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Gordon Lightfoot

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On The Hour, with George Stroumboulopoulos, he does a great interview with Canada’s greatest singer/song writer ever and does it only the way that he can do it!

He was born in Orillia, Ontario. As a young boy he grew up singing in church choirs. Later on in life the man moved to L.A. in the late 1950’s to seriously study music. It wasn’t until he came back to Canada that his career finally took off! In 1966 he released his first album titled “Lightfoot”.

His commercial success came into the forefront when he started to break into the US market in the 70’s. This was a great thing. Eventually, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and even Elvis started doing re-makes of his songs!

Lightfoot’s got a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, he was one of the first inductees into Canada’s Singer/Songwriters Hall of Fame and has won 15 Junos to boot. Not bad from some guy from Orillia.

As for me, I have a little story to tell you here kidz, so gather around the campfire and let’ go!

Circa: early 1990. Place: Toronto, Ontario Canada

I was working for a delivery company called Mr. Case and I had a drop off in Toronto’s affluent Rosedale area. I had my supplies in my van and I pulled up to the clients driveway and got out. Damn, wrong driveway! So I went back to the van and everyone’s worse nightmare comes to life, I LOCK THE KEYS IN THE VEHICLE!

I don’t want to bother the people in the house, so I look for a coat hanger to break in. Can’t find any. What do I do next! I now notice a car pulling up the driveway in the adjacent house. A man, a women and child exit the vehicle. The women notices me and asks whats wrong and I begin to tell her my story. The man in the background with the child listens and says that he’d be back in a minute. Beautiful! The women stays behind and we spark up a nice conversation. Remember, I’m in a area that the average house is about 2 million dollars.

No the man comes back out of the house with a coat hanger and he is walking down his driveway and heads towards me on his neighbor’s side. As he is doing this, he has pliers in hand is starting to bend the end to the familiar hook. As he reaches me and my van, he automatically goes to the drivers to.

I’m now thinking to myself, what in the hell am I doing letting a millionaire attempt to break into my van! I said thank you for the hanger and I tried to take it from him before he tries to open the truck. He then says “ok, but I’m kinda good at this type of thing”.

As I stumble around trying desperately to open the van and have a conversation with this rich guy, he taps me on the shoulder and says “Can give it a try?”. I then agreed and handed over the tool. After 10 seconds I see the door pin is open and this guy turns to me and says “I told ya I was good at this” and then I realized it was …

Keep on Jammin’




I’m going to rake the snow off the yard now

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Why have us Canadians been so cranky lately? Well it all has to do with the over abundance of white stuff all over the place. Ok some of you guys in the US, yes we’ll include you as well!

We’ve had it up to here, I mean the height of our glacier on our front yard, with all that blowing snow and cold temperatures stuff! For crying out loud, yesterday we took the dog for a walk at Cherry Beach in Toronto and we thought it was warm out, it was only 1 (C)!!! Lucky for us this is about a 10 minute drive from out house.

All we want is to go out to an outdoor patio, ones that don’t mind our puppy too much, and have a drink and something to eat relax and plus bath in the warmth of the sun.

What did we do to you Mother Nature to have you soooo pissed off at us? Please reply back soon!

Keep on Jammin’

Now I am pissed

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I am a non violent person who has never hit anyone. I tend to turn the other cheek and it takes a hell of a lot to get me mad, just ask anyone who knows me,but this time I have to take a stand!

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A Canadian company called MDA, makes the pride of this country, “The Canadarm”. For many years, we the Canadian people have cheered on this great piece of Canadiana! This is company who has received 100’s of millions of our hard earned tax dollars to research, develop and make this extraordinary piece of space technology. Never since the Avro Arrow has the average Canadian been more proud of a product they can call their own!

dextre.jpg How can the ruling government of Canada, the Conservative Party (the same ones who dismantled the Avro Arrow), do the same stupid thing twice? Once again these idiots are running and ruining the Canadian High Tech industry!

Here is a 1-800 number and e-mail to contact these bastards to let them know how you feel, it’s your right, your tax dollars and our pride on the line here folks!

1-888-780-6444
info@mdacorporation.com

Keep on Jammin’

Jeff Healey rest in peace

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I found this out this morning while making Midnights breakfast (she’s our new beautiful Labrador Retriever).

