thousand dollars!" but he never fired me. In the end I did him one great favour when I noticed that several recordings he had produced were now being sold on CD and I asked him if he was getting any royalties. He hadn't thought of that and when he contacted Warner Brothers they sent him a big fat cheque (and apologized for the delay because they couldn't find his address (??). Since that money came from his musical endeavours he decided to put it back into music and that was the beginning of the Studio at Puck's Farm. And once it was operational, he offered me some complimentary studio time that provided me with my first CD, "Who Paid You To Give Me The Blues?" For that and more I will always be grateful to Fraz.
So what else happened in Orangeville?
This is the first time in recent memory that I played 4 nights in a row. The first night was a noisy club where I was trying to put out as much sound as I could. I was playing solo but then Harpdog Brown showed up and sat in for a set. He is such a bear of a guy but when you play with him is is one sensitive, tasteful musician. The Larry Kurtz arrived from the Festivalk kick-off event and I had a double harp accompanyment - Nelson Sleno also sat in for a couple of tunes. I decided to stay over in Orangeville and checked in to the Orangeville Motel where they Indian couple tried to accomodate this starving musician with a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of milk. I was most grateful. The accommodations might have seemed a little rough by modern hotel standards but for someone who's toured in Eastern Europe it was just fine. Then I had two nights at an upscale Italian Restaurant, Il Corso, where the food is delicious. The owner expected a big crowd because the main stage was rained out but it was not to be. Th second night was packed but I think I preferred playing to a small crowd that was listeninbg than to a big crowd who weren't.. I dropped in on Alana Gerber's show and was invited to sit in with him for the last tune and he pointed out that this was the first time we had actually played together - though we had shared the bill in Quebec many times. Then I swung by some of the other clubs where I saw Erin McCallum, who was celebrating the release of a great new CD, and Charlie A'Court - who was playing the same club I played on Thurs - also solo but with a PA ten times the size of my little set-up. And even without a PA, he's ten times as loud as me. He was doing a lot covers that I used to do - Knock on Wood, Into the Mystic , Stevie Wonder but then when I saw him next day on the mainstage with a band he was killing it with some burning Stratocaster solos. I have to admit when I first heard Charlie (which was the same night I first heard Matt Andersen) I thought there's a couple of big guys, singing at the top of their lungs and strumming that guitar as hard as they can...not my style. But then both of them have mellowed out considerably. Hell Matt Andersen became the darling of the CBC by singing sweet Christmas carols. I guess the idea is that you come on hard and heavy and once you have their attention you can start to lighten up and find your own voice.
I should have a few upcoming dates or choice quotes or career development tips for my musician friends reading this but I just wanted to get the word out about Frazier. I might have morphed a few events in my foggy memory and I hope I haven't said anything to tarnish his memory. If you were there and I got something wrong, please let me know. There's an obituary in today's New York Times and Facebook Friends can drop by his Facebook Page.
A Celebration of Barry's Life will be held on Saturday June 16th in the Crest Theatre Green Room at the Performing Arts Lodge, 110 The Esplanade, Toronto, from 5pm to 9:30pm. Bob Segarini, who I met while we were recording "Don't Forget Your Mother" (and he's got a great story about that night but it will be for him to tell it) Anyway, he has put together a lengthy blog of Frazier's life along with excerpts from recent books by Jac Holtzman and Neil Young.
I had gone to see Frazier in the hospital on the previous Wednesday and Alan had dropped in on his way to Orangeville on the Thursday. We both just wanted to hold his hand and say a final thank you. Both of us had our gripes with Fraz over the years but it's easy to put aside the little tiffs when you consider all that he did to enrich our musical journeys. I almost wrote "help and encouragement" but the fact is he was never big on encouragement. Maybe he encouraged some others I don't know about but in my case I always felt he was always working around whatever intrinsic talent I may have brought to the table. For a music producer, he never got really excited about any music. I thought it was just me, but Brad Spurgeon mentions the same thing in his blog. You never heard him say "come in here, you've got to hear this". Actually, I do remember one time now that I think about it. It was in Montreal where he (and I) had been taken under the wing of the legendary Andre Perry and Fraz came in with this old vinyl recording of the Swan Silvertones and played me a track called "Saviour Pass Me Not". That track lit him up but I don't even know how he felt about the rest of the tracks on the album but I can imagine him dissecting the harmonies or the choice of microphones.
Alan talked about meeting Frazier (then Barry) in Paul Rothschild's office at Elektra Records and how later in California he took him around to meet Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Carole King, where Alan spent an afternoon at the piano swapping songs with her. Barry pops up in Carole's recent autobiography and also get's name-checked in many recently released bios where the backdrop in the LA music scene of the 60s.
When he arrived in Toronto in 73, there seemed to be an element of intrigue in his exit from LA and though he sometimes referred to some unsavory characters, I never got the real story. I think there may have been many reasons for him the change his name, I made his acquaintance when I came to work one morning at a brand new studio in Toronto (Manta Sound) where I was producing an album for Fraser & DeBolt on behalf of Columbia Records in New York. Frazier had dropped in to the studio earlier that day and left behind an album he had produced on the recording console. I don't think we listened to the album but when I picked it up I couldn't quite make out the abstract artwork until I held it back and could see it was a close up of two naked intertwined bodies. It was called "Primordial Lovers" and the artist was ex-wife Essra Mohawk, formerly known as "Uncle Meat" when she was in the Mothers of Invention. It was only a matter of a couple of days later when I was introduced to Frazier in the kitchen of 127 Hazelton, a legendary hang-out/crash pad in Toronto's Yorkville district and I said "You're the guy that left behind that album at Manta." I'm not sure how much time elapsed but at a certain moment he said he needed an "assistant" (nowadays we'd call that an intern because there wasn't any money changing hands though he may have uttered some variation of that old Ronnie Hawkins pitch "...but you'll get more pussy than Frank Sinatra"). We certainly got more drugs than Frank Sinatra and there were a few liasons the last of which ended when one young lady's older brother, who was a police officer, came from Nova Scotia to fetch his little sister from this den of iniquity.
Frazier had rented a huge space on Richmond Street, an old house that had been completely gutted and painted black inside. It had previously been a photographer's studio. Fraz built himself a sleeping loft with a wobbly ladder that would discourage any curious visitors and the main project was a group called the "Blackstone Rangers" which was essentially a reincarnation of Rhinoceros minus Alan Gerber (who had been the sole American in Rhino). This was a pretty glamorous bunch of rock stars and they made a big impression on this kid from hills of Quebec. The band was set up in the middle of this big room with a huge concert PA ("Voice of the Theatre" speakers) and they rehearsed a bit and partied a lot. Frazier wanted me to "supervise" a second group that he was going to produce. They were called "Flying Circus" and had just arrived from Australia where I think they were a pretty big deal. I don't think I had more than a couple of sessions with the band when I had to extricate myself from that crazy scene. I don't think they ever made a record and only one of those Aussies stayed in Canada but he has been a profound influence on the Toronto music scene and that is bassist Terry Wilkins.
Then we fast forward a couple of years to Montreal where Frazier introduced himself to another recording studio and this time he hit the jackpot. The studio was built by Andre Perry (a Quebec music industry titan but best known outside Quebec as the man who recorded "Give Peace A Chance") and - as luck would have it - André had just sold the studio for big bucks and now had plans to start a record label and break out of the Quebec market. When he saw Frazier's credentials and connections he immediately set him up in a cute little apartment in Old Montreal and gave him free reign of the studio (where he still had thousands of hours of credit as part of the sale). Frazier immediately showed him how to set up a big-time record label, starting with a succession of full-page teaser ads in Billboard magazine announcing the birth of "Good Noise" Records. They printed oversized/overpriced stationary and business cards, hired the most expensive publicist in the music business, Connie deNave and started flying people in from New York and LA. I'm not sure that they had signed a single artist at that point but around that time, Andre heard me sing a song called "Don't Forget Your Mother" with a country-rock group I was playing with that included Sue Lothrop, Russ Kelley, Wayne Rose and I think a couple of brothers from Wilmington Delaware. I can't remember Frazier's initial involvement but André was totally smitten with that song if not with the group. He convinced me to go into the studio with Frazier producing. First we did a demo with a lot of local players including Sue, Ronney Abramson, Ron Dann and many others. Then for the "real" recording, he brought in John Lissauer as music director, Laurel Masse and Jance Siegel from Manhattan Transfer for vocals, and top-session players like Tom "Bones" Malone (later of Blues Brothers fame and much more) on horns and Jim Gordon on drums. At the time Malone and Gordon were part of Frank Zappa's Mothers so Andre was seeing this as a great "tie-in" - The Mothers recording "Don't Forget Your Mother". The Mothers were performing at the Montreal Forum as part of their "Petit Wazoo" tour and most of the other members of the band came to the studio - some played and some just hung out, but try as they might, they couldn't get Zappa himself to participate. I believe the quote was "Frank doesn't help other people make their rock and roll records". As a further aside, drummer Jim Gordon, hot off a Derek and the Dominoes tour, ended up in an institution for the criminally insane for killing his own mother in a psychotic rage. I think I noticed he was not having a good time when he was laying down that drum track. I wondered if it was just that I might have not been laying down the most confident guitar track - after all this was probably the third or fourth song I had written and I had never sung on my own till then. I hardly sang any vocals with the group but "Mother" was my little "feature spot." And I had my doubts about my performance on that track but I was surrounded by so many brilliant players it had to be OK.
