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Toronto Blues Society’s Pioneer Profile Series continues on Thursday, May 6th at 8pm ET with Jay Douglas! The local legend will be joined in conversation with renown music interviewer Rudy Blair.

Toronto Blues Society will continue to its online (Zoom) & free workshop series, with a Live Streaming Bootcamp with Guillermo Subauste, on May Tuesdays (4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th) between 1pm – 3pm ET. The last hour being reserved for Q&A.

Legendary producer Christian Mousset of France’s Musiques Metisses festival in Angouleme provides a quote on the jacket of the new release by the unlikely duo: “Haunting and melancholic melodies delivered with subtle and spicy elegance, Piment Bleu, Tao Ravao and Vincent Bucher’s new album takes us on board for a trip to landing on the shores of southern creole Blues, Malagasy infectious beat and African echoes. An authentic and unique blend of today’s musical landscape.”

Northern Ontario blues singer/songwriter Sunday Wilde has certainly been a prolific recording artist over the past 14 years, with new outing Peace In Trouble being her ninth full-length release. She frequently collaborated with her partner Reno Jack (Rennie Frattura), a renowned roots/blues/rockabilly bassist, and their excellent joint album, Two, was released in 2017, just before Frattura’s passing.

What I love most about the blues is that every performer has a unique story – a story usually woven into their life’s work. Cain, from San Jose, grew up in a musical family with blues-loving parents and a Dad who encouraged him to play his guitar from age 8. The household was filled with the sounds of Albert and BB King, Ray Charles and Big Joe Williams. It stuck. Further schooling opened his eyes to jazz sounds and, after mastering the guitar, Cain experimented, learning tenor sax, piano, clarinet and bass. This may account for the full rich sound he brings forward in his brand of the blues, given the added sax (Michael Peloquin, tenor & Doug Rowan, baritone), trombone (Mike Rinta) and trumpet (Jeff Lewis) on half of the tracks.

Alec Fraser is no stranger to the Blues Scene in Canada, and yet, this album is only his first solo project.
To my ear, it is one of the purest and most diverse projects I have heard this year. Alec’s distinctive voice is perfectly suited to the simple truth he sings of in these twelve songs.

This album is one of those marvelous moments in history that come about purely by chance, only every now and then. The live show was recorded at Wally’s Tavern, in Guelph, Ontario, sometime in the late 1990’s. (The actual date cannot be confirmed.) The recording was lost for almost a quarter century until Mike McDonald found it, and passed it on to Jim Casson, who cleaned it up and prepared it for release.

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

CIUT FM Honours the Legacy of Late John Valenteyn: After the upsetting passing of John Valenteyn last year, CIUT FM is preparing to honour his legacy with Andrew Galloway, Brooke Blackburn, Dr. Julie Hill, and Sugar Brown (aka Ken Kawashima) hosting the show on a rotating schedule and keeping Valenteyn’s and Blues spirit glowing up at the station. More details to be announced by CIUT FM.

Jodie Drake is this month’s Pioneer Profile, taking place April 25th on the TBS Facebook page.