Blues with a feeling

PATRICK BLENNERHASSETT

When professional-calibre musicians simply perform for the love of their craft, Blizzard ‘N’ Blues is the kind of band that emerges.

Long since implanted in careers outside the musical world, the Iqaluit blues cover band play simply for the fun, says bassist Robert Aubé.

“Quite a few of us have been in the music scene for awhile. And you get to a point where you know that you’re not going to be doing this full-time for a living. So the alternative is to do it for pleasure and that’s definitely the onus on this band,” Aubé said.

Blizzard ‘N’ Blues, which consists of Aubé, baritone saxophonist Colleen Walsh, guitarists Jamal Shirley and Don Corbett, trumpeter Jeff Barkley, drummer Paul Meggs, keyboardist Lorraine Thomas and alto-saxophonist and flutist Chrystal Fuller, came together almost half a decade ago.

When Aubé followed his bank job to Iqaluit five years ago, he debated bringing his instrument along for the ride.

“I figured I wouldn’t even get a chance to play much. But as soon as I arrived, word was already on the street that a bass player was around. And within a week I had a couple people come up and say let’s go jam.”

The raw talent he noticed upon his arrival also kept the dust from gathering on his bass guitar.

“The calibre of musicianship was enough to keep me interested. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many musicians of that calibre up here,” he said.

Aubé, who also performs in the The Northern Ramblers, added that a degree of luck helped with the band’s conception.

“It was quite easy to get everybody together and everybody was quite excited about the idea. Thankfully it all came together.”

The eclectic local music scene was also a welcome surprise and greatly aided the band from idea to reality, Aubé said.

“This has been a wish of mine for the last 25 years to play in a big R ‘n’ B band. And when you’re down south it’s quite insular there. Although you’re in a rock scene, you don’t usually have access to these weird instruments that are hard to find. Whereas there’s so much talent and there’s such an active music scene here it was great.”

The talent each musician brought to the table also increased the band’s musical options.

“Anything that is remotely R ‘n’ B and has horn instruments in it we tackle. There’s a lot of musical talent in the band and everybody contributes,” says Aubé.

R&B was also the obvious choice for sound due to the mood, which seems to mirror Aubé and the band.

“It’s a very fun music. There are a lot of classics out there that people recognize and jump up to and dance whenever they hear them. From a musician’s perspective it’s a fun genre of music to play. It’s high energy music,” he said.

Running through classics by the likes of Aretha Franklin, the Powdered Blues Band, Van Morrison, The Commitments, and The Blues Brothers, Blizzard ‘N’ Blues played possibly their last show to a sold-out crowd last Saturday night at the curling rink. Iqaluit singer Jimmy Inch opened for them.

But the band’s motto, “the minute it’s not fun anymore, it’s time to quit,” has nothing to do with their probable break-up, Aubé said.

“We’re actually losing a few key members including myself to work commitments and vacation time from our other jobs. They might continue beyond that but it’s hard to say.”

But they’ll surely continue playing the music they love – when, where and with whom are the real questions.