| On Tuesday, March 6/01, Wal-Mart's newly announced music prot�g� and Maple Blues Award Winner, Jack De Keyzer, once again teamed up with "young gun", Dylan Wickens, at the Black Swan Tavern, where Dylan and mates, Brent Kehoe (bass), John Bouvette (drums) and Flip Townson (saxophone) conduct a regular Tuesday night jam. These two guitarists work excellently together, but then, to quote Dylan, "Jack is great to play with - he's an excellent music director"! This particular evening I was delighted to see Jack demonstrating a bit of slide playing (yes!), besides his usual guitar brilliance. Like the "EverReady Bunny" from the commercial, John Bouvette played the "skins" for the ENTIRE final, extended, set (almost 3 hours), with different guitar jammers taking revolving turns on stage throughout the evening! Sensational bass player, Brent, at least got a bit of a break with a couple of temporary replacements. Jack is the kind of musician who has the talent to play with whomever he chooses, and the fact that he doesn't hesitate to play with lesser-known talents such as the Dylan Wickens Project increases my respect for him mightily. Although, I'd like to make it clear that Dylan, Brent, John and Flip are perfectly capable of entertaining an audience in their own right! As a matter of fact, the Tuesday night jams there are gaining more and more of a regular following, from both a "jammer" and audience member perspective and hopefully this will lead to a grand rebirth of this wonderfully historic venue! Just walking around the upper-floor rooms gazing at the wonderful collection of photographs and posters of artists, most of whom have graced that room in previous years, left me feeling wistful for a time when blues artists must have ruled the music kingdom in Toronto (I was not resident here in the "early" days of the Swan, although I do remember the Saturday afternoon jams with Gary Kendall et al. I am so grateful that this genre of music continues to be appreciated and lauded by the original fans as well as the newer generation of music lovers in our beautiful, blues-loving city. But, as the saying goes, "I digress"�. While Dylan has independently released a debut EP, HighwayAudioFire, he seldom plays any of these original (well, 4 out of 5) tunes "live", apart from "Catfish Blues" (a totally unique version of B.B. King's "Rollin' Stone'). I hassle him mercilessly to get John (Bouvette) familiarized with my favourite track, "Backwoods Mojo". It would be interesting to hear how it would sound with Flip's totally professional saxophone accompaniment, although I'd probably prefer the basic arrangement, which brings back memories of blues-rock god, Stevie Ray Vaughan. I'm anxiously awaiting an official-length CD from these guys. Jack has an upcoming CD in the works and no doubt it will be a great follow-up to Down in the Groove! Both bands have numerous upcoming gigs around town, so keep an eye on the listings! |
| JACK DE KEYZER |
JACK DE KEYZER GUESTS AT DYLAN WICKENS' WEEKLY TUESDAY NIGHT JAM AT THE BLACK SWAN |
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