Blues Element

At the heart of Blues Element is the songwriting team of Jamie Browning and Iain Green.

The songs keep pouring out... they didn't mean to put a band together, and were in fact temporarily out of commission as a live act while they searched for a replacement for their beloved guitarist Kenmi, who had to jet back to Japan and will be there indefinitely. Before he left they whipped into the studio and put most of the beds to bed for their 2nd release, and then began the search for a new guitarist.

The new album "Are You Ready" features 12 new original jazzy/blue future standards written by vocalist Jamie & drummer Iain, and brought to life at Wellesley Sound in Toronto with the help of Kenmi Chank - guitar, Garfield Stoddart - guitar, Jason Wilson - piano, Rhodes and B3, Justin Snikkar - bass, Rebecca Campbell - background vocals, Jeff McCulloch - Engineer, and Yohann Francoise and Jeremy Cowie - Assistant Engineers. Jamie and Iain then had the good fortune and pleasure to record the vocals and then mix and master at Silverbirch Productions with amazing Mix Engineer Ted Onyszczak and Mastering Engineer Andy Krehm.
The cd release party was held January 13, 2008 at the Cadillac Lounge in Toronto. Visit our MySpace page or youtube for a video clip! As the new cd begins to make its way to radio and into online digital stores we will report back as to its reception, and likely create a page to post reviews and feedback, although an entire overhaul and redesign of this site is imminent and very much needed...

And, at the time of writing this... Blues Element's 2005 release "Baby's Got the Blues" is also still on the air somewhere near you!
jamieiain

Recorded in the fall of 2004, this album was a whirlwind fun miracle that brought together the incredible and diverse talents of some of the best players in Toronto's sprawling musical community including Alec Fraser, Rod Phillips, Michael Fonfara, Michael Keith, Dave Powell, Bryan Huntley, and Kenmi Chank.

Recorded and mixed at Liquid Toronto with blues maestro Alec Fraser (Jeff Healey, Jimmy Bowskill, Broken Joe) wearing the engineer and producer hats, "Baby's Got The Blues" was originally to include one cover song. That recording had to be put on the back burner due to an unsuccessful search to locate one of the publishers in order to obtain the licence to release it. Jamie and Iain may one day attempt the search again, but for now they've agreed that it's less trouble to write their own tunes.

All 10 tracks from “Baby's Got The Blues” are still receiving airplay on jazz and blues programs all over Europe, Australia and North America, as well as in a few spots in Indonesia, South America, Asia and the Middle East, and a big THANKS! goes out to all the djs and listeners all over the world for their continuing enthusiastic support. (seereviews) Many of the djs have expressed their anticipation regarding a 2nd album, and Jamie and Iain are pleased to report that, as per above, it's on the way!

Thanks to all the airplay, traffic to the websites has been increasing on a daily basis, as have the sales of digital downloads. In 2006 “It’s Not You” was included on the soundtrack of the feature film “Chicknapping”, and Jamie & Iain will be on the lookout for similar future opportunities.

Live Blues Element continues to be an evolving entity, but the live show always starts with a fun, sexy and very danceable mix of original tunes plus mid 20th century R&B, funk, blues, and jazz. Artists covered include Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, James Brown, Louis Jordan, B.B. King, Robert Johnson and more. The current line up in addition to Jamie & Iain features Adam Rawski on lead guitar, Jason Farrar or Justin Snikkar on bass, and when time and space permit, Frank Horvat on keyboards.