Well many months were spent mixing and remixing and overdubbing - they hired a whole string section from the Montreal Symphony under the direction of Otto Armin, then a boys choir from an elite private school. Everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. You can hear it for yourself here.
Up to this point thousands of dollars had been spent on this recording (as well as a daily allowance for me) and yet nothing had been signed. Alas, when I was called in to a meeting, I sat down with Frazier across this beautiful antique pine table with nothing on it but a big fat (unsigned) recording contract. I was humming and hawing about how I wasn't really happy with my performance on that recording when Frazier lurched across the table grabbing me by the throat and screaming "Sign the contract, motherfucker!). I think anyone who has since tried to produce Brian Blain has had the same impulse. Anyway I hastily scribbled in a short rider that offered me some guarantees and I signed. This was old Hollywood-style negotiations. I think if he'd had a gun he would have pulled it out.
This story goes on, but to wrap up this chapter of my adventures with Frazier, suffice it to say the "Mother" was never released, though the B-side, "The Story of the Magic Pick" did get released on Good Noise/Polydor but had the misfortune of being released in the same week and on the same label as that monster hit "Spiders and Snakes" and there was not room for two "novelty" releases in the Polydor promo man's bag of tricks that week. Despite some choice gigs (mostly arranged by Frazier) like opening for Lou Reed and Seals & Crofts, a hi-profile benefit show with Joni Mitchell and Loudon Wainright and a tour with April Wine, I disbanded the Blainettes and went on the road for five years as a "bassman-for-hire". Well I didn't really disband the Blainettes, because another Frazier prodigé, Lewis Furey, scooped 2 of them to be in his band but in a delicious turn of karmic retribution, they were soon hijacked from Lewis by his friend Leonard Cohen who decided he wanted to try having female back-up singers,
After being on the road for 3 or 4 years I settled back in Toronto briefly and Frazier hired me to be part of his "Rent-A-Fool" clown troupe. I would wear a sequinned tuxedo and play incidental music as Mark Parr, Brad Spurgeon and the lovely Lynne Cavanaugh frolicked around. At one point, he was taking "contracts" to attack people with cream pies. We were a pie-hit-squad. I think that's about the time I went back on the road. But it was a great diversion, as was every adventure I had with Frazier.
Fast forward another decade or two and I land in Toronto, not quite on my feet, and one of the first people I look up is Frazier - who is back in Toronto, living a in a caboose on a farm in Kleinberg. He gives me $200 and says he's sure we can find a way for me to work it off. Well first he wanted me to be a "wrangler," shuttling ponies to rich kids' birthday parties. I managed to get out of that but ultimately became an occasional "sub" for Anthony, the Singing Cowboy. I'll always remember trying to play guitar on very bumpy hayride where I would sometimes get airborne with nothing to hold onto except my guitar. I also helped with some desktop publishing projects and mailing promotional material - I remember one time that I was running a little late and had him screaming at me "You just lost me twenty-thousand dollars! You owe me twenty-thousand dollars!" but he never fired me. In the end I did him one great favour when I noticed that several recordings he had produced were now being sold on CD and I asked him if he was getting any royalties. He hadn't thought of that and when he contacted Warner Brothers they sent him a big fat cheque (and apologized for the delay because they couldn't find his address (??). Since that money came from his musical endeavours he decided to put it back into music and that was the beginning of the Studio at Puck's Farm. And once it was operational, he offered me some complimentary studio time that provided me with my first CD, "Who Paid You To Give Me The Blues?" For that and more I will always be grateful to Fraz.
So what else happened in Orangeville?
This is the first time in recent memory that I played 4 nights in a row. The first night was a noisy club where I was trying to put out as much sound as I could. I was playing solo but then Harpdog Brown showed up and sat in for a set. He is such a bear of a guy but when you play with him is is one sensitive, tasteful musician. The Larry Kurtz arrived from the Festivalk kick-off event and I had a double harp accompanyment - Nelson Sleno also sat in for a couple of tunes. I decided to stay over in Orangeville and checked in to the Orangeville Motel where they Indian couple tried to accomodate this starving musician with a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of milk. I was most grateful. The accommodations might have seemed a little rough by modern hotel standards but for someone who's toured in Eastern Europe it was just fine. Then I had two nights at an upscale Italian Restaurant, Il Corso, where the food is delicious. The owner expected a big crowd because the main stage was rained out but it was not to be. Th second night was packed but I think I preferred playing to a small crowd that was listeninbg than to a big crowd who weren't.. I dropped in on Alana Gerber's show and was invited to sit in with him for the last tune and he pointed out that this was the first time we had actually played together - though we had shared the bill in Quebec many times. Then I swung by some of the other clubs where I saw Erin McCallum, who was celebrating the release of a great new CD, and Charlie A'Court - who was playing the same club I played on Thurs - also solo but with a PA ten times the size of my little set-up. And even without a PA, he's ten times as loud as me. He was doing a lot covers that I used to do - Knock on Wood, Into the Mystic , Stevie Wonder but then when I saw him next day on the mainstage with a band he was killing it with some burning Stratocaster solos. I have to admit when I first heard Charlie (which was the same night I first heard Matt Andersen) I thought there's a couple of big guys, singing at the top of their lungs and strumming that guitar as hard as they can...not my style. But then both of them have mellowed out considerably. Hell Matt Andersen became the darling of the CBC by singing sweet Christmas carols. I guess the idea is that you come on hard and heavy and once you have their attention you can start to lighten up and find your own voice.
I should have a few upcoming dates or choice quotes or career development tips for my musician friends reading this but I just wanted to get the word out about Frazier. I might have morphed a few events in my foggy memory and I hope I haven't said anything to tarnish his memory. If you were there and I got something wrong, please let me know. There's an obituary in today's New York Times and Facebook Friends can drop by his Facebook Page.
A Celebration of Barry's Life will be held on Saturday June 16th in the Crest Theatre Green Room at the Performing Arts Lodge, 110 The Esplanade, Toronto, from 5pm to 9:30pm. Bob Segarini, who I met while we were recording "Don't Forget Your Mother" (and he's got a great story about that night but it will be for him to tell it) Anyway, he has put together a lengthy blog of Frazier's life along with excerpts from recent books by Jac Holtzman and Neil Young.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Blainletter #51 – May 1, 2012
Greetings Blainreaders – I’m thrilled to say I have a few gigs to announce here. For someone who announced my “semi-retirement” and would “play when invited”, I seem to be getting as many (or as few, depending how you look at it) gigs as ever. There was even an inquiry from another festival this week – we shall see.
(If you’re reading this on Saturday Afternoon and you’re near downtown it’s not too late to catch Steve Strongman’s CD Launch at the Delta Chelsea – I’m trying to get the word out anyway I can because I published the wrong date for this gig on the cover of the MapleBlues…apologies to Steve and anyone who showed up at the Delta last Saturday)
Upcoming Shows
Sunday, May 13, 1-4pm Reba’s Café, 3289 Dundas Street West, 1-4pm Brian’s Motherless Day Blues Concert (with Clayton Doley) PWYC This show will be dedicated to the memory of the mothers of two great friends, Linda Turu and Jocelyn Macleod who both just lost their beloved mothers.
Monday, May 28, 7-9pm The Bandit Coffee Shop, 1925 Gerrard St. E. PWYC
Thursday, May 31, 9pm Fionn McCool’s, Orangeville – opening night of the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival
Fri & Sat, June 1 & 2, 7-9:30 pm, Il Corso 20 Dawson Road Orangeville, (519) 941-1009 (part of Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival)
Some shows I played last month:
I’ve been doing some gigs with Robert Davis and Malcolm Gould – turning into a tight little trio. I’m hoping more gigs will materialize. Also played a couple of gigs in the Orangeville area with Larry Kurtz and that is always a lot of fun. One of them was a band gig with the formidable Douglas Watson on bass. Then I did a gig backing up Zoe Chilco – not my forte being a sideman but we had a good time. Also had a lot of fun playing with my “Bluesgrass Boys,” Chris Quinn and Andrew Collins at the Woodbine Racetrack on Kentucky Derby Day (and yes, I did bet on that race…and won!). I will be doing some recording with these boys as part of the ongoing “living album” project and a big shout-out to those who have helped (and continue helping) finance the project
As advertised, I did a show with my son the DJ last week and neither of us knew how it would unfold. Joel arrived from Vancouver the night before so there was not much time to get our two laptops talking to each other (each running Ableton Live). I played my Fender bass through a MIDI converter and he made the beats. The bass was also triggering MIDI sounds and loops. It’s a trip.
