Madagascar Slim (left) makes a rare Toronto appearance as special guest with Kevin Breit and the Sisters Euclid at the Toronto Blues Society's "Afro Blues" event Saturday, March 20 at the Trane Studio.

Good Blues News: There are three new blues series kicking off and two are fronted by the irrepressible Jerome Godboo. The Sky Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge in Mississauga kicks off Sky High Sunday matinee (3:30-7:30) on March 1 with Jerome Godboo and special guests (see back page ad) and the Delta Chelsea launches their Delta Blues Thursdays beginning March 12 and continuing every Thursday in March and April featuring Jack de Keyzer & Jerome Godboo for three sets, starting at 9 PM.

Jerome Godboo has released twelve albums over twenty years. Last year he was touring with the Jeff Healey tribute band and has travelled to the U.S., France, Finland, Portugal, Ukraine, Israel and toured and recorded with the Phantoms, Alannah Myles, Jeff Healey, Suzie McNeil and Ronnie Hawkins. Jerome is very excited about the new gig "We're planning on doing the Buddy Guy and Junior Wells thing, with each of us singing our heads off and playing fiery blues solos. We've got Danny Lockwood as our drummer and James Rasmussen is our bassist". Jack de Keyzer has worked with artists as varied as King Biscuit Boy, Etta James, Blue Rodeo, Robert Gordon, Otis Rush and the Bop Cats and performs over 150 shows per year. Monarchs Pub is located at 33 Gerrard Street West, between Yonge & Bay Streets. For more information please call 416-585-4352 or visit www.monarchspub.ca

In addition, The Old Mill is starting a once a month Blues Series in early April. At this time there are three shows on the calendar. The April and June shows feature Chuck Jackson`s Big Blues Band with special guest Jack de Keyzer in April and Donnie Walsh in June. On May 4th The Maple Blues Revue will do a CD release party for "Live at Twisted Pines" as part of the series

New Talkin' Blues podcast: Mako Funasaka has posted a new podcast which features Treasa Levasseur's performance from the Maple Blues Awards. www.talkinblues.com

Jerome Godboo (right) breaks in two new blues venues, the Sky Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge, where he will play a Sunday matinee and Thursday nights at Monarch's Pub in the Delta Chelsea Hotel where he will share the stage with Jack de Keyzer.

Chris & Diana at Trane: Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whiteley, recently returned from Russia, perform a “Tribute to Blue Bird Records Sound” at Trane Studio, 964 Bathurst St.
on Friday March 6, 2009 at 9:00 pm, They will be joined by special guest, Susan Wylde. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the December 6th Fund
For more information and reservations call The Trane Studio at 416-913-8197

The Toronto Downtown Record Show will take place Sunday March 29th (11am to 4pm) at the Estonian House banquet hall, 958 Broadview Ave. Last year’s Toronto Downtown Record Show had collectors lined up for music memorabilia experts and Toronto Downtown Record Show organizers Akim Boldireff and Aaron Keele appraising valuable (and not so valuable) records, CDs, dolls, tour programs, photographs, clothing and anything else found on the walls and attics of homeowners across Ontario. Admission is $5.00

The Grand River Blues Society will be hosting it's annual tribute concert on Saturday April 4/09 at The Gig Music Hall in Kitchener. This year's tribute is to the great Billie Holiday. Performers include Shakura S'Aida, Shawne Jackson-Troiano, Denise Baker, Silvia Wright, Lance Anderson and others. Tickets for the event are $20 adv. and available at various locations including www.ticketscene.ca. Proceeds from this event will support the Blues In The Schools Program in the Waterloo Region. As usual, there will be a guitar giveway as a door prize. For more information please visit www.grandriverblues.org

The inimitable Bettye Lavette (left) returns to Toronto for a concert at the Bathurst Street Theatre on Friday March 6.

Winter Returns: Blues legend Johnny Winter and his Blues Band with Jimmy Bowskill and his band opening play Thursday April 9 at Cobourg Victoria Hall Concert Hall. Phone 905-372-2210 for tickets and info. or Zap Records Cobourg 1-877-562-2222. The show repeats on Saturday April 11 at the Alehouse in Kingston. Phone 613-531-5300 for tickets and details. Tickets will also be available at Queen's University (Destinations), The Brass Pub, Sunrise Records (Cataraqui Centre), Brians Record Option, Tara Foods ,Centre Stage Music , Renaissance Music , Zap Records (Cobourg and Kingston), and ticketweb.ca. Special discount to Kingston show for members of the Blues Society. Also coming the first Saturday in October to Victoria Hall Cobourg, the first annual one-day Blues Revue! with Studebaker John, Melvin Taylor, Russell Jackson (formerly of the BB King Orchestra), Will Crosby (former band leader and guitarist for the Staple Singers), Slam Allan (band leader for James Cotton) Fathead (subject to change). Get updates by joining their blues list by emailing zappromotions@gmail.com .

