Billy Bryans
Encyclopedia
Billy Bryans is a Canadian percussionist, songwriter, music producer and DJ, known as one of the founders of The Parachute Club, among other accomplishments in music. He has produced such artists as Dutch Mason
Dutch Mason
Dutch Mason, CM was a Canadian musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was inducted into the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2005.-Career:...

 and The Downchild Blues Band
Downchild Blues Band
The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The band is still commonly known as the Downchild Blues Band, though the actual band name was shortened to "Downchild" as of the early 1980s....

. He has been particularly supportive of world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...

, as both a promoter and publicist, and has focused in particular on bringing the music of Cuba
Music of Cuba
The Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...

 to a wider audience.

History

Billy Bryans' childhood was spent in Pointe-Claire, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, where he was associated with his first professional band, M.G. and The Escorts. This band released three singles, and primarily played in the area bounded by Montreal, Ottawa, Brockville and Kingston.

Bryans moved from Montreal to Toronto with his group Theodore's Smokeshop (previously called Attic Dust) in 1970, and soon developed a reputation as a musician, engineer and record producer. He quickly became associated with the Downchild Blues Band and was the engineer on the band's seminal album, Bootleg (1971), considered to be the first artist-produced and independently distributed album in Canadian history. In 1972, Theodore's Smokeshop, now renamed Horn, recorded its only album, On The People's Side, where Bryans was the percussionist, a sound remixer and a co-producer.

During the 1970s, Bryans continued to develop his reputation as a musician, engineer and producer. He produced records by the Time Twins, The BobCats and the Downchild Blues Band. In 1979, he was introduced to Lorraine Segato
Lorraine Segato
Lorraine Segato is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for and a principal songwriter of new wave and pop rock group Parachute Club, with which she continues to perform.- History :...

, who was then the lead singer and a principal songwriter with Mama Quilla II
Mama Quilla II
The rock band Mama Quilla II first performed together in 1977 in Toronto, Ontario and dissolved in 1982.-Band members:Personnel changed over the band’s five year existence, but Mama Quilla II was usually a 7-piece all-female band...

. The two have collaborated musically since that time. Their first collaboration was the band V, playing a mix of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

, soca
Soca
The Soča or Isonzo is a 140 km long river that flows through western Slovenia and northeastern Italy. An Alpine river in character, its source lies in the Trenta Valley in the Julian Alps in Slovenia, at an elevation of around 1,100 metres...

 and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 music with Mojah, then the lead singer well-known Toronto reggae band, Truth and Rights.

The next collaboration of Bryans and Segato was The Parachute Club. Prior to that time, Bryans was the drummer for the Toronto New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 and Art punk
Art punk
Art punk or avant punk refers to punk rock of an experimental bent, or with connections to art school, the art world, or the avant garde....

 band The Government
The Government
The Government was a Canadian new wave, art punk band, primarily active in Toronto during the 1979–1981 period.-Singles:* 1979 "Hemingway " / "I Only Drive My Car At Night" -...

, while Segato continued her association with Mama Quilla II. The Parachute Club was formed in the summer of 1982, in response to an invitation to Bryans to play at a party at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

. Based on the performance invitation, Bryans and Segato formed a band which ultimately became The Parachute Club.

In 1997, Bryans was one of the producers and mixers associated with the film soundtrack to the Disney movie, Jungle 2 Jungle
Jungle 2 Jungle
Jungle 2 Jungle is a 1997 comedy feature film starring Tim Allen, Martin Short and Sam Huntington. It is an American remake of the 1994 French film Un indien dans la ville . Jungle 2 Jungles plot follows the original film fairly closely...

, which featured much African music.

In 2006, Bryans announced that he was suffering from lung cancer, and was incapacitated for a period of months, commencing in April of that year. In August 2006, in celebration of his recovery, a number of notable Toronto musicians performed a benefit in Bryans' honour.

As A Musician

  • 1972 Horn, On The People's Side (Special)
  • 1975 Downchild, Ready to Go (GRT)
  • 1983 Parachute Club, The Parachute Club (Current/RCA
    RCA Records
    RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

    )
  • 1984 Parachute Club, At The Feet of the Moon (Current/RCA)
  • 1985 Parachute Club, Moving Thru the Moonlight (Current/RCA; remixes)
  • 1986 Parachute Club, Small Victories (Current/RCA)
  • 1990 Raffi
    Raffi (musician)
    Raffi Cavoukian, CM, OBC , better known by his stage name Raffi, is a Canadian-Armenian singer-songwriter, author, essayist and lecturer...