Wow, taking about being blown away! I think that I will always remember where I was and what I was doing when I found out of this great musical lose! I can still remember when I found out that Stevie Ray Vaughan had passed. I actually called my wife right after finding out.

Rock and jazz musician Jeff Healey died Sunday in a Toronto hospital after a battle with cancer, his publicist said. He was 41.

Healey lost his sight at age one as a result of Retinoblastoma, a rare form of retinal cancer.

Retinoblastoma, is a cancer that hits children younger than 5 years of age.

Healey had the great honour of playing with George Harrison doing one of Harrison’s songs called As my guitar gently weeps. He also played with other guitar gods such as B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was Stevie ray who actually brought Jeff into the greater world musical spotlight. Being in the 1988 movie called “Road House” didn’t hurt either!

I was in his club called Healey’s in Toronto and saw Saga’s second last show in Canada, the last one was in my home town of Brantford, with the lead singer Michael Sadler. Nice place to see a show, go check it out.

My wife and I are God parents to my cousin’s son and he is blind. This happened as a result of contracting a disease called Toxoplasmosis. He is a very outgoing little fire cracker and has a love for all genres of music. He has developed a great singing/rapping voice and has actually recorded some tunes at a local recording company.

My cousin and his son went to a event for the blind that Jeff Healey was at around 3 years ago. His dad thought that it would be a blast for his son to meet him, so they both went up to talk to him. When they met, our godson went silent, if you actually know this little guy, you would think that I was making all this all up because he’s never Silent! He knew who Jeff was and what he accomplished so maybe that is why he was nervous about meeting him.

So let’s keep Jeff and his family in our prayers.

Jeff Healey
1966 – 2008

The PATH in Toronto

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I was downtown the other day and we ran into the hidden gem for all tourists to use in the winter time. We haven’t used this way for years and I just wanted to share it with you all.

Like most cities that have cold/snowy weather during the winter, you have to deal with the slush and snow while traversing through the core. This really can put a damper on your experience here. So in the early 1900’s our forefathers came up with this fairly new concept on building a underground city to keep you spirits warm and dry. I know that this sounds like some bad sci-fi movie idea, but it works great!

It started out around the landmark Eaton Centre then other locations started to jump on board with this fabulous idea. Then a 1988 reform in city council decided to scale back this idea. After this, developers had to give way to their tenants cries to have their locations attached to this revolutionary way of shopping. This gave way to the rise in land value of the property making the developers owners of the most valuable pieces of property in the country.

According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex in the world with 371,600 square metres (27 km.)of retail space. The PATH also holds the bragging rights to the worlds largest side walk sale! It’s even bigger then the whole size of the West Edmonton Mall. If you’ve ever been there then you get the idea. Soon, they say, it will cover around 60 kilometers underneath the downtown area.

If you ever come to Toronto for a visit, check out the official PATH site and print out a copy, it’ll be one of the best things you did if you come here!

Keep on Jammin’

Oscar Peterson RIP

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I don’t know where to start on this post because I have been in a state of disbelief ever since it has happened. One of the last jazz giants Oscar Peterson has left the building. On top of it all, was Canadian! Not many people are aware of this fact, especially Canadians themselves.

He was born on August 15, 1925 in a limestone house on Delisle Street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He played trumpet THEN piano, he had TB at the tender age of 7 then concentrated solely on piano. He did most of his recognizable contributions to jazz in the 50’s and 60’s and was best known for his impeccable playing technique. Some may have thought that was his only real gift but when he flew up or down the keys in either PPP or FFF, it was obvious the the guy knew exactly how to execute his talent like no one before. To all of you guitar speed freaks not familiar with him, think Eddie Van Halen!

Over the years he played with the many of the great Jazz Masters. He worked with Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, Ed Thigpen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Clark Terry, and Joe Pass. Most of these are not household names, but trust me they are giants in the Jazz world!

Most of his major musical influences more well known though. They were Nat ‘King’ Cole, the legendary Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson and James P. Johnson.

Some people consider Oscar Peterson a jazz player who plays standard blues licks over and over again. Although this maybe true, he sounds like he was comfortable in blues as he was in jazz.

As they say ” the world is smaller then you think “, a great guy that I work with is his 1st cousin! He told me that his part of the family was not that close to them. He can’t remember the last time that he saw him which is sad.

