First Time playing the Dakota

I've seen many a show at the Dakota Tavern but I finally got to play on that stage today - Very capable and friendly sound guy Evan was on the ball - even thought to get me a guitar stand.  I was doing a "warm-up" for Terry Gillespie's CD launch celebration.  Richard Flohil had offered me the gig and suggested he would top up the fee if I brought a bass player.  I said maybe I'd bring a harp player but in the end I didn't call anyone.  Then a couple of days before the gig, I thought of Terry Wilkins and thought it was not likely he'd be available but if he was that would settle that.

As it turns out, Terry was playing across the street and finishing at the same time I was starting. So he quit a few minutes early and was at the Dakota in plenty of time.  He had gone over the chart/setlist and listened to some short audio clips I sent and he was solid - even a couple of spots where I didn't know what I was doing, he did.  I hadn't played with Terry in a long, long time and it was a delight.  I used to tell people there wasn't a gig (or rehearsal) that I ever did with Terry Wilkins where I didn't take away a valuable lesson.  Not sure what the lesson was this time, but I'm sure there will be one that I'll realize down the line.

Great hearing Terry Gillespie going full-tilt with a big band that included a Montreal guitar legend, Andrew Cowan, and a genuine RastaBassMan, Owen, who was a delight to meet.  Drummer Wayne Stoute had dropped by my place the night before and we had Indian food. Top notch band and Terry's been getting good crowds at all these Toronto dates - quite ambitious to expect a good crowd at different places in the same week in the same town but so far so good.  It was mostly reggae at the Dakota and people were loving it. Michael Fonfara walked in halfway and jumped up on the old upright piano.  Sounded great!  Reminds me I must lasso that guy into a gig again.

As Terry G were commiserating about becoming septuagenarians this year, I was thinking just when I've been telling people my touring days are over, there's Terry embarking on as many tours as he can gather. We were reminiscing about how we met (at one of my Campfire Jams) I was also remembering when Terry W. and his Australian band, The Flying Circus, had just arrived in Toronto and were taken under the wing of my producer Frazier Mohawk who provided this huge rehearsal space on Richmond St.  I was his "assistant" of sorts and helped out with some pre-production chores.  I don't think we got much past the pre-production and I think some of those guys went back to Australia,  and I went back to Quebec.  But Terry stayed and it was a great gain for the Toronto Music Scene.

...and rushed back for @paulnelsonband @hughsroom where the music - and food - is always first rate

via Instagram @brianblain

Kitchen closed @hughsroom Had to skip out on McKenna/Rush slide showdown to get a slice across the street.

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Big "A" w @raoulbhaneja last night and about to hear Tim Williams show for first time. Big blues discovery weekend

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#CMW2017 @pierrekwenders my kinda hybrid. Just when you thought you'd heard every guitar sound

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Not going to see a lot of #CMW2017 this year but @groenlandMTL is happy start

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Alleycatz w mark stafford ken yoshioka malcolm gould michael theodore & mystery guitarist

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singing bout the seventies at Alleycatz wed jam w Bird Stafford & Ken Yoshioka

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Diggin @ryan_mcnally_music. Never heard anything out of the #Yukon that I didn't like

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@harpaxe murderin it @leespalace

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Blainletter #90 | Campfire Jam at the Old Mill Sat | Sitting in at the Goose on Sun | *NEW* Campfire Jam at Originals on first Mon | JUNO scuttlebutt

Happy April to my beloved Blainreaders and a big welcome hug to a new batch who signed up at some recent shows. The Campfire Jam got off to a roaring start with Sugar Brown, Ken Whiteley and Paul Reddick, who, if you hadn't heard already, took home the JUNO Award for Blues Album of the Year on the week-end. Paul has carved out a nice niche for himself in the beautiful blues landscape and is working his way to legend status.  I'm doing my part in building the legend because he figures prominently in one of my tunes, "The Day Coke Saved The Blues" which I got to play for/with him for the first time.

The next Campfire Jam is this Saturday at the Old Mill Home Smith Bar (7:30-10:30) and will feature an equally illustrious and eclectic All-Star line-up: Raoul Bhaneja, Manitoba Hal and Bill King. I can hardly wait.  And for some of my muso friends who were asking about sitting in, we're kicking off a new "open" Campfire Jam on the "First Mondays" starting May 1 at Originals on Bayview just a few doors up from the old Hwy 61.  Great venue with a long history of live music – I remember playing there with Blue Willow in the 90s. And everybody's welcome to get up and play (as long as it's blues)

And I've just booked the May 13 Campfire at the Old Mill – all women jammers for my annual Motherless Day Campfire/Concert and for this occasion I've brought in barrelhouse piano mama Roberta Hunt and two of the most soulful sax players in the city, Alison Young and Carrie Chesnutt (I was going to say "hottest" but after Russell Peters got spanked for his comments on the JUNOs, I wouldn't want to be misinterpreted :-)  Some will remember that I always try to do a special show on the day before Mother's Day and since I was an orphan (and because we're playing the blues anyway), I call it my Motherless Day show. Seventy years after being left on the steps of a nunnery, this orphan is about to find out a little bit about myself – I sent away for the AncestryDNA. This will be interesting!

And speaking of soulful women, The Queen of Soul herself is coming back to town.  If you were in the crowd down on King Street when Aretha played the Jazz Festival a few years ago you will agree it was one of the most powerful performances you've seen in your life.  And even though she's really backed off on personal appearances, she must have had a good time too because she agreed to come back for a show at the Sony Centre on July 1. www.torontojazz.com  Here's a clip I came across lately - I think she was on the Steve Allen show, circa 1964.

I had quite a flurry of activity lately, last week I went out to Orangeville to play with Larry Kurtz at the Edge and the next night I was at a little bar in the beaches playing bass for Rockin Johnny Burgin from Chicago and Sugar Brown. Johnny has a West Side/West Coast thang goin - he is my kind of guitar player – lots of energy and very musical.  And original! He's got his own thing. Check him out. His new album is "Neoprene Fedora."  If you like JW-Jones, you'll love Johnny Burgin. And speaking of JW, check out his new video "Who I Am":

JW-Jones - vocals and guitar Colin Linden - guitar Kevin McKendree - keyboards Dominic John Davis - bass Bryan Owings - drums Liam Russell - harmony vocals

The bar I played with Rockin Johnny was a hip little joint in the Beaches called Castro's.  I had been a few times but had never played there but the owner Anthony must have liked what I was doing on the bass because he invited me to bring my own band in July. Johnny was in Ontario doing some recording and a bunch of gigs with Sugar Brown. Sugar and Michelle Josef and I just played together a couple of weeks earlier at the Cold Weather Bluesfest a club-crawl kinda festival with a great vibe.  I'm sure it will grow and prosper (as long as everybody sticks to the 11 o'clock noise curfew – it is The Beaches, after all). Here's a clip of that old favourite, "My Babe":