Some shows I saw last month:
Last night I went to the Berkley Street Theatre to see my buddy Raoul Bhaneja workshopping a theatrical production that he has been writing for years and it looks like it’s come one step closer to realization. Raoul recounts his introduction to the blues and overlaps with stories of Paul Oscher’s introduction to the blues and I think this might have started out as a collaboration – Oscher certainly gets a lot of acknowledgement in the show. The music was perfect, blues classics dropped in throughout Raoul’s monologue by a combo that included Raoul’s regulars in the “Big Time,” Terry Wilkins, Tom Bona, Tyler Yarema and Jake Chisholm. It sounded great in a theatre – perfect balance between the instruments just like an old Muddy Waters record. Jake is not a flashy guitarist by any stretch but he fit the bill perfectly for this occasion – he knew just what to play on the Gold Top. The hidden gem of this show (though she was quite prominent on stage throughout) was Miss Divine Brown who did some talking/acting, gospel singing, and a killer version of “At Last.”
After the theatre, me and the family (my son visiting from BC and his mom visiting from the States) went to my old haunt the Gladstone Hotel to hear Soozi Schlanger’s new project which is quite different from her Zydeco thang. More of a country sound, with Tony Quarington playing some twangy guitar and my old buddy Victor Bateman on the bass.
Speaking of reinventing yourself, Robin Banks was at the Trane last week with her “jazz group” and the show was full of material I never heard before sung with her usual confident delivery of the lyric and this time surrounded by players taking it to a very high level of musicianship. Though she calls it her jazz band, none of the players are names immediately associated with Toronto “legit” jazz; Bucky Berger, Mitch Lewis, Terry Wilkins and recent arrival, Clayton Doley (from Sydney Australia). Clayton’s name will certainly be spoken in awe by anyone who’s seen him in full flight – he can play jazz and anything else his heart desires. The others have been regulars at that swing/jazz oasis, The Reservoir Lounge. Terry once told me to play jazz you only needed to know the 20 or 30 basic turnarounds but I think there’s a lot more to it than that.
Here in Toronto we have a wealth of great guitarists – this is a guitar town, but there was always (in my mind) a special place reserved for Kevin Breit. He is in a league of his own…except I have to say after a little club hopping on Thurs night I have to say that both the guitarists I heard did such jaw-dropping performances that I think maybe Kevin Breit will have to make a little room in the category which I shall call “Guitarists who take it to the edge and blow my mind every time they take a solo”. I am speaking of Shawn Kellerman (who was playing with Jerome Godboo at the Delta) and Mitch Lewis (who was playing with Robin at Trane). Pretty damn amazing guitar players.
Just in from the Jon Brooks CD Launch at the Gladstone. Jon’s material is a little dark (in fact, one publicist – not his – said after hearing three of Jon’s songs he wanted to slit his wrists) but has a special touch on the guitar, He would play very lightly with the guitar cranked up and you could hear all the little subtleties and harmonics in the guitar as he played wih a very light touch with the volume up high – sometimes approaching feedback. A subtle tremolo and then he would play with a capo up on the 5th or 7th fret and use an “octave” pedal to replace the lost octave. Brilliant.
Overheard at Canadian Music Week
I meant to include a few observations from Canadian Music Week in the March Blainletter but I was probably rushing to get it out to promote a gig – and here I am again rushing to get this out the day before my Motherless Day concert but let me pass along a few tips and tricks for musicians who want to use the social media juggernaut:
- next time you have a gig, take a picture of the audience, post it on your Facebook page and invite them to tag themselves (I haven’t tried that and I don’t know if it would work for me because half the time I know just about everybody in the audience)
- Populate your Facebook timeline with photos that show your early history
- Have your own mailing list – don’t depend on Facebook/MySpace friends
- Have your own website (good advice though I have moved everything over to my blog and that’s working for me)
- Engage your fans – one example was to have a “contest” where you could invite fans to help you finish writing the lyric to a song
- ….and one last general piece of advice for internet entrepreneurs: “Figure out something that consumers want and find a way to monetize it without scaring them away”
Funny, at Canadian Music Week conference last year it seemed that every second person had an iPad and this year, not so much. Maybe everyone was showing off their new toys and now they didn’t feel the need.
On a personal note, some of you Blainreaders were great fans of Daisy DeBolt and I have to report that her son Jake is not faring very well in Toronto – he came from BC when she passed away but he has not had much success finding work in TO and now it looks like in the next few days he and his dog will be homeless and all of Daisy’s belongings risk being lost. If you are in a position to help find Jake some work or a place to stay or storage/moving for all that stuff please contact me (or Jake directly at jake.debolt@gmail.com)
Thanks for reading this far, see you out there
BrianB
Brianblain.ca
Facebook.com/brianblain.musician
(If you’re reading this on Saturday Afternoon and you’re near downtown it’s not too late to catch Steve Strongman’s CD Launch at the Delta Chelsea – I’m trying to get the word out anyway I can because I published the wrong date for this gig on the cover of the MapleBlues…apologies to Steve and anyone who showed up at the Delta last Saturday)
Upcoming Shows
Sunday, May 13, 1-4pm Reba’s Café, 3289 Dundas Street West, 1-4pm Brian’s Motherless Day Blues Concert (with Clayton Doley) PWYC This show will be dedicated to the memory of the mothers of two great friends, Linda Turu and Jocelyn Macleod who both just lost their beloved mothers.
Monday, May 28, 7-9pm The Bandit Coffee Shop, 1925 Gerrard St. E. PWYC
Thursday, May 31, 9pm Fionn McCool’s, Orangeville – opening night of the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival
Fri & Sat, June 1 & 2, 7-9:30 pm, Il Corso 20 Dawson Road Orangeville, (519) 941-1009 (part of Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival)
Some shows I played last month:
I’ve been doing some gigs with Robert Davis and Malcolm Gould – turning into a tight little trio. I’m hoping more gigs will materialize. Also played a couple of gigs in the Orangeville area with Larry Kurtz and that is always a lot of fun. One of them was a band gig with the formidable Douglas Watson on bass. Then I did a gig backing up Zoe Chilco – not my forte being a sideman but we had a good time. Also had a lot of fun playing with my “Bluesgrass Boys,” Chris Quinn and Andrew Collins at the Woodbine Racetrack on Kentucky Derby Day (and yes, I did bet on that race…and won!). I will be doing some recording with these boys as part of the ongoing “living album” project and a big shout-out to those who have helped (and continue helping) finance the project
As advertised, I did a show with my son the DJ last week and neither of us knew how it would unfold. Joel arrived from Vancouver the night before so there was not much time to get our two laptops talking to each other (each running Ableton Live). I played my Fender bass through a MIDI converter and he made the beats. The bass was also triggering MIDI sounds and loops. It’s a trip.
Some shows I saw last month:
Last night I went to the Berkley Street Theatre to see my buddy Raoul Bhaneja workshopping a theatrical production that he has been writing for years and it looks like it’s come one step closer to realization. Raoul recounts his introduction to the blues and overlaps with stories of Paul Oscher’s introduction to the blues and I think this might have started out as a collaboration – Oscher certainly gets a lot of acknowledgement in the show. The music was perfect, blues classics dropped in throughout Raoul’s monologue by a combo that included Raoul’s regulars in the “Big Time,” Terry Wilkins, Tom Bona, Tyler Yarema and Jake Chisholm. It sounded great in a theatre – perfect balance between the instruments just like an old Muddy Waters record. Jake is not a flashy guitarist by any stretch but he fit the bill perfectly for this occasion – he knew just what to play on the Gold Top. The hidden gem of this show (though she was quite prominent on stage throughout) was Miss Divine Brown who did some talking/acting, gospel singing, and a killer version of “At Last.”
After the theatre, me and the family (my son visiting from BC and his mom visiting from the States) went to my old haunt the Gladstone Hotel to hear Soozi Schlanger’s new project which is quite different from her Zydeco thang. More of a country sound, with Tony Quarington playing some twangy guitar and my old buddy Victor Bateman on the bass.
Speaking of reinventing yourself, Robin Banks was at the Trane last week with her “jazz group” and the show was full of material I never heard before sung with her usual confident delivery of the lyric and this time surrounded by players taking it to a very high level of musicianship. Though she calls it her jazz band, none of the players are names immediately associated with Toronto “legit” jazz; Bucky Berger, Mitch Lewis, Terry Wilkins and recent arrival, Clayton Doley (from Sydney Australia). Clayton’s name will certainly be spoken in awe by anyone who’s seen him in full flight – he can play jazz and anything else his heart desires. The others have been regulars at that swing/jazz oasis, The Reservoir Lounge. Terry once told me to play jazz you only needed to know the 20 or 30 basic turnarounds but I think there’s a lot more to it than that.
Here in Toronto we have a wealth of great guitarists – this is a guitar town, but there was always (in my mind) a special place reserved for Kevin Breit. He is in a league of his own…except I have to say after a little club hopping on Thurs night I have to say that both the guitarists I heard did such jaw-dropping performances that I think maybe Kevin Breit will have to make a little room in the category which I shall call “Guitarists who take it to the edge and blow my mind every time they take a solo”. I am speaking of Shawn Kellerman (who was playing with Jerome Godboo at the Delta) and Mitch Lewis (who was playing with Robin at Trane). Pretty damn amazing guitar players.
