All photos by Joe Taylor

The Toronto Blues Festival

Months ago, I saw the ad for this spectacular show at the El Mocambo. This had 3 of my favourite blues artists in Toronto today. When I arrived, I soon found out this was the first show put on by a brand-new organization called The Toronto Blues Festival. Their mission is simple, let the Blues be a stronger musical fabric that keeps this town strong.  Toronto in the past was known for two things and that tradition will continue forever. Years ago, we relished sports and Blues music. We still love sports, but the musical fabric has seriously changed over the years. We embrace all the diversity that these artists are creating musically. Somewhere along the way, the Blues was slowly smothered into submission and hasn’t regained the luminous spotlight it once had.

The Toronto Blues Festival is on a mission to bring that spotlight back by showcasing our best blues artists today. I can’t give you the full story yet, but I will soon rectify that with a future interview. So, we can understand how this is going to take place.

To prove they are serious, they gave away their first award to Steve Grant called, The Legendary Blues Artist. Steve definitely deserves that one.

Camilo Restrepo

To be honest, I don’t understand why this artist has not been recognized earlier. I am thankful that he was one of the first artists to open up the floodgates to the blues again. I first saw Camilo at the Drom Taberna, where everyone in the place had nothing but pure praise for this Delta Blues singer. Personally, I think the Drom wanted to keep him as a secret weapon to bring people in just to see him. The problem is that I wasn’t really seeing him anywhere else.

Well, I guess the TBF also saw that and gave him a bigger stage to bring in a new audience.

The man walks on stage looking good in his blue shoes and bright shades, sits down and opens his mouth; that’s when time stops still. Where is this voice coming from?

This man transports you backwards to a time when old blues players were singing on a porch in 100-degree weather and singing about their sorrows. Camilo loves representing his love for the music by conjuring up old spirits like, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Connie Williams and Blind Boy Fuller.

Not only does he do justice to these unspoken legends of the blues, but Camilo’s finger picking style will leave you in awe. Take all those old guitar styles from these crusty old souls and then reinvent them with a new modern fervor that breaks conventional guitar solos. These two combinations have an added spiritual awakening that has been lying dormant for decades. It is not smooth nor is it too hot and flashy; it contains an updated version of the essence of what was happening all those years ago.

The one moment that stood out for everyone was when he did a Robert Johnson song. It wasn’t Crossroads, and for that I am grateful. That song has been overdone, and Robert has so many other fabulous songs. When it came to that guitar solo, his erratic behavior on the frets were so frenzied it really woke up the crowd. For this audience who didn’t know Camilo before, they just became his newest fans in that moment.

Camilo finished the evening off with some sentimental blues. It was the perfect dessert for such a fulfilling meal.

Jay Blues Trio

Jay Blues could very well be the hardest working bluesman in Toronto today. It seems everywhere I go where the blues are being played; Jay has a talent for joining people on stage, whether it is at a jam session of just having a guest spot. This is what he does in between his own gigs that take him all over town. His attitude is if there is a stage and a person sitting in front of it, he will play for you. He started his career busking on the street. He even busked in front of the El Mocambo with the dream of playing on that stage one day. Well, his one day did come. Jay let us know this is his plan. He wants to play the blues every day and this moment is where dreams and reality collided, thanks to the TBF.

The set Jay chose for the evening had a lot of funk to it. He wanted people to get up and dance. By the third song the dance floor was filling up. When the crowd was getting hot, Jay brought on a good friend named Rae Melvin on harmonica and the place kept on hopping.

My highlight was when he latched onto to Ray Charles’ I got a Woman. He handled that song with a sense of fun that spread throughout the room.

Jay is easy to find if you are looking. Go out find a blues bar and there is a good chance Jay will show up. He will show you a good time.

Little Magic Sam

Sam Taylor comes off as one of the most approachable musicians in Toronto. He has a band that is a mix of musically trained pros and the others just learned from the streets. This balance keeps thing both tight and loose. It gives Sam the freedom to choose what kind of joy he wants to bring to his audience.

Sam also has a secret weapon. His name is Steve Grant and together these two Steve’s work as a well-oiled machine while they just fool around and have fun together on stage.

Sam played music from his past heroes like, John Lee Hooker, Elmer James and Howlin’ Wolf. Sam also was proud to throw in his own material from his “Step Back”, album.

One of the big highlights of the evening is when Sam invited Heather Luckhart to the stage for a couple of songs. Heather’s energy got us drunk immediately when she went into a wild version of “One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer”. Once the room stopped spinning, we received redemption with a cool version of “The sky is crying”.

The evening was running smoothly, and then Heather added that sassy part to add to the overall reverie of the evening. By the end we were no longer feeling pain; we were washed away in the blues,

I found it fitting that Sam finished off the evening with his original song, “World’s on fire”, because that is exactly what the Toronto Blues Festival wants to happen to the Blues scene again in this city.

If you love the blues, you must follow all of these Instagram pages. It is a passport back into the best blues this city has to offer.

Highlights from Founder’s night-

www.instagram.com/torontobluesfest/

www.instagram.com/crbluesfolk/

www.instagram.com/thejaybluestrio/

www.instagram.com/littlemagicsam/

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