Brian Blain,  Michelle Josef, Sugar Brown

So what else is going on? I was watching the Saturday night webcast of the non-televised Juno Awards on YouTube.  Pretty smooth streaming. The speeches would not have been so long if it were on network TV. Tom Power hosting. Not in his comfort zone. Then they had to black out the film tribute to Randy Lennox because they didn't have the clearances. Wtf? You really feel like a dinosaur when everybody in the house knows all these artists and you're hearing them for the first time – like I just discovered Daniel Caesar. I guess he's going to be the NBT (Next Big Thing?).  Of course I was familiar with all the rootsy artists like Paul Reddick, who took home the JUNO for Blues Album of the Year. In other Roots categories, William Prince won but gave a big shout out to Corin Raymond and if you haven't discovered The East Pointers yet, maybe you will now. Renee Rosnes fans in Toronto will be happy for her win and a little bird told me she will be coming to our town this summer. The show ran quite smoothly – there was a glitch when Tom Power had to "re-present" an award for a classical recording because none of the performers were there to accept it but it turns out the composer was in the house and he had something to say…and I bet he was insistent about it.  The only award that was accepted "on behalf" of anyone was Leonard Cohen's and it was given to his son Adam Cohen who took a bit of a swipe at the "superstars" who didn't make it to the awards (ie, Drake and Weeknd) but saying they probably had good reason to not be there but surely his dad had the best reason of all. Buffy Sainte-Marie is inspiring. She has just received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award and she was talking directly to the musicians in the house "we humans were designed to create – that's what we're here for!" She speaks from the heart …and she had a few words for the airlines who are making life so difficult for musicians travelling with their instruments (she just had a surcharge of over a thousand dollars for her guitar).  Oh, and she also said musicians should try to use more than the three chords they learned from their brother when they started out. "…there are hundreds more!" she said. I guess I'm kinda guilty of that... I was happy to see Quantum Tangle win the Indigenous Album of the Year.  I saw their ground breaking showcase at a music conference last fall and had a nice elevator chat, too. In their acceptance speech, as in a few others, they acknowledged that we were on the traditional territory of several Indigenous Nations and they had a big shout out to the "two-spirit" people, the trans community. I watched a bit of the backstage media room where I saw Minister Melanie Jolie being cornered about what the government could do support "music cities" by making less red-tape for venue owners.  She cited some initiatives in London, England regarding this and said they were watching the developments in hopes of developing similar solutions in cities like Toronto and Montreal. I'm not seeing a lot of action from Toronto's Music Office – like Mendelson Joe says, "The name of the game ain't schmaltz – it's results!" The big TV broadcast on Sunday kicked off on a very Indigenous note with Buffy and Tribe Called Red and Pow-Wow dancers too. But that host, Russell Peters, like Tom Power,  never found his stride, and also ruffled a few feathers with his off-colour comments.  I've never seen him do his stand-up but I'll never forget the first time I saw him was, ironically, at the media event where they rolled him out as the new host for the Calgary JUNOs and just from what he was saying off the cuff at that presser was enough to have me shaking my head…"they're gonna put that guy on TV???"  Anyway, he's done pretty well for himself.  In his defense, the writing was pretty awful but some of his ad-libs made it worse.  A lot of people skipped the TV show and I'm thinking I should have just watched Madame Secretary.  The Bryan Adams finale with toute-le-gang singing "Summer of 69" was pretty great. Ooops, that's someone at the door.  Oh it's Gary Kendall come to pick up a bass amp. That's my cue to wind it down and say goodnight. Thanks for reading this far (this was a long one...) If you know anyone who might also enjoy my updates and ramblings, direct them to www.brianblain.com where they can subscribe See you out there, BrianB (aka Butch, Bucky, Nappy, Stringbuster, Colorblind, Buddha of the Blues)

PS: if anybody out there has one of these almost antique Tascam Portastudios, I have a tape that I need to transfer.  I got a call from an old buddy who worked with me on a song called "Only The Shredder Knows".  It was written about the Iran Contra days at the White House.  I guess he's thinking that song might have a second life but the only tape I've got is the 4-track master from a Portastudio 244.  I still had mine but couldn't get it going (at least not a consistent speed).

Upcoming Shows Saturday April 8, 7:30-10:30pm Brian's All-Star Blues Campfire Jam with Manitoba Hall, Bill King and Raoul Bhaneja.  The Home Smith Bar at the Old Mill Toronto, 21 Old Mill Road.  No Cover ($20 min food & beverage) Sunday April 9 4pm  Brian Blain guesting with Julian Fauth and the Big Groove rhythm section  (Gary Kendall and Mike Fitzpatrick) at the Blue Goose Tavern, 1 Blue Goose St, Etobicoke   416-255-2442 Monday May 1, 7:30  Brian's Acoustic Blues Campfire Jam  at Originals, 1660 Bayview Ave. All Musicians Welcome.  No Cover Saturday May 6, 1:00pm guesting at Linda Stitt's Words & Music Salon at The Smiling Buddha  961 College Street.  No Cover Saturday May 13, 7:30-10:30pm Brian's All-Star Blues Campfire Jam and Motherless Day Celebration with Roberta Hunt, Carrie Chesnutt and Alison Young.  The Home Smith Bar at the Old Mill Toronto, 21 Old Mill Road.  No Cover ($20 min food & beverage)

Rockin Johnny @sugarbrownblues sittin in at the Blue Goose. I'll be playing bass with them Sat @CastrosLounge

via Instagram @brianblain

Blainletter #89

** An old tradition gets a new lease on life at the Old Mill Toronto
------------------------------------------------------------
We're kicking off the "Second Saturday" Campfire Jams at the Old Mill this Saturday (7:30 start) with 3 generations of blues masters.  Ken Whiteley was already blues royalty in Toronto when I arrived in 1990.  Then shortly after I arrived I was hearing about a young blues band called the Sidemen who were making a big buzz.  Paul Reddick has since established himself as the unofficial "poet laureate" of the blues - and still plays a helluva harp.  Then there's Sugar Brown, who crashed onto the local blues scene a few years back with an intense sound which was a little "raw" for me in the beginning but which really grows on you with repeated listening - and downright addictive as I've had the opportunity to play with him on a few occasions.  I've also played with Paul and Ken at different times so this will be a great get-together.

Unlike the previous campfire jams in clubs, this "all-star" jam brings together the top blues players on the scene today in a great venue with a beautiful grand piano. With musicians of this caliber, it will be a jam to remember.  The Blues Campfire took a bit of a hiatus for the last couple of years but I've been lured back to present an "invitational" jam, with people getting paid!  Wow, is that radical these days.  I went from paying my guest $50 bucks when I did my Thursdays at the Tranzac, then it was complimentary beverage for the jammers at Hwy 61, until we took it to the Gladstone where jammers got nothing.

You can see why I ran out of steam. A lot of people, even some musicians, don't like the  jamming thang. It does not really fit into a career-development strategy (It's never done much for my career development but I just love to jam - especially when I get to play bass),  I remember asking a busy guitar player to jam when I first got to Toronto and he hummed and hawwed a bit and I realized that when musicians got together in this town, it was usually a "project."  But we're going to raise the ante with this series at the Old Mill - I hope we get an audience and I hope they get us.