I have always wanted to see this legend live, but sadly I didn’t. Not witnessing one of the last remaining great Jazz pianists to play live, is one of the many great acts that will have to be played only on DVD and regrettably not within my memory.

Oscar Peterson RIP

Keep on Jammin’ Oscar

Saga, 30th Anniversary Tour

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I was made aware of the Saga concert on the morning of the show.

Tony, God bless that guy, called me on Saturday morning and asked if we were going to see them that night. I had told him that I knew nothing of the show and hung up to get some tickets on-line.

My wife was not feeling up to going to the show so I naturally decided to contact my keyboardist friend Rick to drag him along.

The tickets were $20.00 Can. the seating was in general admission. We were one the first one’s there so we decided to stand beside the stage. We waited for a long time until Tony,the old keyboardist from Pylis and his beautiful wife Laurie to meet us there.

Last time we saw Saga live was around 2 years ago at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Toronto. That night we stood on the right side of the stage were Ian Crichton the guitarist traditionally played. Tony wanted us to be on Ian’s side of the stage so I could be amazed by his wizardry. At this point I was recovering from a heart problem and I thought that it was really nice of my old buddy to be thinking in this way!

This time I thought we should be on the keyboardist Jim Gilmour’s side because of Tony’s nice gesture the last time we saw the boys in the band.

We were around 15 feet, yes 15 feet away from him and it was wonderful vantage point to see the band from. Tony couldn’t have been happier.

Here is the set that they played that night!

Trust
That’s as far as I’ll go
Wind him up
Your not alone
The one
The Perfectionist
Conversations
Scratching the surface He did this solo and it was dedicated to a married couple that he knew.
The Flyer
The Perfectionist
The Runaway
See them smile
Compromise
Careful where you step
Don’t be late

Don’t be late is my favorite Saga of all time! It really was the best song that I have ever played then and now!!!

Encore
Humble stance
On the Loose

The end of a Rocking Roll/Progressive Rock era ladies and gentlemen.

Keep on Rockin’ Saga!

I just came back from Dominic Troiano’s house – his old one that is

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I had tried in vain to locate exactly which house the Legendary Canadian guitarist, Dominic Troiano, lived in ever since my neighbour’s son had told me. I kept asking him if he could remember and he kept saying that he’ll someday soon he’ll go around there to try and jog his memory. I’m still waiting on that one Johnny.

A fellow employee in the hospital that I work with was a great friend to my neighbour’s son John. He too also said that he remembers his brother Dominic trying to play guitar. He had told me that they hung around Domenic’s brother and played cards with him for when they were young. I had met him at work one day after John had told me about our previous neighbour and asked him the same question. He had gave me the same response that John gave me.

I, being the very introverted person that I am, talked to everyone in the area that looked liked they lived here for ages. With the same question that I had for John and his buddy in hand, I obtained the same answer over and over again.

Now 5 years later, I stumbled upon the answer on line by chance. My jaw dropped, I grabbed my wife’s Canon camera and got in the car. In case your wondering I took the car because I didn’t want to be seen taking a picture of someone’s in secret. The owners may have thought that I was casing the joint!

Now I’m finally in front of the ex-home of Mr. Troiano. Like a kid at Christmas, I get out of the car and just stare at it. I just can’t believe that I’m there.

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He lived at the house on the right hand side of the picture. This is the type of home that is quite common in our area. It’s a semi-detached white house with brown trim. Small front yard with a small parking pad but just knowing that he lived and grew up here made it fell bigger then what it was.

In the front yard there was a middle aged man with his little dog talking to a neighbour. The man looked like a jazz musician and approachable. So what the heck, I might as well get out of the car and talk to the guy.

It turns out that he really is a jazz musician and very well aware of the history of the home. He told me that he has even approached the Troiano family through e-mail to see if they wanted to re-visit their own home! Now that’s a real gentleman.

He said that the home has not been renovated that much and that the feel of the home was almost the same as when he got it. He also told me that he bought it from the Troiano’s. The molding floor and ceiling was original and so was the front door.

After talking for a while, I asked him if I could take some pic’s for this post and he said yes. The thing that got my attention the most was the door. Imagining Dominic going up to that door and opening it sent goose bumps all over me, wow!

