January 2012

The next Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival may still be months away, but it doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of opportunities to enjoy exceptional live blues and jazz music in the Orangeville area.

Here is a listing of some great upcoming live performances:

You are also invited to visit the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival's Facebook Profile page to stay up to date with the latest Festival-related news and events.

Etta James Dies (Article by bluesman Bob Corritore)

How many people have fallen in love while listening to the song "At Last" or shed a tear when listening to "I'd Rather Go Blind" or danced with delight and empowerment when the song "Tell Mama" would come on? That was the power of the legendary Etta James who died today after a long struggle with numerous health issues. She was 73.

Etta represented the human condition and all of its imperfections of which she could sing about with an experienced vulnerability that would seem to cut straight to your heart. Born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, Etta began singing in church at age 5. She would launch a professional music career under the name "Peaches" while still in her early teens.

In 1955 she teamed up with producer/musician/ bandleader/talent scout Johnny Otis to release "The Wallflower" which rose to #1 in the Rhythm & Blues charts. Throughout the 1950s she made many spectacular recordings for Modern Records and in 1960 she signed with the Chess label's subsidiary Argo Records.

It was during her Chess period that some of her most beloved hits were released. Along the way she became addicted to heroin which led to some bumps in her career but she kicked the habit in 1974 and rebuilt her amazing career. She would open for the Rolling Stones, win Grammy and Handy Awards, sing the national anthem at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, be inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1993, and unquestionably solidify her stature as a true music legend. In 2008 the movie Cadillac Records featured Beyoncé portraying the Etta James character during the Chess Records years. Beyoncé's version of Etta's "At Last" from that movie would win a Grammy. Sadly, Etta James publicly criticized Beyoncé for singing "At Last" at the inaugural ball for President Barack Obama.

The last few years found Etta dealing with many heath issues including blood infection and leukemia. Through all of her trials and tribulations, Etta James will remembered for all time as a singer who, perhaps better than anyone else, could become the song. We thank Etta James for the gift of her music and her unstoppable spirit and grit which will live on forever through her many timeless recordings.

Here are some examples of Etta's wonderful music: 

• I'd Rather Go Blind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YApNirMC9gM
• At Last: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1uunRdQ61M
• Good Rockin' Daddy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV6_ro22Swk
• The Wallflower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZFyKBQ7evY
• The Pick-Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOtmVy5zFt4
• I Just Want To Make Love To You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pu_AdU_NQg
• Tell Mama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVqsvCclGnk&feature=fvst  

Etta James: January 25, 1938 - January 20, 2012

Ten years is not a long time in human years, but what changes have taken place in our "Little Festival" since that first Saturday morning in 2003!

In the beginning the Kurtz family were the mainstays of the whole operation. From a small team, who basically could be called on to do anything at any given time, we now have more Team Leaders than we had volunteers for the first show.

The first Festival did not even last all day. It was set up and cleaned away on the same day. On top of that, you had a hard time getting to the Festival space. The Orangeville Farmers Market was all up front on 2nd Street and over flowed into the park, but eventually we worked everything out with the Orangeville BIA. It was "Bing Bam Boom" and we got the large mobile stage set and power cords into the electrical outlets which were a maze of boxes located in hidden spaces.

Sound was a big effort in those days as breakers on the power supply kept blowing when Market Vendors plugged in another device... sometimes right in the middle of a set!

In the beginning, if an individual even looked like they wanted to help they would soon have a rope, banner or cable stuck in their hands and they were on board for the day. Security was non existent. The tents we had were little ones borrowed from the Farmers Market and often parts were missing or tarps were ripped.

As we developed to a two stage extravaganza, we used the gazebo for one venue and a complex stage construction for the other. On the gazebo floor we set up the small wooden stage Larry had made for his pub gigs. This was required, because you could not see the musicians otherwise. John "Toolman " Bessie, holds the record for setting up that stage and he did it by himself .

The Gazebo set up was confusing for the audience, so we went to a built stage made of construction scaffolding and plywood - set up behind the Town Hall.