Thanks to Winterfolk for bringing me in to do a Blues Campfire at their festival (I also got to do a solo concert which was packed and appreciative). The Winterfolk Campffire jam featured Mr. Rick, Kim Doolittle, Julian Taylor, Danny Marks and I got to meet larger-than-life bassman Jerome Tucker plus I got to jam for the first time with a bona fide Canadian Blues treasure, David Essig. David, Rick and I also did a blues fingerpicking workshop (pictured) and passed along a few tips and tricks to the many guitarists in attendance.

This was all happening the same week-end as The Folk Alliance Conference in Kansas City. I've been to Folk Alliance a few times and I caught myself wishing I was there until I realized all those folks were showcasing so they could get to play at festivals - and here I was playing a festival.  Now of course there are festivals and there are FESTIVALS but for me it's always about discovery and even at a modest local festival like Winterfolk I discovered plenty of great music and I dare say I got discovered by a few new fans myself.  Of course, most people still don't know me, which was demonstrated by the review in Cashbox which praised the Campfire Jam I hosted and said nice things about a couple of songs I sang but thought I was Mr. Rick.(one of those "good news/bad news" reviews :-)  Below is a little video montage I made of some of the acts I was able to catch. The absolute highlight for me was the hilarious Wendell Ferguson. He was cracking us up and started to single me
out with his one liners but I got him at his own game when he was declining to do a special request because he thought he'd mess up some of the chords and I shouted out "that's alright, you messed up the chords in the last tune and it was fine!."  I got a big laugh from his crowd!  Of course, he couldn't mess up any chords even if he tried (tho he does have one tune where he plays some god-awful chords - on purpose!)
https://youtu.be/mZegK-m0B_Y
I keep hearing about all the great acts I missed at Winterfolk but here 's 4 minutes of the ones I caught starting with me kicking off the Blues Campfire


** Upcoming
Shows
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday March 11, 7:30-10:30pm Brian's All-Star Blues Campfire Jam with Ken Whiteley, Paul Reddick and Sugar Brown  The Home Smith Bar at the Old Mill Toronto, 21 Old Mill Road.  No Cover ($20 min food & beverage)

Friday March 24, 7:30  Brian Blain & Larry Kurtz    The Edge Wine Bar 205467 Dufferin County Road 109, Orangeville   519-940-1111.  No Cover

Saturday April 8, 7:30-10:30pm Brian's All-Star Blues Campfire Jam with Manitoba Hall, Bill King and more  The Home Smith Bar at the Old Mill Toronto, 21 Old Mill Road.  No Cover ($20 min food & beverage)

Sunday April 9 4pm  Brian Blain guesting with Julian Fauth and the Big Groove rhythm section  (Gary Kendall and Mike Fitzpatrick) at the Blue Goose Tavern, 1 Blue Goose St, Etobicoke   416-255-2442

Blainletter #88

** Hello friends
------------------------------------------------------------
Well it looks like we will be gigging next week! And lo and behold I'm not waiting till the day before to get the word out.  Next Thursday, it's a house concert in a great room that Ann Kerr-Linden has built in her house near Spadina & Bloor - perfect for storytelling  and music. She has asked for RSVPs so she can prepare - there will be tea and cookies on the break.  And when you reply, feel free to make a request - I'm still putting together the set list and could use a little guidance. I have some great memories doing a bunch of house concerts on the Home Routes circuit in Manitoba and Sask with Allan Fraser.  I hope they can keep that great initiative going (thinking of you, Mitch).

And I'm happy to announce the return of the Blues Campfire (literally).  Bev & Howard had borrowed it for the late night jam on Harlan's Porch at FMO and handed it back at an event at a record label office just down the street.  It was a private showcase for Ann Vriend who just won the Cobalt Prize for songwriting but even if she never wrote a mumbling word she has a voice that's one-in-a-million. Now I'll be firing up the Campfire for a jam at the Winterfolk festival (Sunday, Feb 19 3pm) and then for a residency at the Home Smith Bar in the Old Mill - better known as a classy jazz venue with a beautiful grand piano (which we will be making good use of).  See the sidebar for all the great performers who will be joining me.

I'm noticing way less activity on the list serves (maple blue, maple post) and wondering if it's getting a little redundant to post gigs there.  It was great when it was the only game in town but now there are so many ways to spread the word.  I remember people would end their posts with "MOATM:" (Music On At The Moment).  I loved that.


** Congratulations are in Order
------------------------------------------------------------
MOATM is CIUT-FM, listening to John Valenteyn's radio show.  He's playing all the JUNO blues nominees who were just announced on Tuesday (this is the spot where I should insert a short whine wondering why I wasn't invited this year - I would have liked to see what that new Rebel nightclub looks like). It's a great slate and congrats to all the nominees - especially Sean Pinchin who I've been following carefully over the last couple of years. I love the way he plays. Glad to see Paul Reddick, who I haven't played with in years but who will be joining me at the Blues Campfire on March 11.  Both Colins are nominated this year (Linden & James). Colin James played a killer set at a private showcase at the Horseshoe last month (Steve Marriner was sitting in and will be joining him for the tour). And then there's Whitehorse who stepped out of their usual comfort zone to make a quick-and-dirty blues album and it mostly works.  It's called "Vol 1" but I wonder if there will be a Vol
2... Luke says it was a bit of a "fun" side-project for these two but I doubt they'll be trying to get gigs on the blues circuit (where, as they say, there's "hundreds of dollars to be made"). Other (non-blues) friends who were nominated include Brenna MacCrimmon (Turkwaz), Chris McKhool (Sultans of String) and Jesse King, aka Dubmatix.  You can see the complete list at www.junoawards.ca (http://www.junoawards.ca/) .
The Canadian contingent at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis made us proud this year.  Dawn Tyler Watson (backed up by the Ben Racine Band) won first prize and it must be extra sweet for DTW who just came out of a triple-bypass heart operation. Amazing.
https://youtu.be/LXEFnsDGEoc
Dawn Tyler wasn't sure she'd be doing any singing at the Summit as she was still recovering from triple bypass but she did get up and do a little a cappella number.  Obviously she had fully recovered by the time she got to Memphis
Congrats also to JW-Jones and Ben Racine for their awards and also to my buddy Ken Kawashima, aka Sugar Brown, who made it into the finals and I bet would've won if harmonica maestro Bharath Rajakumar had been able to join him as planned.  Great that he got to hang with his mentor, Taildragger, who taught him the ropes when he was coming up in Chicago. All the info is at www.blues.org (http://www.blues.org/)

A lot of my friends and colleagues feel a little uncomfortable about the "competitive" aspect of these awards programmes. It doesn't fit our Canadian ethos.  I got to hang out with Harry Manx while he was touring out this way and he talked about how different it was in India where the musicians are really competitive, often trash-talking each other.  Now that would never happen here ;-)


** Summit Stuff
------------------------------------------------------------

January was chock full of great blues - imagine the 30 top blues bands in the country all under one roof - that was the Blues Summit.  Of the 250 delegates there were probably 50 or so "talent buyers" and for two days they had to sit at tables in the hotel ballroom while artists and managers skipped from one table to the next to make their "elevator pitch."  After 5 minutes, Alice would announce that we had to move to the next table. Kind of speed-dating for gigs. I ran into a few people who liked what I do and maybe I'll get a gig or two.  From my experience, everybody at these things already knows who they want to book and if there's any spots left after that they will go with the artists who their colleagues are keen about. I had more success as a "buyer" and was able to line up some great guests for the Blues Campfire at the Home Smith Bar.

