Doug Carter

Friday Night At The Canal Bank Shuffle

October 19

Jill West & Blues Attack @ the Holy Rosary Hall

Started the night out with Pittsburgh's Jill West jumpin' the blues at the HRH...I believe I'm havin' another blues attack...a groovin' opening set for Sugar Ray.

Sugar Ray Norica & the Bluetones @ the Holy Rosary Hall

...smokin' dynamite...willie johnson...willie steel...step on it, step on it, play that guitar till it smokes...house rockin' boogie...early 50's Chicago blues a'la Walter & Wolf plus Lazy Lester Excello & a smattering of rock-a-billy...stand-up bass...official guitar parts...& the harp!...if the Chessmen were together still today?...you women heard of jalopies you heard the noise they make...I couldn't believe it...I couldn't sit still...get on up & dance!...but time to move on...

Paul Reddick & the Sidemen @ Castaways

...down the street & around the corner to see Paul Reddick...Paul is the total opposite of Sugar Ray when it comes to material but when they both pay tribute to Chicago style harp they both know what it's all about...Paul reinterprets the Blues & pulls it off & as Holger Peterson sez' " Paul's a blues poet"...later walkin' down Thorold's Front street coming back from seeing Harrison Kennedy @ the Brownstone  Pub  Paul's  harp is wailin' out the front door of Castaways & rockin' up all up & down the block...people on the streets being pulled this way & that by the sounds coming out of club doorways...& next block up Steve Strongman has just started his set at the Summit & his sound is pourin' out the door & onto Front Street...& all in the name of local charities...

...as much as I like blues guitar both harp players I heard Friday night have what it takes to make my legs shake & heart skip a beat....just gotta' dance!


Harrison Kennedy @ the Brownstone Pub

...meanwhile down at the bottom of Front Street Harrison Kennedy is doin' his 'thang'...jammin' the blues... stretchin' it out...austere but right on guitar parts...a little Sonny Terry style harmonica...& Keith Lindsay's organ & keyboard sounds provide perfect accompaniment...& in some songs Keith swtiches to
his squeeze box & I get goose bumps from the sounds...& a special treat tonight Hamilton's Danny Lockwood on drums layin' down the beat...it's my thing do what ya' wanna' do...great funky blues sounds from the Hammer!

WSNB, upstairs at the Canadian Corps

...we play some nasty blues...& they do...

that's as far as I got... bunch of young dudes strivin' to keep the 'blues' alive...
satisfied & filled to the brim with the blues I headed back home!

I say Hey! Hey! The Blues Is Alright!

Canal Bank Shuffle

Gettin' The Blues In Niagara! Again!


The Canal Bank Shuffle returns to downtown Thorold Thursday, October 18 with a kick off concert at the Holy Rosary Hall featuring three great acts: 

• Jill West & Blues Attack @ 7pm
• Fathead @ 8:45
• Big Stuff featuring Chuck Jackson & Chris Kenny @ 9:30

One $10 ticket gets you into all 12 venues over the 3 nights of the festival with all ticket proceeds going to local charities.

Highlighting the Friday night events are Sugar Ray Norica again at the Holy Rosary Hall starting at 7 pm
Cleveland Fats is at the Legion upstairs, 8:30 pm, Harrison Kennedy at the Brownstone Pub, 9:15 pm & Paul Reddick & the Sidemen play Castaways starting at 9:30 pm.  Also playing around the other downtown Thorold venues Friday evening are Steve Strongman, Brother Bob, the Odyssey Blues Band, WSNB, Harmonica Shah, Jerome Gobboo  & the Rod Nickson Project.

Jack de Keyser kicks off Saturday evening with a 6 pm show at the Holy Rosary Hall followed by David Gogo at 9:30.  Johnny Max is at the Legion Upstairs at 8:45 and the not to be missed if you haven't seen her Shakura S'Aida at the Canadian Corps downstairs, .  Also playing around town Saturday night are Michael Keys & Company, Coupe de Ville, Maria Aurigema, Alfie Smith & the Hardcases, the Bill  Durst Band,Rich & the Poor Boys, Wild T's Jimmi Hendrix Tribute, Douglas Watson,  John Findlay, Brother Bob & Gatorbait.

