Mike Branton
March 20th we welcome our Special Guest
Mike Branton
Since first making a name for himself as a young guitar prodigy in the southern Ontario region, Mike Branton has evolved into a triple threat. He has now emerged as a highly talented and original singer and songwriter. Mike has been honing his song writing chops and is currently in the studio recording a keenly anticipated new album.
Fronting his own bands helped Branton, now 35, discover his own voice both as a blues singer and songwriter. "I don't think I found the beginning of my groove until I was about 22," he recalls. "That's when I thought to myself 'it's time to get serious'. You can only be a guitar player in a blues band for so long before you have to bring something else to the table. You have to be able to sing and carry a night yourself."
Branton has been featured by, played and recorded with a who's who of Canadian and American artists: Jeff Healy, Michael Pickett, George "Wildchild" Butler, Chicago Pete, King Biscuit Boy, David Clayton Thomas and Stu Heydon, to name a few.
Having said all of this about Michael Branton, the only thing you really need to know is that the man has talent. You will be mesmerized by his guitar solos. No watching the clock when Michael is in his groove.
(Some excerpts from http://mikebranton.com/epk)
Matt Schofield
Jordan John and the Blues Angels
with special guest Matt Schofield
British Bluesman Matt Schofield is widely regarded as one of the most distinctive and innovative guitarists to have emerged on the world scene for several generations. He is rated in the top ten British blues guitarists of all time (Guitar & Bass Magazine) putting him in the company of such iconic names as Eric Clapton and Peter Green.
excerpts and photo from http://www.mattschofield.net/home.html
Tickets are $ 30.00 each.
We are adding a 4th show. For tickets email
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tuesday May 22nd SOLD OUT
Wednesday May 23rd SOLD OUT
Thursday May 24th SOLD OUT
Friday May 24th SOLD OUT
Shawn Kellerman
Harrison Kennedy
April 24th and 25th Jordan John and the Blues Angels
with special guest Harrison Kennedy
We have some tickets left for the April 25th show. Contact Scott
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- 
In 1968 the Detroit POP GROUP “The Chairmen of the Board.” played all the top venues including JOHNNY CARSON'S TONIGHT SHOW, SOUL TRAIN and AMERICAN BANDSTAND and ENGLAND'S "TOP-OF-THE-POPS', doing our hit, “Gimme Me Just A Little More Time.” C.O.T.B. had performances with B.B. KING, JAMES BROWN, SMOKEY ROBINSON, STEVIE WONDER, FUNKADELICS and more. C.O.T.B. also performed many times at NewYorks Famous HARLEM'S APOLLO THEATRE.
Hamilton, Ontario, may seem an unlikely blues enclave, but Harrison Kennedy has always made the locale work for him. No less then B.B. King has hailed Kennedy as Canada's premier blues performer. Based for decades in this port and industrial centre on Lake Ontario, the 60 something vocalist-guitarist is moving south of the border with a distinctive new album,"ONE DOG BARKIN" Blues (Electro-Fi)
If the North Country seems a culture apart from the Deep South or industrial cities of the United States, Kennedy said his hometown has fronted a blues tradition of its own.
"Hamilton's a blue collar steel worker's town" Kennedy said. "The blues is deeper here"
He also benefitted from having well-placed family. Kennedy's singing and acoustic guitar playing on ONE DOG BARKIN embodies a personal recognition of the blues he heard in Tennessee and the Delta when visiting relatives. "CRY FOR MOTHER AFRICA" has the feel of deep southern blues and African chant with its one-key groove.
excerpts and photo from http://harrisonkennedy.ca/
April 23 and 24 Sold Out
Show Starts at 8:00
Knollwood Golf Club - Old Cource
1276 Shaver Rd.
Ancaster, ON,
+1 905-648-6687
http://www.knollwoodgolfclub.com
Jordan John and the Blues Angels
With Eugene Smith
Eugene Smith is a venerable icon of the Canadian music industry. With over 50 years in the business and over 200 original tunes to his credit, Eugene brings a warmth and generosity to his performances that entertains and captivates audiences wherever he goes. His prodigious vocal talents are supported by solid rhythms from his unusual 4 string tenor guitar. He also holds in his bag of tricks a variety of musical instruments including the harmonica, kalimba, jaw harp and djembe. Each show is delivered in his own unique and entertaining style, bringing to each performance a sense of harmony and the magical power of music!