Just in from the Jon Brooks CD Launch at the Gladstone. Jon’s material is a little dark (in fact, one publicist – not his – said after hearing three of Jon’s songs he wanted to slit his wrists) but has a special touch on the guitar, He would play very lightly with the guitar cranked up and you could hear all the little subtleties and harmonics in the guitar as he played wih a very light touch with the volume up high – sometimes approaching feedback. A subtle tremolo and then he would play with a capo up on the 5th or 7th fret and use an “octave” pedal to replace the lost octave. Brilliant.
Overheard at Canadian Music Week
I meant to include a few observations from Canadian Music Week in the March Blainletter but I was probably rushing to get it out to promote a gig – and here I am again rushing to get this out the day before my Motherless Day concert but let me pass along a few tips and tricks for musicians who want to use the social media juggernaut:
- next time you have a gig, take a picture of the audience, post it on your Facebook page and invite them to tag themselves (I haven’t tried that and I don’t know if it would work for me because half the time I know just about everybody in the audience)
- Populate your Facebook timeline with photos that show your early history
- Have your own mailing list – don’t depend on Facebook/MySpace friends
- Have your own website (good advice though I have moved everything over to my blog and that’s working for me)
- Engage your fans – one example was to have a “contest” where you could invite fans to help you finish writing the lyric to a song
- ….and one last general piece of advice for internet entrepreneurs: “Figure out something that consumers want and find a way to monetize it without scaring them away”
Funny, at Canadian Music Week conference last year it seemed that every second person had an iPad and this year, not so much. Maybe everyone was showing off their new toys and now they didn’t feel the need.
On a personal note, some of you Blainreaders were great fans of Daisy DeBolt and I have to report that her son Jake is not faring very well in Toronto – he came from BC when she passed away but he has not had much success finding work in TO and now it looks like in the next few days he and his dog will be homeless and all of Daisy’s belongings risk being lost. If you are in a position to help find Jake some work or a place to stay or storage/moving for all that stuff please contact me (or Jake directly at jake.debolt@gmail.com)
Thanks for reading this far, see you out there
BrianB
Brianblain.ca
Facebook.com/brianblain.musician
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Blainletter #50, March 2012 - Spring has Sprung
How fast did Spring happen this year, you ask? Well, I didn’t even get to take my new deluxe ice-scraper out of its wrapping. CD and cassette cases were what I used for the first part of winter and now that I’ve got a proper scraper, it’s over. Well, you won’t get any complaints from me.
This is Blainletter # 50 and it falls just about at the 50th anniversary of my starting to play guitar. I was one of those guys that joined the band before I could play. So I hard to learn fast and it's been that way ever since. If I don't figure it out right away, I never will
I'm playing a show with Zoe Chilco on April 14, 7-11pm at Kelly's Korner at McCowan and Kingston Road. Maybe she'll let mne sing a couple of tunes. This night is also the CD launch for Chris Rawlings at Lazy Daisy Cafe (Gerrard & Coxwell). Wish I could be at both
Friday, April 20 Alton Mill, Alton I'll be playing with Larry Kurtz, Douglas Watson and Dave Menard (we will rock the house…er, mill)
Saturday, April 21, 5pm – Gate 403, 403 Roncesvales – I'm guesting with Robert Davis and Malcolm Gould PWYC
Saturday May 5, 11AM-2PM Woodbine Racetrack, 555 Rexdale Boulevard (416) 675-7223
Brian and the Bluesgrass Boys celebrating the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby. Always a big day at he track. Funny how I've been playing at the track once or twice every year and I've never met a soul I know (except for musicians in one of the other bands).
Wednesday, May 9, 9-11pm Thymeless, 355 College St W The ambient-electro-dub sounds of BLAINblain (me on the MIDI-guitar and Bass plugged into a laptop and my son the DJ making beats and loops on the fly)
Click below to hear the 1973 recording of my cult classic "Don't Forget Your Mother" You'll find stories about the recording if you search the blog.
Sunday, May 13 1-4pm Reba’s Café, 3289 Dundas Street West, 1-4pm Brian’s Motherless Day Blues Concert PWYC
Thursday, May 31, 9pm Fionn McCool’s, Orangeville – Brian Blain opening night of the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival
Shows I played last month:
The Winterfolk Festival was a real pleasure. They moved it all under one roof (the largest roof in town – ie, the largest hotel in town) and lots of great music was played. I did a Blues Campfire and then I was seconded to play bass with Jack de Keyzer and that was, dare I say, an honour…Jack is blues royalty in this town and I guess I was a little hesitant about covering it because I’m not much of a “jobber” who knows every song in the book, and when you’re playing bass, you can’t fake it like you can on guitar. I guess I expressed my lack of confidence one time too many because at the beginning of the show Jack was starting to wonder about me but all’s well that ends well and I think everybody had a good time.
Last month I found myself on stage (twice) at the Trane, a predominantly jazz venue that has launched a blues series every second Monday with the Son Roberts Band. Son is one very organized bluesman – I had the most elegant set list I’ve ever seen. I had a great time playing with the boys – I thought we raised the roof over there…and what a great meal I had. A couple of days later I came back and sat in at Noah Zacharin’s new LibertyWednesday Open Stage thang and he had a great lineup of talent.
Shows I saw and liked:
The Louisiana Snowblowers have re-appeared on the scene and I caught a set at a pub on the Danforth and I sure like what they’re putting down. The TBS Guitar Workshop was at Dominion on Queen this year – a great venue in a historic building (even though they have a rather under-powered and overworked PA). Danny Marks hosted and did a bang-up job as he always does. I was called upon to do a presentation to our long-standing office volunteer, Rick Battiston, and I guess maybe I did ramble on a bit but when it looked like I was starting to launch into an intro for guitarist Kevin Breit I got a bit of a look from Danny – I guess I was stepping on his job. Kevin was amazing to watch close up and he answered questions about his unique style and his legendary Fender amp which looks like it’s been through a couple of world wars. He related how he tried to modify a more current amp to the exact specs of his “baby” but no matter what he did, he couldn’t get it to sound the same. When asked if he had perfect pitch, Kevin said he had “relative pitch” – that is, he had “a brother with perfect pitch.”
Adventures in Streaming:
I felt bad about not getting to the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis this year but I was (virtually) there because each day I tuned in to one of the live streaming channels and heard some great music. Saw my old pal Ray Bonneville playing and being interviewed on a streaming channel called ditty.tv. I guess they broadcast year-round from Memphis but during the Folk Alliance they featured a lot of the showcasing artists. Saw a great set by a stripped-down Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and watched a couple of rough-and-ready streaming sessions from some of the private showcase rooms. One featured a group called The Sweetness which I streamed last year when they played before me at a private showcase in the Memphis Marriott. At Music Week I ran into Chloe Charles who was a member of that group and tells me that they had just formed that week-end in Memphis. The Sweetness has a big tour itinerary and Chloe is also launching a solo career. Also playing that guerilla showcase in Memphis last year was a singer songwriter called Melanie Brule who showed up at a CMW party on Richard Flohil’s arm. (Update-Melanie's working for Flo!) If I recall correctly, the streaming was screwing up a bit for her set, but the technology has come a long way in a year and by next year’s Folk Alliance (in Toronto, btw) I bet everybody will be streaming from their hotel rooms.
I also did a couple of streaming sessions from the Toronto Jazz Festival office. If you’re an artist looking for information on touring in the US or grant-getting, this is pretty current information. Go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-from-toronto-jazz. The Toronto Blues Society also sponsored some info sessions at Lula Lounge – lots on social media, etc. They’re at http://www.livestream.com/torontobluessociety.
Weather, Politics, Movie watching
Incredible to see folks walking around in shorts and t-shirts at the beginning of March. Nobody’s saying much about global warming, it seems, just digging the short winter and resigned to more. Maybe we won’t last long enough for the global warming effect. I’ve been on a movie-watching marathon now that I’m (semi)retired and I’ve hot this new HDTV. Lots of spy flics and doomsday movies and the last couple were set in 2012. I think it’s the Mayans that set the expiry date for our planet.
Meanwhile, my neighbourhood was ground zero for the big by-election and the NDP was not taking any chances. The phone was ringing off the hook and I even had our NDP candidate at my door, sans handlers, nothing but his backpack. We talked a bit about co-op housing. The phone was also ringing non-stop with robot pollsters. I must have done a dozen, and there were more that called at the wrong time. Now that it’s all automated, anyone can run a poll and tabulate the results…and probably make an accurate prediction.
Steve Jobs gets his final wish
Google and Motorola Mobility have been ordered by a Chicago judge to hand over Android development data to Apple as part of a patent lawsuit, reports Bloomberg.
This would be a banner day for Steve Jobs, who maintained that Android was "grand theft" of iOS and said, "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong."
