One of Alberta’s most beloved and celebrated blues and jazz guitarists, Amos Garrett, will be returning to Legacy Guitar and Coffee House for an 8 p.m. show April 19.
The Amos Garrett Jazz Trio made an appearance at Legacy last November to what Garrett said “was a very pleasant surprise” — certainly a way to put a smile on a musician’s face whose home and town was all but wiped out in the June 2013 flood.
The award-winning High River resident was one of the thousands who were severely impacted by the epic flood and heavy rainfall last June.
His home underwent severe damage and continues to be a construction zone, although the end is in sight as his basement is being waterproofed and the roof is getting replaced.
“You can’t stop a river and you can’t stop a flood, but you can build a waterproof basement,” laughed Garrett, 72.
Throughout the fall, musicians across the country banded together, holding ‘Amos Garrett relief concerts’ in major cities from Vancouver to Toronto.
Garrett said the money raised has been tremendously helpful to he and his wife, who lost her job when her place of work was washed away by the flood.
Despite the conundrum, when it comes to making music Garrett said he feels great.
The Eh Team (his blues band) continues to make regular appearances in and around Calgary, as does his focal project — the Jazz Trio.
Joined by Keith Smith (guitar) and Greg Carroll (bass), the trio wrapped up a successful 2013, following their warmly received Jazzblues album — their long-anticipated debut release, following years of performance.
And a sophomore release is already in the works.
“We’re working on some new material for the next album — all live recordings, all 100 per cent reality,” said Garrett.
“It’s the audience,” said Garrett, about recording live versus studio recordings. “The audience can be very inspirational and I think you tend to play better.”
Garrett himself is no stranger to being a session musician or a live player.
Born in Detroit, MI and raised in Toronto, just a few highlights from his more than five decades in the music business includes his work as guitarist for Ian and Sylvia Tyson and the Great Speckled Bird in 1968, followed by the Paul Butterfield Better Days band.
He went on to receive international recognition for his signature guitar solo in Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight at the Oasis” — for whom he was a band leader for 10 years.
He’s released some dozen albums as a solo artist through his label of more than 30 years — Stony Plain Records and he’s recorded with more than 150 artists, including the likes of Stevie Wonder, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and Anne Murrary (with whom he recorded her first five albums with).
It’s a musical resume that could fill a book, but at the end of the day Garrett still enjoys the simple pleasures like flyfishing with Geoff Muldaur in the middle of a tour of Japan — his favourite country to tour, or bird hunting.
Garrett said those attending the upcoming Legacy show can anticipate some new material.
Tickets to the Amos Garrett Jazz Trio are available at legacyguitarhouse.com.