There were a few panel discussions about career development and all that, but I didn't get to much and the ones I attended...well, I've heard it all before.  This is usually the spot in my blog where I would pass along some of the "tips" I picked up but alas, I don't have anything.  Wait a minute, let me look through my notebook again. OK, here's something: The Ontario Arts Council now has an easy online grant application process. That would be worth checking out: www.arts.on.ca  (http://www.arts.on.ca )

I skipped out of the Sunday panels to hear Harpdog Brown and Steve Kozak sitting in with Dr Nick at the Rex and Harpdog remains a big favourite of all the showcasing artists.  I saw him play several times while he was in this area and he's got that "larger than life" thing going for him.  He plays great harp and his guitar player, Jordy, is my kind of guitar player.

Guitar players ruled at the Summit - one night it was just one guitarslinger after another, and even though it was the best players in the country, your eyes started to glaze over after awhile. One standout solo was former child prodigy Ricky Paquette playing with Angel Forrest (and now sporting a mustache!)  On another night I heard some grumbling that some of these bands would be more at home in a Holiday Inn lounge.  It's ironic that everybody strives to be unique and yet the more generic you sound, the better chance of getting the gigs.

One artist I was impressed with, though I still haven't heard her play, was Chuckee Zehr.  What a neat lady and when I asked around about her piano playing I heard nothing but high praise.  I'm going to hear her play even if I have to go to Stratford!
My favourite moment in the whole summit week-end (probably because it's the only chance I got to play) was a late night jam/guitar-pull in Brian Mortimer's hotel room.  Great to watch the "new kid on the block," Mark Crissinger swapping licks with one of his heroes, Jack de Keyzer.  Then there was Steve Strongman and Paul Deslauriers pulling out unlikely tunes that were definitely not in their "wheelhouse." Lots of laughs.
The culmination of the Blues Summit was the Maple Blues Awards gala and it was a great show - fabulous, moving performances and a sweep for Quebec artists.  How nice it was to hang with the legendary Stephen Barry who I knew way back when in (lower) Westmount.  He received a lifetime achievement award and well-deserved it was. I couldn't get over MC Steve Marriner's impressions of Paul Reddick and Richard Flohil.  As if he isn't busy enough with music projects, I wouldn't be surprised if Hollywood doesn't come calling pretty soon. All the winners at http://torontobluessociety.com/about-maple-blues-awards/


**
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** Fraser & DeBolt EP
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The Minneapolis-based label Roaratorio Records has released a three-song vinyl EP by the legendary Canadian duo of Allan Fraser and Daisy DeBolt. The disk showcases the majestic David Owen tune “Zero ± 22 and Holding (Flight Of The Light Air Force)”.

Side two includes two songs recorded live at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in 1970. Allan Fraser’s signature tune “Dance Hall Girls” is followed by a rollicking version of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

The  record is a follow-up to the 2016, 2-LP release “This Song Was Borne.” The albums together are a retrospective of Allan and Daisy’s musical partnership which dated from 1969 to 1975. Both are available online from www.roaratorio.com and on iTunes. The disks include a bonus download code with purchase.



** On the Road Again
------------------------------------------------------------
Well it wasn't exactly like the last time I toured with Harry Manx, but I hitched a ride with Harry and Clayton Doley for part of their Ontario tour last week and even though I was starting to think my touring days were over, I managed quite well. And I had as much fun as you could have without actually playing (when I toured with Harry back in 05/06 I was his support act). I made a little movie of our adventure and Harry also has been playing around with the iMovie.  Check them out on our respective Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/HarryManx  and www.facebook.com/brianblain.musician
Tomorrow night I'm going to a gallery opening of paintings by troubadour Tom Russell (he's playing at the Dakota on Saturday - 7pm show). I got to hang out with him a few years back in Massachusetts but I don't expect he'll remember me. Saturday I'm looking forward to hearing kora master Diely (pronounced "jelly") Mori Tounkara at the Alliance Francaise.  But wait a minute, I'm going to miss the best part of the Grammys, the Saturday webcast of all the "lesser" awards that don't get on the Sunday prime time TV show.  I hear Gary Clark Jr with William Bell will perform on the Sunday night show. Nice that the blues gets some mainstream  attention, but it always seems to include Gary Clark Jr.  He's great. It's all good...

Lots on my "to-do" list.  I started to make a proper video of "Ramene Moi Demain" with more beautiful (hi-res) pics by lyricist Daniel Racine.  We also worked together on an English translation and I'm now learning how to make subtitles.  Stringbuster (and the Robot Johnson Project) are inching forward but it's always pushing the capabilities of my little Macbook Pro, especially when you're trying to use state-of-the-art machine learning and artificial intelligence. It's one step forward and two steps back. We'll get there and it will be...HHHHHUGE!

That's it for now. There's more commentary and some great video clips from the Summit on my blog (http://torontobluesdiary.blogspot.com/) . Check out my Facebook musician page (http://facebook.com/brianblain.musician) and give me a "like".

See you out there, BrianB
Thanks for subscribing to the (mostly)monthly Blainletter. If this is one-too-many emails for you, you can unsubscibe at the bottom of the message. Anyway, most of this content is culled from my blog, torontobluesdiary.com so you can always read it there.


**
UPCOMING SHOWS
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Thursday, Feb 16 -
House Concert (solo)  at Ann Kerr-Linden, 48 Dalton Road (at Lowther) Toronto  Doors at 6:30 (turn right and go down the stairs)   Music starts at 7:00 pm  $20 or PWYC -  RSVP brianblain@brianblain.ca (or surprise me)


Saturday February 18  7PM   The Black Swan Tavern (https://www.reverbnation.com/venue/143472?)  (main floor) 154 Danforth Ave Toronto
Concert: Brian Blain (solo)

Sunday February 19  3PM Terri O's 185 Danforth Ave
The Blues Campfire with host Brian Blain
Hour 1 – Danny Marks, David Essig, Jerome Tucker
Hour 2 – Mr. Rick, Kim Doolittle, Julian Taylor

Sunday February 19  7PM The Black Swan Tavern (https://www.reverbnation.com/venue/143472?)  (main floor) 154 Danforth Ave Toronto
Workshop: Finger Picking the Blues host David Essig with Brian Blain & Mr. Rick
The Blues Campfire goes Uptown


** Saturday, March 11
Home Smith Bar at the Old Mill Toronto
Brian's Blues Campfire with special guests Paul Reddick and Ken Whiteley

Saturday, April 8
Home Smith Bar at the Old Mill Toronto
Brian's Blues Campfire with special guests Bill King and Manitoba Hal
------------------------------------------------------------


I call it my "living" album because it started life as a solo "live" recording with bassist George Koller and has now been "sweetened, stacked, mixed and mastered" with new instrumentation on all the songs. It starts with New Orleans marching horns from Alison Young and Colleen Allen on "Forgotten",  “Alice“ gets violin and banjo from Drew Jurecka and Tim Posgate. There's a reggae percussion workout with Trinidadian Wayne Stoute and the wonderful Michelle Josef, some sweet slide from Harry Manx on the French tune, barrelhouse piano from Toronto expat Patrick Godfrey and organ grooves galore from Australian B3 sensation Clayton Doley. "The Ghost of Clinton's Tavern" is a full-tilt electronic ambient remix by my son the DJ. You won’t believe that these are the same basic tracks that I released on the original "New Folk Blues"

Jim Galloway's Wee Big Band lives on thanks to Martin Loomer, Brigham Phillips and 92-year old pianist Ralph Fraser. Inspiring.