Lots more to talk about but I’ve got to send this out now because the next gig is less than 24 hours away (ooops…again!). I’ve got some great tips from Canadian Music Week sessions on using social media but I’ll have to post that later on my blog. Oh yeah, visit my newly revamped blog at www.brianblain.ca . I’m still populating it with more photos & music but it’s come a long way thanks to some help from Margaret Stowe who can make blogs jump through hoops. She has several informative blogs out there but you can start at http://www.margaretstowe.com/
Thanks for reading and for your ongoing support,
BrianB, aka Colorblind Blain, the Stringbuster
www.brianblain.ca
PS: If you're on Facebook and “like” what I’m doing, go to www.facebook.com/brianblain.musician and make it official.
If you would like to receive the Blainletter directly to your inbox, long before it ever gets posted here, send a note to brian@brianblain.ca
This is Blainletter # 50 and it falls just about at the 50th anniversary of my starting to play guitar. I was one of those guys that joined the band before I could play. So I hard to learn fast and it's been that way ever since. If I don't figure it out right away, I never will
I'm playing a show with Zoe Chilco on April 14, 7-11pm at Kelly's Korner at McCowan and Kingston Road. Maybe she'll let mne sing a couple of tunes. This night is also the CD launch for Chris Rawlings at Lazy Daisy Cafe (Gerrard & Coxwell). Wish I could be at both
Friday, April 20 Alton Mill, Alton I'll be playing with Larry Kurtz, Douglas Watson and Dave Menard (we will rock the house…er, mill)
Saturday, April 21, 5pm – Gate 403, 403 Roncesvales – I'm guesting with Robert Davis and Malcolm Gould PWYC
Saturday May 5, 11AM-2PM Woodbine Racetrack, 555 Rexdale Boulevard (416) 675-7223
Brian and the Bluesgrass Boys celebrating the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby. Always a big day at he track. Funny how I've been playing at the track once or twice every year and I've never met a soul I know (except for musicians in one of the other bands).
Wednesday, May 9, 9-11pm Thymeless, 355 College St W The ambient-electro-dub sounds of BLAINblain (me on the MIDI-guitar and Bass plugged into a laptop and my son the DJ making beats and loops on the fly)
Click below to hear the 1973 recording of my cult classic "Don't Forget Your Mother" You'll find stories about the recording if you search the blog.
Sunday, May 13 1-4pm Reba’s Café, 3289 Dundas Street West, 1-4pm Brian’s Motherless Day Blues Concert PWYC
Thursday, May 31, 9pm Fionn McCool’s, Orangeville – Brian Blain opening night of the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival
Shows I played last month:
The Winterfolk Festival was a real pleasure. They moved it all under one roof (the largest roof in town – ie, the largest hotel in town) and lots of great music was played. I did a Blues Campfire and then I was seconded to play bass with Jack de Keyzer and that was, dare I say, an honour…Jack is blues royalty in this town and I guess I was a little hesitant about covering it because I’m not much of a “jobber” who knows every song in the book, and when you’re playing bass, you can’t fake it like you can on guitar. I guess I expressed my lack of confidence one time too many because at the beginning of the show Jack was starting to wonder about me but all’s well that ends well and I think everybody had a good time.
Last month I found myself on stage (twice) at the Trane, a predominantly jazz venue that has launched a blues series every second Monday with the Son Roberts Band. Son is one very organized bluesman – I had the most elegant set list I’ve ever seen. I had a great time playing with the boys – I thought we raised the roof over there…and what a great meal I had. A couple of days later I came back and sat in at Noah Zacharin’s new LibertyWednesday Open Stage thang and he had a great lineup of talent.
Shows I saw and liked:
The Louisiana Snowblowers have re-appeared on the scene and I caught a set at a pub on the Danforth and I sure like what they’re putting down. The TBS Guitar Workshop was at Dominion on Queen this year – a great venue in a historic building (even though they have a rather under-powered and overworked PA). Danny Marks hosted and did a bang-up job as he always does. I was called upon to do a presentation to our long-standing office volunteer, Rick Battiston, and I guess maybe I did ramble on a bit but when it looked like I was starting to launch into an intro for guitarist Kevin Breit I got a bit of a look from Danny – I guess I was stepping on his job. Kevin was amazing to watch close up and he answered questions about his unique style and his legendary Fender amp which looks like it’s been through a couple of world wars. He related how he tried to modify a more current amp to the exact specs of his “baby” but no matter what he did, he couldn’t get it to sound the same. When asked if he had perfect pitch, Kevin said he had “relative pitch” – that is, he had “a brother with perfect pitch.”
Adventures in Streaming:
I felt bad about not getting to the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis this year but I was (virtually) there because each day I tuned in to one of the live streaming channels and heard some great music. Saw my old pal Ray Bonneville playing and being interviewed on a streaming channel called ditty.tv. I guess they broadcast year-round from Memphis but during the Folk Alliance they featured a lot of the showcasing artists. Saw a great set by a stripped-down Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and watched a couple of rough-and-ready streaming sessions from some of the private showcase rooms. One featured a group called The Sweetness which I streamed last year when they played before me at a private showcase in the Memphis Marriott. At Music Week I ran into Chloe Charles who was a member of that group and tells me that they had just formed that week-end in Memphis. The Sweetness has a big tour itinerary and Chloe is also launching a solo career. Also playing that guerilla showcase in Memphis last year was a singer songwriter called Melanie Brule who showed up at a CMW party on Richard Flohil’s arm. (Update-Melanie's working for Flo!) If I recall correctly, the streaming was screwing up a bit for her set, but the technology has come a long way in a year and by next year’s Folk Alliance (in Toronto, btw) I bet everybody will be streaming from their hotel rooms.
I also did a couple of streaming sessions from the Toronto Jazz Festival office. If you’re an artist looking for information on touring in the US or grant-getting, this is pretty current information. Go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-from-toronto-jazz. The Toronto Blues Society also sponsored some info sessions at Lula Lounge – lots on social media, etc. They’re at http://www.livestream.com/torontobluessociety.
Weather, Politics, Movie watching
Incredible to see folks walking around in shorts and t-shirts at the beginning of March. Nobody’s saying much about global warming, it seems, just digging the short winter and resigned to more. Maybe we won’t last long enough for the global warming effect. I’ve been on a movie-watching marathon now that I’m (semi)retired and I’ve hot this new HDTV. Lots of spy flics and doomsday movies and the last couple were set in 2012. I think it’s the Mayans that set the expiry date for our planet.
Meanwhile, my neighbourhood was ground zero for the big by-election and the NDP was not taking any chances. The phone was ringing off the hook and I even had our NDP candidate at my door, sans handlers, nothing but his backpack. We talked a bit about co-op housing. The phone was also ringing non-stop with robot pollsters. I must have done a dozen, and there were more that called at the wrong time. Now that it’s all automated, anyone can run a poll and tabulate the results…and probably make an accurate prediction.
Steve Jobs gets his final wish
Google and Motorola Mobility have been ordered by a Chicago judge to hand over Android development data to Apple as part of a patent lawsuit, reports Bloomberg.
This would be a banner day for Steve Jobs, who maintained that Android was "grand theft" of iOS and said, "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong."
Lots more to talk about but I’ve got to send this out now because the next gig is less than 24 hours away (ooops…again!). I’ve got some great tips from Canadian Music Week sessions on using social media but I’ll have to post that later on my blog. Oh yeah, visit my newly revamped blog at www.brianblain.ca . I’m still populating it with more photos & music but it’s come a long way thanks to some help from Margaret Stowe who can make blogs jump through hoops. She has several informative blogs out there but you can start at http://www.margaretstowe.com/
Thanks for reading and for your ongoing support,
BrianB, aka Colorblind Blain, the Stringbuster
www.brianblain.ca
PS: If you're on Facebook and “like” what I’m doing, go to www.facebook.com/brianblain.musician and make it official.
If you would like to receive the Blainletter directly to your inbox, long before it ever gets posted here, send a note to brian@brianblain.ca
Sunday, March 25, 2012
My Canadian Music Week
As usual I was probably the oldest person walking around with a CMW badge and I was actually heckled by a group of drunk young people on Queen Street shouting "Hey, man with beard!". Then, as I'm leaving one club, the doorman says "You sir, have a rockin' beard." Twice in one night they're talking about my beard...what's with that? I think the Rockin' Beard Award will have to go to Halifax troubadour Ben Caplan. Every year there's a buzz artist who is everywhere abd this year it was Ben Caplan. I was going to try and catch his set at the East Coast Party - where I remember a couple of years back at the Rivoli, a big cauldron of delicious fish chowder, oysters in many varieties and lots of other delicious seafood. Anyway, I guess everybody heard about it because the last couple of years it's been "Invite Only" and I guess I'm not on that list. I wanted to hear Ben and he had many plays during Music Week but the only time I heard him was when he was tinkling the ivories on the grand piano in the hotel mezzanine.
