“Almost Live” Blues: A solid offering of live Blues in Covid came from the stage at Donnelly’s Pub in the city of Thorold, a long-time hub for the genre in the Niagara Region. Most are familiar with Thorold (which banks on the Welland Canal) as home of The Canal Bank Shuffle, a 3-day festival in October featuring Blues performances big and small, with Donnelly’s stage being a festival staple. A solid stop on the Ontario blues map.
One of the great pleasures is to spend an evening at a blues club in Chicago. As this is quite impossible and will be for a while yet, we can come very close to enjoying that pastime with this new live album.
The Jeff Healey Estate has reissued the albums released four years ago to celebrate what would have been Jeff’s 50th. They were released separately at the time but are now available in a deluxe 2CD package.
This concert recording began life as a TV special for public television in the US, broadcast during a fundraising week last March. The subsequent CD and DVD are all slightly different from that original broadcast but it’s all the same wonderful music.
Multiple international award-winning pianist singer-songwriter Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne (Spruell) has put together an all-star band with a dream list of guests to highlight his new songs.
This month’s recommended listening by Greg Torrington, programmer of Stingray’s blues channels.
Streaming the Blues: The TBS has partnered with the City of Toronto to provide some opportunities for local blues artists. Raoul Bhaneja (pictured) kicks it off with a performance on June 4 at noon. Funds will be raised for Unison Benevolent Fund. Live on @CityHallLiveOnline & @TorontoBluesSociety Facebook page. Meghan Parnell & Dave Barnes (of Bywater Call) return on Monday, June 15, Live on @CityHallLiveOnline & @TorontoBluesSociety Facebook page.
Roomful of Blues is celebrating 50 years as a horn band. Tenor ace Rich Lataille and a couple of other horn players were added in 1970 to the smaller band that Duke Robillard founded in 1967.
John Primer is perhaps the finest bluesman performing today in the classic Chicago Blues sound. He was a member of Muddy Waters’ last band as well as with Junior Wells and for many years with Magic Slim.
Cape Breton slide guitar master John Campbelljohn has just been signed to a worldwide record deal with the German company ZYX Music Pepper Cake Records and his first album under that deal will be Guitar Lovin’ Man, to be released shortly. Until then we get a most magnificent fill-in: Elmore’s Blues is a loving tribute to Elmore James with veteran Halifax singer Wayne Nicholson.
©2025 Toronto Blues Society. Design by Janine Stoll Media.
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.
