Friday, October 16, 2015
Thursday, October 15, 2015
David Owen CD launch @jazzbistroTO
David Owen drew the biggest crowd yet for the Toronto Blues Society's "Hump Day" Wednesdays at the elegant Jazz Bistro. An upscale setting for some down-home country blues. The "quiet policy" of the Jazz Bistro was flaunted this night but it didn't bother David a bit and the usually sedate room was transformed into a roadhouse party - it didn't hurt that the Blue Jays had just won a big home game on their way to the World Series. The evening (and the CD) is peppered with authentic flavours from Jimmy Bowskill on mandolin, fiddle, slide and more. Brush/bass-meister Alec Fraser provides a solid foundation and the sparse production by Gary Kendall makes it all the more official. An honest, heartfelt recording.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Always get a kick out of going to Rdio.com and listening to the Brian Blain radio station that they generated. They are using some kind of algorithms to determine what songs listeners would enjoy if they already like Brian Blain. So far it's led me to Willie Big Eyes Smith with Kim Wilson, Jimmy Bowskill, Granine Duffy, The Heritage Blues Orchestra and an artist I never heard of, Alex McElcheran who plays a mean 12-string.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Friday, October 2, 2015
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
On Competition
The last time I was ever in any kind of musical competition was when I was 14 or 15 and playing with my first band, the Regents. We were a raggedy ass high school band with pathetic equipment (two of us had Regent guitars, thus the name). We entered a battle of the bands in a neighbouring town (Magog) and when we got there I was quite flabbergasted to see a band (mostly brothers) who had brand new Fender guitars and amps. It was impressive and I think they won the contest. All I know is we didn't win and the fact that I remember this so well, and practically nothing else of those days, must mean that it made a big impression on me.
Now fast-forward 50 years and today I find myself playing with Larry Kurtz at the "Road to Memphis" challenge in Kitchener and once again, shut out.
I have always steered away from contests and award programmes, though I've been a judge in the Blues Talent Search, the Aboriginal Music Awards, The Song From The Heart contest, a couple of JUNOs and more than ten years judging the TTC Subway Musician Auditions.
I did receive one award for my music – A Porcupine Award – and I was pleased as punch to get it. Then there was the award I got for "Best Industrial Ad" for a Firestone ad back when I was a junior copywriter at an ad agency. Anyway, if I never get another one it's fine with me. And it will be another 50 years before I enter another competition. I just can't take the rejection L
On the way home from my big loss, I stopped by the Casino to appease my best-ex, Linda, who was good enough to come along and support me at the . She got a head start into the slots and I just sat down at the first machine I saw, put in 10 bucks, pushed a button and watched it turn into $247 (apparently if I'd pushed the "max" button it would have been much more). I guess I'm just not a gambler at heart because I cashed out my $247 and didn't play anymore and spent the rest of the time keeping Linda from spending it. I was thinking as long as we make enough to pay the gas and food, I will have at least not "paid to play", or should I say "paid to lose"…
Congratulations to the winning band was The Smoke Wagon Blues Band, from Hamilton (here's a little clip took) and the solo winner was Jay Pollman. Corey Lueck and Smoke Wagon have been plugging away on the blues scene as long as I've been observing it and they deserve the recognition. Both winners had more traditional approaches than Larry and I, so I think that's a reflection of the judges' taste. I wish them well in Memphis – where it must be very hard to stand out from a large pack who are playing at the highest level.
I don't mind wearing this defeat (blame Blain) because I had just seen the Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer and convinced Larry to play as loud and as hard as he could and we both cranked our amps and I think the judges would have been more inclined to Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Oh well…
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Blainletter #77
Greetings beloved Blainreaders (and a fond farewell to the one who unsubscribed).
