News, December 2006 • December 22, 2006, 5:56 PM

This month has been a bit of a logistical roller coaster ride. First of all, Soul Review Board ended up playing only one gig at the Metropolitain, primarily because the restaurant can be, and subsequently was, booked for private parties on Friday nights. Our leader, Horace Roxborough, felt that the closer we got to Christmas, the more likely it would be that the restaurant would be booked on Fridays. However, the Metropolitain does want us back—I imagine we'll start up with them again next month once the Christmas season is over. We do, however, have a booking at the Rainbow Bistro for January 26. It'll be an anniversary gig of sorts—the band played its first gig at the Rainbow on January 26, 2005, three months before I got involved with them.

Secondly, Stone Soul Picnic has yet to begin its string of Thursday night gigs at Le Cabaret, a bar in Gatineau formerly known as Club Kiwi. One of the major logistical hurdles we keep facing in that band is working around the musicians' various schedules. There, too, it appears that the closer we get to Christmas, the more difficult this problem may be to resolve until the new year. Our leader in that band, Vijay Agard, has hinted we might also be playing at the casino again, but no firm dates have been set in stone.

Third, Hot Ice hasn't done any rehearsing since our November 18 gig at the Good Companions Centre. We first got together on November 26, but then only to discuss the aftermath and financial ramifications of the gig. We had to cancel the December 3 rehearsal because our drummer had a family gathering he felt he couldn't miss, and we decided to scrub the December 10 rehearsal because he would be leaving for the Caribbean for a couple of weeks a few days afterward and it didn't seem feasible to get together for just one practice just before our Christmas break. We'll start again in the new year.

And fourth, my Christmas mass schedule has been in a state of flux lately, but it seems to have settled down. Father Richard changed the Christmas Eve mass times at St. Augustine's from 5:30 and 8 PM and midnight to 5, 7 and 9 PM. Normally I would do the music at the middle mass, but Father Richard likes to have choirs on Christmas Eve, and he's assigning the 7 PM mass to a youth choir that has been doing a Sunday evening mass at St. Augustine's for several months now. That finally gave me the freedom in my schedule to play the 8 PM mass at St. Elizabeth's, which the choir I work with there has wanted me to do for four years—but then at first I learned that the choir wouldn't be doing a Christmas Eve mass because the pastor there wanted to assign the two slots to the music ministries at the other two masses. Then we got a possible reprieve to do the 5 PM mass, only to get a last-minute cancellation. However, all is not lost—I later got a call from St. George's to do their 5 PM mass. Naturally, I've had to change my web sites to reflect the changes every time they occurred—otherwise, I'd be all confused as to my schedule.

Nor has my Christmas prep been exactly stress-free. I placed an order for two tuques and a sweater from the merchandising department at Grönland Records in the UK (the label Kira records for), but when they told me they didn't have any more sweaters in extra large, I asked if I could get a couple of T-shirts instead. Unfortunately, the company is running out of stock because they recently changed their merchandise design, so they refunded my money less the cost of the tuques—the last ones they have left. The bottom line is that I've had to stay home for the most part—I want to be home when the package arrives. But in a way, that's okay, because to help keep my Christmas budget down I've been making teddy bears as gifts—it usually takes me about a day to a day and a half to make each one, and I need to stay home for that. I wanted to make five, but I had to stop at three because the last craft store chain in town that sells the 30- and 45mm bear joints I need appears to be going under—I might have to start ordering the joints from a company in Kitchener, Ontario. But with the refund on the sweater now in, I have a bit of financial flexibility. (Update: One of the tuques finally arrived on December 22, which means my nephew won't be disappointed. And I didn't have to pay taxes or duty either!)

With all these changes in my schedule and gigs that never eventuated, I've decided to begin working toward building my solo career as I want to see it. This, however, is going to involve a lot of preparatory work. As I've mentioned on my GoProMusic and MySpace sites, my goal as a solo musician is to promote a greater North American awareness of European, and particularly German, pop music. However, there aren't a lot of MIDI files of that material available, and of the few that are, none are of professional quality—and anyway many of the German artists I listen to are altos and mezzosopranos, whereas I'm a tenor, and so I'd have to rearrange the material in a key better suited to my voice. With fifty tunes to do, that's going to be a lot of work. To that end, I've started with Kira's material, beginning with "Rettungsboot" ("Lifeboat"), a song with reggae overtones that I want to try to get Hot Ice to do.