Eugene comes by his many musical talents honestly. His father was the amazing Al Lucas, who played stand up bass for such greats as Duke Ellington and James Brown. His mother, Valeire Abbot, was a well-known Toronto jazz pianist and vocalist. Over the past four decades Eugene has shared the stage with such great artists as Gordon Lightfoot, k.d. Lang, David Clayton Thomas, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker and The Dave Clark Five. In the wild and wonderful 60’s, he played and toured in Canada and the United States as a singer with Ronnie Hawkins and the infamous Hawks.
Most recently, Eugene was featured at Vancouver Island’s Island Folk Festival, where he performed excerpts from his latest CD “Eugene Smith – Now and Forever”. Eugene lives on Vancouver Island, where he has a large following, and tours Ontario in the summer months, sharing his love and passion for music wherever he goes!
“Sometimes just the feel of a song says a lot about where it’s coming from and the Spirit in which it was written… There’s a real delightful feel about ‘Eugene’s music’ that only the performance carries.”.......Murray McLaughlin
Tuesday August 21
Jordan John and the Blues Angels
With Carlos De Junco
Career highlights:
2010 JUNO NOMINATION for STEADY MOVIN' cd
1997 - 2011 Harmonica Player of the Year - EIGHT times out of the Canadian Maple Blues Award's FIFTEEN year history
2005 "Best Blues" Award- NOW Magazine, Toronto, ON
1998 JUNO NOMINATION for BIG BOY cd
1996 Blues Musician of the Year Award: Jazz Report Magazine
1993 Hohner World Harmonica Championship – Trossingen, Germany Two Gold Medals in both diatonic blues and diatonic jazz
Carlos is one of those players whose music is so advanced that when it comes to awards, it's either retire the category or rephrase the question to "Best Harmonica Player Not Named Carlos". This includes two Gold Medals from the Hohner World Harmonica Championship in Trossingen, Germany, as well as multiple national awards in Canada.
To say he plays the harmonica is like saying "Jimi Hendrix plays guitar". He blows the blues harp through a prism -- suddenly it seems he's holding every color in the musical rainbow right there in his hands. Simultaneously sophisticated and raw, his playing blurs the boundaries between blues and jazz (hence the name for his band “The Blues Mongrels”). The emphasis is on blues, but Carlos and his band are not afraid to merrily traipse off in other directions delivering a seamless fusion of New Orleans second line grooves, swing, Latin, hip-hop or ska melodies, to swampy roots rock.
Born in Havana, Cuba, del Junco (loosely translated "of the reeds") immigrated with his family at the age of one. He bent his first note on a harmonica when he was fourteen, making his debut with his high school math teacher at a student talent night. In his early 20's del Junco was immersed in a visual arts career; he graduated with honours from a four year program, majoring in sculpture at the Ontario College of Art. Sculpture has definitely had an influence on his outlook on music: "Music is just a different way of creating textures and shapes."
Playing a ten hole diatonic harmonica, Carlos has developed the unique ability to play chromatically by using a recently developed "overblow" technique taught to him by jazz virtuoso Howard Levy. Overall, this approach to the diatonic harmonica, although much more difficult to achieve, is in many ways more expressive and communicative than the mechanized tone produced by the chromatic harmonica . Carlos is one of the few pioneers of this overblow method, bringing musical credibility to what has still been considered by many in the music industry - a fringe folk instrument.
Tuesday December 11th
Only 60 tickets - SOLD OUT
Jordan John and the Blues Angels
With Roly Platt
A veteran & “First Call” Studio Harmonica Player in the Canadian Recording Scene
Two-time nominee Maple Blues Awards 2011 & 2012 “Harmonica Player of the Year”
Roly has played and/or recorded with great Canadian artist such as, Ronnie Hawkins, Matt Minglewood, Dutch Mason, Suzie Vinnick, David Clayton-Thomas, Marc Jordan, Susan Aglukark, Jack Semple...
For the past 30 years, Toronto native Roly Platt remains one of Canada's premier harmonica players. Roly's versatility and skill on harmonica has enabled him to become one of Canada's most sought-after live & studio musicians.