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Dawn Tyler Watson at the Blues Summit

Congratulations are in order

Now watching the JUNO Nominee announcement webcast.  That's very convenient since outside is miserable freezing rain but I'm still feeling a little left out that I didn't get invited this year. I would have liked to check out the Rebel nightclub (formerly Sound Academy).  I think it's the biggest club in town (45.000 square feet!).  I heard in the speeches that they have a new publicist so I guess I'm not on "the list."  But I rise above these petty things and am glad to promote the blues nominees, the two Colin's, Sean Pinchin, Paul Reddick and, the dark horse nominees, Whitehorse - not regular players on the blues scene but deserve it for bringing the blues vibe to a mainstream audience. It was a bit of a "fun side-project" for these two and I don't expect their next album to be anything near blues but it was nice to have them visiting in our world for a while. I doubt they'll be trying to get gigs on the blues circuit (where, as they say, there's "hundreds of dollars to be made"). Other (non-blues) friends who were nominated include Brenna MacCrimmon (Turkwaz), Chris McKhool (Sultans of String) and Jesse King, aka Dubmatix.  You can see the complete list at www.junoawards.ca.

The Canadian contingent at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis made us proud this year.  Dawn Tyler Watson (backed up by the Ben Racine Band) won first prize and it must be extra sweet for DTW who just came out of a triple-bypass heart operation. Amazing.  I had a nice chat with her at the Blues Summit and she did an accapella tune at a private showcase by the Montreal & Ottawa Blues societies.  You can watch it here

Congrats also to JW-Jones and Ben Racine for their awards and also to my buddy Ken Kawashima, aka Sugar Brown, who made it into the finals and I bet would've won if harmonica maestro Bharath Rajakumar had been able to join him as planned.  Great that he got to hang with his mentor, Taildragger, who taught him the ropes when he was coming up in Chicago. All the info is at www.blues.org

A lot of my friends and colleagues feel a little uncomfortable about the "competitive" aspect of these awards programmes. It doesn't fit our Canadian ethos.  I got to hang out with Harry Manx while he was touring out this way and he talked about how different it was in India where the musicians are really competitive, sometimes trash-talking each other.  Now that would never happen here ;-)

And the Maple Blues Awards also happened and it was a great show - fabulous, moving performances and a sweep for Quebec artists.  How nice it was to hang with the legendary Stephen Barry who I knew way back when in (lower) Westmount.  He received a lifetime achievement award and well-deserved it was. I couldn't get over MC Steve Marriner's impressions of Paul Reddick and Richard Flohil.  As if he isn't busy enough with music projects, I wouldn't be surprised if Hollywood doesn't come calling pretty soon. All the winners at http://torontobluessociety.com/about-maple-blues-awards/

A few memorable moments from the Maple Blues Awards and after-party

Decompressing from 4 solid days of blues w venison and jazz contrafacts @jazzbistroTO

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Saturday @tobluessociety #bluessummit8

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@Harpdogbrown Fabulous band. Nailed it @tobluessociety #bluessummit8 Bound to win the IBC

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Down home blues with Tim Williams @tobluessociety #bluessummit8 @ Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre Hotel

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Blackburn killin it @tobluessociety #bluessummit8

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Blainletter #87b | Happy New Year | Return of the Blues Campfire | New songs in the works

*Addendum to the Blainletter:  For those who read to the end and saw my prediction of how the Runes would predict my fate for the coming year....here's what I got (just like I said). My current situation is Isa (Ice, That Which Impedes) which tells me "Positive Accomplishment is unlikely now. Do not rely on help or friendly support."  Argh!  The action recommended is Nauthiz (Constraint) "When the fishermen can't go to sea, they repair nets."  Well, maybe that's a nudge to more songwriting. As I mentioned below, I've got a couple of tunes in the works and I had forgotten to mention a piece I started to work on with my son the DJ.  It's called "Never Again" and we're using all that electronical craziness so I'm anxious to see how it works out.  You'll be the first to know :-) A big shout-out to Jan Hall at Folk Roots Radio who just tweeted that mine was one of here favourite interviews of 2016.  It was a great interview, especially considering it was on the Sunday morning after and intense week-end at the Folk Music Ontario conference and we were both cooked! You can hear it here Blainletter #87b | Happy New Year | Return of the Blues Campfire | New songs in the works Happy New Year!  The Blainletter lives on another year.  If I didn't keep running into people who tell me how much they enjoy it, I might have abandoned this.  Nor will I abandon playing guitar just because I'm not drawing big crowds or selling loads of CDs because when I do have occasion to play, like at a kitchen party last week, I'm glad to look out and see some smiling faces who seem to enjoy what I'm doing.  More than once in the last year, I've been with musician friends – some far more established than me - but equally discouraged, and we just throw our hands in the air saying "what are we gonna do? We're not going to stop playing guitar." I'm still working on my "back-up" plan  - an instrumental show for the "non-listening, non-interested" crowd with my "hyper looper," aka Robot Johnson. I had really pulled out the stops to get it presentable for some special events in the new year but it's still not stable or ready for prime time.  And just this week the MIDI pedalboard broke down so I'm going to have to deal with that.  What are you gonna do… – it's a lifetime project and nobody ever accused me of being in a rush. Things might move along a little quicker now that I'm hooked up with a world-wide open-source project by the Google Brain Team called Magenta which is focused on using Artificial Intelligence and "machine learning" technologies to create tools for musicians. On a positive note, it looks like I broke through my writer's block (3 or 4 years since I wrote a song) but now I've got a tune and a half in the works.  The new one is called "I'm not 50 anymore." And on the homefront, Linda was up from the Cape so we had a nice little family turkey dinner – can't remember ever having Xmas dinner at home since I've been in Toronto.  New Year's Eve I had an early (vegan) dinner with friends and was in bed by midnight.  2016 was discharged by a ritual squeezing of the last bit of toothpaste from the tube and archiving a hard drive that was 90% full.  End of year is when I used to clean out all my email folders and start with a fresh in-box but since I started with Gmail, where nothing gets thrown away, now I've got an inbox with 4000 unread messages (Maybe I should do a little purging there too…) Return of the Campfire Jam Over the last year, I've been asked regularly "when are you going to have another Campfire Jam?" and my usual answer was that I was just getting too old to schlepp my bass, a couple of guitars, amp(s) and all or part of a PA system through proverbial sleet and snow.  How well I remember trying to dodge the traffic as I made my way across Bayview while carrying way too much gear.  And what started out as a decent payday for me and a complimentary beverage for the jammers worked its way down to everybody playing for free and and an expectation that they would bring along some paying customers. The final existential blow was an underlying attitude from "industry" people that jamming was a frivolous waste of time for any musician who was serious about building a career/business. But lo and behold, the Campfire has been given a new lease on life by an unlikely angel – the venerable Old Mill which has been presenting jazz, and nothing but jazz, for 3+ nights a week in their cozy Home Smith Bar for the last few years.  After I did a couple of shows there (the only blues shows on their calendar), I have been invited to have a monthly Campfire Jam starting March 11 'til June on the "Second Saturdays."

