The Maple Blues Band

For nearly a quarter century, The Maple Blues Band has been the cornerstone of the Toronto Blues Society’s annual Maple Blues Awards (MBA), honoring the creme de la creme in Canadian blues music. With its upcoming full-length record, “Hey Nola,” the Maple Blues Band will step into the spotlight, showcasing the lively instrumental compositions the all-star ensemble has created over the course of its decades together, out now from Cordova Bay Records. 

 

Bassist, band leader and musical director Gary Kendall - perhaps best known for his association with Downchild Blues Band - started the project back in 1998, after a meeting of the Toronto Blues Society.  “I boldly told all present that the music that accompanied the award presentations should be better. The comeback was, ‘Let’s see what you can do.’ It must be working because the band has been the centerpiece of the Maple Blues Awards ever since,” Kendall recalls. 

 

Kendall dreamed of putting together a big band that could tackle a wide variety of styles, including Delta blues, Southside Chicago blues, New Orleans funk, uptown blues, zydeco, blues rock, and most of all Canadian blues, and recruited some of the finest folks on the Canadian blues scene to join him in making that dream come true. 

 

Providing the theme and background music for the event, as well as accompanying the special guests performing at the awards ceremony, the group is made up of many MBA winners and nominees. The band’s current lineup includes Pat Carey on tenor saxophone, Teddy Leonard on guitar, Al Lerman on harmonica and acoustic guitar, Jim Casson drums and percussion, Howard Moore on trumpet, Lance Anderson on Hammond B3, piano and accordion, Alison Young on baritone, tenor and soprano saxophones, Meirion Kelly on trombone, and Roshane Wright on percussion.

 

Kendall calls Let’s Go a true group effort, featuring contributions from band members both past and present, with songwriting credits drawn from over the group’s 24-year history. 

 

“The songwriting helped The Maple Blues Band create a personal and unique sound. It’s what I refer to as ‘big band blues,’” he notes. “The men and women I chose to surround myself with in The Maple Blues Band are part of the enormous southern Ontario pool of blues talent. Each one of them is a star.”

http://www.maplebluesband.com/

The SHOP OF JAM 66 Radio

The SHOP OF JAM 66 Radio IS already here! Check out the great diversity of products available: caps, pins, T-shirts, shirts, pillows... and much more! Click the image below to enter.

Tim Wolf

 

"Frequency" is a piano ballad from Nashville-based singer-songwriter Tim Wolf. This song is a gut-wrenching, emotional lament about an unsuccessful search for romance and a soulmate.

More info and biography of Tim Wolf at thetimwolf.com

Luminatus

The instrumental work is fiery and full of energy. Each player gets to showcase their skill while McGinty tears through space with the vocals.'

- Zachary Larson

Soaring vocals over blistering guitar work, Luminatus brings their own spicy flavor of symphonic metal from the American Southwest. Tune up your air guitars and get ready to rock!

https://www.reverbnation.com/luminatus4

Mikey Hamptons & The Meows

Mikey Hamptons & The Meows, an original Rock and Indie music project based in New York, present to you some of their finest songs and recordings over the past few years. These songs have been spun throughout the globe via internet radio as well as Spotify.

A flavorful mix of Indie and Psychedelic Rock, influenced by a wide range of bands such as The Beatles, Ozzy Osbourne, Foo Fighters, Tom Petty, Green Day, Fuel, Weezer.

https://www.reverbnation.com/mikeyhamptonsthemeows

Graham Whorley

For 2 1/2 years, Graham Whorley has been diligently working on "World Wrapped in Chain", a social restoration project which kicks off with the musical album.

Graham was actively touring in the U.S. and preparing for a tour in the UK when the pandemic hit, causing his US and UK tour dates to be canceled. So, Graham retreated into the studio to create.
When he emerged from the studio, the result was 15 riveting 'anthems' bursting with conscious-minded, thought-provoking lyrics, accompanied by amazing beats. Graham wrote, performed, recorded, mixed, and played all instruments on the album.

"World Wrapped in Chain" offers an up-close view into cultural issues through its conscious-minded theme. Mixing Jazz, Rock, Funk, Hip Hop, Blues, Americana, Reggae, and about every other genre you can think of. It's sure to be a classic for your collection.

Grahamwhorley.com

Aaron Powell

After a successful run in the music industry with heavy spins on radio in the USA, and a Juno award with his band The City Harmonic, Aaron Powell is now releasing the latest single from his solo project. This song has a pop rock feel good nostalgic vibe that will have listeners singing along and turning up the volume in no time.

Aaronpowell.org

Kris Russell

Kris Russell is a 3 times Global Music award winner and has charted on the USA Smooth Jazz charts. She released 3 singles before releasing "I Remember You".