More than enough acts to satisfy the most ardent blues fan & all in a good cause.  Check out the web site at www.canalbankshuffle.com for up to date information.  See you there!

Canal Bank Shuffle Blue Festival, October 18, 19 & 20
Downtown Thorold Ontario

go to http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=43 for directions

So Blue So Funk & A Little Bit 'Cool'

So Blue So Funky

The Niagara Blues & Jazz Society’ “Live On Request International Blues & Jazz Festival” was a huge success despite the weather being a little on the cool side & the threat of rain.  Hundreds of people showed up to sit out doors in Welland Market Square under propane heaters & hear some very soulful, funky blues & jazz.  When I got there around 5 pm, local group The Ants were on stage groovin’ out their early 60’s R ‘n B party sound a ‘la Muscle Shoals & Memphis. It was like a flash back to ’64.  They have a great tenor sax in Al Robertson & bassist Bill Neudorf belts out the vocals.  The group is rounded out by drummer Jim Casson & the funky Warren Stirtzinger on guitar.  They create a wonderful danceable sound.  For a number of tunes at the end of their set they were joined by a great sounding Hammond B3 player, who turned out to be Roger Niznik, the next act on the bill.

Roger Niznik’s mother, who was at the event, sent Roger to Buffalo from their home in Port Colborne in the early 60’s for Hammond organ lessons & did they ever take!  You’d swear it was Buffalo back in the early 60’s where the B3 reigned supreme.  Working with a drummer & a guitar player Roger opened his set with a rousing & one of my all time organ favourites “All About My Girl”.  Fast & funky versions of jazz & B3 standards such as “Summertime” followed then Al Robertson from the Ants came up & we suddenly we had the classic Jimmy Smith style B3 quartet.   The crowd ate it up along with some very fine ribs being served at the barbeque. 

Toronto based Johnny Max Band was up next & having never seen Johnny before, it was a revelation!  Great funky blues originals & the odd cover including a great fresh take on Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me”. Much to my surprise, former Fathead guitarist Teddy Leonard was in the band.  Teddy is my favourite Canadian all round blues & r ‘n b guitarist & he is a perfect addition to Max’s sound.  Johnny Max is one dancin’ fool & plays dance-a-matic music which again is based on the early 60’s r ‘n b evolving to soul sound especially the early Toronto soul sound.  The crowd loved it and hit the dance floor.  Funky blues & r ‘n b was the order of the day. 

The event was capped by Bill King’s Saturday Night Fish Fry, which featured Diane Braithwaite on vocals & the Shuffle Demon’s Richard Underhill on alto sax...and they were rockin’…rockin’ & a boppin’ & a jumpin’ to the end of the event. 

Next year on the Labour Day weekend, in honour of Welland’s 150th birthday, the Niagara Blues & Jazz Society is planning a 3 day blues & jazz festival. After the success of this years event that should be some long blues filled weekend! 

The Blues is back in Niagara in Thorold in mid-October.  It’s the return of the Canal Bank Shuffle which will feature Sugar Ray Norcia & the Hammer’s own Jack De Keyser () as well as Harrison Kennedy.  More about the Shuffle another time.

In other Hammer related Blues news, Andy Grigg’s website, reallivingblues.com is carrying welcome news about an upcoming re-release by & a biography of Richard Newell aka King Biscuit Boy.  In Andy’s words… “…two long-postponed projects will be coming to fruition in the Fall of 2007; a King Biscuit Boy compilation CD using unreleased tracks from 2 (and possibly 3…) KBB albums plus tunes from unreleased sessions. I can assure you that all the tracks so far assembled are killer numbers with Richard’s greatest vocal and harmonica performances among these gems. Also, we hope to have completed the manuscript for Richard’s biography by Nov 2007. It’s amazing just how revered Richard Newell a.k.a. King Biscuit Boy is in the U.S. and Europe and while many artists in recent years have laid claim to being Canada’s Top Blues Performer, the veteran Blues Stars from London, England to Chicago, Illinois seem to be aware only of King Biscuit Boy. One tidbit from the upcoming KBB biography is that ex-Beatle Paul McCartney invited Richard to play at his 40th Birthday Bash on the Queen Mary. While Professor Longhair and The Meters showed for the Giant Party, Richard did not, dismissing Paul and The Beatles as “…the ones who destroyed American Radio!” Needless to say, managing Richard became a task for the fearless! But, we should all remember The Music that King Biscuit Boy/Richard Newell left us and it truly was revolutionary in its’ day. No artist before or since has turned more Canadians on to The Blues and while Music Industry Politics still interfere with Richard Newell’s induction into various Canadian ‘Halls Of Fame’ (shame on you folks!) KBB fans know the difference between ‘shit-and-shinola’ and KBB was pure Shinola! If any of our readers have King Biscuit Boy memories or stories they’d like to share with us (for possible inclusion in the book) please email us at realblues@realbluesmagazine.com. (By the way, listening to King Biscuit Boy’s “Urban Re: Newell” album on Stony Plain/Blue Wave for the 1,000th time I have to rank “That’s No Lie” as the Greatest Canadian Blues tune ever released with his “New Orleans” a close second…)"

