Hornby Island Blues Workshop

This exciting award-winning jazz and blues husband and wife team have created the vintage, classic sound of blues and jazz working the stages of the world from the Georgia Sea Islands to Ireland, and the blues and jazz clubs from Moscow to London, England. But they are at heart truly Canadian and are great contributors to both the history of Blues in Canada as well as the culture fabric of our country. For these reasons alone, we have had them come and instruct at our past Workshops and why we want them as our voice and song instructors at our 20th anniversary. But, of course, individually there is more. Diana Braithwaite is the direct descendant’ of those southern US immigrants who arrived via the Underground Railway and who brought the music of delta blues and country blues to Canada. Developing her outstanding blues career, she has opened for John Lee Hooker and toured with Albert Collins and is no stranger to the road. A gifted performer and a world class vocalist, she is equally at home singing blues and jazz standards as she is singing spiritual blues or gospel. Diana recently won the 2018 Global music Bronze Award for Best Female Jazz vocalist.  Braithwaite also became the recipient of Canada’s National Blues Awards winning the Blues with A Feeling – Life Time Achievement in The Blues Award 2018. Her partner, Chris Whiteley, is a multi- instrumentalist and nine-time Maple Blues Award Winner for Best Horn Player of the Year, and is also a recipient of the Jazz Report Magazine Album of the Year Award. He is another of our instructors whose album credits as a multi-instrumentalist are extensive, and who understands the commitment and work of being both a studio musician and a road warrior. The power of these two talented musicians teaching together is really a rare opportunity to learn to sing the blues and understand how voice, spirit, and music forge the energy and power to transcend the ordinary. If you want to sing, this is the class for you.