It’s almost the end of the month and even though I had intended to post to my Substack more often than I did with my blog or my Blainletter, it still ends up being (mostly) monthly. Anyway my posts are still too long and that’s probably why.
Immortalized
My old boss at the ad agency I worked at in the 60s has become an acclaimed crime novelist and I think he’s put out a half-dozen murder mysteries that have made him a very popular writer in the world of Canadian crime writers. John Lawrence Reynolds is his name and the book is called Beach Blues. I read John’s first book and was captivated but I’m not a big book-reader. Magazines were more my style, but I better start reading books because magazines are fast disappearing.
John invited me to the book launch but I had to decline because it was out of town. But then he said “I’m going to send you one because you’re in it”. Wha??? So the book came and I open it to page one and the first line is “It took Buddy Blaine half an hour to walk from Josie’s house along the beach strip back to Tuffy’s”. Buddy is a blues musician playing at a bar called Tuffy’s and he is the prime suspect in a murder. Of course, I haven’t finished the book so I still don’t know “who dun’it” or if “I dun’ it.” But if the music doesn’t make me famous, maybe this will.
August was chock full of great music, but nary a paying gig. No matter, I’ve been playing with some great folks in the backyard and getting out to hear some amazing players. I’ve got some video clips here and also links to a couple of Facebook live videos that I put out there.
Jammin’
Starting with my most recent outing, I was encouraged to drop in to a popular “open mic” night up on the Danforth by a new musical friend, Tyler Ellis, who hosts it, having taken over from Julian Taylor who has become very busy doing some high-profile gigs of late. He also advised me to get there early to sign up because there were always a lot of folks turning up, so I got there well before the start and I was #19 on the list.
It’s called Riverboat Mondays in memory of that legendary Yorkville club from the 70s. I was able to say I had played on the original Yorkville stage though I was hard-pressed to remember the occasion exactly. It was an afternoon audition and not for the club, but I think for a CBC TV show or something along those lines and I was playing with Fraser and de Bolt at the time. And, as it turns out, one of the regulars at the Riverboat Mondays, Alan McKinlay, had been performing one of my tunes and now I was able to give them the original version and people were glad to hear it.
Above is a clip of my two songs followed by a little montage of some of the other players that I managed to capture.
I’ve been playing more, if not gigging. There’s been many a great jam in my backyard – Jesse Greene has been a regular along with Dr. Ric and Geoffrey. I got to jam with my new nephew (we just found each other through Ancestry DNA), a childhood pal, Kevin McKenna, and last week, my old bandmate Lily Sazz showed up with her musical partner Don Oakie and my old friend Taivi who came by with her beautiful Laskin guitar. Steve Payne from the UK was here the week before that and I even ventured out (as far as Port Credit) to a couple of lovely jams at David Hines. These jams keep the circulation going but I let too many days (weeks?) go by without getting the guitar out of the case. I keep looking for reasons to play, and I sure don’t turn down any invitations.
I haven’t been doing too much online either, but that will pick up as the summer fades. And of course, there’s my BIG project, the re-incarnation of my 50-year-old rock musical, “The Curse of the Magic Pick”. I’ve finally been able to relearn (sort-of) all 29 songs that I haven’t played in all those years – what an adventure! Let me share my latest “challenge”: one of the last tunes in the musical had some chord changes and voicings that I could not figure out. I struggled with it for more than a few days. Then, finally I found the right fingering and I started playing it and it started to sound like the 50-year-old demo. Except it’s also sounding like I song I had been working on in the last year or so. And here’s the thing - I had copped this chord progression from an old Neville Brothers tune – just a short chord pattern – nothing that would be considered plagiarism! But now I discover that here’s this song I wrote 50 years ago that has the same chord sequence. And now I’m wondering did the Neville brothers get it from me? …Just kidding. Anyway, if you’re interested in following this musical adventure (and being part of it) please consider upgrading to a paid subscription (you’ll see the button somewhere). Paid subscribers will receive regular updates and previews as I progress with the musical – share in the thrill of small victories and the agony of bad reviews once it gets to Broadway (or not).