Firehall Reunion: Blues fans from London and far beyond came together last month to remember London's legendary blues venue, The Firehall, and to present The Jimmy Lewis Memorial Lifetime of Blues award to London east vocalist Pat Waterfield. Pat also helped develop the Firehall both as sound man and performer and was a longtime friend and band mate of Jimmy Lewis. Pat’s latest project is the Waterfield Rock and Soul revue. Pat was joined on stage by Tim Woodcock and Marty Verweel on trumpet. Marty hosts great blues on a regular basis at The Wortley Road House and Tim, recently nominated for a Jack Richardson Music award for Best Blues /R & B player, represented the Great Lakes Blues Society in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Musical Director Chris Murphy assembled a crack group of local musicians including Teddy Leonard, Maple Blues Award winner as best Electric Blues Guitarist in Canada and was part of the Johnny Max Band who won the recent Kings of Beale St. contest earlier this month in Memphis. Teddy Leonard was joined by Terry Lee who drove 6 hours from New York City. Musical guests included Shelly Mac Dermid, Jerome Godboo, London’s Queen of the Blues Cheryl Lescom, Paul James, Danny Brooks and closing act, the Steve Strongman Band. Paul Langille brought out Rick Taylor. who played the Firehall with his band the Torpedoes in the early 80’s before he left for a 25 year hiatus to Vancouver. Emcee/ production/media/all around good guy was Greg Simpson. Greg drew the winner of the 10 ticket deluxe package for the George Thorogood show donated by Brad Jones from Centennial Hall. Tim Woodcock Band has been asked to open that show on Thursday March 5^th

The Firehall was located in the Talbot Inn, an historic hotel in downtown London and evolved into one of Canada’s most renowned blues clubs where legendary bluesmen would perform on a daily basis.

The Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM) has opened the new year on a high note with a promising start to 2009. In January, EMP|SFM welcomed 3,300 guests to its public programs, including an All Access Night on New Year’s Day, three Oral History Live! events with David Bryan, Jim Sherraden and Al Kooper; an Exposed: Inside Film screening of Pi and EMP|SFM’s annual Jazz in January programming.

EMP|SFM provides free and low cost programming in 2009 with programs such as Oral History Live!, Exposed: Inside Film, Pop Conference and its Sound Off! underage battle of the bands competition. Current exhibitions include: American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print (to July 16, 2009). The exhibit illustrates the fascinating fusion of art with popular culture and music history. Featuring the work of one of the nation's oldest operating printing shops—Nashville, Tennessee's Hatch Show Print—the exhibition highlights the uniquely American posters produced to advertise everything from vaudeville shows, state fairs and stock car races to the Grand Ole Opry, Elvis Presley and Herbie Hancock.

Founded in 1879 in Nashville, Tenn., Hatch Show Print is still a working letterpress and design shop, creating posters today using the same letterpress methods as yesterday. American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print features historical and contemporary posters and original wooden print blocks—some never before seen by the public. www.empsfm.org

RIP Snooks Eaglin: Keith Spera reports in Match Box Blues that Snooks Eaglin, the idiosyncratic New Orleans rhythm & blues guitarist with fleet-fingered dexterity and a boundless repertoire, died Wednesday afternoon. He was 72. Even in a city and musical community known for eccentric characters, Mr. Eaglin stood out. Extremely private, he lived with his family in St. Rose. For many years, he refused to perform on Friday nights, reportedly because of religious reasons. A set by the so-called "Human Jukebox" could range from Beethoven's "Fur Elise" to Bad Company's "Ready for Love."

His first steady job was with the Flamingos, a popular seven-piece rhythm & blues band that also included a young Allen Toussaint on piano. Mr. Eaglin performed with Professor Longhair during the pianist's "comeback" gigs. He also contributed to Longhair's landmark "New Orleans House Party" album and the Wild Magnolias' early recordings. He wouldn't travel, so if you wanted to see Snooks you had to come to New Orleans. He was a fixture at the New Orleans Jazzfest and when he checked into Ochsner Medical Center last week, he told his step-daughter, Carolyn Gioustover, "I've got to call Quint Davis and tell him I won't make it to Jazz Fest." He went into cardiac arrest on Tuesday.

JUNO Bound!

Congratulations to TOs busiest bluesman Julian Fauth and the other JUNO blues nominees. Also nominated in the Blues category were Amos Garrett, Big Dave McLean, Garrett Mason and Jeff Healey. The 2009 JUNO Awards will be broadcast on CTV, Sunday, March 29 from Vancouver’s General Motors Place

Juno Awards logo It has been quite a year for Julian Fauth.