Thanks for the feedback on my last Festival Blainletter – I wrote it before the last two shows of the Jazz fest – and they were both pretty amazing, so worthy of mention. Every year there are some names in the programme that I've never heard of and they turn out to be a big deal. This year it was Morris Day and the Time (I guess I'm the only person on the planet who never saw Purple Rain) and last year it was Snarky Puppy at the Horseshoe making the biggest buzz of the festival. And this year they played the main stage and I got to hear them first hand and they did not disappoint. The next night was Gary Clark Jr, another "buzz act" and he was great, but I dare say, "understated." A bluesman with nothing to prove, you might say – just playing the blues. And not on his highly-promoted "signature" Black and Blue Epiphone Casino. In fact, he played mostly a Fender Strat and both he and bass player were using Fender amps. The thing about Gary (and Snarky Puppy) is that they were not playing anything that would drop jaws – it was not about virtuosity. They were just playing groovy music and the audience was loving it, unlike say, Al DiMeola a few nights before, who played stuff on that guitar that few others would ever attempt. Nice that Gary Clark gave a big shout-out to his guitar tech (unlike Al DiMeola who fired his guitar tech right on stage – see my last Blainletter for back-story on that!)
Brian and Larry take Tremblant by Storm
I had invited Larry Kurtz and his wife Norma to the Snarky Puppy show (who certainly lived up to their hype) and the following week Larry and I played the Mont Tremblant International Blues Festival in Quebec. I did a little iPhone video of our set on the "Vieux Tremblant" stage and I invite you to take a look at what we're doing. You may not want to watch a full 50 minutes of BrianB & LarryK (unless maybe you're an artistic director considering us for your festival - hint, hint). It is quite notable in that you'll hear me talking a lot in French and even playing a French tune. Wow, the audience was so surprised to hear me singing in French that there's an audible reaction from the crowd, "Y chante en Francais!, Y chante en Francais!" We had a huge crowd and got a great reaction. What a fantastic blues festival that is, wish I could have stayed for all ten days. I gotta get my ass back to Quebec more often.
I had invited Larry Kurtz and his wife Norma to the Snarky Puppy show (who certainly lived up to their hype) and the following week Larry and I played the Mont Tremblant International Blues Festival in Quebec. I did a little iPhone video of our set on the "Vieux Tremblant" stage and I invite you to take a look at what we're doing. You may not want to watch a full 50 minutes of BrianB & LarryK (unless maybe you're an artistic director considering us for your festival - hint, hint). It is quite notable in that you'll hear me talking a lot in French and even playing a French tune. Wow, the audience was so surprised to hear me singing in French that there's an audible reaction from the crowd, "Y chante en Francais!, Y chante en Francais!" We had a huge crowd and got a great reaction. What a fantastic blues festival that is, wish I could have stayed for all ten days. I gotta get my ass back to Quebec more often.
"Who Paid You To Give Me The Blues" Re-issued Online
And the other bit of news I wanted to share in this Blainletter is a new (to you) CD that I just put up on CD Baby. This is the first CD I made back in the late 90s. I just had a few physical copies left and when I saw that CD Baby had a special offer to put up a CD for digital distribution to iTunes and the all new Apple Music (which I have yet to check out).
And the other bit of news I wanted to share in this Blainletter is a new (to you) CD that I just put up on CD Baby. This is the first CD I made back in the late 90s. I just had a few physical copies left and when I saw that CD Baby had a special offer to put up a CD for digital distribution to iTunes and the all new Apple Music (which I have yet to check out).
I've told the story of this CD a million times but I'll say it again because I take it as a point of pride that a lot of great musicians came to my rescue and played for free just because they thought it was about time Brian Blain made a record (and they knew that I'd never get it together if left to my own devices).
It all started when Victor Bateman heard me doing some of my tunes at a party and said he had a buddy with a DAT recorder and he could arrange for a little demo. That encouraged me to get my ass in gear and think about making an album.
At about the same time, my old producer from the 70s, Frazier Mohawk, had built a studio on his farm in Schomberg, Puck's Farm. He offered me free studio time because he recognized that I was (at least partially)responsible for bringing in the bucks that built that studio. You see, a year or two before, I had been perusing the shelves of a CD store on Queen Street and came upon some CDs of recordings I knew he produced back in the 60s: Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Kaleidoscope among others. When I saw him next, I asked if he was getting royalties now that these albums were being reissued on CD. I saw the light bulb go off in his head. When he finally reached the right person in the Warner Brothers accounting department he was told "Oh, we lost your address…" Yeah, sure... Well, some big retroactive royalty cheques flowed to him and that is what financed the studio.