Building such a large stage was complex and required lots of manpower to set up, then take down. It was a major chore, with its own history of challenges and pitfalls.  Metal beams, bolts, plywood sheets and screw guns led to many aches and pains. Once the supplier forgot to install the tie down bolts and we literally had to hold it together manually during the show as the large Choirs and Bands thumped out their music. On the following Monday morning after all the Volunteers were back to their regular jobs we had to haul the stage parts back to Skyway Staging in Toronto.The large single stage has since evolved to two mobile stages with a small built stage in between for the sound gear.

When we added the TD Tent, our logistical needs also grew. It required that we set up the old wooden stage on Thursdays, at the Best Western, then tear it down on Friday only to be reinstalled in the TD venue Friday afternoon. There were a lot of cracked knuckles getting this done. The old wooden stage was finally donated to a good home in 2011 when we built a new metal framed stage which takes less set-up time and is simple to move.

The biggest change in the Festival has been the Blues Cruise on Friday evenings. The Cruise concept, was the brain child of Gord McWilliams, who is a real rocker and car guy. Filling Broadway with cars, and Larry's selection of street bands, has added a great dimension to the atmosphere and family aspect of  our show.

Logistics again added more challenges. Power on the street for the bands, control of which band plays where and setting up and tearing down six to twelve canopies added to the fun at shows end. For several years we walked the tents down Broadway, at midnight, to get them in place at the main stage area in Alexander Park for Saturday morning. All the while the public in the bars and restaurants were cheering us on. One year we had a police motorcycle escort with red lights flashing and sirens.

Not many folks realize this but, to save some valuable cash, Festival volunteers took on the task of putting up the street banners along Broadway. The banners are often the first images the public see of the Festival. Early in May, preferably on a rain free evening, a small squad of R.A.T.s jog up and down Broadway with ladders and the banners. Its a real fun time. A sure sign that it is Blues and Jazz Festival time in Orangeville.

Sound, security, vendor relations and the addition of the Broadway Gardens with a Beer Garden has also changed the work schedule drastically. So now we have a radio net which keeps us on top of things at various places at once throughout the Downtown. For many of the volunteers the Festival starts on the Monday prior to the Opening Night Gala on Thursday. This is when we gather equipment and vehicles because we now use many more vehicles and much more rented gear than we did in the first years, which takes more time to organize.

The Festival is a success because of the Volunteers. It is a dynamic show, which has changed from year to year with only one objective: To put on the best possible community-based show, open and free to the public, with the family in mind.

If you are interested in volunteering at this year's Festival - the 10th annual - we would be happy to welcome you to the team. You will be expected to work but you will be treated well and have a great time while meeting some exceptional people... not to mention getting a back stage perspective of one of Ontario's top music festivals.

CLICK HERE for details on how to become a Festival Volunteer.
 

"The Jazz Ear - Conversations Over Music" by Ben Ratliff, Henry Holt and Company LLC, 2008 ISBN: 978-0-8050-9086-4 

Ben Ratliff has had a distinguished career as the New York Times acclaimed jazz critic.

From 2004 to 2007, Ratliff sat down with fifteen of the genre's greatest artists to discuss the recordings that most influenced and touched them. He asked them to pick five recordings that mattered to them and relate why.

From this touchstone, the conversations that resulted both move and inspire the reader to look at their music and, indeed, all music from points-of-view that discard conventional musical criticism in many ways and become personal accounts of a musician's journey to peaks of creativity, as well as the essential nature of their influences on other players and on the listener.

Jazz is, often, a difficult and almost impenetrable medium both to play and listen to, knowledgeably. The emotional responses and sentimental remembrances of some of its finest exponents will teach readers how to open their ears and listen in new ways.

Pat Metheny talks about 'inevitability,' - "there's a certain kind of elusive and very mysterious groove that connects things melodically and rhythmically, that offers a certain kind of resonance or power that you can't really quantify."   

 Or Sonny Rollins, "Jazz means freedom. I don't think you always have to play in time...or you can have a fixed time and play against it." As the reader progresses through the book, a sense of history begins to assert itself, although the musicians are of many different modes and several generations.

The enormity and profundity of Jazz, filtered through the sensibilities of some of its greatest practitioners combines to imbue the book with a revelatory quality that few other publications of its type can match. It will teach one how to listen inside as well as outside. Highly recommended.