In April 2008 Julian released his second album, Ramblin’ Son, on the Electro-Fi label. The CD release party was held at Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse, not long after Jeff’s passing. Attended by more than 200, that was one of the last shows to play there before the club closed.

Ramblin’ Son has sold very well, it has received great reviews, and it gets lots of airplay across Canada, the United States and Europe. It hit Number 2 on the Bluesville chart on XM Satellite Radio, and now stations in Australia have picked up on Julian Fauth.

Another highlight of the year was Julian’s appearance on CBC Radio’s Fuse show. He played with Melissa McClelland and Luc Doucet. The CBC folks said that it was the best FUSE they ever recorded. Julian has another CBC live taping coming up soon.

Julian played several special shows this year, too, teaming up with such greats as Billy Boy Arnold, Curley Bridges and Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne, also Electro-Fi artists. In March Julian will be doing keyboard honours on Harmonica Shah’s new CD.

Julian hit the festival circuit big time, appearing at fifteen during 2008. The schedule is shaping up well for 2009, taking him from one end of Canada to the other, with bookings at the Calgary International Blues Festival, the Porquis Blues Festival near Timmins, the Filberg Festival on Vancouver Island and the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton. That latter show will be done duo with David Rotundo; now that will be a show to see!

What has capped this year, of course, is the recognition Julian is getting from the blues community and the music industry. He is nominated for a JUNO (his second nomination), an INDIE (also his second), and he received four Maple Blues nominations. It would be nice to see him win a big prize, but Julian is modest about such things. “Just being nominated is enough,” he says, “and all the nominees deserve to win.”

But for all the good things that have been happening to Julian this year, people in Toronto can still hear him play most any day of the week. To keep up to date on Julian Fauth check his website at www.julianfauth.com or subscribe to Julian Fauth News by emailing friends_of_julian@yahoo.ca.

Dave "Big Daddy G" Glover and Wayne Deadder

Dave "Big Daddy G" Glover (r.) warming up with long-time bass player Wayne Deadder. Photo by Eric Thom.

Who was Dave “Big Daddy G” Glover? This question has been ringing in my ears since I first learned of his tragic passing. Dave was, first and foremost, a husband and a father. He was also a great friend. Another obvious uniform he donned was that of a musician. However, within the confines of those seemingly simple generalizations lies a wealth of facets that keep spinning in my head…

I was fortunate enough to play bass with Big Daddy G from July ’98 to December ‘05. Although we took great pride in Big Daddy G being the name of the band there was never any question who our leader was: Dave was our captain, steering the band where he saw fit. He was a very driven individual who wanted the best for all of us. Using his best instincts to guide us, we followed him willingly.

Dave’s contribution to the Canadian Blues scene should not be underestimated. It was Dave who brought former Downchild vocalist Richard “Hock” Walsh out of his retirement, single-handedly creating a renaissance in Hock’s career. We did many shows with Hock, who became a mentor to all of us. Then, shortly before we began recording Dave’s sophomore album, Topless, Hock passed away suddenly. Dave then turned to another Downchild alumni, Tony Flaim, to join our team. Tony had also stopped performing and was, like Hock, drawn back into the spotlight by Dave.

Again, tragedy struck, Shortly before the sessions began, we lost Tony as well. Dave again forged ahead and, thanks to his efforts, I found myself playing beside yet another Canadian Blues icon, Norman “Dutch” Mason. Ironically, Dutch had grown up with my father in Nova Scotia and it was through Dave’s frequent work with Dutch that my father was reacquainted with his childhood friend some 35 years later. The occasion was the night we played with Dutch at the Silver Dollar in Toronto. Because of Dave, my father’s tearful reunion with “Dutchie” was a highlight, shortly before they both left this world.

We were proud of Topless. Again, Dave had employed many great Canadian blues artists to guest on the album, illustrating his humility. Dave was never concerned about being upstaged. If he knew an artist could deliver the goods better than he, he enlisted their support in the spirit of getting the best work possible. In spite of the fact that he had a wealth of original songs, he solicited material from all of us. In fact, when we were to appear on national television to perform a song, Dave chose one that I had written, saying “I think it’s the strongest song we have”, winning my affection for life.

I recall taking the call from Dave when he learned that Topless had been nominated for a JUNO. You could feel his excitement through the phone as if he was tugging at your heart through the maze of phone wires. It should be noted that Dave was going through a wealth of personal difficulties during the making of Topless including, primarily, the loss of his father. Yet he always showed up at the studio bristling with enthusiasm. The nomination was a high point and Dave took it as a validation of all the work that had gone into it.