Hey! Hey! The Blues is alright!

Photos: from top: Bill King’s Saturday Night Fish Fry; Johnny Max Band;Roger Niznik Trio; The Ants)

A Mingus Moment

A Mingus Moment

Get it in your soul
wailin' saxes are weaving through
the buildings, streets & alleys of downtown Welland.
Saturday night & the Shuffle Demons are in town.

Enter Richard Underhill & rest of the Demons from a side door of Welland City Hall blowing saxes & banging on rhythm instruments as they wandered about cavorting with the sizable crowd & then slowly making their way to the stage.
Let the joint jump, let the fun begin. 

The Demons may call it bop rap but for anyone like me whose introduction to jazz included Charlie Mingus & his great multi-horn sections & arrangements & especially his tongue in cheek, humourous,  social satire vocals like "Eat That Chicken"...  we call it Mingus-Music.

The Shuffle Demons Were a aural treat like a bolt out of the blue back in 1986 when "Spadina Bus" hit the Much Music play list & became a hit & they still sound sweet today.

The Demons originally formed in the fall of 1984.  They are now a world wide phenomena & on a major reunion tour that has already included India, China & Europe & it was fantastic that the Niagara Blues & Jazz Society in conjunction with the City Of Welland was able to bring them to South Niagara to cap a great summer of free Saturday night concerts . 
The nine concert series, held on the plaza in front of the Welland City Hall on East Main Street, averaged approximately 500 attendees per evening, a huge success!

Saturday, September 15, the Niagara Blues & Jazz Society
is hosting it's first International Blues Festival, "Live On Request". 
The lineup is

- Touch of Class at 1:30 pm

- The Ants, 3:30 pm

- Roger Niznik Trio, 5:30 pm

- The Johnny Max Band , 7:30 pm

- Bill King's Saturday Night Fish Fry featuring one of Canada's best blues singers
  Diana Braithwaite on vocals at 9:30 pm. 

Admission is $10, children under 13 free. 
The seating is banquet style & the event is licensed. 
Doors open at 12:30 pm & the 1st act hits the stage at 1:30 pm.
Welland Market Square is located in downtown Welland
one block west of King Street at Division (one-way west)
& can be accessed from Division Street on the right hand side
one block after you cross the west bound bridge over the Old Welland
Canal. See you there!

The Shuffle Demons:

Delaney & Bonnie, “Home”, Stax….

…there’s a long road ahead & a lot to leave behind…

Turn my legs to rubber…my baby specializes & things get better…& better…wow…it’s finally been released (last year in 2006) after being out of print for almost four decades…white soul at it’s finest…Delaney, the cat who turned on Eric Clapton to vocalizing…plus…Bonnie, white girl from the Ikettes, it can’t get tougher than that back then, backin’ up Tina & Ike lookin’ on…gotta’ have great pipes, be able to dance & have great legs, well maybe not quite as great as Tina’s but that’s payin' some dues…& vocally & direction-wise an integral part of the “Bonnie & Delaney” sound.