Her previous single "Batucada Surgiu" (by composer Marcos Valle) charted on the UK Indie Alliance chart in June 2019. Her second single "Down in Brazil "( by Michael Franks) was on Billboards #6 most added chart in 2017. "I Concentrate on You" by Cole Porter, was on the TM Century Gold Disc.

KrisRusselljazz.com

Foxey

Inspired by Bobbie Gentry, Dusty Springfield, Etta James, Lizzo and Amy Winehouse, Foxey writes and co-writes her own songs. She sings about women’s rights, and “Hard Time for a Woman” is a song about how hard it is for women to determine their limits to sexual misguidance and social distance in a professional relationship.

Foxey.be

John Otto Young

"Torn Away" is a tribute to Ukrainian soldiers and their loved ones that they had to leave to bravely fight for their homeland. While it speaks of the horrors of war, it is ultimately a ballad of hope and desire to return to those they love.

John Otto Young is a native Connecticut keyboardist and songwriter who has been playing, writing, and recording in a number of projects over the last 6 decades.  He started his musical journey in second grade when he started taking accordion lessons from Naugatuck Valley legend, Sal Ferla.  Years later he would transition to such unique instruments as the Ace Tone organ, the Hohner Pianet, and a Hammond CV organ, playing with local bands the Cliff Dwellers, Blues and Novelty, the Poem, and Bigfoot.  In the mid-70s, John married the love of his life, Camille, raised two boys, coached little league, ran a marathon, got his Masters degree, worked as a computer programmer and IT director, and in general lived the all-American dream, with music retreating to hobby status. But it always remained his most fervent passion.

Johnottoyoung.com

Valerie Kay

Valerie Jay's six-song EP "Silent Night" is a tour de force, keeping a traditional yet fresh pace, beginning with an up-tempo version of the title track "Silent Night".

Followed up by the more contemporary track "Silver Bells", this festive waltz invokes an inspired gospel feel and by the time Jay leans into "The Christmas Song" with its lush string arrangement you know you're onto something very special. The EP wraps up with "Winter Wonderland".

'From the opening notes, Jay brings the magic of Christmas, her voice reaches out and touches your soul. This album glows with the 'feel good' factor, when you listen to it you'll look out your window and wish it was snowing.' - Tom Tyson, Music Producer, UK.

Jay's unique phrasing and vocal presence leave no doubt that the making of this EP was a joyous experience.

https://www.valeriejayandtheamericanos.com/

Kenneth Cole

Kenneth Cole continues to put out excellent music. Millions of listeners the world over are enjoying his unique country flair. "Something in the Moon" was written while Kenneth was in Nashville recording a music video. He awoke during the middle of the night with the lyrics of this song flashing through his mind. Once in the studio, the music brought back the exact essence of what he felt the night this song was written. The exhilaration of escaping the darkness and running into the light with someone who unexpectedly turns up in your life. Something seems so right. There must have been "Something in the Moon". Another great song by Kenneth Cole.

 kennethcolemusic.net

New bands. New music from today on JAM 66 Radio. Listen to the newest.

 

Listen to the newest bands for this week on JAM 66 RADIO: STEVE WEYMAN, JOHN MATTESON, JESUS OLDMAN, BRETT RICHARDSON, MICHAEL BENNETT, JERRY FREEMAN, MICHAEL DURAN and many more! Listen to ONLY THE NEWEST blues, bluesrock and rock on http://jamradio.mex.tl. Open 24 hours a day.


Tune in and keep listening to the newest. Listen on the radio site or with the apps or your favorite player.

Winamp releases new version after four years in development

Winamp has released its first release candidate after four years in development, officially bringing the popular media player out of beta.

Before music streaming platforms rose to prominence, we needed to rip our music from CDs and play the resulting MP3 files on a media player.

One of the most beloved media players to play MP3s was Winamp, which included retro skins and animated visualizations that synced with your music.

Winamp ceased development after version 5.666 was released in 2013. That was until October 2018, when Winamp 5.8 was leaked online, and the developers decided to publish it themselves on the Winamp.com website.

Since then, the developers have promised an updated version with cloud streaming support and more modern features. Finally, in November 2021, the Winamp.com website received a facelift with a new logo and a beta signup form to be notified when new versions were released.

Winamp 5.9 RC1 Build 9999 was released, marking it as the first version released in 4 years and as the first release candidate of the revitalized media player.

While the Winamp release candidate does not contain too many changes, the main goal of this release was to upgrade the code base from Visual Studio 2008 to Visual Studio 2019. Now that this has been completed, the team can add new features and capabilities to the media player.

