Edmonton Blues Festival: Day Three Aug.23rd 2015

Day three of the Edmonton Blues Festival was going to be a good one, the weather was awesome, I recognized all the bands on the bill, and I had a clear head.

The first band up for the day was the local rockin' blues band Jimmy & The Sleepers with special guests Big Dave McLean out of Winnipeg and local harp player Rusty Reed. I was excited about seeing this performance having heard good things about Jimmy & The Sleepers and of course Big Dave McLean is a legend in his own and it had been a few years since I last Saw Rusty Reed play. I

I have been a fan of Rusty since my teens having seen him play many many times. He is in my eyes and ears the best harmonica player I have ever seen, and the man can sing too. He only sang a couple of songs on this day but backed up the band on the harp through out the whole set. I was very impressed with the set by Jimmy and guests performance. A great way to start Sundays events.

Jimmy & The Sleepers with Big Dave McLean and Rusty Reed.

Next up was The Rockin' Highliners another Edmonton band who just got back together after a ten year hiatus. Their style of jumpin' rockin' blues had the dance floor packed during their set. This was the second time seeing them having last seen them in 1999 opening for George Thorogood.

The Rockin' Highliners.

The third band of the day was Henry Gray backed by the West Coast All-Stars. Henry Gray is a boogie piano player/singer from Louisiana, and at the age of 90 years old sounded incredible. Henry Gray has played with many legends in his time including the Stones, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf just to name a few. The man is a legend himself and I am very happy that I got to see him play in person. A great show by Henry Gray.

Henry Gray and the West Coast All-Stars.

Second last band of the festival was Janiva Magness from Detroit, Michigan. This was the second time I have seen this blues/soul singer in concert, and again she was excellent.

Janiva Magness.

The headliner for Sunday was Canned Heat. I was hesitant about being excited to see the band, at first I was wondering if there was even an original member in the band anymore. But after doing some research I learned that two of the members, Larry Taylor on bass and Adolfo de la Parra on drums were in the band when they played Woodstock back in 1969. And of course originals Bob Hite, Alan Wilson and Henry Vestine have all since passed. Stepping in there place now-a-days and doing a damn good job of it are John Paulus on guitar and Dale Spalding on vocals and harmonica.

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Canned Heat being a band, ya the band has been a revolving door of band members, this band playing today was top notch. Their psychedelic blues boogie rock was top notch. I remember the first time I heard of the Canned Heat was watching the Woodstock movie many years ago. I thought they were excellent then, as I did on this day forty-six years later.

Some of the songs performed on this evening were Going Up The Country, Let's Work Together, Have A Good Time, On The Road Again and Rollin' And Tumblin'. The crowd ate up their tunes right from the start, a very strong set and very entertaining. Highlight of the weekend for me for sure. Good times!!!

Canned Heat.

Edmonton Blues Festival: Day Two Aug.22nd 2015

Day two of the Edmonton Blues Festival was a 2:30pm start, so it was going to be a long day, especially when your still recovering from the night before. The line-up for Saturdays festivities had no names that I really recognized, as I am no blues aficionado by any means. I got there just after the first band Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley and the venue was packed already. Helped that it was a nice sunny afternoon too.

The first band of the afternoon that I caught was Castro Coleman aka Mr. Sipp. This band from Mississippi was my favorite band of the day. They played an entertaining set of blues music with Mr. Sipp making his way off the stage and playing guitar through out the whole venue taking the time to do selfies with many people in attendance. A young up and coming band.

Mr.Sipp.

Next up was Adrianna Marie & Her Groovecutters. Adrianna is a great singer that came across as a diva somewhat just the way she commanded the stage and her guitar player was quite good too. Their music was a soulful type of blues. Pretty good set.

Adrianna Marie & Her Groovecutters.

The next band up was billed as the West Coast All-Stars featuring Junior Watson and Bob Corritore. Also in the band was Fred Kaplan a piano player from Los Angeles. Junior Watson was on guitar who is another West coast musician who has played with Canned Heat at one time, and on harmonica was Bob Corritore originally from Chicago. All these guys have played with all kinds of famous blues musicians. This too was a decent set.

The West Coast All-Stars.

The last band on Saturday was Sugaray Rayford Big Band. Sugaray also sings in the band The Mannish Boys, though this night he was fronting his own band. There music was a mix of Chicago and West Coast style blues. By this time of the day it all just started to sound like the blues. Hard to tell the difference in styles. I had enough of the blues for the day that's for sure. I didn't stick around for his whole set as it was time to get some rest and do this all again on Sunday. Good times!!!

Sugaray Rayford Big Band.

Edmonton Blues Festival: Day One August 21st 2015

This past weekend my buddy Buzzard and I attended the 17th annual Edmonton Blues Festival held at Hawrelak Parks Heritage Amphitheatre. There were two headlining bands that we wanted to see Elvin Bishop on Friday and Canned Heat on the Sunday, so we opted for buying the weekend passes as it was a lot cheaper. This was my first time going for the whole weekend and the last time I went to the Blues Festival was back in 2010.

Kicking off this years Blues Festival was Mississippi's Shawn Holt & The Teardops. Shawn is the son of Magic Slim who first started the Tear Drops back in 1977. Magic Slim passed away in 2013, Shawn has carried on with the band name since then. Shawn Holt & The Teardrops put on a good show with some rockin' blues. I thought the other guitarist in the band actually stole the spotlight from Shawn.

Shawn Holt & The Teardrops.

Next up was The 44's with Kid Ramos out of Los Angeles, this band was a great rocking blues band that really got the crowd up and dancing. I had seen Kid Ramos once before in a band called the Los Fabulocos a few years ago and thought he was good then as well. Kid Ramos and Johnny Main made for a great guitar duo ripping it up. I made my way to the front of the stage during their performance and it was then that I realized how short these guys were, checkout the picture of their pants all rolled up, damn that made me laugh. When Shawn Holt came out to do a song with them it really made them look like dwarfs actually. A pretty decent set by these guys.

The 44's with Kid Ramos.

Headliner of the evening, and the reason I wanted to go the first night was Elvin Bishop. This was my third time seeing Elvin in concert, and again a great set by this Tulsa, Oklahoma blues artist. It had been fourteen years since I last saw him in concert. And this was the way to see him, in an outdoor festival setting. Though the night here was mighty chilly, Elvin helped warm up the crowd with some wicked blues with lyrics that have a sense of humour to them as well. The dance floor was packed right from the start of his set. Some of the tunes he did during his seventy-five minute set were Party Til The Cows Come Home, Can't Even Do Wrong Right, Everybody's In The Same Boat, What The Hell is Goin' On and Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop just to name a few. This was a fun way to end the first night of the Blues Festival and am sure everyone left with a buzz and a smile on their face. Good times!!!

Elvin Bishop.