Farewell to the Queen

When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now, baby,
Revealed the tears that was on my face, yeah.

RIP Etta James.

Blues blast from the past.

1967 - Hound Dog Taylor & Little Walter. Harp mic is too loud, but a great recording and 'vid.'

Classic Tom Waits

The line "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy," is my 2nd fave TW quote (behind "I wish champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends.")

UK elementary school kids sing "Changes."

Still studying the master

After acquiring the Intégrale collection, I am now one of the world's top scrobblers of Django Reinhardt.
Click here if you don't know what I am talking about.

Breaking in a new artist.

Sean's jazz starting 5

With Team Canada announcing their invitations to camp and the summer jazz festival season winding down, I thought I'd combine threads to list my "starting 5" of jazz, alive or otherwise. Thoughts and dissenting opinions savagely encouraged.

Drums - Art Blakey
Sax - John Coltrane
Guitar - Wes Montgomery
Trumpet - Miles Davis (Wynton Marsalis off the bench)
Piano - Thelonious Monk (Herbie Hancock as alternate)

War / No More Trouble

Thanks Nancy S. for the link.

Shuffle Demons - August 8th in Maple Ridge

Demons' resume: 3 saxes, bass, drums, one goatee, 6 albums, 5 Casby Awards, 2 Toronto Musician Awards, 1 Juno nomination, 7 videos, 700,000 km, 3800 concerts, 6500 conga lines, 1 cockroach, 12 Beer my dears, 100,000 rubles, 1 Spadina Bus, 21 countries, 15 European tours, 20 Canadian tours. Oh yeah!

Maple Ridge Jazz & Blues Festival teaser.

The August 8 lineup icludes the legendary Canadian satirical streetnicks The Shuffle Demons, world renown blues harmonica ace Mark Hummel with Rusty Zinn, an encore presentation from Grammy nominated Cuban jazz singer Wil Campa y su Gran Union and 2009 Canadian National Jazz Awards winners Bill Coon Quartet featuring Ross Taggart; two of this country’s most highly respected and sought after jazz musicians. Full lineup and additional details here.

Vote on "The Great Canadian Tune"

Some odd choices in the list, and others conspicuously absent, but a worthy topic and project. Visit here to listen to the nominees and cast your electronic vote.

Great cafe & jazz bar in East Shinjuku (Tokyo)

Click image to see details. Photo is of Hampton Hawes, in the club in 1968.

First Healey, now Diddley

Bo Diddley passed today, joining the ranks of his fellow Delta and Chicago peers. More.

From 'Who Do You Love?'

I walk 47 miles of barbed wire,
I use a cobra-snake for a necktie,
I got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made from rattlesnake hide.
I got a brand new chimney made on top,
Made out of a human skull,
Now come on take a walk with me, Arlene,
And tell me, who do you love?.....

What would you leave behind?

I must be overtired, stressed or going through some hormonal trough as this (read together with the song playing) made me cry today.

What would you leave behind when all your fields are dead?
When your territories are dried out and your cities drowned and swept
What would you leave behind when those who bear your name
Are born in that place that you wrecked?
What would you leave behind when you're no longer there?

To hear the song, go here and click on music player; the tune is "No Longer There."

Clapton quote

Music will always find its way to us, with or without business, politics, religion, or any other bullshit attached. Music survives everything, and like God, it is always present. It needs no help and suffers no hindrance. It has always found me, and with God's blessing and permission, it always will.

Encore for Jeff Healey.

A great Canadian guitarist passed yesterday, though a new album is due out in April.

If you haven't heard it, one of J.H.'s greatest projects is "The Jimmy Rogers All-Star Band." Do yourself - and Jeff's estate - a favour and track down a copy of it. Magic.

"I'm the guy that never learned to dance, ..."

Great B & W video and tune from Cat Empire

Cos on my feet are shoes for dancing
‘dancing to be free’
my feet they’re paying tribute to
the bobby marley legacy

Top Canadian Albums of All Time

1. Harvest, Neil Young (1972)
2. Blue, Joni Mitchell (1970)
3. After the Gold Rush, Neil Young (1970)
4. Music From Big Pink, the Band (1968)
5. Fully Completely, the Tragically Hip (1992)
6. Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette (1995)
7. The Band, the Band (1969)
8. Funeral, Arcade Fire (2004)
9. Moving Pictures, Rush (1981)
10. American Woman, the Guess Who (1970)
11. Songs of Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen (1967)
12. Reckless, Bryan Adams (1984)
13. Five Days in July, Blue Rodeo (1993)
14. Twice Removed, Sloan (1994)
15. Up To Here, the Tragically Hip (1989)
16. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Neil Young with Crazy Horse (1969)
17. 2112, Rush (1976)
18. Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell (1974)
19. Whale Music, Rheostatics (1992)
20. Acadie, Daniel Lanois (1989)

Full story here.

Guitars - Simon Jarrett & Blue Morris

More photos of the '07 Maple ridge Jazz & Blues Festival (thanks M. Kalus).

Jazz/Blues in the park

Jazz & Blues festival fashion --> a nice t-shirt and a crazy jacket.