That doorman who liked my beard was at Sneaky Dee's where I went to see an artist who was listed as a combination of blues and electronic, which is what I've been experimenting with. I got there early because the band playing before them listed their genre as "experimental" and I wanted to see what they were all about. Little did I know that they were (are) the biggest thing in Ireland and as one (Irish) patron pointed out to me, the whole front of the room was packed with Irish - and I soon realized that they knew all the words and were singing along. I jokingly asked my new Irish friend if there had been a fight yet, and he said no they were waiting for the end of the set. And sure enough when it was over they remained at the front shouting "one more" (probably not aware of the showcase protocol). One very drunk guy almost knocked me over, but to their credit, they finally accepted that their heroes were not coming back. Anyway, The Rubberbandits, as they were called, were 2 rappers who jumped up and down and a third guy - all in masks - who was maybe manipulating synths or other controllers. I think the masks was the experimental part
There was a time when no self-respecting musician would ever play with pre-recorded backing tracks, but nowadays nobody was making a big deal of it. In fact Indie Awards headliner Rich Aucoin had recently abandoned his Ableton Live for pre-recorded tracks on an ipod. Of course, he's doing a lot in "real time" but just the thought of playing with backing tracks leaves me cold.
There was a phenomenal electronic musician from BC called Longwalk Shortdock who took it to another level - I don't think he was using Ableton but he was controlling stuff with the computer though apparently the visuals were prepared in advance (by a video artist called RIM) so once again I was hoping we would see visuals that were being triggered and filtered by the music. Maybe there was a bit of that going on, but whatever he was doing, it was spectacular:
The Blues fared pretty well at Canadian Music Week this year. It's always been a "poor cousin" in this annual crush of pretty mainstream rock and pop. The "official" blues showcase was not very well attended at the start and though I had to leave halfway through, I bet it was packed by the time Shakura hit the stage. A big congratulatory hug to Suzie Vinnick for tearing it up solo in this pretty large room which usually hosts metal music. I told her she had the energy of a full-tilt rock band - just her voice and that little guitar (with a pretty big sound). Then tonight, Suzie wins the Indie Award for best blues act (and let's not forget that she is nominated for a JUNO award - to be presented next week in Ottawa)
I might have blown off the "Celebrity Interview" but I was showing a friend around the conference so we went together to watch the interview with Paul Rogers - a bona fide rock star (who has just moved to BC). I never thought of him as part of English blues history but it turns out that he was around for all of that stuff with Alexis Koerner and the fathers of British Blues. He even related how his friend Robert Plant had told him about the offer to join Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin and that the band had offered him "either thirty quid a week or a percentage." Paul had suggested he take the percentage and that's what he did. Paul was also asked to sing with many other famous groups...even the Doors, after Morrison had died. Well if anybody could do it, he could.
Now as I'm meeting Paul Rogers, I confess that I didn't know much about him especially his blues roots. What I didn't tell him was that I sort of had him confused with Roger Hodgson of Supertramp (who also had some kind of Canadian connection). Anyway, I realize I probably sounded stupid, but he was not one of those people who calls you on it when you say something stupid. He was very nice, and he has a new fan in Brian Blain - especially after seeing his performance with multi-Indie winners the Sheepdogs.
That doorman who liked my beard was at Sneaky Dee's where I went to see an artist who was listed as a combination of blues and electronic, which is what I've been experimenting with. I got there early because the band playing before them listed their genre as "experimental" and I wanted to see what they were all about. Little did I know that they were (are) the biggest thing in Ireland and as one (Irish) patron pointed out to me, the whole front of the room was packed with Irish - and I soon realized that they knew all the words and were singing along. I jokingly asked my new Irish friend if there had been a fight yet, and he said no they were waiting for the end of the set. And sure enough when it was over they remained at the front shouting "one more" (probably not aware of the showcase protocol). One very drunk guy almost knocked me over, but to their credit, they finally accepted that their heroes were not coming back. Anyway, The Rubberbandits, as they were called, were 2 rappers who jumped up and down and a third guy - all in masks - who was maybe manipulating synths or other controllers. I think the masks was the experimental part
There was a time when no self-respecting musician would ever play with pre-recorded backing tracks, but nowadays nobody was making a big deal of it. In fact Indie Awards headliner Rich Aucoin had recently abandoned his Ableton Live for pre-recorded tracks on an ipod. Of course, he's doing a lot in "real time" but just the thought of playing with backing tracks leaves me cold.
There was a phenomenal electronic musician from BC called Longwalk Shortdock who took it to another level - I don't think he was using Ableton but he was controlling stuff with the computer though apparently the visuals were prepared in advance (by a video artist called RIM) so once again I was hoping we would see visuals that were being triggered and filtered by the music. Maybe there was a bit of that going on, but whatever he was doing, it was spectacular:
The Blues fared pretty well at Canadian Music Week this year. It's always been a "poor cousin" in this annual crush of pretty mainstream rock and pop. The "official" blues showcase was not very well attended at the start and though I had to leave halfway through, I bet it was packed by the time Shakura hit the stage. A big congratulatory hug to Suzie Vinnick for tearing it up solo in this pretty large room which usually hosts metal music. I told her she had the energy of a full-tilt rock band - just her voice and that little guitar (with a pretty big sound). Then tonight, Suzie wins the Indie Award for best blues act (and let's not forget that she is nominated for a JUNO award - to be presented next week in Ottawa)
Now as I'm meeting Paul Rogers, I confess that I didn't know much about him especially his blues roots. What I didn't tell him was that I sort of had him confused with Roger Hodgson of Supertramp (who also had some kind of Canadian connection). Anyway, I realize I probably sounded stupid, but he was not one of those people who calls you on it when you say something stupid. He was very nice, and he has a new fan in Brian Blain - especially after seeing his performance with multi-Indie winners the Sheepdogs.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Don't Forget Your Mother
Every year on Mother’s Day week-end, or close to it, I like to have a special show for folks who no longer have their mother, like myself or orphans who never knew their biological mother (also like myself). Some of you may be acquainted with my tune “Enfant Choisi” which is about my adoption by the dear lady you see pictured with me in a 70s promo shot.
It’s also the only show of the year where you’ll hear me sing my “cult classic,” “Don’t Forget Your Mother”. After I was "discovered" by Andre Perry in the early 70s, we recorded three sides and two were released on Good Noise Records, but “Don’t Forget Your Mother” was never released (for a variety of reasons).
It’s also the only show of the year where you’ll hear me sing my “cult classic,” “Don’t Forget Your Mother”. After I was "discovered" by Andre Perry in the early 70s, we recorded three sides and two were released on Good Noise Records, but “Don’t Forget Your Mother” was never released (for a variety of reasons).
But it was a bit of an underground favourite in Montreal in the early 70s. Everybody remembered that tune and just a few years back I ran into one of the guys who played on the session, Tom “Bones” Malone, who was in Toronto filming a Blues Brothers movie. I was just starting to ask him if he remembered that session and he began singing the chorus. Wow! After all those years. The drummer for the session was Jim Gordon, a first-call studio drummer in Los Angeles who had just finished touring and recording with Derek and The Dominoes. He wrote (and played) the piano part in “Layla”. He was later institutionalized for killing his mother in a schitzophrenic episode but that’s another (hopefully unrelated) story.
This year the show is Mother's Day and it's at one in the afternoon and a very nice little cafe so it might be a chance to bring your mother, if you're lucky enough to have one who's still living. Tell her it's not that loud, repetitive rock blues but more like story-telling folk blues. I will be joined ne a few musical friends but I don't know who can make it because their mother might want to do something else.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Blainletter #49 February 16, 2012
In This Issue
• Upcoming Shows
• Awards Season
• CBC 4???
• What else have I been doing?
• Quote of the Day
Hello friends – this is the first Blainletter of 2012 – hmmm, mid-February - I guess it’s a bit of a late entry. And then it was meant as a Valentine’s Day greeting but missed that deadline too… So now I sit here writing a little last-minute self-promotion for my appearances at the Winterfolk festival rather than attending the Winterfolk launch party. Well the upside of staying home is listening to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings on CBC’s Canada Live as I write this (more on CBC later). I still remember their show at the jazz festival…talk about the “real deal.” Old school.
Upcoming Shows (Toronto):
Saturday, February 18 – Delta Chelsea, Monarchs Pub, 33 Gerrard St W. 1-3pm Brian's Blues Campfire/Song Circle/Jam. All Musicians welcome. Part of Winterfolk X
Saturday, February 18 – Delta Chelsea, Deck 27 (27th floor) 33 Gerrard St W. 8pm Blues Songwriting Workshop with Gary Kendall and …you (if you’re interested in being part of a blues songwriting session) This session immediately follows a Blues Guitar workshop that should be of interest to many $10 cover for both. Part of Winterfolk X
Sunday, February 19 – Delta Chelsea, Monarchs Pub, 33 Gerrard St W. 2pm it’s jamming with guitar meister Jack de Keyzer. I’ll be playing bass. Part of Winterfolk X
(The Winterfolk fun starts tomorrow night (Fri) with an all-star blues band led by Jack in Monarchs Pub. Lots of great music under one roof all week-end. Full schedule at http://www.abetterworld.ca)
Monday, February 27 8pm – The Trane, 964 Bathurst Street – guesting with the Son Roberts Band. $5 cover
Sunday, March 11 – Reba’s Café, 3289 Dundas Street West, 1-4pm PWYC
Saturday, April 21 – Gate 403, 403 Roncesvales – guesting with Robert Davis PWYC
Awards Season
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Grammy Awards on my new HDTV, especially the guitar extravaganza at the end with McCartney, even though I didn’t get to attend in person. That’ll be the day. I don’t expect to get to the JUNO Awards either this year but I was invited to the media launch and that was a fine occasion with trays of delicacies being passed around. Most of the blues nominees were friends of mine and I was delighted to see them honoured. A few glaring omissions, mind you, like Harry Manx who was just passing through town last week and the larger-than-life Matt Andersen who I had the pleasure of jamming with at my Blues Campfire last month.