A byproduct of these changes is that Winamp requires Windows 7 SP1 or later, dropping support for Windows XP and Vista, which have long been out of support.

"This is the culmination of 4 years' work since the 5.8 release.  Two dev teams, and a pandemic-induced hiatus period inbetween," reads the changelog for Winamp 5.9 RC1 Build 9999.

"To the end-user, it might not seem like there's a whole heap of changes, but the largest and hardest part was actually migrating the entire project from VS2008 to VS2019 and getting it all to build successfully.

"The groundwork has now been laid, and now we can concentrate more on features. Whether fixing/replacing old ones or adding new."

Azerion Closes Purchase Of Digital Audio Ad Company Targetspot

Amsterdam-based digital entertainment and media platform Azerion has closed on its purchase of digital audio advertising company Targetspot from Radionomy. The cash and stock deal worth $27.3 million was first announced in November. The official closing came on Dec. 23, following the approval of Targetspot’s shareholders at a Dec. 9 meeting. The Brussels-based Targetspot, which represented 92% of Radionomy’s business, generated revenue of €13.4 million in the first half of 2022. Under the deal, Targetspot’s programmatic ad sales technology will be folded into Azerion’s existing advertising offerings. "Our Targetspot division and Azerion complement each other perfectly,” Alexandre Saboundjian, President and founder of Targetspot said when the deal was announced. “We bring a proprietary digital audio technology that was missing from Azerion's current ad tech platform, while Targetspot will benefit from Azerion's commercial strength, present in 24 countries, and its close ties with over 575 publishers and 400,000 advertisers.” Targetspot says it has more than three billion monthly impressions in over 30 markets worldwide, including the U.S, and works with more than 15,000 audio channels worldwide. Targetspot sells digital audio advertising across streaming music, podcast, audio books, digital video, and online video games. It had $13.8 million in revenue during the first half of 2022, which was 12.4% higher than a year earlier. Azerion says the acquisition “further solidifies” its entry into the U.S. market. It will also give Azerion a more complete suite of advertising products. Under the terms of the deal, Radionomy shareholders will receive a cash payment in three separate tranches – at closing, another in April 2023, followed by a third in January 2024. They will also receive 2,782,644 Azerion shares. There will also be the potential for another $3 million worth of stock paid to Targetspot shareholders if certain earn-out conditions are met. Azerion’s stock is listed on Euronext Amsterdam exchange.

Mojow Trio

The Mojow trio creates magic with the soulful and hard hitting Rock, Soul and Funk tracks on their 3rd EP "Magic Soul Music".

Armed by a symphony of songs melding and marrying together seamlessly, eclectic musical trio Mojow is sending ripples in the Rock, Soul and Funk genres. Driven to rock out the world of listeners. With their characteristic use of the Baryton sax, Mojow includes the musical prowess of the band's lead vocalist and guitarist Nanex Crooner, complemented by Youl on drums en Benjamin Kurpisz on Baritone Saxophone, spinning magical rhythmic combinations. "Magic Soul Music" forms the band's third 5-track EP, characterized by all that the French trio is good at and more.

Mojow.co

Timeseven

William Hayden, under his band moniker Timeseven, has released a new single "Indiana Road". His songs have been played on radio stations all over the world, are available on all major streaming services and have over 1.5k followers on social media.

"Indiana Road" is an autobiographical country/pop song that inspires and takes the listener on a journey to a place and time long ago in Indiana. The verses are introspective and emotional and the choruses are inspirational. Fans of modern country, easy listening and pop will appreciate this feel-good upbeat song.

William Hayden wrote and produced the song and played guitars, mandolin and keyboard. He has been joined by world-class musicians including Daniel Sadownick on Drums (Steely Dan, Taylor Swift, Norah Jones), Alison Prestwood on Bass (Blake Shelton, Faith Hill), Noah Needleman on Banjo, Brad Williams on Vocal. Mix and mastering by 10x Grammy-winning Darrell Thorp (Paul McCartney).

Timesevenproductions.com

New releases on JAM 66 radio.

 Listen to only the new blues, bluesrock, rock on  http://jamradio.mex.tl. Open 24 hours a day. We only play the NEWEST!

From This week, MD, Gina Jones, Spudgun Assassins and many others.

Tune in and keep listening to the newest. Listen on the radio site or with the apps or your favorite player.

James Leeds

 

James Leeds about the track:

'"Thunderstruck" is one of my favorite songs from my new album "Whenever". A lot of piano and strings and the wonderful voice of JACOB combined with a strong drum and bass accompaniment makes it a power piano ballad.

I composed this song when I met someone and thought she would be my partner for life. In the end, it turned out that it was only our last date.'

Website: jamesleeds.com