The album we made was called "Who Paid You To Give Me The Blues?" I've just been listening to some of the tracks and what a trip hearing some of those old tunes, long retired from the setlist: "Entrepreneurial Blues," "Dump That Lump," "Y2K Blues," "Vulcan Heart" and the favourite of all my Buddhist friends, "Ten Worlds." I started this player with a couple of tracks that Scott "Professor Piano" played on - what a blast listening to him rip it up on "Computer Club Queen"
At CD Baby, I checked off all the boxes that allow downloading, streaming of the full song ("Even Unpaid") . Of course, you're most welcome to buy a track but I always say, "First let's see if you can't give it away." I once found my music on a Russian website where they would offer the songs free, but if somebody downloaded one, then the price would go up to ten cents, then if a lot of people bought it at ten cents they would put the price up to 20 cents, and so on till it got to 99. I thought it was a pretty good business construct (except for the part where I never saw a penny!)
OUT and ABOUT
Just got my first taste of Beaches Jazz (it's just down the street from me). Headliner last week-end was the Melbourne Ska Orchestra – bunch of crazy Aussies. Very tight (check out this video from Kris King:
...but I've never seen so much shtick – replaying the end of a song repeatedly to get more applause and doing the "one time, two times, 12 times" thang, stopping a song in the middle and having everybody "freeze," stopping a song in the middle and the whole band (all 18 of them) rushing to the edge of the stage to mug for a photographer, and it goes on. All good fun and lots of "audience engagement." Plus they can really play! Looking forward to more Beaches Jazz (and blues) as well as some choice Panamania shows.
...but I've never seen so much shtick – replaying the end of a song repeatedly to get more applause and doing the "one time, two times, 12 times" thang, stopping a song in the middle and having everybody "freeze," stopping a song in the middle and the whole band (all 18 of them) rushing to the edge of the stage to mug for a photographer, and it goes on. All good fun and lots of "audience engagement." Plus they can really play! Looking forward to more Beaches Jazz (and blues) as well as some choice Panamania shows.
And speaking of "audience engagement," Rich Aucoin really showed me how that's done at the Nathan Phillips Square Panamania Stage (two stages, actually, both way bigger than the stages we had for Jazz Festival, but you know what, they didn't sound as good - you can always tell with the acoustic piano). I have been wanting to check out Rich Aucoin from Halifax for 2 years now. I heard about him a couple of years ago when I was inquiring about musicians who were incorporating video with Ableton Live. I wasn't able to see him at the time and I missed him again this year at Canadian Music Week but now I have seen him (up close and personal as you will see in this video clip) and I am knocked out. This clip doesn't really show much of the visuals he incorporates on the big screen but there was lots of that too.
Best Blues Show of the Month
On Sunday afternoon, I headed down to the Rex to hear on of this country's greatest harp players (and there's plenty of great ones, I know) but I have been so impressed by Montreal's Bharath Rajakumar ever since the first time I saw him (on YouTube) and then hearing the high praise from local blues guys I made sure to catch him when he came to town to play with Junior Watson. This time he was the special guest at Dr Nick's monthly gig at the Rex. I could never figure why a harp player would invite another harp player to be his special guest but in this case I could see a kindred connection, right down to those obscure 50s amps they both use. Here's a clip of the two of them going at it in what used to be called a "cutting contest" but this was not competitive at all. In the most Canadian fashion, they declined solos and encouraged each other to step up but then when they do play together you can hardly tell who's doing what. The accompaniment was "official" (except they didn't have a bass): Michelle Josef on drums, Sugar Brown on guitar and the wonderful Julian Fauth on piano.
On Sunday afternoon, I headed down to the Rex to hear on of this country's greatest harp players (and there's plenty of great ones, I know) but I have been so impressed by Montreal's Bharath Rajakumar ever since the first time I saw him (on YouTube) and then hearing the high praise from local blues guys I made sure to catch him when he came to town to play with Junior Watson. This time he was the special guest at Dr Nick's monthly gig at the Rex. I could never figure why a harp player would invite another harp player to be his special guest but in this case I could see a kindred connection, right down to those obscure 50s amps they both use. Here's a clip of the two of them going at it in what used to be called a "cutting contest" but this was not competitive at all. In the most Canadian fashion, they declined solos and encouraged each other to step up but then when they do play together you can hardly tell who's doing what. The accompaniment was "official" (except they didn't have a bass): Michelle Josef on drums, Sugar Brown on guitar and the wonderful Julian Fauth on piano.
