Hawksley Workman + Brian Blade?

“One of our favourite drummers will be in town tomorrow night,” said Hawksley Workman to the crowd at La Tulipe on Friday April 16. “But we’ll be in Ottawa.”

by Scott Penner

Was he talking about Brian Blade? Surely he was talking about Brian Blade. That would make writing about Hawksley Workman on a jazz blog much easier.

Maybe I’ll never know.

Hawksley Workman has a lot of very dedicated fans. I have met people who follow him across the country on tours. Night after night he never fails to delight the audience.

He is always wearing some kind of memorable get-up which might include a feather-boa, or one piece designer silver-studded mechanic’s suit. Maybe bright yellow doctor-prescribed headphones. A memory of each live concert is easily burned into the audience’s collective mind.

And the visual appeal is always accompanied by a top-notch performance–whether with a full band including Jesse Zubot on fiddle, or just Hawksley and amazing pianist Mr. Lonely.

While I haven’t quite hitchhiked across a country or continent to follow Hawksley on tour, I have seen him perform a number of times. I own most of his CDs and have watched many interviews he has given.

After all these years I have never heard Hawksley Workman talk about jazz.

I have, however, heard him talk a lot about drums. His dad was a drummer, and that rubbed off on him. He recently told Toro Magazine that Bruce Cockburn turned him from drummer for hire to songwriter.

Brian Blade, jazz drummer and composer extraordinaire who has played with Joshua Redman, Wayne Shorter, Bob Dylan and as leader of Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band was scheduled to play Friday and Saturday night at Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill. Surely this is the show that Hawksley was so sad to miss?

Both drummers, turned songwriters (Brian Blade’s singer-songwriter album Mama Rosa …) lots of interesting parallels with Hawksley and Brian Blade. I feel like quite the detective here.

Either way, I went to the Hawksley show on Friday night and it was great. Brian Blade didn’t make it to Montreal.

by Kailey Diogo

La Tulipe, Montreal, Friday April 16
Whether in Ottawa, Montreal or Edinburgh, I have never gone home disappointed after a live Hawksley Workman show. Last weekend was no exception. No need for two guitars or  piano on some tracks meant there was a whole lot of pounding on drums. Why have one snare and one drummer when you can have three? The result was an almost tribal, very big, booming, beautiful full sound on the song The Secret Language of Slaves.

One of the highlights for me was Jesse Zubot’s fiddle solo. To be honest, it freaked me right out. In a good way, I guess. I was pretty sure there were choppers or snipers or both overhead. Zubot’s freaky yet amazing solo provided an appropriate transition into the ’80s flashback portion of the evening that started when the band came back on stage wearing one-piece designer suits.

Hawksley had a red Flying V ax. Oh dear. Mr. Lonely was a robot for a while.

The first song was a cover of Raspberry Beret, and then some Cheap Trick, and ended with a little rap. To be honest, I was relieved when that part was over. It was lost on me. Not because I’ve got beef with the ’80s, I just really love the sweet melodic Hawksley songs, like Stop Joking Around, Don’t be Crushed or anything on Treeful of Starling.

So after the ’80s bit came the jazziest part of the night: Hawksley did a little crooner act, perhaps a tribute to our Micheal Buble? I think he also played air trumpet a bit.

I was thrilled to hear Lethal and Young.

I worry that a little of the magic is gone between Hawksley and me. I used to imagine he was singing songs like You and the Candles and We Will Still Need a Song to me. I used to want to be the woman he was talking about in Your Beauty Must be Rubbing Off. Even if it meant dying in a plane crash, it would be worth it to wear Hawksley’s ring.

I suppose it’s okay that I’ve suddenly moved out of the swooney, groupie category and into the perhaps more respectable fan and or critic category. When I was younger I often flipped back and forth between wanting to be Almost Famous’ rock journalist William Miller and band-aide Penny Lane. Maybe the identity crisis is finally being put to rest as I approach 30.

Though the swooning did come back for a second during the night. My ultimate groupie fantasy was finally fulfilled. I got to watch Ryan Corrigan, AKA Hawksley Workman play a killer drum solo.

Here is a video from when we were all a little younger, and Hawksley was shirtless. Mostly, though this video’s a good pick because he sings about Montreal.