In addition to the invitation to bring the Blues Campfire to the Old Mill following our CD re-launch in October, it turns out there was a lawyer in the audience who invited us to play his company Christmas party and this is the band I put together.  What a delight playing with the legendary Michael Fonfara (we had recorded together but never played a gig) as well as my dream-team rhythm section, George Koller and Michelle Josef.

The Old Mill Campfire will be a little different from the traditional campfire jams. My marching orders are "nothing resembling an open mic" which kinda runs counter to the original Campfire philosophy that "everyone is welcome and long, self-indulgent solos are encouraged".  They want the A-list of blues artists and are providing the budget to book them.  Much as I enjoyed jamming around the campfire with stars like Matt Andersen and David Gogo, the real magic for me was bringing up a guy who hadn't taken his Larivee guitar out of the closet for 20 years (and came back the next week to tell me he had started playing it again) or that ten-year old kid named Charlie who got to jam with another Charlie (A'Court) who had some kind words of encouragement for him that I'm sure meant a lot.  Or hooking up Terry Gillespie with Max Cann from the UK and having them go on to collaborate on tours and recordings. These are the times I felt like I'm doing something worthwhile. Ahead of the Old Mill residency, we will be kicking off the 2017 Campfire season with a campfire jam at Winterfolk where we will gather together some of the blues artists that Brian Gladstone is bringing up to the Danforth February 17-19.  And maybe down the line we'll find a home for a more casual campfire like the old days.  But it will take a supportive venue and maybe a sidekick to do the heavy lifting. Well, that will be it for this Blainletter.  I did get out to some shows and have posted some Instagram clips on my  blog. And while it's still the first day of the year, I'm going to go upstairs and cast my Runes and I bet you anything they will tell me the same thing they have every year..."plant the seed and wait for the harvest,"  "do not rush into battle" ...stuff like that. We'll see. Thanks for reading and see you out there, BrianB (aka Butch, Bucky, Buddha of the Blues, Stringbuster, Colorblind Blain, Whining Brine :-)

Cecile @cdkmusik plays her ass off @hughsroom

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@distilleryblues warms up for Cecile @cdkmusic @hughsroom

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Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends though I dare say most are not feeling very thankful these days. Is it any consolation that it probably won't be as bad as we expect. A special greeting to my biggest fan in the states, Alice Brock, who will probably be the subject of more interviews and articles this week because she's been the poster-gal for Thanksgiving ever since Arlo put out "Alice's Restaurant."

There are no gigs coming up in December but I had to get out this Blainletter because there's so much else to write about starting with all the great musicians who passed away this month - Leonard, Leon, Mose Allison and now Sharon Jones.

Meanwhile, a local favourite, Brian Cober, is having a serious health crisis and a tribute concert was held last Friday at Grossman's, where he's had an 11-year run of his weekly jam.  Most of the Grossman's regulars were joined by some top notch players including Daniel Lanois who rode in on a motorcycle did a couple of tunes on Mike Daley's Telecaster, playing it so hard that someone said there was blood on the floor.  I wasn't there but I watched it on Facebook Live.  It was not as smooth as watching something on TV but it was quite manageable. It was amazing watching Lanois getting all these out-of-this-world sounds from a borrowed guitar and no fancy pedals and gadgetry.  It's all in the fingers, like they say.

My fingers were practically bleeding the last couple of times I played (I did a couple of Mondays at Wolf Like Me but alas, they've decided to get some big screen TVs and turn it into a sports bar.  Another one bites the dust - everybody that played there loved it! Just down the road on College, it seems Fat City Blues is back on their feet.  It's a terrific room - I may have been a bit premature when I announced their demise in the MapleBlues, but its was just a "hiatus".  Get out there and encourage them (and any other live music venues that are still standing).

Nowadays everybody's quite curious about Toronto's glory days as a music city, and it still is a great music city - just not the kind of music I'm playing.  But I am still having fun making music on the old laptop and we're going to get that out one of these days.  I have a new collaborator that I got together with while Joel is in the States and I can hardly wait to see what kind of sounds we can put out when it's the three of us.  Stand by for Stringbuster.

Speaking of the glory days, I'm sitting on a big box of ten-inch reels of recordings from the early days of Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks.  And I think some the Hawks without Ronnie.  It was Paul Benedict who gave them to me - he was on the road with Ronnie for ten years.  He passed away this year and we had a nice musical celebration of his life out in Stratford a few months back.

Here's a little treasure that was restored from the community television (cable) station where I did a weekly show for a while.  They put up one show with me interviewing this old couple and here's one of me playing with my "one-man-band" rig featuring the sought-after Roland TB-303 Bassline.

I've told you all about the Fraser & DeBolt double album that Roaratorio Records just put out but I never told you the story of how one song got left off (and ironically was left off the album it was originally recorded for, Fraser & DeBolt With Pleasure). I was the producer and we had to leave it off and there was simply no room - you had 22 min per side and any more than that, you would be risking skips in the record. James at Roaratorio loved the tune and considered it a real centerpiece of the album but at the last minute, after the album was mastered, the author declined permission to use it and we had to find a couple of tunes to replace it.  Then, wouldn't ya know, he changed his mind and granted permission and, because he thought this was such an important part of the F & DeB dicography, James decided to put it out as an EP.  You can buy/hear it here:

What a week, cont'd

Two amazing musicians died this week. Leon Russel blew my mind when I picked up his debut album.  I was not a record collector.  I did not own a lot of records and I don't know how I came to own that album but I remember that blue cover like yesterday and I played the shit out of it.  I loved his playing and his attack on the piano and I think it was a big influence on my guitar playing.

Then there's Leonard Cohen. The opposite of the slickness and drive that Leon put out and he was not really my cup of tea. Though I saw a couple of his shows and I was even in the same room as him a couple of times I never really met him. But I dare say that I was a bit of an influence on him.  Let me tell you the story.

In 72-73 I was performing with 3 female back up singers. Just me and the girls (the original Blainettes, sue Lothrop, Joanne Smith and Estelle St-Croix) This is when I had just signed with Good Noise Records and they were giving us the big push. We had some choice gigs opening for Lou Reed and Seals & Crofts and were first on in a huge benefit concert in Montreal for the displaced natives of James Bay.  Joni Mitchell, Loudon Wainwright and many big Quebec stars were on the bill.

