Newsflash! Julian Fauth wins 2009 JUNO for Blues Album of the Year. Congratulations Julian and Electro-Fi Records!

Jack de Keyzer (pictured at left) was invited by Prime Minister Steven Harper's wife, Laureen Harper to the PM's residence, 24 Sussex Drive, to give a private concert and a lesson to their 12 year old son Ben. Jack taught Ben and his friend Madison, a blues progression, a few licks, a turn around and they jammed for an hour. Jack reports that Ben is working on the same licks he did when starting out - Sunshine of Your Love, Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love…. "I It was great," says Jack "Laureen Harper, a blues and alt country fan is a cool lady, she gave us a tour of the house, (there were many kids running around) and later attended our show at Tucson's in Ottawa."

There will be a celebration of Al Kirkcaldy’s life on Sunday April 5th at Market Hall, Peterborough. Darrell Nulisch, Jack de Keyzer, Paul Reddick, Rick Fines, John Mays Omar Tunnoch and Bucky Berger of Fathead, Roxanne Potvin, and many more will perform in two separate shows starting at 2 pm and 7 pm respectively. There will also be a onetime screening of a DVD highlighting Al’s unique role in the Blues world by Mako Funasaka of talkin’ blues. For more information please contact Rico Ferrara at Blues For A Big Town, 416-423-2224, ricoferrara@rogers.com

Rich Schneider, Editor of Blues Beat Magazine, the newsletter of the Blues Society of Western New York and a long-time booster of Canadian blues bands passed away on Wednesday March 11th in Florida while pursuing his second-favourite pastime, birding. He was 65.

The Beaches Jazz Festival has announced their lineup and as always it includes some great blues – Junior Watson, Deanna Bogart, Monkey Junk and more to be announced. The festival takes place at Kew Gardens, Woodbine Park and all over Queen Street from July 17-26. www.beachesjazz.com

There are a couple of very special gatherings coming up - one for Mike McKenna (see details on listings page) and another for one of Canada’s legendary bassists, Gary Latimer on Saturday, April 11 from 8 P.M. at Riley’s Old Town Pub at 104 King St. E. in downtown Oshawa. This "Reunion Jam" is a tribute to an unsung hero whose career has spanned over 40 years. Many former bandmates and surprise guests will appear. There will be an autographed guitar signed by all the artists in attendance for one very lucky music lover. For More info call (905) 999-0191.

Duke Robillard will be a guest clinician at the 2009 edition of the Guitar Workshop Plus, back at the campus of Appleby College in Oakville. Guitar greats Rik Emmett, Greg Howe and Don Ross will also be participating. The Toronto sessions are July 19-24 and July 26-31. Resident and non-resident tuitions are available and registration has already begun. For more information on the Guitar Workshop Plus program, call (905) 567-8000, email info@guitarworkshopplus.com. Or visit the website at www.guitarworkshopplus.com

British writer Michael Gray, the world’s leading authority on Bob Dylan will offer a two hour multi-media glimpse into the enigmatic Dylan at Hugh's Room on Monday, April 6. Using great records and rare footage, Gray shows how hugely Dylan has been inspired by the blues and how much of the poetry of the blues has been smuggled inside his own. Gray is the author of The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia (2006 & 2008) and Song & Dance Man III: The Art Of Bob Dylan (2000), both definitive studies of Dylan’s five-decade body of work.

Monday Night at the Movies and Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival present a showing of the film Cadillac Records as a fundraiser for the 2009 Festival. There will be a live concert before the movie featuring JUNO nominee Julian Fauth, Piano & Vocals with Bob Vespaziani on Drums. Tickets are $15.00 available by calling the Festival office at 519-941-9041 or 888 79BLUES (25837 www.orangevillebluesandjazz.ca

Congratulations to Montreal bluesman Dale Boyle who has been selected as one of the 16 finalists in the “Americana” category in The International Songwriting Competition (ISC). The songwriting competition received over 15,500 entrants. www.DaleBoyle.com

Harp Meisters go back in time

Montreal-based Bharath Rajakumar will be making the trek to TO to participate in the TBS Harmonica Workshop at the Silver Dollar on Saturday April 25 at 2pm. He will be joined by host Mark "Bird" Stafford, Jerome Godboo and Mike "Shrimp Daddy" Reid with back-up musicians Dennis Pinhorn, Ben Caissie and PeteSchmidt.

Bharath Rajakumar is completely self taught and plays harmonica in that mean toned, old time “Mississippi saxophone” amplified harmonica style in the tradition of blues fathers like Little Walter, Big Walter Horton, and Sonny Boy Williamson II, sounds that many have said, transport them to a 1950's juke joint in Louisiana.

He sings his blues in a way that can be called nothing but honest, heartfelt and true, communicating his travels, troubles and good times. With almost 500,000 hits on his YouTube page "therhythmfour", Bharath is making waves in the blues world and keeping this music fresh, real, and moving.

Guitarist Junior Watson, who plays on his first disc, Friday Night Fatty, says of Bharath: "After working with harmonica players for 38 years I knew that this guy had something special to offer; and he sure proved me right, above and beyond! He demonstrates raw, cutting edge Chicago blues with a Little Walter style ,unparalleled by most. Yet, he has nuances and subtleties that are practically obsolete nowadays. I dont think I have ever heard anyone capture the Little Walter essence like this recording will prove." Bharath is about to release his new CD Tsunami, and is currently working on a third, also featuring Junior.

He has recorded for the CBC and is quickly becoming a name well known to the world Blues scene, and has associated his name with some of the most influential players of his time and the music we know as tradtional blues. He has played on stage with blues greats such as the one and only Junior Watson, Pinetop Perkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, James Wheeler, “Piano” Willie of the Jimmy Rogers Band, “Piano Man” Vann Walls (of the Big Joe Turner band), Little Charlie Baty and the Nightcats, and Johnny Dyer and the Mannish boys, among many others. His list of shared bills includes artists such as Paul Oscher and Jerry Portnoy of the legendary Muddy Waters band, Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers and several others as well as touring Europe, sharing bills with Joe Louis Walker and John Hammond.

His festival appearances include Montreal’s own world renowned Jazz Festival, on more than one occasion, as well as the St Hyacinthe, Mont Tremblant, Chicoutimi and Sutton Blues festivals and the Zinc Blues Festival in Beauvais France.

With Bharath and host Bird Stafford, also a proponent of that vintage "fat tone" and Toronto's premier purveyor of that fifties guitar sound, Peter Schmidt, expect to be transported back in time to a 1950s blues bar on the south side of Chicago.

It all happens at at the Silver Dollar Room on Saturday April 25 at 2pm. All ages welcome

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