The Maple Blues Awards were held last month in the newest and fanciest concert hall in Toronto, Koerner Hall. A far cry from the first MBA soiree which was held at the beloved Montreal Bistro fifteen years ago. Some great music this year and a few emotional moments but the highlight of the show for me was "Funky Louise", alter-ego of host Shakura S'Aida. She had me in stitches - search for Funky Louise on YouTube and you'll see this hilarious promo for the awards also featuring co-host Treasa Levasseur.
There were many great performances but my favourite musical moment was Bill Johnson and what a great guitar sound he had. I had to ask, what was that amp? ...and he told me it's a hand-made amp made in his hometown, Victoria. They're called Toneliner. And they have the tone alright, though the fingers of Bill Johnson had a lot to do with it. I met Bill five or six years ago when he came to the Blues Summit and backed up Layla Zoe at the Blues Campfire. I can't remember if he sang himself at that time but I do remember that he got me a gig in Victoria and I am eternally grateful to him for that. I've been playing his album a lot and so have a lot of other people, apparently, because it was nominated for Blues Album of the Year even though he's hardly ever played in this part of the country. I'd love to see him do a whole evening.
After the awards a few of us made our way to the hotel and had an impromptu jam session in Rick Taylor's room where I had the pleasure of sitting across from Joe Murphy and hearing him for the first time (he did a tune at the Awards but he is best appreciated up close and personal). I never heard of Joe Murphy until last month though he has been a fixture on the East Coast blues scene for decades and I can now attest that he is definitely the proverbial "real deal". Great meeting you, Joe, and great to say hello to many other visiting artists who I only run into once or twice a year. It was a delight to look across the lobby and see the chrerub-face of Tim Vaughn smiling at me. Tim had introduced himself to me at a Blues Summit five or six years ago - he was just a teenager then, surely the youngest delegate ever at the Blues Summit, and now here he was attending as a nominee in the "new artist" category. Good on you, Tim.
CBC Radio 4???
The new CBC service has been launched and features music and profiles on thousands of Canadian artists so of course the first thing I did was to check if I was there. Alas, there were three Blain(e)s but not a Brian. I never had much traction with the CBC – the only play I ever got was from Jurgen Goth who had a show on Radio Two long before I ever got in the habit of tuning in Radio 2. Now there’s another one, which I guess is sort of a spin-off of radio 3. It looks like a good initiative – worth checking out. www.cbcmusic.ca
What else have I been doing
Speaking of radio, I’ve just had my first taste of the Galaxie Music thang now that I got “the fibe.” Imagine living with 7 or 8 years with no TV, then a year or two with a hand-me-down TV and a coat hanger for an antennae and now a 40” screen and 1000+ channels, most of which I am not remotely interested in watching. Well now I’m set for my (semi)retirement.
In addition to watching more TV, my retirement project includes trying to improve my eating habits (tonite it was kale, sweet potato and salmon and it was pretty good – they say kale is great for you. I even bought the organic variety). And now my music time is dedicated to working on my Ableton Live “hyper-instrument” in the hope of future collaborations with electronic musicians. I’m searching for a producer/programmer who can make beats and knows Max (the MIDI programming language). I just created a ten-minute video blog (vlog?) to show what I’m doing. If you’re curious, go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thestringbuster
I’ll be doing a bit of a electronica mash-up of one of the tunes on my new album, The Ghost of Clinton’s Tavern and we’ve also updated my reggae tune with some real percussion from Wayne Stoute (via Terry Gillespie). I still want to do a bluegrass treatment of my tune about Alice Brock and there’s more so the “living” album project is still alive - thanks to the donors who have kept it going – you know who you are (and your name is on the CD))
So I haven’t turned away from my beloved blues & roots (though I haven’t written a tune in quite a while) but after plugging away for 20 years in this town I’m thinking that what I do has a pretty limited appeal. I should have got the message when I did a gig at the Free Times a couple of years back and realized that I knew every single person in the audience. But, as Bob Lefsetz said in his latest post, it’s not about making average music for average people anymore. Here’s another good quote from Lefsetz, via Seth Godin:
“Your only hope is to create work so great we'll hear about it from someone else.”
If you don’t know who Seth Godin is, here’s a revealing interview”:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/02/the-weird-interview.html
Here’s to a productive rest of the winter (we got off easy so far!)
Thanks for reading and for your ongoing support,
BrianB, aka Colorblind Blain, the Stringbuster
• Upcoming Shows
• Awards Season
• CBC 4???
• What else have I been doing?
• Quote of the Day
Hello friends – this is the first Blainletter of 2012 – hmmm, mid-February - I guess it’s a bit of a late entry. And then it was meant as a Valentine’s Day greeting but missed that deadline too… So now I sit here writing a little last-minute self-promotion for my appearances at the Winterfolk festival rather than attending the Winterfolk launch party. Well the upside of staying home is listening to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings on CBC’s Canada Live as I write this (more on CBC later). I still remember their show at the jazz festival…talk about the “real deal.” Old school.
Upcoming Shows (Toronto):
Saturday, February 18 – Delta Chelsea, Monarchs Pub, 33 Gerrard St W. 1-3pm Brian's Blues Campfire/Song Circle/Jam. All Musicians welcome. Part of Winterfolk X
Saturday, February 18 – Delta Chelsea, Deck 27 (27th floor) 33 Gerrard St W. 8pm Blues Songwriting Workshop with Gary Kendall and …you (if you’re interested in being part of a blues songwriting session) This session immediately follows a Blues Guitar workshop that should be of interest to many $10 cover for both. Part of Winterfolk X
Sunday, February 19 – Delta Chelsea, Monarchs Pub, 33 Gerrard St W. 2pm it’s jamming with guitar meister Jack de Keyzer. I’ll be playing bass. Part of Winterfolk X
(The Winterfolk fun starts tomorrow night (Fri) with an all-star blues band led by Jack in Monarchs Pub. Lots of great music under one roof all week-end. Full schedule at http://www.abetterworld.ca)
Monday, February 27 8pm – The Trane, 964 Bathurst Street – guesting with the Son Roberts Band. $5 cover
Sunday, March 11 – Reba’s Café, 3289 Dundas Street West, 1-4pm PWYC
Saturday, April 21 – Gate 403, 403 Roncesvales – guesting with Robert Davis PWYC
Awards Season
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Grammy Awards on my new HDTV, especially the guitar extravaganza at the end with McCartney, even though I didn’t get to attend in person. That’ll be the day. I don’t expect to get to the JUNO Awards either this year but I was invited to the media launch and that was a fine occasion with trays of delicacies being passed around. Most of the blues nominees were friends of mine and I was delighted to see them honoured. A few glaring omissions, mind you, like Harry Manx who was just passing through town last week and the larger-than-life Matt Andersen who I had the pleasure of jamming with at my Blues Campfire last month.
The Maple Blues Awards were held last month in the newest and fanciest concert hall in Toronto, Koerner Hall. A far cry from the first MBA soiree which was held at the beloved Montreal Bistro fifteen years ago. Some great music this year and a few emotional moments but the highlight of the show for me was "Funky Louise", alter-ego of host Shakura S'Aida. She had me in stitches - search for Funky Louise on YouTube and you'll see this hilarious promo for the awards also featuring co-host Treasa Levasseur.
There were many great performances but my favourite musical moment was Bill Johnson and what a great guitar sound he had. I had to ask, what was that amp? ...and he told me it's a hand-made amp made in his hometown, Victoria. They're called Toneliner. And they have the tone alright, though the fingers of Bill Johnson had a lot to do with it. I met Bill five or six years ago when he came to the Blues Summit and backed up Layla Zoe at the Blues Campfire. I can't remember if he sang himself at that time but I do remember that he got me a gig in Victoria and I am eternally grateful to him for that. I've been playing his album a lot and so have a lot of other people, apparently, because it was nominated for Blues Album of the Year even though he's hardly ever played in this part of the country. I'd love to see him do a whole evening.
