And sometimes you don't know you've experienced something special until long after it's occurred. You may enjoy it at the time but the passage of time may grant the event something special.
Recently I was clawing through some old tapes that I'd shot (if there is a new tsunami in the next couple of days, well that may be on me, a lot of tapes fell over .. oops). Once upon a time I worked as a video production assistant and part of my duties involved logging tapes. Some habits that you carry through the years are good. Some habits are bad ... Apparently pruning your toe nails on a public bus with a machete is considered a bad habit.
At any rate, as I called in a Mt Everest team to rescue me from the mountain of tapes, I found one with a label that intrigued me: Harbourfront Blues Festival, 1996. Once upon a time here in the Republic of Toronto, the city used to hold a free blues festival down at the waterfront. The venue has since changed but Collette and I saw many great musicians there; Magic Slim, Big Bill Morganfield (Muddy Water's son), Zakiya Hooker (John Lee's Daughter), Lucky Peterson and many more.
The venue is an outdoor amphitheatre with the harbour at your back, a lovely place to watch some blues. This particular concert in July featured local band Fathead, guitar legend Duke Robilard and two of our favorite musicians: Toronto singer/songwriter Rita Chiarelli
and British blues/soul legend Long John Baldry.
I'd seen Baldry before but if my memory is correct (and my memory is prefect ..um .. what was I saying) this was the first time I'd seen Rita. Or second time. Whatever. In the intervening years Collette and I have seen Rita many times.
We would see John only one other time; it was at Jeff Healy's original bar on Bathurst Street and it was the year that John would die. Ironically, and bitterly, Jeff has also since left us.
During this concert each performer did a solo set then they played together for one song, or two songs at the same time ... you'll get the drift. They were not unknown to each other. In the year of this concert John would record Rita's song Midnight in Berlin.
I'm not sure how many times they actually played together. John lived in a Canada a long time, mostly on the west coast and Rita is a Toronto girl. But they're blues players and we all know how the blues players do like to ramble a bit.
Lord-dee.
At any rate, this was a special performance from two players who not only love and understand the blues but can flat out play. During John's long career he travelled from blues to soul to pop to rock. Rita has worked in blues, in rock and even recorded an album of traditional Italian music. But on stage together, along with Rita's long time sideman Papa John King, it was clear what music they would play.
I thought I'd share it with you. In addition to the incredible playing, at the beginning of the song you will see a small sample of Baldry's famous, or infamous, skills as a raconteur.
A note about the video. This was 1996 people; there was still brown in my beard, Gigs was still our dog and there was something used by videographers called video tape. I shot this on S-VHS-C, which is compact S-VHS at the back of an outdoor theatre with the Toronto harbour at my back.
It's not perfect, suck it up.
And enjoy what has become, something very special.
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