    , Evergreen Everblue
    Evergreen Everblue
    Evergreen Everblue is a music album by popular children's entertainer Raffi, released in 1990.-Track listing:#"Intro/Evergreen, Everblue" – 4:51#"Mama's Kitchen" – 3:31#"Big Beautiful Planet" – 3:23#"Alive and Dreaming" – 3:46#"Where I Live" – 4:05...

    (Rounder
    Rounder Records
    Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...

    )
  • 1992 Parachute Club, Wild Zone: The Essential Parachute Club (BMG
    BMG
    Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...

    ; reissued 2006 by EMI International
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )

As A Producer

  • 1972 Horn, On The People's Side (Special)
  • 1977 Downchild, So Far: A Collection of Our Best (Co-producer, with John Capek and Donnie Walsh
    Downchild Blues Band
    The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The band is still commonly known as the Downchild Blues Band, though the actual band name was shortened to "Downchild" as of the early 1980s....

    ; reissued 2007 by Koch
    Koch Records
    E1 Music , the primary subsidiary of E1 Entertainment LP, is the largest independent record label in the United States. It is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name E1 Universal...

     and Linus
    Linus Entertainment
    Linus Entertainment is a record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.The company was started by Geoff Kulawick, who previously was vice president of A&R at Virgin Records/EMI Music Canada....

    .)
  • 1980 Downchild, We Deliver (Attic
    Attic Records (Canada)
    Attic Records was a Canadian independent record label, founded in 1974 by Alexander Mair and Tom Williams. The label was known for developing Canadian talent, including Anvil, Lee Aaron, Maestro Fresh Wes, The Nylons, Teenage Head, and Triumph...

    )
  • 1982 Downchild, But I'm On The Guest List (Attic)
  • 1986 Eyuphuro
    Eyuphuro
    Eyuphuro is a Mozambican band. Eyuphuro's music is combination of traditional African music and western popular music. Eyuphuro's music is sung mostly in Makua, a Bantu language. Name of the band means "whirlwind".-History:...

    , Mama Mosambiki
    Mama Mosambiki
    Mama Mosambiki is the title of the first album by Eyuphuro, produced in 1990 by Womad Music.Zena Bakar and Gimo Remane wrote the songs full of the traditional Mozambican rhythms, with the texts providing a sharp commentary on some of the modern social values.The blurb on the sleeve describes the...

    (Atlantic
    Atlantic Records
    Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

    ; co-producer, with Bruce Burron)
  • 1990 The Phantoms, Pleasure Puppets (A&M
    A&M Records
    A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

    /Spy; co-producer, with Kevin Doyle)
  • 1990 Raffi
    Raffi (musician)
    Raffi Cavoukian, CM, OBC , better known by his stage name Raffi, is a Canadian-Armenian singer-songwriter, author, essayist and lecturer...

    , Evergreen Everblue
    Evergreen Everblue
    Evergreen Everblue is a music album by popular children's entertainer Raffi, released in 1990.-Track listing:#"Intro/Evergreen, Everblue" – 4:51#"Mama's Kitchen" – 3:31#"Big Beautiful Planet" – 3:23#"Alive and Dreaming" – 3:46#"Where I Live" – 4:05...

    (Rounder
    Rounder Records
    Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...

    ; co-producer, with Raffi)
  • 1997 Jungle 2 Jungle
    Jungle 2 Jungle
    Jungle 2 Jungle is a 1997 comedy feature film starring Tim Allen, Martin Short and Sam Huntington. It is an American remake of the 1994 French film Un indien dans la ville . Jungle 2 Jungles plot follows the original film fairly closely...

     Soundtrack
    (Disney; specific track producer)
  • 2003 Various Artists, Mother Africa (Musica Alternativa; specific track producer)

As An Engineer, Sound Mixer

  • 1972 Downchild Blues Band, Bootleg (Special)
  • 1972 Horn, On The People's Side (Special)
  • 1986 Eyuphuro, Mama Mosambiki (Atlantic; co-mixing, with Bruce Burron)
  • 1997 Jungle 2 Jungle Soundtrack (Disney; specific track mixer)
  • 2003 Various Artists, Mother Africa (Musica Alternativa; specific track mixer)

Other

  • 1988 Soundtrack Composer (with Aaron Davis, composer and member of the Holly Cole Trio), Hostile Takeover

External links

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