As a bandleader, Dave established high standards that remain with me to this day. He was kind, reasonable, highly organized, supportive and a fearless fighter on our behalf on many occasions. His objective was to keep us happy and to keep us moving forward – and it was contagious. I watched Dave blossom from a novice into a great leader in 8 short years.

When we travelled to Fredericton to record what would become Blue Sound, the live album from the famed Harvest Festival, it was a mere days after the 9/11 attacks. While other bands had bowed out, either still reeling from the tragedy or just outright afraid to travel, Dave forged on, determined to help people forget. I can assure you that Dave’s intentions were to help people feel better in the face of that terrible time. And that’s exactly what we did on that unforgettable occasion.

But the Dave that I keep remembering is the friend. My God, Dave was funny. He was always self-deprecating and willing to be the butt of a joke. The long, arduous travel musicians must endure was always made less wearisome by Dave’s relentless levity. But above everything and at the core of his being, was his unflagging love of his wife and daughters. He wrote songs for them, brought them to any gig he could and talked constantly about them. They were his world. I recall Dave tirelessly driving all night so that he could go to the Sunday matinee with his girls.

If I may be so bold, I’d like to thank Dave – publicly – for what he has done for my life. Dave Glover helped to make me who I am. I would not have the fantastic career I’ve been blessed with without his help. But more than that, he taught me how to be a better human being. He taught me that, in spite of musicians parting ways (as we did in ‘05), we could remain good friends. Dave supported me, just as he had when I was his bass player, in everything I did. I last spoke with him a few days before he was forever taken from our lives and I will be forever grateful for that opportunity.

Thank you, Dave Glover. Thank you for being there for me in my worst tragedies and my biggest triumphs. You asked me to teach you without ever knowing that I was, in fact, your student. You showed unconditional love to Tortoise, Ted and I (and the many others who came through BDG) and we love you. The world was robbed of what was shaping up to be a second coming of Big Daddy G and I would have loved every minute of it.

– Wayne Deadder

Alexander Dennis Kirkcaldy

Al Kirkcaldy September 29, 1953 - February 12, 2009

Each Tuesday for the next few weeks, Al Kirkcaldy’s radio show, Blue in the Face, will continue to air. But as odd as it will be to hear Al’s voice – alive and well on his beloved Trent radio airwaves – it’s somehow comforting to realize that the work he has started will go on, regardless of whether or not he’s physically here to carry it on. Al’s message was a simple one: think of others first, and embrace music in every way possible. Quite a legacy. Yet, it’s something he believed in and acted on in countless ways.

Al was born in Peterborough’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in the fall of ’53. His medical complications began at an early age, yet he fought a relentless battle with leukemia, enduring a roller-coaster ride of gruelling treatments with a stoic, silent courage that became his calling card. Al attended Sacred Heart in his formative years and St. Peter’s for high school before a stint at Western earned him his B.A. in English. His return to Peterborough found jobs at GE and Jobs Ontario but his relentless love of the blues drove him to realize a dream to share this music with others. Al did this through his popular, weekly blues radio show, his promotion of local and international talent at local clubs and hotels and through his regular, highly informative blues columns in the Peterborough Examiner. When Al was first diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in ’91, his response was to bind himself closer to the music that tempered his pain. It was all about the music – and never about Al. In fact, when infections got the better of his defenceless immune system, ultimately robbing him of his life, many of Al’s friends had been oblivious to the fact that he had ever been ill. This was the way he preferred things, the focus clearly off himself and placed on the things that he deemed more important: the promotion of the music that he loved. The blues will never have a better friend – or a more enthusiastic supporter – than Al Kirkcaldy.

If a measure of true character is based on the stories one leaves behind, Al Kirkcaldy has proven himself to be one colourful figure. From his smooth reputation as a sharp-dressed man to countless tales of hilarity amongst his confidantes, “Crazy Al” distinguished himself in the minds of all who encountered him. His razor-sharp wit and lethal sense of humour was worn like a mantle, comforting and supporting him as he quietly waged his very personal battle against a body that turned each day into a crap shoot. Mentally, Al had defeated his demons. Physically, over time, he didn’t stand a chance. But the blues gave Al a distinctive edge against all illness and helped to make him a strong individual. And a damned funny one, too.

At St. Peter’s Cemetery in his hometown of Peterborough, Al Kirkcaldy was laid to rest under the shade of a wonderful, old maple tree. It’s the sort of place where Al can be certain the many friends he’s made will be sure to pay him a visit – perhaps with an extra beer for him and most certainly a cigar. And if you take the time to listen, you’ll hear him ask what you’ve been listening to, making a few suggestions of his own. Here’s hoping, Al.

– Eric Thom

Listen to "Blue in the Face" on CFFF 92.7 FM (95.3 cable) and live stream at www.trentradio.ca. Download each hour of the show (highly recommended) www.trentradio.ca/logger

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