News

Some thoughts aboout this and that...

December 2005

I had the great pleasure of spending some time at Liquid watching Little Dave Thompson record his next album. I always find it fascinating to watch musicians at work in the studio because each one has his or her unique way of working in the studio. The process can be somewhat tedious at times but it's totally fascinating to me to see how a song can evolve in the studio and how an album is put together. Dave is a true professional who obviously has a clear idea of what he wants the end product to sound like before he enters the studio. It was great watching him put those thoughts onto tape during the recording sessions.

I forgot to mention it last month but I saw Tommy Castro and his band at Lee's Palace in Toronto. The band put on a fabulous performance as usual. Ever since I met Tommy in Ottawa, he's been one of my favourite performers to see on stage. As I have said, many, many times before, if you haven't seen them...well, you should definitely make it a point to do so. His last album, "Soul Shaker" was also recently nominated for a Blues Award (formerly the Handys) which is also well-deserved and worth a listen to.

As of now, it looks like the series as we know it, may be coming to an end. BRAVO! Canada informed me that they would not be renewing the series for next year...however, they kindly extended an invitation for me to submit a proposal for a new series which I have already done. I hope to hear in the next few months, whether or not, they are interested in my new idea - however, I have to tell you that it's not about the blues. In the mean time, my distributor has been working hard to see if we can generate interest in the series elsewhere but right now, it's not looking too likely. To be honest with you, had you told me that I would produce 39 "talkin' blues" episodes five years ago, I would have never believed it. I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to do what I have done and hope to continue the series in one form or another in the future. I just haven't necessarily figured out how that will happen...yet. Needless to say, I am totally grateful to BRAVO! for allowing me the opportunity to work on this series for the past five years. It has totally been a dream come true.

As already mentioned, the Mel Brown DVD will be coming out in the first quarter of 2006. This is a co-production with Electro-Fi records. I also have a couple of other DVD projects on the go right now and if all goes well, I am hoping to have a few DVDs out by the end of 2006...and who knows, may be I'll continue the series on DVD. I have no idea what that actually means but we'll soon find out.

In closing, I'd like to thank everyone for their support of my Talkin' Blues project. I wish every one the happiest of holidays - seasons greetings and the very best for the new year.

November 2005

Chris Whitley 1960 - 2005

One of my favourite interviews of all time was an interview I did with Chris Whitley last year. I love his "Living with the Law" album and the chance to meet and chat with him was a huge, huge thrill for me. For a number of reasons, I was unable to get the Chris Whitley episode on air which was a real shame. He was such a great singer/songwriter/guitarist and such a fascinating person to talk to. I feel very privileged to have had the chance to spend some time with him.

September 2005

Every September since I started the "Talkin' Blues" project, I have been attending the Port Credit Southside Shuffle Blues Festival. This is a great festival organized by Chuck Jackson and this year was no exception. I got a chance to shoot some footage of the Fabulous Thunderbirds on stage who are without a doubt, one of the best blues/rock bands out there.

A week later, I attended for the second time in my life, the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton, New Brunswick. If you haven't been to Fredericton for this festival, you really should treat yourself to this wonderful experience. This festival is as much about the people of Fredericton as it is about the great music at the festival. It would be very difficult to leave this place without for a moment, wondering what it would be like to actually live in a place like Fredericton. Then you realize how nasty their winters must be and go on to think about other things.

This year, I shot some footage of Harry Manx, Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers and Hot Toddy. Hot Toddy is a great band from Fredericton who are making a name for themselves across Canada and in Europe. If you haven't heard their music, I'd highly recommend it. And like the rest of Fredericton, they are great bunch of guys as well. I had a wonderful time seeing other bands like Little Feat, Garrett Mason, Fathead, Paul Reddick and Colin Linden to name a few.

August 2005

Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast. Although, the initial reports sounded positive for New Orleans, we soon found out that all is not well. I am still very interested in pursuing the project on the music and musicians of New Orleans, I realize that this project will be on hold for a very long time. However, I am very glad to hear that the news appears to be mainly positive for most of the musicians of New Orleans and many have gotten out safely.

One sad note is the loss of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown soon after the hurricane. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Brown a few years back. Meeting him at the Ottawa Blues Festival was one of the highlights of this project and I will never forget the interview he gave me. I was so intimidated by him initially but he was absolutely wonderful to talk to. I remember thinking then how I was very fortunate to be sitting there with a true American Legend of music. He will be sorely missed.

