Jack de Keyser, Blues Legend, Coming to Harbour Street Fish Bar
This Saturday the Jack de Keyser band will return to our area to play the Harbour Street Fish Bar in Collingwood. This two-time Juno winner and seven times recipient of a Maple Blues Award has been referred to by a U.S. publication as “a coveted super-hero in Canada”. Jeff Healey’s assessment of Jack de Keyser as “The finest blues guitarist in Canada” is shared by many, including Bob Dylan, who commented, “If Jack de Keyzer was from Chicago, New York or LA, he’d be famous”. Kathy Pellizzi, writing in Los Angeles Film & Music agrees: “If you think the hippest, hottest bands are coming out of Los Angeles, you are mistaken! More power to Jack de Keyzer, come show the Americans what we’ve been missing!”
Playing over 120 shows per year, he has been called “the master of live performance”. The power of his recorded output, including the two Juno wins, is that he records live off the floor to capture the magic of his live shows and his great band.
Although he is known primarily for his guitar playing, he’s also been praised for his song writing and vocals. . Ruth Schweitzer in Maple Blues magazine said “Multi-talented Jack de Keyzera gifted songwriter, a mean guitarist and a smooth, sultry singer”. He won first prize in the 2007 International Songwriting Competition for his song “That’s the Only Time”.
British born de Keyser has been garnering fans for more than thirty years. Like so many great Canadian musicians, he did a four year apprenticeship with Ronnie Hawkins. In the 80’s he was part of Toronto’s premiere rockabilly revival band, The Bopcats, a natural progression for him after a few years playing with Robert Gordon in New York, where he had to learn to play rockabilly style after he got the gig. After a stint in The Rock Angels, he launched his solo career in 1989.
Having learned from the blues greats, studying the styles of legends like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, he just keeps getting better.
Click on album cover to sample and download Jack de Keyser’s music
Jack de Keyser is one of Canada’s iconic bluesmen and there’s no better place to enjoy a live blues band than the Harbour Street Fish Bar.
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