After the awards a few of us made our way to the hotel and had an impromptu jam session in Rick Taylor's room where I had the pleasure of sitting across from Joe Murphy and hearing him for the first time (he did a tune at the Awards but he is best appreciated up close and personal). I never heard of Joe Murphy until last month though he has been a fixture on the East Coast blues scene for decades and I can now attest that he is definitely the proverbial "real deal". Great meeting you, Joe, and great to say hello to many other visiting artists who I only run into once or twice a year. It was a delight to look across the lobby and see the chrerub-face of Tim Vaughn smiling at me. Tim had introduced himself to me at a Blues Summit five or six years ago - he was just a teenager then, surely the youngest delegate ever at the Blues Summit, and now here he was attending as a nominee in the "new artist" category. Good on you, Tim.
CBC Radio 4???
The new CBC service has been launched and features music and profiles on thousands of Canadian artists so of course the first thing I did was to check if I was there. Alas, there were three Blain(e)s but not a Brian. I never had much traction with the CBC – the only play I ever got was from Jurgen Goth who had a show on Radio Two long before I ever got in the habit of tuning in Radio 2. Now there’s another one, which I guess is sort of a spin-off of radio 3. It looks like a good initiative – worth checking out. www.cbcmusic.ca
What else have I been doing
Speaking of radio, I’ve just had my first taste of the Galaxie Music thang now that I got “the fibe.” Imagine living with 7 or 8 years with no TV, then a year or two with a hand-me-down TV and a coat hanger for an antennae and now a 40” screen and 1000+ channels, most of which I am not remotely interested in watching. Well now I’m set for my (semi)retirement.
In addition to watching more TV, my retirement project includes trying to improve my eating habits (tonite it was kale, sweet potato and salmon and it was pretty good – they say kale is great for you. I even bought the organic variety). And now my music time is dedicated to working on my Ableton Live “hyper-instrument” in the hope of future collaborations with electronic musicians. I’m searching for a producer/programmer who can make beats and knows Max (the MIDI programming language). I just created a ten-minute video blog (vlog?) to show what I’m doing. If you’re curious, go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thestringbuster
I’ll be doing a bit of a electronica mash-up of one of the tunes on my new album, The Ghost of Clinton’s Tavern and we’ve also updated my reggae tune with some real percussion from Wayne Stoute (via Terry Gillespie). I still want to do a bluegrass treatment of my tune about Alice Brock and there’s more so the “living” album project is still alive - thanks to the donors who have kept it going – you know who you are (and your name is on the CD))
So I haven’t turned away from my beloved blues & roots (though I haven’t written a tune in quite a while) but after plugging away for 20 years in this town I’m thinking that what I do has a pretty limited appeal. I should have got the message when I did a gig at the Free Times a couple of years back and realized that I knew every single person in the audience. But, as Bob Lefsetz said in his latest post, it’s not about making average music for average people anymore. Here’s another good quote from Lefsetz, via Seth Godin:
“Your only hope is to create work so great we'll hear about it from someone else.”
If you don’t know who Seth Godin is, here’s a revealing interview”:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/02/the-weird-interview.html
Here’s to a productive rest of the winter (we got off easy so far!)
Thanks for reading and for your ongoing support,
BrianB, aka Colorblind Blain, the Stringbuster
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The Maple Blues Awards
Monday night was the annual gathering of Canadian blues musicians, promoters and uber-fans. It's held in the newest and fanciest concert hall in Toronto, Koerner Hall. Pretty ritzy. I had intended to buy a new suit for the occasion, well, mostly for the Folk Awards event that I hosted last month but in the end it was black jeans for both. A lot of good lookin' bluesers in the hall. The highlight of the show was "Funky Louise", alter-ego of host Shakura S'Aida. She had me in stitches - search for Funky Louise on YouTube and you'll see this hilarious promo for the awards also featuring co-host Treasa Levasseur.
There were many great performances but my favourite musical moment was Bill Johnson and what a great guitar sound he had. I had to ask, what was that amp? ...and he told me it's a hand-made amp made in his hometown, Victoria. They're called Toneliner. And they have the tone alright, though the fingers of Bill Johnson had a lot to do with it. I met Bill five or six years ago when he came to the Blues Summit and backed up Layla Zoe at the Blues Campfire. I can't remember if he sang himself at that time but I do remember that he got me a gig in Victoria and I am eternally grateful to him for that. I've been playing his album a lot and so have a lot of other people, apparently, because it was nominated for Blues Album of the Year even though he's hardly ever played in this part of the country. I'd love to see him do a whole evening.
Speaking of sound I've got to say when you're in a hall like that, you're supposed to be able to close your eyes and it should sound like you're in a big living room listening to a very big, very expensive stereo. I'm always a bit taken aback when I'm in a premier concert hall and it still sounds like you're just in a big hall. I don't want to hear the room, I don't want to hear the speakers working - I just want to hear the music. Come to any show at the jazz festival and you'll see what I'm talking about - and that's in a bloody tent!
Ooops, am I getting negative? Well I feel I'm entitled to my opinion, especially considering I actually bought a ticket for the first time in 15 years. Yes, this old media mooch actually laid down a few bucks because the Blues Society seems to have taken a page from the Folk Awards and the JUNOs where EVERYBODY buys their ticket. Though I'm sure a few VVIPs slipped through...
After the awards a few of us made our way to the hotel and had an impromptu jam session in Rick Taylor's room where I had the pleasure of sitting across from Joe Murphy and hearing him for the first time (he did a tune at the Awards but he is best appreciated up close and personal). I never heard of Joe Murphy until last month though he has been a fixture on the East Coast blues scene for decades and I can now attest that he is definitely the proverbial "real deal". Great meeting you, Joe, and great to say hello to many other visiting artists who I only run into once or twice a year. It was a delight to look across the lobby and see the chrerub-face of Tim Vaughn smiling at me. Tim had introduced himself to me at a Blues Summit five or six years ago - he was just a teenager then, surely the youngest delegate ever at the Blues Summit, and now here he was attending as a nominee in the "new artist" category. Good on you, Tim.
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Delta Blues Campfire
The Delta Blues Campfire on Sunday afternoon was the perfect way to get in a blues mood for tonight's Maple Blues Awards. Pictured above (photo by Stilleto Rose) is the rhythm section, yours truly on bass and Malcolm Gould on drums along with Nanaimo's David Gogo, nominee for Guitar Player of the Year and Electric Act of the Year. Later were joined by Steve Marriner of Monkey Junk (7 nominations) and the larger-than-life Matt Andersen (who has three nominations, I think). Andrew Burton is a local guitarist whom I've never me and he played some sweet sounds even though he had a less-than-deal setup plugged directly into the board.
Speaking of the board, we had the formidable Rob Boyd mixing the sound and keeping everything humming along (OK, maybe that's a bad choice of words). Who knew that Rob was a bass player in a previous incarnation. He sat in for a couple of tunes and he rocked! Ken and Peggy from Belleville Loyalist Blues Brotherhood joined in (blues version of a Crystal Gayle song? Only at the Campfire). Host of Monarch's regular open mic Brian Gladstone was the first player to show up with guitar in hand and he kicked off the session with some fine fingerpicking. And a big thank you to Mojo Willie (aka Bill Rymer) who played a few tunes while I took a bit of a break - there's no breaks at a campfire. I'm thinking I forgot somebody...anyway it was great to have these luminaries joining in at the campfire and a real thrill for the local players, including myself, to play with them. I was thinking I should have got some autographs on my guitar after these great players played it. Jamming around the campfire is not exactly a career development strategy but these guys are all about the music. They just want to play.
I was especially thrilled to meet and play with the legendary Joe Mavety. He is of course mostly remembered for his collaboration with Marianne Faithful but nowadays he's living in Port Credit and playing around the west end. I always had a little bee in my bonnet about this guy because back in the early 90s, the first band I played with in Toronto was Blue Willow and when it was time to make a record Joe Mavety was the "ringer" that they brought in. That always stuck in my craw a little bit. I figured I could play those solos as well as he did :-( Now that I recall those sessions, I remember producer Michael Fonfara bringing in Carlos de Junco and maybe somebody else so he would have two or three solos to choose from and a couple of my solos got bumped. That was brutal. Oh well, "Welcome to Toronto!"
Monday, January 9, 2012
Come to the Delta Blues Campfire
Sunday, January 15 3pm
Monarch's Pub - Delta Chelsea Hotel
33 Gerrard St W.
A nice warm-up to the Maple Blues Awards gala on Monday Night
The First Delta Blues Campfire was held in January 2007 as part of the Blues Summit. Pictured above (l to r.) Ken Whiteley, Mark "Bird" Stafford, Mr. Rick, Rick Fines, Danny Marks and host Brian Blain.
The Maple Blues Awards week-end always attracts a large number of blues artists from all over the country and The Blues Campfire is their chance to meet and jam with local players and other blues artists from outside Ontario. The Campfire has provide many artists with the first opportunity to jam with someone who's work they've admired with some of these connections have led to collaborations on recordings and tours. The Blues Campfire is hosted by well-known blues editor/writer/guitar picker/bass player Brian Blain and has been a highlight of previous Blues Summits, OCFF and Folk Alliance conferences as well as festivals like Winterfolk and Harvest Jazz and Blues.
This year's campfire welcomes Maple Blues Awards nominees, presenters and guests to meet and jam in a casual setting.
This event is open to the public free of charge.