This just in - I will be playing with Julian at the venerable Old Mill on October 30th. It's a jazz venue but they're gonna change it up with a little blues (and I'm trying to come up with a few "jazzy" blues numbers).
TONIGHT is the big 30th Anniversary bash of the Toronto Blues Society at the elegant Palais Royale. That's Thursday, July 16th and if you're just reading this and you are a friend of the blues then get yourself down to the Palais Royale for 8:30 ($30 at the door). Lance Anderson's Ray Charles Tribute which has sold out everywhere he put it on. The lineup is top notch with Jesse O'Brien, Colin James' piano man. Lance says "He plays like he was siitting on Ray's piano bench" Lead vocals will be handled by John Mays and other guests include Duane & Brooke Blackburn, Quisha Wint, Selena Evangeline, and Cheryl Lescom. Jack De Keyzer will perform a solo acoustic set on the patio and DJ Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth will be playing DJ for the first time in years.
Lastly, I'm sure many of you are acquainted with Zoe Chilco. Zoe is a very special person who has been a real positive force on the music scene ever since I arrived in Toronto. She has been most encouraging to me and is always volunteering at Blues Society events and promoting local artists on her radio show in Haliburton, while putting out a CD every year or two with her own unique take on jazz & blues. One time she put out a double album and she even put on a cabaret musical about her friend the legendary jazzman Zoot Simms.
She has gone out on a limb launching her latest effort at the venerable Hugh's Room (Wednesday, July 29) and she could really use a few more "bums in seats" to make it worthwhile. I'll be doing a couple of tunes to warm up the crowd and I'm sure Zoe will give a great show and hopefully make some new fans. It would be great to see you at the show and please grab me and tell me you saw it in the Blainletter!
She has gone out on a limb launching her latest effort at the venerable Hugh's Room (Wednesday, July 29) and she could really use a few more "bums in seats" to make it worthwhile. I'll be doing a couple of tunes to warm up the crowd and I'm sure Zoe will give a great show and hopefully make some new fans. It would be great to see you at the show and please grab me and tell me you saw it in the Blainletter!
Happy summer, BrianB
Friday, June 26, 2015
Blainletter 76 – Festival Fever
I think I just saw Al Di Meola fire his guitar tech right on the stage of the Toronto Jazz Festival. He was having trouble with his amp (a hi-end boutique amp called Fuchs) but it sounded fine to me (and probably to the other thousand people in the tent). You can see in Bill King's video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5mdXfBPa1g that he keeps turning around and calling over his guitar tech but then a little later he came on the mic and said "paging my guitar tech. Is my guitar tech in the house?" And then after a pause, "Is there any guitar tech in the house?" At which point some guy stood up and Al invited him up to the stage. Then the real guitar tech shows up and Al says to him"you go sit down, I've got a new guitar tech" but then both techs were crouched behind the amp.
You could tell he was already pretty niggly about his sound – he was late for the sound check (he was flying in while the rest of the band was on the tour bus) and I could hear him saying "nothing is the same…it's all changed!" so they kept working on his guitar sound while Hilario Duran waited patiently to start his set on the outdoor stage. Then, after the band was introduced, I was surprised to see Al and his guitar tech walk past me towards the dressing room and I overhear him saying something like "well, where are they, then?" Moments later he walks past me again and I see he's putting in some earplugs – I guess that's what he was looking for.
The audience's patience was further tested when he stopped the show (after the tech-firing incident) and asked the audience to give him 5 minutes to fix his amp. No one seemed very troubled by this and I got the feeling his crowd would walk over a bed of burning coals to see their guy. I was not around for the rest of the show so I can't report what happened at the end. You'd think they'd carry a spare amp – they were hauling a big trailer behind their tour bus. Maybe that trailer was filled with the elaborate plexiglass wall that was used to surround the amp (and another one for the drummer).
