Photo credit: Dick
Darrell for the Toronto Star, courtesy
of Toronto Public Library
She held her head at an angle
while she played, upright and
sparrow-like, as if she wanted to see and
hear everything on stage with a mixture of
curiosity and anticipation. Her skin was
pale, her eyes green, and her hands tiny –
how did she manage those runs, how did she
manage to play so hard and tough when she
looked so perky and small and gentle?
Richard Flohil Publicist, promoter and co-manager
for Downchild Blues Band
Jane
Vasey & Donnie Walsh December 29, 1978 Photo credit:
Dick Darrell for the Toronto Star,
courtesy of Toronto Public Library
The blues is largely a
male-dominated musical genre. Few
women players have ever earned the
approving nod of blues aficionados.
Winnipegger Jane Vasey changed all
that. Female and
classically-trained, she was the
antithesis of the typical blues
artist. In her seven years at the piano
with Toronto's formidable Downchild Blues
Band, Jane set the blues world on its ear
and carved out a role for a young woman in
a man's world.
John Einarson Excerpt from Made In Manitoba, A
Musical Legacy published 2005
Downchild
Blues Band
October 21, 1975 Photo credit: Ron
Bull for the Toronto Star, courtesy of
Toronto Public Library