Anyway, one day I get a call while I was back in Sherbrooke at my parents' place from Lewis Furey who I had played with briefly and who was always hanging around the Good Noise offices - he was quite smitten with our receptionist but also expecting that sooner or later Andre Perry would recognize his talent and sign him up too.  I seem to remember him saying to my face " How come he won't sign me and he signed YOU??"  He was a pretty straightforward guy, and a bit "entitled" but he certainly proved that he was a big (multi)talent and had a great career in Quebec and France, even though he was just too precious to make it in the states.

But back to that phone call, it was Lewis calling to say he hoped I didn't mind but he had just hired 2 of my 3 back-up singers to work with him. Well there wasn't much to say but I felt a little put off by that and didn't really have a lot of work at that point. But then it was only a few months later that I heard Leonard Cohen had scooped 2 of the three singers from Lewis (who was a friend and collaborator of Cohen's - they wrote a musical together. So that's my rather distant "influence" on Leonard Cohen. He had never used backup singers till then and they became an essential part of his sound forevermore.

As I sidebar to this story, I just learned this week as I was reading about Cohen's passing that his most famous song, "Hallelujah" was produced and arranged by John Lissauer, who was the arranger on my sessions in Montreal. In fact, these may have been the first sessions he worked on when he was brought up from New York by Frazier Mohawk, who was producing. John went on to produce a couple of albums for Lewis and that classic album for Leonard, which I just learned was initially rejected by Cohen's label, and ended up being released on a small independent label. Walter Yetnikoff, the head of Columbia did not like the synthesizers (never before used on a Cohen album) and thought it wasn't commercial enough. Columbia later bought back the master when they released all Cohen's work on CD. But since the record had been rejected, no contract was ever signed by Lissauer and he never saw a penny from that recording. He's quite stoic about the whole thing, even though it became one of the most covered songs in history...and though he would never claim any authorship, some of those chords were a bit beyond what Leonard was used to strumming on that old classical guitar of his.  Lissauer never pursued it and never worked with Cohen again.  He even stated that he felt a little guilty that his production had derailed Cohen's career. And if even a classic like "Hallelujah" could be rejected by the biggest label of the day, maybe some of my songwriter friends reading this can have a little hope that their dismissed masterpiece might one day be a classic, too.

What a Week

It's Remembrance Day and I just took a break from my croissant and coffee at 11 for a moment of silence for the veterans. I don't have a lot of early childhood memories but I do remember being taken to the ceremonies at the Cenotaph in Sherbrooke standing by my dad in his full military regalia. Then there would be some socializing at the Armoury of the Sherbrooke Regiment. PTSD is not a term that existed in those days but surely my father suffered from it. My mother said many times that when he came back from the war he was not the same man. And I dare say that I was also a victim of his PTSD. There were lots of good things in my childhood - I had it quite easy, but no matter how much love or attention I surely received from him, it was always overlaid with a sense of fear that never went away. I guess I could have tried harder to gain his approval, or had the courage to stand up to him, but I just kept my head low and got out of there as soon as I could and never looked back.

As I try to be a better Buddhist I had an interesting experience a couple of days ago at the Tim Hortons. I had ordered my breakfast sandwich and set my coffee down at a table that was free. As I waited at the counter, I watched as an elderly, rather scruffy, Chinese gentleman shuffled over to my table, sat down and removed the top off my coffee. I stopped him before he could get his first swig, saying that was my coffee, and he just stood up and left. I then sat eating my breakfast thinking "I should have just bought the old boy a coffee." And then I had a moment of self-satisfaction thinking "well, at least I realized that I should have had a little compassion" so maybe that was a small step towards being a Boddhisattva. Intention is everything, right? Then as I was finishing my sandwich, lo and behold, he walks back in right past me and sits at a table behind me reading the Chinese newspaper and trying to look like he belongs. And I'm thinking, "that's Buddha who just walked in and I have a second chance to do the right thing." (he did look a lot like an old Buddhist monk). There was still lots of coffee left in my cardboard cup so as I left, I set it down on his table. He said "Thank You, Thank You very much." And now I'm just left with the thought, "I should have bought him his own coffee...and maybe a donut...he was probably hungry..." but, hey, we do what we can and hope for the best.

Speaking of hoping for the best, I had trouble getting to sleep on election night...and I never have trouble getting to sleep! What have they wrought upon themselves, those poor Americans. I remember a quote from Adlai Stevenson when he was running for President. After one of his stump speeches, a supporter told him "Every thinking American will vote for your" and Stevenson replied, "yes, but I need a majority!" Some people are calling it a "white-lash" and maybe a Trump presidency will sustain the last vestiges of white supremacy for another generation by making anyone who isn't white and Christian feel less welcome at the table. Why is it that human nature makes people feel better about themselves by feeling that they're better than someone else? Religion just reinforces that tendency, even when it is cloaked in love and compassion. "God loves you sinners, too." Though there are probably as many God-fearing Christians who think the unfaithful will burn in hell. That's still not as bad as the fundamentalist Muslims who think infidels should be killed and are willing to die trying. Yikes! So glad I found a spiritual practice that has no God, no priests and no judgement but still provides a way to elevate our life condition and remind us that there is more to our life than the mundane day-to-day existence, no matter how comfortable.

West Coast blues in the west end @harpdogbrown & Jordy Edmonds

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Luke & The Apostles play Wolf @hughsroom

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Enjoying last #pedestriansunday in #kensingtonmarket for this season @kensington_bia

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Folkin Around in Ottawa

The Folk Music Ontario Conference is the annual love-in of folk and roots musicians and those who support this genre, with radio shows on community and campus radio, booking and managing folk artists, publishing folk-friendly magazines like Penguin Eggs and MapleBlues and a (very) few folk record labels. It was my role as (barely)managing editor of Maple Blues that brought me to the conference but I was happy to be invited to perform in of one of the private showcase rooms called Harlan's Porch. In previous years, I brought my campfire and hosted the late night jam but this year I told her I didn't have it in me to stay up till 5am (but I let them use my campfire anyway). Apparently they went till 6:30! It was hosted by publicist Beverly Kreller and Howard Druckman, who is editor of SOCAN Words & Music - now digital only. I forgot to ask him how that was going, but I'm sure SOCAN has saved a lot of money since they stopped printing that glossy mag. I miss it. There's no substitute for a hard copy, as they say, and I have to admit I haven't spent much time checking out their online edition.

My showcases were sparsely attended but as I looked around I realized that all those earnest young folksingers down the hall would have given their eye teeth to have the folks who came out to see me - record labels, studio owners, festival founders...but it's not because they came to sign me or hire me, it's because they're friends who wanted to support me. And the brutal truth is that the real "stakeholders" in the folk music industry already know what showcases they're going to see and it's going to be firstly the artists that they are already working with and then perhaps one or two acts that they are considering and they just want to see them playing live.

