EJS I I TOMMY BANKS WAY - Yardbird Suite

BIG G1ABA MoIIAIIIE1uitnilG Grilam GuestBondBjg Clara l'4cDaniet is a 45-year-otd powertuLbtuesinger who witL be making her firstappeardrce jn Canada when she pefoms at theYadbid suite Aprit 28 and 29.Long a mainstay on the btuescene in 5t.Loujs, Big Clira has been rcceivjng jnternationatacctajm jn the past foui or five yeaff. InNovember, 1995, she was a headtiner at theElues Estatutte tustival in Hottand and recei!€dnve rcvievE-the teading Bdtjsh btu€s masatne,'Blu€5 & Rh!,thm,' tan a cover story on herwith the headLine, "Discovery of the Yea*-andjn 1996 and 1997 she tou€d Englind, FEnce,Switzerland,Greece.Meanwhite, Big Clan €corded and reLeasedher frst CD,'Unwant€dChitd,'on the HjghTonetabelin 1997, and that led to evenoleacclrim. In 1998, the leading U.5. btues magazine'Livinq Btues,' made her a nomjnee tor jtsFemate Blues Artist of the Ye Awatd.8ig Clm was Eised in Pontiac, itlichigan,whel€ sh€ sarg in a qospeL choi and pb!€d pjanoin chuich ftom an eady age. After moving to 5tLouis in her teens, she beqan sinqingbl]jesctubs whene!€r she couu, pertormjng with thetegends of th€ pon\,var btu scene in Si. Louis:Ahed Knq, Ik Tumer, olivs Sain, Ljttl€ li'litton,David De€, and Biq 8ad Smiity, amonq otheE.The lite and great ALbei. King, in fuct, madeClan hjs protegee. She toured the southemltates with him many tim€r acting as hjs openjngact and back-up vocatkt. she u/as rajsing ahmiLy and pl"ying the btues 0n weel€nds furth€ pastwent yea6-as weLt as hotding downtwo jobs. At one pojnt she managed for seventyea6 Alb€d Kinq s tuet of tad-cabs jn St. Louis.Big Cbrand her band, the Maqnatones,became the town's hvouriie blues band and in€cent !€ars has become the ttaditronat openingact at the St Loujs Blues Festivat on Labour DayHer CD,'Unwanted Chjld,' displr!6 her raw,raspy, and lowdown bues vocals-and also heroot5 on the 5L Louis bhes sceie. JohnnieJohnson, the 5t Louis piano-pliyer that qaveChuck Betry hjs slalL plata on the C0, as w€[ a5tegendary hannonica-man Athn Wi[ians (who€coded widr Fnnk Fron in the sixties and 8isBad Smitty ii the eiglties and ninetiet and thehrner Albert King ftltlm sectrbn of Gus l'omtonon bass and lGnny Rice on d ms. Guitansbchades Jone, and Tom Maloney fil out the band.Thjs €xpanded wlsion of the l,4aqnatonespedbnned on th€ CD tor a t"sic reason: ClaE shusband, Abnm "FaLstaff Foster, her keyboardist,songM'ting padner, and band-Lead€r, died of canc€r shortty betorc the CDwas recoded. The CD is dedicated to him.Clnra mo!€d the next y€ar to Arkansas andgave bidh to twins in June of 1998-butshe ir stjlttounng, having pertomedccently at Buddy Guys ctub Leqends inchicago, and she is tooking torwardher frd tnp to Gnada.clard sa!s, 'l sjns att kindr ofsonqs, btues, souL and R & S, and itwouldbe a thrill to peftrm a coupl€ of gospel sonqsjn my showin Edmonton.'She is a strong songwriter,and her sonqs a€ written out of her ownexperience. For instance the titte tune on theCD, "Unwanted Chitd," which beqins wjth thetine "Tett me, what do you do when you 6ndout youte an unwanhd chitd?", tleats a subjectshe tuels strongty about. over th€ years, she hasserv€d as a fosler pacit to many unwantedchitdren and has adopted severat.At the Yadbird Suite, Cbta witt be backedbyThe Graham Guest Eand,joined fDl thjs occasionbv the fieN and souttut Edmonton harmoniEDMONTON JAZ SOCIETYmembershipYour Edmonton Ju Socl.t/ l,lomb.Bhlp !upponsa varlott of acdvltl.! and .nsures thatthe b.st of llw iu wlll condnue to have ahom6 ln our.lry wqll Into the next c.ntury.Purchsc D.e -Cxdry Dle -Amount patd lor h.mb€6hipAmouii ofd dedudibl. doMdon t-a_t_Blg Clara McDanlet - vocatGraham Guest - planoJin culbo.he - gultarDav€ lrldges - bassGrant Stovel - drumsca-pkyer Crawdad. The tour rcgulrr membeE ofthe band, whjch djd such a greatjob ea jer this'ye at the Yadbird backing up btues artisbJimmy Bums and Lazy Lester, aie Graham Gueston pjano, Jim Guiboche on gujtar, Dav€ Bidg€son bass, and 6rant Sto!€L on drums.I -cord c.rdazOO u 6lpt & lru.dhl$lonioron.Fr,,,,,,,,,,....,.,,..$367.25t e|%r cId_ rn. rdnkdon for on. y.ir .......t137.25R€8!|f,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.......$32.00Studod o. S.nlor ,,...........,.. $22,00d vls,AlctNo-O |4ASTERCARD O Ch€qu.Make cnequd payable .nd n.ilio:Edmonbn JE soci.q| | Tomnv BrnlswbtEdmonbnAS T6E 2M2B.inging th€ best in liv€ J.zz toEdmonton slncc | 973MARCH.APRIT 2OOO Poge 7