Out and About
We cut short the jam with Lily so we could get to Hugh’s Room and hear Harry Manx. He was playing in a trio setting with his old musical pal, guitar wizard Kevin Breit (it’s now 25 years since they did the Jubilee album together) and a new musical collaborator, Genevieve Jodoin who has been doing a lot of the Quebec dates with him over the last year – and he even took her to Australia! She’s a triple threat, vocals, keyboard and occasional rhythm guitar. She also worked on some French lyrics for one of his tunes and I asked her if it was “Coat of Mail” because I had done of French translation of that one for Harry – trying to keep it easily pronounceable for him (but still it did not make it into the show). Not sure what happened with the tune Genevieve was working on but Harry is definitely trying to have a little French content when he does a show in Quebec. It was a great show at Hugh’s and packed to the rafters like I’ve never seen. Here a Facebook Live clip
Kevin Breit is a one-of-a-kind guitarist, that’s for sure. And I can’t believe that in the course of a week, I got to hear him in full flight along with two other one-of-a-kind guitarists, Derek Trucks and Garrett Mason. I got to meet Derek before his show at Ontario Place – the Toronto Blues Society was doing a backstage presentation of the Maple Blues Award that TTB won last January. Derek Andrews was presenting the award and I was there to get a picture for the newsletter, but as I was snapping, Susan called me over to be in the picture and pulled me up next to her (OK I don’t know how much of this I was imagining, but I do remember saying “mama, you’re my kind of guitar player!”)
And she may not be a “one-of-a-kind” like her old man, but she is “my kind” of guitar player, and, as it turned out, she played as many solos as Derek in the show that ensued. I was wanting to tell them how much I appreciated all the online performances they provided during COVID, but they were running over stuff before the show and a very big guy was kind of scooting us out of the green room but in the corridor I ran into Elisabeth Lea, their fabulous trombone player, so I got to tell her how much I enjoyed those online concerts. And I’m sure she was very appreciative that Derek and Susan kept everybody busy (and on the payroll) throughout COVID – because a lot of bands of equal stature let go of their crew and back-up musicians because there was no work. They are the most kind and generous band leaders you will ever find. Everybody in the band gets their moment in the spotlight during a TTB show, and I don’t know if it happens every time, but both shows in Toronto featured and extended encore where they bring out the opening band to play with them. Last summer it was Ziggy Marley and I slipped out before the encore, but that’s what everybody was talking about the next day – what an amazing half-hour encore with Ziggy Marley. So this time, I decided I better stay for the encore and sure enough, they had their opener on stage – a rising star country singer from Nashville whose name (and music) I can’t remember. But not only her, every member of her band was on stage – now there’s two bass players, and THREE drummers…and everybody having a blast. And I said it last summer after their show, and I’ll say it again, zero black audience. Last summer I saw one black guy on the way out but this time not a one. And it’s not because it’s a white band – I saw Buddy Guy at Massey Hall last summer and watched a Shemekia Copeland show from the states and there was no black audience for them either. The truth is, there’s no black audience for the blues. Maybe when you get into the deep south it’s different, but in these parts that’s the case. Sad but true.
And did I mention Garrett Mason. Another backyard jam cut short so a bunch of us could get down to the Cameron to hear this out-of-this-world guitarist. Twenty years ago, he was a blues phenom (winning JUNOs and Maple Blues Awards) but was not really able to catch that wave, for whatever reason. Now on the Ontario tour he was blowing minds everywhere he played and I’m still mind-blown. His sound is so unique, I had to know more so I was poking around the stage as his roady/tech kid was tearing down and I pointed to this ancient looking unit next to his pedalboard and asked “what is that?” and the kid was very accommodating (unlike your typical roadie) and said it’s a “Uni-Vibe”. And then he pointed out an octave pedal and a couple of others. And I say “so that’s how he gets that sound” but the kid says “…but it’s mostly THAT” pointing to an old Fender Twin amp. I have to admit I had some trepidation when I took my seat and saw that I was right on axis with a Fender Twin – that can be a recipe for some real ear damage but, even though there was a lot of “apparent level,” nothing ever reached a pain threshold. I’m thinking maybe he had some kind of attenuator on that amp, or maybe he took one of the tubes out. I did a twenty-minute Facebook live and you can see it HERE, but you had to be in the room to really feel the energy that this amazing musician puts out. This time, if the chips fall in his favour, and if he doesn’t shoot himself in the foot, he may become an international guitar star. Or he may just go back to Halifax and play at Bearley’s every Tuesday night.