So the bottom line is: I'm swamped, but I'm hanging in there.

What a difference a couple of months can make. This has been a period of ups and downs. To keep things chronological, I'll start with the downs first.

As I mentioned in my last news entry, I was working on a new batch of music programs for the 4:30 mass. However, due to factors beyond my control, including the appointment of a new pastor at St. Augustine's, I had to scrap the whole project. Needless to say, I was very upset by that—and still am. I spent eighteen months of research and development on that project, including the creation of resources that I didn't know at first I didn't need to create. Six or seven copies of all the files I created for the project would fill a CD-ROM—that's how big it got. By being asked to scrap the project, I was, in effect, being told that I could have spent those eighteen months on the development of my solo career, which to me is much more important professionally.

On a brighter note, Hot Ice now finally has a new bassist. His name is Tony, and together we're preparing for an upcoming gig at the Good Companions Centre on November 18.

And the best news of all is that the phœnix we call the Soul Review Board is starting to rise out of the ashes. Horace Roxborough recently contacted me about a series of Friday night gigs at the Metropolitain Restaurant, now starting November 3. Enrico Winter, Hot Ice's former bass player, is being recruited on guitar.

One little side note: I've created an eBay account and made my first purchase: Kira's first album, Inauswendig, which arrived in my mailbox this morning. As far as I know her albums don't have a Canadian distributor yet. I don't have immediate plans to become an eBay seller yet, but I'm considering it as a long-term possibility.

On the gig front, this summer has been largely quiet thus far. On average I would normally have five to ten weddings each summer, but I've only done one so far this year. Stone Soul Picnic has done only two gigs this summer—a two-nighter in June and a last-minute house party on August 12. And Hot Ice, strange as it may seem given that it is still struggling to find a new bass player, had a Canada Day one-nighter in Gatineau. However, that doesn't mean I've been sitting on my professional haunches. I've been using some of the time to begin recording a new collection of MIDI files.

Let me give you a bit of background before I go on. I once had a girlfriend from Connecticut whose mother was German, and as a result my ex has lots of relatives in Germany. Every time she goes there to visit them, she always stops by the German record stores. It was through her that I gained my initial exposure to German pop music, and that has since led to my developing an interest in European pop music in general, particularly since I discovered Radio Bonn online a few months ago.

Anyway, there's a lot of good material being heard in Europe that isn't heard here on the west side of the Atlantic, and I feel that one of my goals as a musician should be to promote a greater North American awareness of this music. Unfortunately, MIDI files of this material are apparently rarer than hens' teeth, and that means I have to record my own versions. And I've got a lot of material to cover at this point—some forty tunes' worth.

I've also taken some time to expand my presence on the Internet, and that means this blog and its German counterpart, as you can see, have undergone some structural changes. I now have an official web site at www.ellhol.de/jamie, and I've moved my events listings there. The new page contains links to two secondary sites, www.gopromusic.com/detail.php?siteid=2046 and www.myspace.com/jamiefrasermusic, which link back to the ellhol.de site. And through the ellhol.de and myspace.com web sites you can finally once again hear samples of my music.

I've also created a third blog, Jamie Fraser: The Man and His World, which is about my personal life as opposed to my music. And I'll be soon creating a fourth blog that will help the parishioners at St. Augustine's become more familiar with the new batch of music that I've chosen for the 4:30 mass—I'd hate to see eighteen months' work go down the drain.

One final thought before I sign off. If you're thinking of going to see Blue Man Group in Toronto, either save up and see them someplace else, or don't go see them at all. And if you're a member of the Toronto Musicians' Association (the Toronto Local of the American Federation of Musicians) or any other Toronto-area trade union relating to the entertainment industry, you're probably already aware of directives from your union not to offer your services to Blue Man Group, or accept any job offers from them.

The reason for my plea is simple. According to the Boycott Blue Man Group web site, every major producer in Toronto adheres to agreements with the Canadian Actors' Equity Association, the TMA and IATSE (the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada). These unions have repeatedly issued requests to Blue Man Group "to negotiate contracts specifying base pay, benefits and defined working conditions," requests that Blue Man Group has just as repeatedly ignored. These unions "aim to ensure that professional artists and technicians working in live theatre have a fair working contract...By refusing to negotiate an appropriate contract with Equity, TMA, and IATSE, Blue Man Group is undercutting legitimate producers like CanStage (The Overcoat, Ain't Misbehavin') and Mirvish Productions (Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Hairspray). These producers provide Toronto with top quality shows that draw audiences from near and far." True, Blue Man Group, which originated in the USA, has been successful there for several years, but they're here in Canada and are establishing themselves here as a major player and on a level with other big players, and so the local community's professional standards must apply. "If [Blue Man Group] truly want[s] to be part of the local theatrical community," says the web site, "they must recognize the professional associations and unions within that community. It is time for Blue Man Group to recognize professional standards and negotiate fair agreements."

