News

Set the time machine for 1981, Richard Newell’s then current LP, King Biscuit Boy, produced by Allen Toussaint in New Orleans, had been released in 1974. It was well received but there were frustratingly few recording opportunities after that. Enter Bob “Georgie Fab” Johnston and Darcy Hepner who wanted to get started in the music recording business and who approached Richard.

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

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.

TBS Charter Members and Equivalents are eligible to benefit from the exclusive pre-sale for the upcoming MBAs in 2019!

Conor Gains won the Cobalt Songwriting Prize for “Leave It On The Line” from Run Away with the Night. The prize is for innovation and creativity in songwriting and he has taken that to heart in the songwriting for this new one. The first single and the opening track, “I Know” opens with classical strings tuning before a choir comes in. With Gains vocal we are in a very contemporary R&B setting.

Three Rivers, or Trois Rivières, is Jordan Officer’s hometown and a trip to the Mississippi Delta led him to realize the importance of one’s roots and perhaps more importantly the value of family. The opening “Your Body’s My Home” tells of starting a family with a childhood sweetheart after many years apart.

Those of us with fond memories of the Kendall-Wall jams at the Black Swan may recall Judy Brown’s name. The singer/songwriter/guitarist played there often and released a cassette or two of original songs. She stopped performing to raise a family but didn’t stop writing songs.

Even though he tries to record ‘live off the floor’ for each of his solo albums, there remains the excitement and energy of live performance in front of an enthusiastic audience and that’s exactly what Montreal’s Steve Hill has captured here in a concert recorded at La Chapelle in Quebec City last November.