Didn't make it to Kitchener Blues Festival this year (don't get around much anymore) but I did take in a day at Habari Africa Festival at Harbourfront. They've changed that place a lot since I've been there. A big stage on the lawn, new genderless washrooms - lots of change-for-the-sake-of-change. Your federal tax dollars at work and I'm not complaining. I think maybe the neighbours have been complaining, though, judging from the sound guy running around with a sound level meter. Congrats to Nadine & Batuki Music for a great programme, "official" African music mostly from new Canadians (we could use more of this kind of immigration), even lectures & film, just like the old days at Harbourfront. Here’s a little montage from my day at Habari Africa Festival
Colin Linden came back to his old stompin’ grounds to do a show with his brother Jay, who was launching an album produced by…of course, Colin. Jay was undergoing some serious health challenges and it was great to see him up on that stage where he delivered his quirky tunes with the loving support of brother Colin. I know both these brothers and I knew their older brother, Lee, who has since passed away but he was also a musician and quite an eccentric fellow. Here’s a beautiful ballad that Colin pulled out for the occasion
One more guitar player story (sorry if I’m getting too technical for the non-guitarists) but I just heard that jazz great Russell Malone had passed away this week. I got to play with him one time and it’s a story worth telling: The Rex Hotel used to host an after-hours jazz jam during the 10-day Toronto Jazz Festival, which back then was at Nathan Phillips Square. The Rex was just a block away and most nights the headliners, or some of their sidemen, would make their way to the Rex for the late-night jam. Working for the Jazz Festival, I piped up that it was only fair that one of those nights should be a blues night, and that I should host it – and wouldn’t you know, they agreed. So on the assigned blues night, I skipped the mainstage show and set up at the Rex for the jam. After the mainstage show was over, people started trickling into the Rex and as I was still setting up, one of these folks comes up on the stage and starts noodling on the piano. I was a little annoyed, but I didn’t say anything. Then he was pacing around the stage, in and out of the club, and finally when the jam was about to start, I went up to him and asked him if he was going to jam and if he had anybody in particular he wanted to play with. He mumbled that he would play with whoever or something like that. Then I asked him his name and he said “Roy.” I said OK, then the guy he was with says to me, “Ask him what his last name is.” I didn’t have to ask. I immediately recognized that it was Roy Hargrove! If I had seen his mainstage set, I would have recognized him right away. He was the headliner and Russell Malone was his guitar player. So we start jamming and Roy gets up and plays his trumpet, then he wanders off the stage, then he wanders back and blows some more, then he’s out on Queen Street with his horn, then he’s back. Russell picks up a guitar, maybe it was my Strat, and now he is playing some righteous blues but at some point I say something like we’re going to leave the stage to let these guys play some serious jazz, but then Roy is motioning me, strumming an invisible guitar, saying “keep doin’ what you’re doin...” But by then, the local jazzers are lined up because they all want to play with Roy Hargrove and one of these young turks, a recent arrival in Toronto, Robi Botos, has already slipped onto the piano bench and I’m thinking we’ll do one more blues then I’m leaving it to these jazz guys. So I call a Ray Charles tune and Robi Botos gets up and leaves the stage. Somebody else jumps on the piano and we play some Ray Charles but this is worth mentioning because only twice in my long (if not illustrious) music career, only twice has a musician declined to play with Brian Blain. Robi was one and the other was Greg Marshak, bass player for the Sidemen (I had played a few duo gigs with Paul Reddick but on one occasion he had called Greg and pulled out some Sidemen tunes that I did not know. When I was playing with just Paul and me, I knew that I was changing things around but it never bothered Paul and we just played through and had a great old time – but that didn’t work so well when we had Greg on bass. Oh well.)
I have diverted from my Russell Malone anecdote. But there’s no real anecdote to tell – except that Roy Hargrove and Russell Malone, two giants of progressive jazz, played 12-bar blues all night and loved it!
Hope everybody had a great summer. Feel free to forward this to any friend you think might enjoy my occasional ramblings (and maybe my music, too). The archives (going back to 1990) are available at www.torontobluesdiary.blogspot.com
See you out there, eventually.
BrianB, aka Butch, Nappy, Shaker, Two-Lane Blain, Colorblind Brian, Stringbuster, Buddha of the Blues
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