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Winston's "Excellent" Blues Adventure
by Winston Uytenbogaart
During a trip to California this past fall for a wedding in Los Angeles and family time in San Diego, the appeal of warm weather and ocean beaches prompted me to make use of my Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival T- shirt collection.
 The weather, the fantastic ocean side venues and great food exceeded our expectations, but what was even better was the Blues and Jazz culture we found in the oceanside communities between LA and San Diego.
The first week of our trip was in Hermosa Beach, just south of LA, and a second week in the San Diego area.
Walking the boardwalks or strolling the Gas Light area of San Diego we were surprised to find how easily people step forward and seeing our T shirts from good old Orangeville, would break into conversation. It was as if we were long lost friends! Questions were always rampant about where exactly is Orangeville? And, with ease, they would rhyme off places to find live Blues or Jazz or just talk about their love of music and their favourite local musicians. We touched base at one or two spots as we passed through various neighbourhoods, but our best music experiences were in the small Communities on the coast.
Hermosa Beach is a one square mile community with city status. It is a community dedicated to beach, surf and the traditional laid back California lifestyle. In addition Hermosa Beach sits between Manhattan Beach (to the North) and Redondo Beach (to the South). They each have slightly different appeal but what all three have in common, is a strong night life and weekend visitors who frequent the many pubs, clubs and restaurants which feature live music and with Blues and Jazz elements.
We found the odd spot that dwelled on 50s and 60s rock but even they filled in with Blues & Jazz. Almost all of them have open fronts and patios on sidewalk. It's impossible to not hear the music.
A great memory from the trip was our late afternoon venture to the Redondo Beach pier. As we approached the strong notes of solid twelve bar blues met our ears. What was hard to recognize was exactly where it was coming from. At first, we thought it was an outdoor sound system! Closer inspections lead us to a stairway, leading to a second floor establishment. The windows were wide open and from which the music blared.
We covered the two flights of stairs quickly and broke through a large wooden door to find we were standing center stage in a traditional Juke Joint with a quartet band going full out! Around the dance floor, on stools at high tables sat your normal collection of characters who were mostly of the graying variety with one or two in their late twenty's mixed in.
We headed for the bar and with a look over her shoulder the bartender took our order.
The band never stopped between numbers, one song blended directly into the next. The lead sang with responses from the rest of the guys. The bass guy never cracked a smile but the drummer was all smiles with arms flying wide in all directions of his space.
The rhythm guy came direct from Chicago. He was the only one of the four dressed for a show; neat white shirt with a tie and vest. A silver chain hung down from his vest pocket and when he smiled, a toothy look glinted slightly.
As each new customer burst through the door, the Lead recognized each person with a smile as if he knew them all and led us to believe the Band were regulars in the place.
We could not dwell to long into the evening, so after about four songs we moved toward the door to leave. As we came close to the stage, the Lead leaned down and spotting my Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival T shirt, gave a big smile and a thumbs up. Quickly he stepped out and looking directly at us had his guitar talking to us. We gave him a thumbs up and tripped our way down the stairs, all the while looking back up to the sound of real blues, being played by real people with real character and personality. A real find that will stay with us for years to come.
~ Winston Uytenbogaart
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On November 15, 2012 Member of Parliament David Tilson presented thirty residents of Dufferin-Caledon with the 
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