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One of the club scene highlights for the past couple of years has been Paul Reddick’s regular gig at The Sauce on Danforth. In lieu of those evenings he has now taken to YouTube to give us a taste every week and we also get a full live album, only one recorded in Italy while on tour there last year.

Iconic Canadian Blues Band Downchild is busily celebrating their 50th Anniversary with a tour that would still be happening were it not for the pandemic. Fortunately for us we will have a document of their fabulously well-attended show as part of Downtown Jazz last June.

JW-Jones likes to change things up for his albums and after an excellent live album with just his road band we get a big band album with no less than thirteen horns! He describes this as his self-isolation project but he was able to assemble the whole band for much of the recording.

This month’s recommended listening by John Valenteyn, host of John Valenteyn’s Blues on ciut.fm, 89.5 and CD reviewer for Maple Blues.

Virtual Blues: TBS Musicians Advisory Committee (MAC) members Gary Kendall and Dan McKinnon have been hard at work assembling and editing performances from last year’s Maple Blues Awards, adding interview sessions. Visit the TBS YouTube Channel and Subscribe to receive notifications of upcoming performances by Big Dave McLean, Michael Jerome Brown, Miss Emily.

Broke Fuse is the stage name for Jay Moonah, a Scarborough-based guitarist/harmonica player who you may have caught at his gigs at the Stone Cottage Inn among his other gigs. He has released two EPs and now a full album.

Big Pacific is yet another blues band from that musical hot bed Vancouver Island. In this case four veterans of the Western Canada music scene, Roly Sandoval on guitar and vocals, Nick Dokter, drums & vocals, Wayne Veillet, bass & vocals and John Hannah aka Johnny Blitz, keyboards & vocals.

Hamilton’s Smoke Wagon Blues Band gives us the story of the mad trapper of Rat River as this long running band continues its Canadian story telling. They also delve deeply into New Orleans, soul and funk in a wide-ranging program.

These young blues rockers from Montreal have decided to release an album done live in the studio before a sizeable and appreciative audience. That most of the songs are drawn from their last album, 2018’s A Fool’s Heart, is testimony to their abilities as a live act.

This month’s recommended listening by Brad Wheeler, music writer for the Globe and Mail Twitter: @bwheelerglobe