July 2005

I attended the Mont Tremblant Blues Festival mainly to see Nico Wayne Toussaint and one of my favourite blues artists, Jimmy Johnson. For reasons totally unknown to me, the festival organizers wanted to have nothing to do with me and seemed to go out of their way to make things very difficult for me. It was a real shame because I really loved the venue and the festival but it certainly left a poor taste in my mouth. Both Jimmy Johnson and Nico Wayne Toussaint were great!

On the way home, we stopped by the Ottawa Blues Festival to see Watermelon Slim, Kenny Neal, Billy Branch, Dr. John and the Neville Brothers. I talked to Dr. John about my interest in doing a project on New Orleans music and he said that I need to talk to Art Neville about this project. A few minutes later, Dr. John called me over and introduced me to the great Art Neville, himself. It was one of those amazing moments in life where I found myself standing next to two giants of New Orleans music - Dr. John and Art Neville. How cools is that?

A week after that, I had a chance to meet, interview and see Tad Robinson and Alex Schultz perform live. Tad is an amazing singer in the blues soul tradition who will knock you out with his voice. I've heard a lot about Alex before but this was the first time I saw him perform live. He is one of the most tasteful guitar players I've ever seen. When I watch a band like Tad's band on stage, I'm reminded of the fact that this is the way that music should be played and sung - it just seems so simple when they do it.

June 19, 2005

I saw Kelley Hunt perform last night for the first time. Wow! If you haven't seen her, she's definitely worth seeing. She's got a great band and what a voice!!! It's so refreshing to see someone who can write, play and sing...and put on a wonderful show.

May 25, 2005

Domenic Troiano passed away last night. I didn't really know him well but he was a very kind gentleman who went out of his way to help me out a couple of times. Strangely enough, I saw him play guitar for the first time about two years ago when he appeared at the "Soul in the City" show in Toronto. He played an amazing version of "A Change is gonna Come" that was very special. What an amazing person he was - a real class. He will be greatly missed.

May 12, 2005

I attended the WC Handy Awards in Memphis, Tennessee last week.

I produced the "In Memoriam" video for the awards to honour all of the great blues musicians and industry types who we lost in the past year. Unfortunately, my video began playing without the title appearing so many of the people had no idea what was going on until a few minutes later. However, I felt quite honoured to have one of my videos play at the W.C. Handy Awards.

So many great artists and so many great musical highlights. For me, Watermelon Slim, Michael Powers, Tad Robinson and Alex Schultz and Mavis Staples were the musical high points. I met Mavis Staples at the Handy's which was a huge thrill for me. If you haven't heard her last album, "Have a Little Faith"...well, you really should do so.

May 2005

I've met Michael Juan Nunez but I've never seen him perform live. However, I don't know what it is about him but I love his music. I have both of his albums, his self titled debut and his new album "About to Snap". In my opinion, they are both great albums.

April 2005

I saw Buddy Guy at Massey Hall recently. Michael Pickett opened up the show and did a fabulous job as a last minute replacement. It was really neat to see Michael up on the Massey Hall stage doing his thing. He was absolutely wonderful!

Many people are very critical of the shows that Buddy Guy plays but I love watching him play. I also think that he doesn't get enough credit for his singing abilities which always blows me away.

I had the great privilege of inteviewing him a couple of years ago which was one of the highlights of working on this project. Unfortunately, I can't get any responses from his last two managers so everything has been put on hold. It's too bad but he's still one of my very favourite blues artists.

I recently heard Michael Power's Onyx Roots album which I think is really great. If you haven't heard him, I'd highly recommend it. There's a few great tunes on the album but my favourite is "Graffiti" which is a really beautiful song.

March 2005

I'm currently working on a DVD project with Mel Brown and Andrew Galloway from Electro-Fi Records. I saw Mel Brown performing with Snooky Pryor on the second day of my Talkin' Blues project. Over the past few years, I have come to realize what an amazing musician Mel Brown is and how well respected he is in the music community. I am not sure how this DVD will turn out but for me personally, it's been an amazing experience to spend some time with Mel.

February 2005

I had the great pleasure of going on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise recently. If you like the blues and like to cruise, well, I'm not sure if you can ask for anything better on the high seas. As with any great musical event, there are too many highlights to mention but personally, meeting Dr. John and watching him perform a couple of times was truly something special. I love his "Dis, Dat & D'udda" album.

As for the cruise, it's full of great music and great food and some great excursions. It's definitely something worth experiencing at least once in your life.