I saw Ike & Tina Turner & the Ikettes when they played at the Silhouette club at the north east corner of Walnut & Main East…what a disciplined outfit… Ike who goes way back to Memphis in the early ‘50’s & the ‘acknowledged’ first rock ‘n roll record ever, Jackie Brenson’s “Rocket 88”, Jackie being backed up by Ike’s Memphis session band…anyway, Ike runs a real tight band & show, nobody goes away disappointed from his gigs and up & comers who loved the music like Delaney & Leon Russell learned big time off of the likes of Ike & James Brown & Ray Charles. I also got to see a fantastic Bo Diddley show at the Silhouette but that’s another story…

Anyway if you haven’t heard most of this album & you wouldn't have unless you had saved the vinyl from years ago or managed to collect the l.p. somewhere, seek it out…it’s the cream of the funky soulful Stax session players which is mostly Booker T, as well as some Leon Russell & Isaac Hayes on keyboards & Steve Cropper, guitar & Duck Dunn, bass & the incredible Al Jackson Jr. & the equally sweet Carl Radle on drum duties…and the horn parts hang off Wayne Jackson & Andrew Love & assorted friends… & on guitar, Delaney Bramlett who was a major studio musician before this album was put together, the soulful, funky guitar player record producers called upon to get that happenin’ now sound on your record sessions especially out on the west coast. 16 tracks of fast & slow funky soul but my ultimate favourite is “My Baby Specializes”…leaves me paralyzed dancin’ to it!

The album’s updated liner notes suggest “Home” didn’t do well back when it was recorded in 1968 because this was the days of James Brown’s “Say It Loud I’m Black & I’m Proud” & the Black Panthers etc. & black radio stations in the USA who would normally play this kind of music wouldn’t play it because Bonnie & Delaney were white & were suspected of ‘stealing’ the sound as ha happened with rock ‘n roll in the early & mid-50’s, or example Pat Boones hit of Little Richard’s “Tutti-Frutti”, an early example of ‘racial profiling…hey! I didn’t say that, it’s in the re-released CD’s liner notes…but me? I vote ‘10’ a’la Bandstand…good lyrics of course but mainly because I can dance to it eh!

 

 

Blues Rockin' In Dunnville

De Keyser Rocks The House

Downtown Dunnville last Friday night & Jack De Keyser is rockin' the house at Flyers Cafe (formerly Readers).  The Cafe holds about 85 people max & it's great to have Jack & his band up close & in your face.   Jack's added a great new guitar groove in the style of late 50's / early 60's jazz electric guitar a la Grant Green, Kenny Burrell & others which he layers on top of r 'n b grooves that stretch from the jump blues of the early 50's to the funk of the mid-60's.  The crowd loved it and the tiny, tiny dance floor was often packed.  It was another great night at Flyers which features roots & blues on a semi-regular basis with many Hamilton area singer / song writers performing there. ..www.flyersindunnville.com for more information about there upcoming music& check out Jack's new DVD "Talkin' Blues".  He talks about his muscial beginnings in the Hammer & such & there's lots of live footage from a gig at Hugh's Room in Toronto & also film shot in the recording studio while he was making "Six String Lover".  Check out  www.jackdekeyser.com to find out where Jack is playing next.

The Welland Downtown Summer Music Festival starts Saturday evening, July 7 with Shakura S'Aida followed by Women In Blues July 14. Shows start at 6:30 in front of the Welland City Hall on East Main Street.  For the rest of the summer's schedule & how to get to Welland go to the Niagara Blues & Jazz Society's home page at www.niagarabluesandjazz.com.

The Summertime Blues At Last!

The Blues is back in South Niagara at last...it's been a long, hard winter with the grooves so sparse.
Tonight, Thursday, June 14, Fathead is kicking off the 'Fonthill Bandshell at Peace Park' Thursday Night Concerts which continue with various acts including the hard drivin'  'Don Couchie & the Spirit of Bluegrass' on July 12 through July 26 when Chuck Jackson & the Allstars conclude the Thursday night bill.  Check out www.fonthillbandshell.com for directions & the rest of the Thursday night lineup.

And this Friday night just across the county line in downtown Dunnville, South Haldiman, at Flyers (formerly Readers) Jack De Keyser is back & will be blues rockin' ain't that Grand!

As well the Niagara Blues & Jazz Society's "Downtown Welland" summer music festival starts soon and includes Shakura S' Aida, Saturday July 7, Women In Blues, July 14 & the Shuffle Demons, August 25.
For the rest of the lineup & how-to-get there check out www.niagarabluesandjazz.com .