To date, he has been recorded on over 800 national commercials, TV/film scores and album cuts. Recently, he was nominated for “Harmonica Player of the Year" at the Maple Blues Awards, 2011.
Roly's early years on the road quickly introduced him to a wide variety of music including blues, country-swing, country-rock, R&B and jazz. These experiences provided him the opportunity to incorporate harp into non-traditional roles and helped him to form his melodic approach and unique style. He has been a band member with Ronnie Hawkins, Matt Minglewood, Dutch Mason, Suzie Vinnick, to name a few. He has been playing with Wayne Buttery and the Groove Project since the release of the album "Tangled Roots" in 2010.
“He is, simply put, one of the best musicians I have ever worked with. He's blessed with amazing technical skills but he also has great taste, feel and musical instincts that can't be taught at any school. These are things you're either born with or not, and Roly is one of the best natural musicians I've ever worked with." Mike "Pepe" Francis (Producer and Musical Director)
(Excerpts from http://www.waynebuttery.com/roly-bio.html)
Tuesday July 24th Roly Platt Sold Out
To be put on the waiting list email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jordan John and the Blues Angels
With Alana Bridgewater
Toronto's Alana Bridgewater is a singer/songwriter who discovered her love of performing at a very early age. As a member of the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus she performed in Dr. Canon's Cure, The Golden Vanity and Pirates of Penzance. She also performed with the National Ballet in the chorus of The Dream before joining Robert Cooper in the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir.
After attending the University of Windsor and studying with Steven Henrikson and Richard Householder, Alana returned to Toronto and performed in Women's Blues Revue (1998). She has toured the east coast with jazz great Joe Sealy and his quartet as a member of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. Alana also performed in Quincy Jones and Peter Gabriel tributes in the World Leaders Festival.
In 2008, she played the role of ‘Killer Queen’ in the Toronto production of We Will Rock You. Her debut CD Horizon received critical acclaim and her single “Deception” was a 2008 Soulmag (UK) top pick. “This soul siren is a rising star, who can move easily between soul, R&B, jazz, blues, gospel and classical styles.” Eye Weekly
(Excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org & http://www.myspace.com/alanabridgewater)
Tuesday November 20th - SOLD OUT
Jordan John and the Blues Angels
With Michael Fonfara
Tuesday February 19th - Sold Out
Michael Fonfara's illustrious career spans over five decades beginning in the 1960's with Jon and Lee & The Checkmates. He was born August 11, 1946, near Niagara Falls Ontario and as a young child was enrolled in piano lessons. He fervently practised with an undaunted compulsion. and excelled far beyond his peers in classical piano at the Toronto Conservatory of Music.
Fonfara blossomed into a much sought after player and eventually into a world-class arranger/producer of many of today's artists, with over 35 years of experience in live music, radio and television productions.
He is known for his work as a member of such popular bands as The Electric Flag, Rhinoceros, Blackstone, The Tycoons, The Lincolns and Downchild Blues. He continues today as an active member of The Lincolns and Downchild Blues Band.
Michael has been the recipient of several Maple Blues Awards, sponsored by the Toronto Blues Society, for Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year. He was recently honoured at the Black Swan in the club's "Honouring Our Own" series which recognizes musicians for their ongoing contributions to the music industry in Canada.
Michael Fonfara brings an undeniable enthusiasm to the stage each time he plays - an amazing feat for a musician in his sixth decade of performing for live audiences.
(excerpts from www.wikipedia.org & http://www.iridescentmusic.ca)
Jordan John and the Blues Angels
With Michael Dunston
In our world of “flash-in-the-pan” singers and “here today, gone tomorrow” pop stars, it is a deserved treat to hear a beautiful tune rendered soulfully and with an authentic depth of emotion that only a seasoned artist like Michael Dunston can bring. While we feel that Dunston’s music speaks for itself, there is clearly more to his story. “Michael is someone who channels the whole history of male R&B vocals when he sings,” elaborates Andrew Scott. “This is someone who can light up a room like almost no other performer. I’ve seen him energize a crowd in the thousands with his enormous talent and boundless energy.”
Read More >
Tickets on Sale now for
Tuesday June 19th Michael Dunston Sold Out
Wednesday June 20th Michael Dunston
This will be the last show in June. Once they are gone they are gone.