What: Bobby Bazini with Bellwoods
When: Tonight, doors at 8 p.m.
Where: Lucky Bar
Tickets: $12.50 at Ditch Records, Lyle’s Place and ticketweb.ca
Bobby Bazini’s first big step outside of his comfort zone begins tonight. The Montreal-based performer has been on a fortuitous run during the past few years, one that saw him release two acclaimed albums, earn four Juno Award nominations and notch the title of Canada’s top-selling artist in 2014.
He has accomplished that mostly with the support of music fans in his home province of Quebec, who put his 2010 single I Wonder atop the Quebec music charts for nine consecutive weeks. It has been one similarly large accomplishment after another in the five years since.
Bazini’s maiden cross-country tour begins in Victoria tonight, the first of 12 dates that will take him to several cities outside of Quebec for the first time. Bazini said he is prepped and ready for his closeup.
“It’s like starting from scratch,” he said. “It’s weird. Last summer, I played at the jazz festival in Montreal to 60,000 people. When you go from that to playing in front of 10 people, it’s crazy.”
It’s not as if Bazini is an unknown in all parts of the country. Upcoming shows in B.C. (Penticton, Vancouver) and Alberta (Canmore) are already sold out, which speaks volumes about the door-opening qualities of his sweet soul music. His appearance on this month’s Juno Awards telecast didn’t hurt, either, nor did the made-for-Hollywood story behind his second album, Where I Belong.
The album was recorded with Larry Klein, the ex-husband of Joni Mitchell and the four-time Grammy Award-winning producer of albums by Mitchell, Madeleine Peyroux and Tracy Chapman. Bazini’s record label arranged for him to meet Klein when the producer was in Montreal, the hope being that he would eventually get behind the soundboard.
Bazini played Klein a few songs. As it turns out, that was all it took to hook the man who played bass on albums by Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Roy Orbison and Neil Diamond.
“After a couple of songs, he told me he knew exactly how he would produce my record,” Bazini said.
The native of Mont-Laurier, Que., had to wait five months before work started with Klein, though producer and student chatted often. The two talked a lot about soul music, Bazini said. Klein mostly talked. Bazini mostly listened.
Sessions were eventually set for September 2013, which gave Bazini a summer to fine-tune his material. Weeks before the sessions were to begin, Bazini said, he was given the list of session musicians who had agreed to play on the recording sessions at Village Studios in Los Angeles, where albums by Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift had been recorded.
The name of percussionist Jack Ashford, member of the Funk Brothers and a Motown session giant who played on Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Through the Grapevine, stuck out immediately, Bazini said. So did that of drummer Jay Bellerose, who has worked with Diana Krall and Elton John. One name, however, loomed larger than most.
“When I saw Booker T.’s name on there, I had to call Larry to see if he was joking,” Bazini said with a laugh.
Keyboardist Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. & the MGs fame, was the icing on the cake for Bazini. “It was great to be in the company of these guys, who lived and went through the rise of the soul era. I’ll always remember that.”
Where I Belong has a classical feel, one that puts Bazini somewhat at the junction of Paul Simon and Bill Withers in terms of his sound. The waver of his buttery voice also recalls contemporary singer Paulo Nutini, another old soul trapped in a younger singer’s body.
There is no shortage of new talents currently mining the old-school mentality, but that doesn’t seem to bother Bazini. He thinks his music can make a connection with audiences, should they give him a chance on his upcoming tour.
“Sometimes, you can take success for granted. You do shows and they are sold out every night. But this time, I have to forget everything. I have to convince the rest of Canada what I can do. It’s a challenge, but I like big challenges.”