As some of you know, I already do that. I've been a member of the Musicians' Association of Ottawa-Gatineau, the Ottawa Local of the AFM, continuously since 1989. As the AFM's web site says: "Whether negotiating fair agreements, protecting ownership of recorded music, securing benefits such as health care and pension, or lobbying our legislators, the AFM is committed to raising industry standards and placing the professional musician in the foreground of the cultural landscape." And as I wrote on my ellhol.de site, I am committed to upholding the highest standards when providing you, my clients, with my services.

Summer's here! And with that comes a temporary shift in my workload. At the end of this month I wrap up my current season with St. Elizabeth's Parish, starting my next one in September. In the meantime, starting June 25, I take over the 9:00 mass at St. Augustine's for the summer, adding the 10:30 mass around the same time (I don't have an exact date yet). And of course I'll have the occasional wedding booking.

Hot Ice is still in its rebuilding mode, looking for a new bassist after Rico's departure early this spring. Our idea now is to also get a good lead singer, and I've requested that we also get a second keyboardist so that we can split the keyboard duties and so that he and I can cover for each other when one of us has a conflicting gig. Also, since we have been out of the loop for so long now, we are looking at changing the band's name. What do you think of "Tabula Rasta"?

Stone Soul Picnic is still playing occasionally at the Casino du Lac Leamy, having completed a very successful series of Friday-Saturday gigs there in March. The hope at the time was that we would be playing there every three months, but now the casino will be featuring Latino music over the summer, and so our next series of Friday-Saturday gigs will probably be in the fall. In the meantime we are negotiating gigs in other venues, notably including the Aylmer Marina.

In early July I will be going to Toronto for my annual week-long vacation. I have friends there that I will be visiting, and I will be attending a sci-fi convention called Toronto Trek.

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful summer.

I hope you've all had a great holiday season. And no, I haven't forgotten about "Christmas", as some in our federal government seem to have—I know there are some of you who celebrate other things toward the end of December (Hanukkah, for example). One of my philosophies is the idea of respect of other peoples, other cultures and other traditions. I may not be aware of all the elements of those traditions, but that's no reason to ignore those whose traditions differ from mine.

I've recovered from an extremely busy Christmas gig schedule, which included a last-minute Christmas Eve mass, my regular masses at St. Augustine's and Christmas singalongs at two schools and a Rotary Club meeting, and climaxed in a very successful five-night gig with Stone Soul Picnic at the Casino du Lac Leamy. The band has since been called back to play Fridays and Saturdays throughout March.

Hot Ice is currently recruiting new musicians after the loss of both its vocalists and its bass player. We now have a new bassist, a German-Venezuelan by the name of Rico, and hopefully we will be back on our collective feet soon.

In the meantime, I have purchased some new equipment. After over 28 years, I finally bought myself a flute. I wanted to learn how to play as early as the fall of 1977, but my parents said at the time that the flute is "an instrument for girls," and so I started studying the clarinet instead. Over the years I've looked back on their statement and wonder how we can then account for male flautists such as James Galway, Moe Koffman, Joe Farrell, Pedro Eustache and Tim Weisberg. I taught myself how to play the flute when I was in high school, and I've never really lost the chops. And when XS Cargo started offering clarinets, trumpets and flutes for $120 each toward the end of November, I felt this was too good an opportunity to ignore. It may not sound like much at that price, but what I bought is perfect for my playing level.

I've also bought myself a Shure SM-58 microphone, a model which has been a music industry standard for many years. Prior to that I'd been using a Beyer MCE-81, but that microphone had limited me in that it requires an external power source, which not every mixing console has built-in. The SM-58 has no such requirement, and besides, the MCE-81 is designed more for recording than for live performance.

I am looking for 2006 to be a year of growth—in the expansion of my clientele, my equipment arsenal and the size of the gigs I do. May 2006 be a year of prosperity for you all.