The night before I had a very pleasant a late night hang with Booker T and his wife Nan (?) hearing about their son the guitarist who had just joined the band (Blainreaders will know that I'm a big advocate of fathers & sons playing music together). And I got to tell Booker how my first exposure to music (that I can remember) when I was barely able to walk and found myself at eye level with two stockinged feet playing the pedals on a Hammond organ and feeling the sound through my body. I didn't get to tell him the part when I looked up and saw the first black person I'd ever seen in my little life (there were no black people in Sherbrooke). That was at a summer resort called Beau Site in the Eastern Townships - Little Lake Magog.
Here's Booker on guitar singing "Mannish Boy" (did you know he wrote "Born Under a Bad Sign"? And played bass on Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"? And lots more! Fascinating hearing stories from Booker as renowned musicologist Rob Bowman was encouraging him to get to work on his autobiography.
Here's Booker on guitar singing "Mannish Boy" (did you know he wrote "Born Under a Bad Sign"? And played bass on Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"? And lots more! Fascinating hearing stories from Booker as renowned musicologist Rob Bowman was encouraging him to get to work on his autobiography.
Now that the Festival is almost done, I've had a little time to do some blogging (as well as laundry, a home cooked meal and mowing the lawn!). One little fire to put out – the modem in the Jazz-FM tent got fried in the big downpour but it's fixed now. The festival is running like the well-oiled machine that it is.
One show just got cancelled – Sonny Knight and the Lakers at the Horseshoe Tavern on Friday. "Transportation issues" as they say – code for "somebody couldn't get across the border." The band just posted a pic of themselves gazing at Niagara Falls from the American side. They also were scheduled to play at Ottawa and Montreal jazz festivals. Blackburn will taking their spot at the Shoe on Friday night. I wish I could say come to Snarky Puppy in the tent but it’s sold out (I think it was the first show to sell out!) But you can bet there'll be another thousand people standing outside the tent, where the sound (and the sightlines) are not half bad.
These ten days of Jazz Festival are about the only time of year that I have anything resembling a full-time job (come to think of it, it does not resemble a full-time job very much but you know what I mean). Alas there was no "play" for me at this year's festival, no gigs with or without the Blainettes. But the good news is next week I head down to the Mont Tremblant Blues Festival to play with my buddy Larry Kurtz – and they've got us doing enough sets and workshops to make up for 3 festivals.
Opening night of the jazzfest was a funk-fest and the whole square was packed with fans of Parliament Funkadelic, Morris Day and The Time, and my favourite – Dumpstaphunk. I had been very disappointed when a huge downpour forced them to shut down their set after a couple of songs at Beaches Jazz last year, and I'm sure they were quite disappointed too. Well they made up for it this time and put on a great show.
Morris Day is someone I never heard of – probably because I'm the only person on the planet who did not see the movie "Purple Rain." I had retired to the media trailer to catch up on some work but had the window open and could actually see a bit of the stage (the drummer). I listened but I was not drawn to get a closer look but I was told after that half his appeal is the dancing and the stagecraft. After seeing a couple of video clips I see what they mean.
George Clinton and P-Funk were amazing, even though I'm sure it's tamed down a bit from their heyday. I never saw them back then but I remember doing some recording sessions in Toronto in the same studio right after they had wreaked havoc and after them, us Canadian joint-smokin' hippies seemed like altar boys.
The next night was Tower of Power, more funk. My drummer friend Mike Fitzpatrick was a little disappointed that Dave Garibaldi was not at the drum kit – it seems he's recovering from hip surgery. But the band raised the roof and there were lots of smiling faces. Also got to see a few tunes from Robert Glasper (not as experimental as I expected but then he was promoting an album called "Covered" so I guess it was only natural that he was playing some standards (and a Prince tune that isn't a standard – yet).