I referred to the "Corridor of Broken Dreams" when I saw the photo of the hallway of the 4th floor of the Delta Hotel where all the showcases took place. The walls had been entirely plastered with posters and I guess conference staff/volunteers had been ordered to take them all down on Sunday morning (but not necessarily remove them), so they were left on the floor, making for a rather slippery walk as I made my way to Folk Roots Radio's temporary studio for my Sunday morning interview with Jan Hall, who was M.C. for the "official" showcases and how that woman managed to remember so many details about the bands she was introducing, I'll never know. No clipboard, no crib notes, just a great memory, I guess. And what a great interview we had. I talked about my early days in Sherbrooke, my adventures with computers and my new ventures into electronica with my son Joel (aka Coi). I did a couple of tunes live and playing the blues at 9:30 in the morning is no mean feat. If you want to hear me blabbing about myself for 37 minutes, check it out here. If you want a more succinct summary of what I've been up to, I just did a much shorter interview with John Valenteyn on CIUT-FM yesterday and it will be on their website till next Thurs. Hurry Hurry :-)

I didn't stay up any longer than I had to (ie: my own showcases) so I missed out on discovering dozens of up-and-comers but I heard plenty of great music, starting with a strong Blues showcase on the Friday afternoon with Dione Taylor (who was my buddy Russ Kelley's discovery of the week-end), Suzie Vinnick, Jesse Greene and young Angelique Francis.  The Indiginous Showcase was also real powerful with performances by Nick Sherman, Leonard Sumner and the most amazing Quantum Angle.  Below is an 8-minute compilation from Saturday and they are the duo with a heavy looped sound and some real theatrics.




That compilation starts with a bit of Ian Tamblyn, a most revered folkie in the community, who regaled us with stories of his adventures in Canada's arctic where he often performs and whips around in a Zodiac inflatable boat.  A couple of hours later, I was trapped with him in a crowded, stuck elevator for half an hour so I got to hear some follow up on the stories he told at the showcase - one about a friend who was was at the water's edge skipping stones in the water when one of the stones she picked up was not a stone at all but a small ivory carving of a polar bear that turns out to be 2500 years old.  Ian sent me a picture of it:

I guess the elevator episode could be called a highlight of the week-end.  Ian not only told us stories but even demonstrated some impressive sleight-of hand and we had Tannis Slimmon there leading us in some gospel tunes.  After a while, it was starting to get a little hot in there and our link with the outside world was a disembodied voice with a far-away accent who just kept  repeating "a technician has been dispatched to your location" and it wasn't until one lady started shouting "I can't breathe, call 911!" that some hotel staff appeared on the other side of the door and pried it open.  They're probably under orders to wait for the elevator technician, but they could have done that right at the beginning.  I was already exhausted before I got in the damn elevator so I thought maybe this was an opportunity to lie down and regain my strength  (now that I'm 70 years old, I think I'm allowed!). Anyway the young night manager told me that was impossible, all the rooms were booked, and offered me a chair and a bottle of water.  In my experience with Delta hotels, they always bend over backwards to make up for any inconvenience to their patrons but this young lady was downright confrontational.  I guess she'd had it up to here with the folkies...

#fmo2016 @thedionetaylor Blues in the Capitale Room till 2 @tobluessociety

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The @TObluessociety #fmo2016 showcase schedule has changed: Friday 12:00pm Dione Taylor 12:30pm Angelique Francis 1:00pm The Jesse Greene Band 1:30pm Suzie Vinnick. Here's a taste of @thedionetaylor

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Out and About

Colin James sailed through town to promote his upcoming CD Release (featuring all the old blues classics that introduced him to the blues). The band was top notch - not sure if this will be the touring unit. He said this was their first time playing together in 2 weeks. Steve Marriner (Monkey Junk and just announced M.C of the Maple Blues Awards), Jesse O'Brien, Chris Caddell on second guitar, John Dymond on bass and I don't know who on drums, but I saw Gary Craig in the house - who is usually joined at the hip with Dymond. Would have liked to see Al Baby Webster on drums but nothing is forever. Last time I saw Colin it was a big stage/special event somewhere, and he had 5 or 6 amps all on wheels and tied together so the roadie just pulled the train onto the stage. Now CJ seemed comfortable with a single Matchless amp (which is a Rolls Royce of an amp). This was a rare occasion to see him close up and personal and as you can see from the video, I was pretty damn close. This was filmed on my iPhone SE and edited with the iMovie app on the iPhone. That's a first for me. Enjoy

Speaking of the video, I wish I could have shared a clip of Ramblin Jack Elliot who played Hugh's Room on Sunday Night but there were big signs posted "No Video Recording or photos" in addition to a personal appeal from MC/promoter Richard Flohil for "no recording" as he introduced him. I guess they were thinking that at 85 he might not always have a good night but this would count as one. I was so glad to meet him, and as they always say when you get up to that age, you never know if you'll get the chance to see him again. And I was able to get him my CD with my song about our mutual friend, Alice Brock. In fact, he joked about the first time anyone ever shouted "shut up and sing" it was Ray Brock at the venue that I think later became one of Alice's Restaurants. He sang plenty of songs and didn't "ramble on" too much. He had some great stories and ended by telling us he was about to get on a plane (more like 3 planes) to go to Arizona where Kris Kristofferson was to be honoured with some kind of Lifetime Achievement Award. They asked Jack to sing three of Kris' songs but he says "I only know one, Me and Bobby McGhee, so I guess I'll just sing it three times."

@stevemarriner ripping it up with @colinjamesmusic. Hot band. More tunage on my blog when I get home. Go Jays!

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LA maestro Roger Kellaway with Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke @JazzBistroTO. They play again tonight. Hear the whole tune at http://ift.tt/1TbKcmZ

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Roger Kellaway at Jazz Bistro

Back in the early 70s I met a couple of great musicians who had just moved to Toronto, Chuck Aarons and Jim Ackley, known as Aarons and Ackley. I was crashing at a hippie commune at 127 Hazleton and they lived at 119 Hazleton. They were signed to Capitol Records and were on the fast track to the big time. I remember Jim Ackley talking about a piano player in his hometown, LA, that he was totally hooked on. He had a couple of his albums and played them for anyone that came to 119. That piano player was Roger Kellaway, who had an impressive resume even back then and has worked with everyone from Ellington to Elvis, Dizzy Gillespie to Yo-Yo Ma and Joni Mitchell to Mancini.

Well when my friend Peter invited me to the Bistro tonight I recognized the name right away and sure enough was not disappointed. He is no doubt a jazz giant, even though in his long career he has ventured far beyond straight-ahead jazz but here he is playing with a couple of local "jazz giants," Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke. As they say, it doesn't get any better.

@grit_laskin sings about guitar building at the launch of his new coffee table book of exquisite inlay work

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@zachdbrock ripping it up with local hero @larnelllewismusic #snarkypuppytour @torontojazzfest #phoenixconcerthall

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@folkawards nominee anouncement kicks off with (what else?) a singalong

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A history lesson on #calypso in Canada @queenwestartcrawl but alas, no blues in the garden. Rained out I guess

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#nbTO16 Toronto still trying to be the centre of the universe

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#nbTO16 @agakhanmuseum

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Charlie Jacobson from Alberta checking out the local blues scene. He puts on a great show.

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All I caught @KensingtonJazz @geokoller jazz electronica session

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