Jack de Keyzer set to ignite the stage

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

Double Juno award-winning Canadian blues guitarist Jack de Keyzer will be performing at the Travelodge in Strathmore on Nov. 5 as part of a short Alberta tour which will cover Edmonton, Tofield, Strathmore and Calgary.
The singer characterizes his own sound: “Rock and rhythm and blues with a sometimes jazzy twist.”
de Keyzer is one of Canada’s most awarded and sought after live performers and session guitarists. To date, he has released nine CDs and has played on a multitude of recordings and live sessions with artists like Etta James, Ronnie Hawkins, Bo Diddley and Blue Rodeo.
The singer was nominated for Juno awards (Blues Album of the Year) five times and won twice in 2003 and 2010 (The Corktown Sessions). He also won seven Maple Blues Awards (Canada’s National Blues Awards), won first place in the International Songwriting Competition and won CBC’s Great Canadian Blues Award.
In Strathmore, de Keyzer will perform two 60-minute shows and will be doing songs from the nine CDs he’s released. He will also be doing some classic R&B and blues songs mixed in. The singer said he will draw songs “pretty heavily from the live album Voodoo Boogie.”
An Edmonton band will join him on stage; musicians include David Babcock on the saxophone, B3 organ impresario Bruce Mohacsy, and Bill Hobson on the drums.
de Keyzer was born and raised in London, England and moved to Canada at the age of 10. He currently lives just outside Toronto.
The singer listed different personal highlights from his career.
“Winning my first Juno in 2003 was a real high point and winning it again in 2011 was great too,” he said.
Another highlight included playing with the Canadian rock and roll band The Bobcats. The band received a record deal and toured across Canada several times.
de Keyzer performs an average of three shows a week or 150 plus shows each year and is known as a world-class song writer and soulful vocalist. He has brought audiences to their feet at major festivals around the world including the Montreal Jazz Fest, the Edmonton Blues Festival, Blues Sur Seine (France), The Ottawa Blues Festival and Puerto Blues (Mexico).
The singer will be on tour in October visiting nine locations across Canada, and then will head back to Ontario in December after touring Alberta. In January he will perform at a few shows in Mexico.
de Keyzer got his first guitar when he was around eight years old. At that time, he first became attracted to music and rock and roll by watching Cliff Richard, who was like an “English Elvis” and had movies and hit records.
The singer cites singing inspirations from the blues, r&b and rock and roll music genres including BB King, Eric Clapton, Marvin Gaye and the Rolling Stones.
“In today’s Canadian blues world there is so many great blues artists across Canada that inspire me. People like Paul DesLauriers and Steve Strong,” said de Keyzer