A first-time performer at this year’s Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival will be ‘boogie woogie-ing’ across to Westside all the way from Paris.
French boogie woogie pianist Ben Toury is one of a number of leading international stars who will be making Birmingham his home during the 39th annual festival, which runs from 14 to 23 July.
But travel is nothing new to Parisian Ben who, prior to the Covid pandemic, had played some 2,500 concerts, including a growing list of foreign countries ranging from Abu Dhabi to the United States.
In an interview with The Jazz Rag, Ben said: “All foreign gigs are a new adventure. The more I travel, the more I understand that the world is wide. As a musician, I’m feeling like a little thing in this world, but the music I’m carrying is more powerful.”
Ben remembers one overseas destination more poignantly than others: “I have a really exceptional souvenir of Ukraine gigs. I played three times in Zaporizhzhia, one time in Kiev, and one time near the Azov Sea. So, to see the city and the country destroyed is painful for me.”
Ben has been appearing on stage since the age of 11, having started his career playing alongside his dad: “Good Ol Boogie was always a duo, consisting of me and my father,” he recalled. “In 1992-93 my father didn’t have a band, and I was starting to play seriously and wasn’t bad, so he had the idea to create a family duo.
“To try it out, we played in front of a restaurant in June 1993 and, after that, we never stopped touring until I was 18 or 19 years old. We played more than 300 gigs all over France, studies during the week and touring at the weekend.
“I was playing piano, harmonicas, drums, a homemade washboard and six-string lap steel (guitar), and my father was playing drums, three different guitars, harmonica, and was singing. As we were switching from one instrument to another the show was very interesting.”
The roles reversed in 2000 when Ben moved to Paris and created the Benjamin Toury Duo with his father now accompanying the former ‘apprentice’ on drums.
Ben describes himself primarily as a boogie pianist, but also a blues pianist and a composer: “So, my repertoire is a mix of compositions plus old R ‘n B standards. I like to ‘dynamite’ these standards in order to keep them evolving and alive.
“For example, I play So Glad from Fats Domino but I changed the global rhythm, and in the old standard, Why Don’t You Do Right? sung by Lil Green in 1941, I adapted the lyrics to be singable by a man, and I put some darker moments and some hip-hop passages during my harmonica solo.”
Ben is also very open to external musical influences, adding: “I like to do crossover in music. One of my compositions, Big Mix, starts like a piece of classical music. After that, I only change the rhythm, keeping the same notes, and we are instantly with Boogie Chillen’ by John Lee Hooker.
“I like classical music. It is the height for a self-taught musician. I’m noticing more and more bridges between the blues and the classical world. I guess it’s because bluesmen learnt to play in church where classical music was on display. It’s so incredible to hear blues turnover in a lot of classical pieces.
“I discovered Ska music with the English band Madness. I remember that it was cool to play on One Step Beyond because I could adapt my boogie-woogie bass pattern in minor mode on it.
“A last influence is Norman Quentin Cook – Fat Boy Slim. His records made me understand we can be creative while respecting the old music. I like to listen and discover ideas in music, later I adapt it to my piano style.”
Ben’s dates on Westside
- Friday 21 July, 5pm – The Brasshouse, Broad Street
- Friday 21 July, 9pm – Hampton by Hilton, Broad Street
- Sunday 23 July, 1pm – Lee Longlands store, Broad Street
- Sunday 23 July, 5pm – All Bar One, Brindleyplace
The full interview with Ben Toury, written by Ron Simpson, appearing in the latest issue of The Jazz Rag, which can be ordered via www.bigbearmusic.com.
The full jazz festival programme can be found here.
ENDS