So now I know a little bit more about the history of our great neighbourhood and can share it with you all.

Mr Dominic Troiano R.I.P.

Keep on Jammin’

Dominic Troiano Canadian Rock/Jazz Guitarist

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dtriano.jpg

You know the internet is really the greatest tool of the 21st century. You can search for literally anything or anybody at the click of a computer button.

Unfortunately some of the greatest things to look for that are Canadian are often over looked. For example, the great Rock/Jazz guitarist, our own Dominic Troiano. He actually lived around 17 houses away at 356 Sammon Ave., East York, from where we live now! He also created a song called 356 Sammon Ave. on his solo debut in 1972 called “Dominic Troiano”.

While in our back yard a couple of years ago, our little old neighbour Sofie’s son and I were doing some work in her garden for her. After we had finished, I brought up Dominic’s name. He looked at me with this puzzled look on his face. I asked him if he knew anything about him and he told me that he hung out with his younger brother and played cards with them. He also said that Dominic was trying to learn guitar all the time. I said ” Trying to learn guitar you say?”.

I’ve looked him up on line to only find little bits and pieces of him and his successes. Youtube has no Bush videos and there is no official Dominic Troiano site. I looked for his death, after realizing that he passed away 6 months after the fact, only to find small little blurbs here and there. Come on now, this guy was a guitar god!

He helped create the Toronto Sound in the 60’s thru 70’s. He replaced Robbie Robertson of the Band, while Robbie was with Ronnie Hawkins. Dominic started the band Mandala and Bush in 1970. He also was with the James Gang Band with Troiano replacing the guitarist Joe Walsh. Mr. Troiano also joined The Guess Who as Randy Bachman’s replacement.

Can you imagine playing with other artists such as Joe Cocker, Donald Fagen, Diana Ross, David Clayton-Thomas, Etta James, and produce albums for bands/singers, including his ex-wife Shawne Jackson. Well Dominic did! Now to top things off he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996. Not a bad resume to have hanging around your neck. I think that if I was playing a guitar in the 12th Fret and he walked in the store I would more then likely put it down and try to be a fly on the wall, wouldn’t you?

Think about it, this is the guy who replaced a guitarist called Joe Walsh. Then this guy named Joe Walsh gave his Gibson ’59 Les Paul to non-other then Mr. Jimmy Page. This gift gave Mr. Page his signature Les Paul look! Imagine giving Jimmy your guitar and have him actually use it, regularly!

I found the bassist, Prakash John, from Mr. Troiano’s band Bush and found some real neat little stories about him and his band’s adventures. Prakash John’s son, Jordan John, is quite the musician in his own right. I guess apples really don’t fall to far from the tree.

I researched some more and found the best tribute to this giant of guitar at the 12th Fret site and it was very nicely done. Hats off to you folks!

Domenic Troiano sadly passed away on unfortunately, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He succumbed on May 25, 2005. He was 59. Once again, this is another great one that I didn’t get to see live.

Dominic Troiano RIP

Keep on Jammin’

Canada’s band plain and simple – no debate needed

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Well ya know, men have this saying about women and here it is for all to ponder! “Women may not always be right …….but their never wrong!”

This statement certainly rings true for the many music aficionados that contemplate “who is/was” the finest Canadian Rock & Roll music of our time. We are the ones who still hold the torch high from the glory days gone by. And we pledge an undying allegiance to the band that is/was “truly Canadian”.

These guys helped convey the thoughts and dreams of a youthful country desperately looking for it’s identity! They held and cherished us as a mother would her child. They are “MAX WEBSTER“!!! Or for the more refined followers, THE TORONTO TONTOS. Ah those little Rascals!

While going up as a young lad in Brantford, I had seen some of the best bands of my time! Pink Floyd, Yes, The Band, The Rolling Stones, the Who but the only band not to reach those lofty heights are Max Webster.

maxwebster.jpg I’ve talked to a number of Canadian music aficionados who ramble off the bands that they have seen in action and the Mighty Max is among them. Even most passing acquaintances have told me that they have witnessed Canada’s premier band as matter of fact!!! This I much admit REALLY PISSES ME OFF!!!

Why not me God! What the purgatory did I do to deserve this cruel and un-Canadian punishment!

Keep on Jammin’

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