I'll see you out there!

Walkin' Though The Park

Walkin' Through The Park...

& the Blues fills the air, home grown, original tunes, those 'lowlifes' Fathead are in the house tonight...well actually in the bandshell...& they're blues rockin' on in Fonthill's Peace Park with a good chunk of the town there to check them out from kids in diapers to seniors on Zimmers (walkers that is) & everything in between but hey I'll take Fathead wherever I can get 'em!

The band has 2 new members since I first heard them at Reader's in Dunnville a couple of years ago. Teddy Leonard has been replaced on guitar by Darran Poole & Hayden Vialva has been replaced on drums by the very capable & experienced Buck Berger.  Over 2 sets Fathead did a mix of 'greatest hits', songs like "#9 Train", "Hard Times" & "Blue Water" & cuts from their new great new CD "Building Full Of Blues"on Electrofi Records (www.electrofi.com).  So far I really dig "Apartment 10" & "Backwoods Paradise" which features the Hammer's Jesse O'Brien on piano, but the whole CD grooves from start to finish.  Great 3 part harmonies were happening on lots of the tunes this night adding so much to the already get up & dance sound Fathead puts out.  www.fathead.biz to check out where they're playin' next & www.fonthillbandshell .com to find out who else  is playing Fonthill on Thursday evenings.

Delta Hardware, Charlie Musselwhite

Just got my hands on Musselwhite's 2006 CD, "Delta Hardware", RealWorld Records (www.realworldrecords.com)...Chicago Blues goes back to the Mississippi high country...Musselwhite originals about strange times, the downtrodden & boogie women plus Billy Boy Arnold's "Gone Too Long" & Little Walter Jacobs' "One Of These Mornings" & "Just A Feeling"..."Black Water", co-written by Charlie with Chis Goldsmith who produced the session, is my personal favourite, the lyrics turn out to be so of this time ... Charlie is backed on the tunes by a smokin' power trio: Chris "Kid" Andersen, guitars, Randy Bermudes, bass & June Core, drums...if you like great harp & new / old blues ... check this one out ... Charlie's around 63 these days & still makin' it happen ... it makes me wonder what kinda music Paul Butterfield & King Biscuit Boy would've been makin' if they were still around?

Listen to "Black Water" & excerpts from the rest of Charlie's CD on www.charliemusselwhite.com

Church is Out...time to boogie mama!

Blast From The Past
Ray Charles On Atlantic: the Rockers!

Finally got my hands on the Ray Charles' Atlantic Records album, "What'd I Say" on CD..one time I used to own the vinyl...this is the Ray Charles myself & Richard Newell & the other guys we grew up with in the late 50's listened to...dance your ass off music...forget that other jazz...white pop...country & western Ray...check out the rockin' Ray.

Charles jump starts out his career of endless hits with a session for New York's Atlantic Records produced in New Orleans a year or 2 after the time David Bartholomew & his state of the art of rock 'n roll studio band & Fats Domino start their prolific recording careers together hitting the charts in 1950 with "The Fat Man" & Every Night About This Time". In 1952, Ray, after limited success as a Nat 'King' Cole clone, hangs around New Orleans, changes his music & puts together & rehearses a band & plays lot's of gigs in the area. Fats Domino was getting major chart attention across America & independent record labels such as Specialty, Chess & Atlantic from other parts of the country were looking at New Orleans as the source of the new 'thing'  created by mature black musicians & artists specifically for the black market but suddenly all the white teenagers were goin' ape for this stuff & the independents were sending their talent scouts down to New Orleans to sniff out new talent to sign & record...they also began to send their contract singers from wherever in America to record with these same session players.

Out of this just beginning to boil, about to sweep & forever change the American music scene, Ray records & scores his first hit for Atlantic Records, the ultra-swingin' "Jumpin' In The Morning"...find it...download...listen to it...dance!   It's on the Atlantic Records, "What'd I Say" CD, (a Warners Communication Company) along with 9 other not-a-loser-amongst-them tunes not to mention the title tune that brought the world the groove that broke pop music free from the swingin' 2/4 shuffle.