De Keyzer sweats the Blues

Times Contributor 

 

Strathmore was blessed with greatness on Oct. 26, when Master Craftsman Jack de Keyzer worked up a musical sweat ,through a series of vibrating guitar licks, at the Musical Arts dinner and dance held in the Travelodge. Seldom will audiences in Strathmore hear music of this calibre. De Keyzer exhibited some amazing fretwork, and at one point, somehow managed to change a string on his guitar while playing, without any break in the tune. Accompanying him on base was Kit Johnson and drums played by Kelly Kruse, both from Calgary.

When asked why he  plays the blues, this was de Keyzer’s response.

“The blues are the source of popular music. All popular North American music is based on the blues. I like the raw power of it. It is a simple framework, but within that framework you can express a lot of things. I think a lot of people may not know it’s an upbeat type of dance music too,” said de Keyzer.

The Strathmore audience seemed to find that upbeat, as they filled the dance floor to rock to some standards, but also to tunes from his 2013 Juno nominated disc Electric love. de Keyzer has many talents, including song writing and producing that compliment his experience and talent for music and vocals.  

He has racked up awards throughout his thirty years in the business, with multiple Maple Blues awards for best blues player, two Junos, International song writing awards and lifetime achievement awards. 

“I think the Juno award is the most helpful, in terms that it is most recognized, and it translates into better paying jobs. It is nice to win an award anytime,” said de Keyzer. “You put yourself out there and do your best, and then it is really out of your hands. It is really great to be acknowledged for sure.”

He started out in the business at age 18, with King Biscuit Boy, touring across Canada; then went on to play with an extensive list of great names in the industry.

“Playing with Etta James was really amazing. She was one of the great rhythm and blues singers of our time. I got to play with her for a week.  I did a couple of tours with Bo Diddley, and not many guys have a beat named after them. I remember the first time I worked with him, we were rehearsing at the El Macombo in Toronto. He (Bo Didley) looked at the drummer and asked him ‘you know how to play the Bo Diddley beat?’ He played his own beat and everybody played around him.” De Keyzer said.

The group has recently been touring across Canada and played two previous performances in Calgary, prior to hitting Strathmore. After this booking, they returned to Ontario, which is de Keyzer’s home base. De Keyser is married with five children and said he has found ways to balance his music tours with family demands.

He shared one surreal story that he remembered from tours of the past. 

“One the craziest things that happened was when I was playing Albert’s Hall in Toronto, during the nineties. The place was packed. I had my eyes closed and I was really into it, and then at one point, I felt like something was watching me, so I opened my eyes and I was staring at a giant tiger’s head. A girl was holding it on a big choker chain and she was wearing a leather bikini. I just looked … and it was only two or three feet from me. We started to play quiet and she slowly escorted the tiger out. I can’t believe they let her in there,” he said, still shaking his head in amazement.

Two young local music duos from Strathmore headlined for the act. They were  Carmen Stewart and Jordan Teszner, and Lilli Furaro and Jarod Eygenraam. de Keyzer had some advice for those musicians starting out.

 “I would say try to do as much of it you can yourself. If you are a guitar player, try singing. Try song writing and try recording yourself. The more things you can do, the greater chance you have at making a living at it. It is very few people that say ‘I am going to play bass’ and can make a living doing just that. If you can be multi-faceted there is a greater chance of making a living,” he said.

While young artists may not be able to afford a professional recording studio, de Keyzer said the experience of putting all the parts of the process together on their own is a good learning experience, but there are quality considerations by using a reputable studio. As a producer, he gets a lot of CD’s sent to him, but said that they have to be highly rated to consider them.

He said he has many experiences of having ‘made it’ … being hired by King Biscuit Boy at age 18, being hired by Ronnie Hopkins, and being taken on by a guy in New York City called Robert Gordon at age 23 … he joked he is still not sure he has arrived. 

“I practise a lot and I try to get better. I see guys who had hit records in their twenties and they are still touring on those same hits. They haven’t gotten any better, because they think they have arrived,” he said.

His work is not limited to disc. He has recorded TV and movie scores as well, and he has two projects in mind for the near future.

“We are trying to get funding, to make a couple projects … doing a video or film recording of Electric Love, live in front of an audience. He would also like to do an ‘Evolution of blues guitar’ video or film; based on a musical history of famous blues guitar players, starting with Robert Johnson right through to Jimmy Hendrix. He has already performed it as a solo show in theatres, but is looking to film it. What’s his long term plan? He said more song writing is a definite. 

Anyone who wants to purchase de Keyzer’s CD’s can purchase them at www.jackdekeyzer.com