Then there's Mike Stern. Already the highlight of the festival for many people. I would count myself in that group, maybe a tie with the Toronto Mass Choir. Here they are raising the roof:
There's a couple more videos on my Facebook musician page at www.facebook.com/brianblain.musician (Beware, they'll probably try to get you signed up to Facebook) Stern has played the festival many times but I either missed it or got there just in time for the encore – this time I heard the whole set and loved it. Here's a link to a blues standard that he pulled out as an encore – most people in the audience didn't even realize that he sang (though he would sometimes do some vocal scatting along with his guitar solos). This time he sang "Red House". Official.
There's a couple more videos on my Facebook musician page at www.facebook.com/brianblain.musician (Beware, they'll probably try to get you signed up to Facebook) Stern has played the festival many times but I either missed it or got there just in time for the encore – this time I heard the whole set and loved it. Here's a link to a blues standard that he pulled out as an encore – most people in the audience didn't even realize that he sang (though he would sometimes do some vocal scatting along with his guitar solos). This time he sang "Red House". Official.
I've got another link, also on my Facebook, of the last song of the Christian McBride Big Band last night. I couldn't figure out why he had this old school MC guy bringing him on stage but was told afterwards by Don, the volunteer who drove him from the airport, that he was none other than Danny Ray, James Brown's valet and "cape man" for all those years. Now he's introducing Christian who idolized James Brown and now carries a little bit of JB history with him on the road. It seems Danny had fallen on hard times after JB passed away and Christian sure lived up to his name by taking him on and giving him a new lease on life.
Another big band that played was none other than the legendary "Count Basie Orchestra" – on the road for 80 years, if you can believe it. And trombonist Clarence Banks (a fellow Buddhist who I've known for a few years) is the last remaining member of the band who was there when the Count was still at the helm. We had a nice visit after the show and, as always, despite lots of challenges, he was the most positive and encouraging. That's right, even musicians who are at the pinnacle of the music world are scuffling. I was quite surprised when Phil Dwyer, a first-call sax player for many years in this town, told me that he has just completed his first year of law school and is looking forward to a more stable career. When I mentioned this to David Basskin, a well-known music industry lawyer, he rolled his eyes a bit and said "I wish him luck" like even a new lawyer can't be assured an easy ride nowadays.
Quote of the day Music (courtesy of Larry Leblanc) is from from Randy Lennox, the boss at Universal Music: He says "6 is the new 10" – meaning if a respectable hit used to sell 100,000 in Canada, now they would be happy with 60,000.
I would be remiss not to mention that this month three (count 'em, 3) of my old friends from Quebec were in town doing CD launches. Russ Kelley has made his second CD since retiring from being the boss of the Music Section at Canada Council and even though he hasn't played very much in Toronto he's made some life-long fans with his sincere, heartfelt tunes and mellow delivery (www.russkelley.com).
Chris Rawlings is someone I always thought of as a "national treasure" of Canadian folk music ever since he put "The Rhyme of the Ancient Marriner" to music - he writes songs about great historical events like Halifax harbour explosion or the Estevan miner's strike in Saskatchewan in the early 1930s. Great stories, great songs (in English and French!). www.chrisrawlings.ca
Then there's my old buddy Allan Fraser, who I worked with in Fraser & DeBolt and even before. He's now teamed up with Marianne Girard and they made a great album which was released with a big bash at Hugh's Room. It's not Fraser & DeBolt redux, but they've found their own collective voice and between them have a vast reservoir of great tunes. www.fraserandgirard.com
On the subject of Fraser & DeBolt, the double vinyl release on Roaratorio Records is due at the end of July and Christmas will be coming early for F&DeB fans because there's some amazing songs on there that you've never heard. (I think if you're still a fan after 40 years of no product and no personal appearances, you must be a fan-atic). http://roaratorio.com/
Anyway, I better stop here before I launch into more doom and gloom. Hope to see you out there and check my blog for a final instalment of my festival diary
To see more of these videos you'll have to got to Facebook and search for me (if we're not already friends – and we should be!)Speaking of which, if you're already on Facebook, please visit my Facebook musician page and give me a "like". I've been stuck at 149 likes for too long J
The new website is coming along. Still haven't launched it, but I keep adding pictures and I have created a video playlist of my YouTube favourites. You can even see what blues bands are playing tonight. Go to BrianBlain.com