Odds and sods from the Toronto blues community and beyond.
Holger Petersen received the esteemed Mel Brown Award for his contribution to blues music in Canada and beyond. Here he is with his award and Miss Angel Brown, Mel’s widow at the presentation which took place at the Kitchener Blues Festival. Previous recipients include Buddy Guy, Jimmy Vaughan and Glenn Smith, the owner of Ethel’s Lounge, who hired Mel to lead the house band at Pop the Gator beginning in 1989.
Dave Barnes & Meghan Parnell of Bywater Blues as they were crowned winners by emcee Brian Blain at the end of the 2018 TBS Talent Search. The competition was held on July 1st, the last day of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival and the hottest day of the year. Other members of Bywater (not pictured because they were already on their way to the next gig) are Alan Zemaitis on keys, Mike Meusel on bass and Bruce McCarthy on drums. Glenn Marais & The Mojo Train were first runner-up, and the Lela Tequila Blues Band were second runner-up. Bywater has just finished the recording of their first album and expect a release this summer. Watch for a profile of the band in an upcoming MapleBlues. Honourable mention goes to the three other finalists, the Gavin McLeod Trio, Gravely James, and 10-year old Azalyne, probably the youngest Talent Search finalist in the history of this competition. Photo by Randall Cook.
Congratulations to Women’s Blues Revue bandleader Rebecca Hennessy who was presented the 2018 Emerging Jazz Artist Award at the Toronto Jazz Festival. The $10,000 award is intended to support the pre-production, production, and/or recording of original music composed by the recipient. Photo by Randall Cook
Congratulations to New Brunswick bluesman Mike Biggar who won the East Coast Music Award for Blues Recording of the Year. He’s coming this way with Ontario dates including the Rainbow in Ottawa (June 5) and the Dominion Hotel in Minden (June 9) and mark June 14 for a TO play soon to be announced. www.mikebiggar.com
Duke Robillard will be sharing his blues licks & tricks at The Toronto Session of Guitar Workshop Plus on July 23 – 28, 2018 at the York University campus. This seminar is designed for players who love the raw energy, feel, and power of Blues music in all of it’s forms from Swing, Delta and Chicago to Texas and electrifying blues/rock sounds. The course will work on improving each participant’s playing and help with soloing from the ground up. Topics include various blues progressions, chord voicings, various rhythm patterns, turnarounds, phrasing, scale and arpeggio usage, double stops, developing solo ideas, and how to achieve a good blues tone and plenty of jamming as well as group development (entire bands will sometimes attend) and the family experience (father and son, mother and daughter, brothers and sisters, etc.) More info at www.guitarworkshopplus.com
Jason Buie: MapleBlues doesn’t usually run a picture more than once, let alone within a couple of months, but we’re re-printing this “selfie” of an ecstatic Jason Buie after he was presented the Maple Blues Award for Best New Artist in January. We are sorry to report that Jason passed away on March 22 at his home in Esquimalt BC. He died just as he was getting the national recognition he deserved in the Blues Scene. He leaves behind three children who will need a lot of help and support in the coming months. A GoFundMe page has been set up at https://www.gofundme.com/jason-buie-fundraiser
JUNO Nominees: The JUNO Awards have announced their 2018 nominees. The selections for Blues Album of the Year are: Time to Roll, MonkeyJunk; No Time Like Now, Steve Strongman; Big City, Back Country Blues, Williams, Wayne and Isaak; Better the Devil You Know, Big Dave McLean and Something I’ve Done, Downchild. The winners will be announced on Sunday, March 25 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver and televised on the CBC . For a complete list of nominees and ticket info go to www.junoawards.ca. Good luck to all!
The Toronto Blues Society is co-presenting an all-star Blues Showcase as part of Winterfolk on Friday, February 16 at the Black Swan (upstairs) with Al Lerman, Kim Doolittle, Julian Fauth and David Essig. The showcase is followed by a performance by Jack de Keyzer and there is a lot more blues throughout the week-end. Winterfolk is an all-ages, mid-winter, weatherproof event, where you’ll find the best of urban, blues, rock, jazz, country, folk and roots music, emulating a multi-stage rural summer festival. TICKETS www.winterfolk.com.
The Blues Foundation in partnership with broadcast partner Ditty TV will announce the 39th Blues Music Awards nominees LIVE from Memphis on Tuesday, January 9, 2018. Bobby Rush, Kenny Neal, and John Nemeth will emcee the announcements beginning at 10am CST. You can watch the announcements in real time on any of Ditty TVs multiple platforms as well as via Facebook Live on The Blues Foundation Facebook page. Tickets to the BMAs will go on sale in conjunction with this BMA Nominee broadcast so you can visit blues.org to purchase your tickets online and get the direct link to the broadcast.
Bad Luck Woman & Her Misfortunes will host the Nominee Jam in the Koerner Hall lobby for the Maple Blues Awards after-party. On Thursday, January 25, they host a special event at the Dakota Tavern celebrating Etta James’ 80th birthday with special guests Dani Nash, Samantha Martin, Nicky Lawrence, Alana Bridgewater, and SATE, all backed by a 7-pc band. Join Bad Luck Woman & Her Misfortunes at the Dakota Tavern to celebrate the life, career, and legacy of this legendary singer. Photo by Max Power
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TBS logo and WBR artwork by Barbara Klunder
The Toronto Blues Society acknowledges the annual support of the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council and the Department of Canadian Heritage, and project support from FACTOR< and the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Broadcasters, The Canada Council for the Arts, the SOCAN Foundation, SOCAN, the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
