A teacher at Mount Boucherie Secondary School is teaching R&B a little differently this semester.
Gil Kafka has invited Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne to share his first hand experience as an award winning Blues musician.
“They (the students) really like hearing it from someone else, even if it’s the same thing I have told them many times. When it’s coming from someone else it really adds value for them. Someone that has been successful and performs to come in and tell stories of what it’s like to be on tour and what it’s like to be a pro-musician… and what a musicians life is like,” said Kafka.
The music teacher who has played alongside Wayne in a few shows hopes that the students will be energized by the experience.
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“Some students that are really into Jazz, and a lot of Jazz musicians see Blues as a lesser form of music because it’s much simpler. Similar to the way some people look at Pop music. I hope that they can see that it isn’t lesser,” said Kafka.
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The class, made up of students in Grades 10, 11 and 12 will learn from one of the masters. The 74 year-old pianist released his first album, Alive & Loose in 1995, which won a JUNO Award in 2006 has 11 released albums over his career. He headlines international festivals performing in Europe, Israel, Russia and South America.
“Blues is really a feeling, it comes from a place where you have to tap deep inside of yourself and get out of your head and more into your heart and tap into your soul,” said Kafka.
Wayne will share his knowledge gained over his career with the Rhythm and Blues Band class Nov. 14.
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