Richard Flohil Honoured: Former TBS board member (and still serving on the TBS Programming Committee) Richard Flohil has been recently been on the receiving end of accolades from home and the USA. Last month he received a "Special Achievement Award" at the Socan Awards gala and he will be receiving the prestigious “Keeping the Blues Alive” award from the Blues Foundation next month in Memphis. In their announcement, the Blues Foundation stated, “For more than 50 years, Richard Flohil has been committed to the blues. As a concert promoter, he was involved with the first appearances in Canada (in the late ’50s and early ’60s) of Sleepy John Estes, Robert Nighthawk, Muddy Waters, Bobby Bland, and Buddy Guy, among others.” Congratulations Richard!

Hamilton slidemeister Alfie Smith (left) has been selected to represent the Toronto Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis January 20-23. Last year's Talent Search winners Scott McCord and the Bonafide Truth will carry the TBS flag in the band category.

Jim Byrnes wins Folk Award: Vancouver bluesman Jim Byrnes provided a little blues content at the Canadian Folk Music Awards taking away the award for Contemporary Singer of the Year.. Jim was born in St. Louis, Missouri – that’s blues country. He grew up on the city’s north side. One of the neighbourhood bars had Ike and Tina Turner as the house band. As a teenager going to music clubs, he and his buddy were often the only white people in the place. “We never had any problems. We were too naļve, and had too much respect for the music and culture – they knew it, they could tell". Check out the list of folk award winners at http://folkawards.ca/awards-night/results-2009/

Forty Years with Holger: CKUA Radio celebrates Holger Peterson’s 40th anniversary as host of the popular roots & blues radio program Natch’l Blues. Congratulations to Holger who is probably better known as host of CBC Radio's Saturday Night Blues and head honcho at Stony Plain Records.

Strip Down For The Holidays: Back in 2000, singer/songwriter Zoe Chilco recorded her famous tune “Let Your Underwear Show”. Written in a New Orleans groove, it’s a musical allegory for stripping down to our true selves – those repressed and loving inner children just lurking below the layers of socialization. “Let them out! Let them be free!” says Zoe, but it seems most people are shy about posing in their underwear for the photo accompaniment she had planned for the song’s youtube debut. She's inviting fans and exhibitionists be a part of the video filming at the Black Swan Tavern, Broadview & Danforth – on Friday, December 18 at 9pm.

Blind Lemon Top 20 The 5th annual Blind Lemon Top 20 Canadian Blues Albums poll will run a little longer this year. Although the format has not changed, it will start earlier and finish later. Voting will start on December 1 and run until Midnight, December 31.. “As in the past, people can vote via E-mail,” Terry Parsons explains, “but we are also setting up an online poll at the Blind Lemon Radio MySpace site www.myspace.com/blindlemonradio

Co-host Craig Hilliard added; “This will be the 5th anniversary edition of the list and we are sure it will be the best yet. The voter reaction has been growing steadily every year and this years lineup is super impressive, so we have high expectations.” “Over all, we are very excited to get this years poll started,” Parsons concluded. “The Blind Lemon Blues has always been about supporting great Canadian Blues. The Top Twenty poll each year is our way of letting Canadians have their say on what we play.”

Closing Chord: Rick George (pictured at right), passed away November 17th, at the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital after fighting multiple myeloma for the last two years. Rick was a "super-fan" of Canadian blues and was. always going out of his way to help promote acts he really liked. He might be best remembered as the guy selling CDs at every David Rotundo gig, was a great supporter of the blues scene.

John Cleveland Hughes, a pioneer on the Toronto jazz & blues scene died suddenly on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at the age of 57 years. John was a player (he started with Rick James in 1970) and had a big part in establishing the Beaches Jazz Festival In recent years he had been playing keyboards with James Anthony and teaching music; He always aspired to pass on his love of music to his students.

CORRECTION: In last Month's issue, we welcomed back "Blues Doctor" Julie Hill to the radio airwaves but got the day wrong. The doctor is "in" every Wednesday from 8-10 pm with "Blue Remedy" on CKLN. (88.1 on your radio dial or ckln.fm on the web)

At 39 years of age Juno Award-winning artist Haydain Neale of jacksoul passed away Sunday, November 22, 2009 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, after a very private seven month battle with lung cancer.

On a beautiful, sunny morning with his wife Michaela, daughter Yasmin, brother-in-law Shawn Hudson and friends Davide DiRenzo and Jennifer Hyland by his side, Haydain passed away peacefully.

Throughout his rehabilitation after a car accident in August 2007 and during his illness, Haydain always maintained a positive spirit.

In a statement from his wife Michaela; “Through all these challenges, Haydain’s sense of humour and love of music were ever-present. He constantly brightened the room with his singing and his smile. His joyful presence and beautiful voice will be missed by us all.”

Tate's Vintage Gallery

Here's another in our ongoing series of revealing portraits of relatively obscure artists who dared to be different by Blues aficionado/reporter Gary Tate who also broadcasts an old-time Country show, Howdy Neighbor Howdy, every Saturday 12 noon - 1 pm & Wednesday 6-7 pm at www.whistleradio.com . Gary welcomes your feedback at gmtgt@yahoo.com

Jimmy Witherspoon

Jimmy Witherspoon: This masterful vocalist collaborated with the best in the business during a 50-year career. His version of “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” was a huge 1949 hit; while the follow-up “In The Evening” achieved similar success. After service duty, the twenty-one- year old Jimmy Witherspoon had replaced the great Walter Brown in 1944 in Jay McShann’s band. Spoon (his affectionate handle) was front and center when Kansas City was the Blues and Jazz capitol of the world. Spoon’s resonant baritone made him a jazz natural and he began fronting larger bands, including Count Basie’s Orchestra and Buck Clayton’s All-Stars.

Rock & Roll slowed his career momentum, but a searing performance (and live album) at 1959’s Monterey Jazz Festival stemmed the tide. Collaborations abounded, many with piano great Earl Hines; other pairings involved T-Bone Walker and Brother Jack McDuff

The 60’s blues renaissance introduced JW to a succession of blues-rock musicians and his myriad albums started featuring accompanists like Harvey Mandel, Charlie Musselwhite, Mel Brown, Charles Brown, and Eric Clapton. His 1970’s tour band was anchored by Robben Ford. Their “Spoon” album also featured jazz gentry like Cornell Dupree, Thad Jones and Bernard Purdie. “Love Is A 5-Letter Word” made Capitol’s best-selling charts in 1975.

Dignity and grace were the cornerstones of his 14-year battle with throat cancer. Spoon’s final chapter was a long and productive one, including a 1986 album "Midnight Lady Called The Blues", written and produced by Dr. John and Doc Pomus; a reunion with Robben Ford on "Live At The Notodden Blues Festival”; and an appearance on Van Morrison’s “Live In San Francisco”. His final recording “Spoon's Blues" featured Duke Robillard along with long-time devotee Long John Baldry.

Jimmy Witherspoon’s last engagement at L.A.’s House Of Blues in 1997 featured a spontaneous and first time duet with his son Lucky. This emotional farewell was a touching testament to Jimmy Witherspoon’s remarkable career.

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Tate's Vintage Gallery

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