Fergus Hambleton’s long musical thread
Music, music, music.
A clearing in a deep forest
A lover’s faithless cry.
The soft caress of a tropical night, this drifting, preening sky.
The sea, full of a murderous innocence. A locked door.
Orchids blooming by deserted streams. Music is the thread.
— Fergus Hambleton
Music has always been a constant thread through Fergus Hambleton’s life: from being frontman for award-winning reggae band The Sattalites, the first Canadian band to play Jamaica’s Reggae Sunsplash; playing jazz, blues and classic swing with The Jazz Lover’s Society; or performing his original compositions — a rich easy-listening blend of rock folk, pop and reggae.
His first real gig was in the spring of 1968, playing keyboards and singing vocals with popular Yorkville psychedelic folk band A Passing Fancy, who had several hits.
Hambleton was featured on their 1968 single, “Your Trip.”
After the Passing Fancy years, Hambleton, who also played with the bands Rain and the Basics, went solo and signed to Capital Canada.
He released two folk-rock albums produced by his brother musician/producer Greg Hambleton (Stompin’ Tom, Charity Brown, Gary and Dave).
In the ’70s Hambleton did session work after meeting guitarist Leroy Sibbles (Beenie Man, Jackie Mittoo, Sly and Robbie), which led him to legendary Jamaican composer/trumpeter Jo Jo Bennett and a lasting friendship.
“I was a sax player and I was living in the neighbourhood where all of the reggae stores and musicians were,” says Hambleton. “I got to know people and they would ask me to come and play on this and this and that and that. I got pulled into it gradually and it was all very nice. I enjoyed that music because Jamaican music always has lots of horn in it and as a horn player, I always appreciated that.”
Hambleton and Bennett were also the foundation for acclaimed reggae collective the Sattalites.
Hambleton also studied composition with Canadian composer Sam Dolin who worked with late jazz sax/flute player Moe Koffman and pianist Stuart Broomer.
“When I was in my 40s, I wanted to take music composition to expand my brain,” says Hambleton. “When I first met Sam, he was obsessed with writing music on the computer. And this was in the days when you had to do your own coding.
“He had this huge manual. It was so complicated and he was so immersed in it. It was an obsession with him to be able to write music on the computer. Things were just opening up at that point. Things were really clumsy and you to design them and now the music writing programs are pretty user-friendly.
“Sam was great and another inspiration to me.”
There’s a composition dedicated to Dolin on Hambleton’s 2014 solo CD “Playtime.”
“The music explores some of his ideas that he gave me. It is a piece I wrote for strings called ‘12 Knights’ — like chess knights.”
Hambleton’s latest release is “Written on the Wind.” The album features simple, elegant stripped-down collection of songs which display Hambleton’s diversity as an artist.
The album also features Gary Craig on drums (Jann Arden, Gregory Hoskins) and renowned standup bass player George Koller, who has played with everyone from Peter Gabriel, Loreena McKennitt and Bruce Cockburn, to Dizzy Gillespie, Holly
Cole and Fern Lindzon.
Hambleton met Koller when he hired him for his album “Snapshot.”
“He played on some of the tracks and then we became friends,” says Hambleton. “He told me when I was signed to Capital in the early ’70s that he had a Capital poster on his wall as a teenager. That was cool!” says Hambleton, laughing. “George is an awesome guy and such an amazing player,” he notes, adding Koller also plays with him in a little band called Wood and Water and co-produced “Wind.”
“Written on the Wind” also features Koller on standup bass for pop classic cover “Sealed with a Kiss.”
“George worked with Bobby Vinton on that,” says Hambleton. “He did not do the original. Brian Hyland did. But Bobby had a big hit with it. George said, ‘Oh, I played with Bobby Vinton.’
“I started to sing that song. I said, ‘You know we could make this reggae (like other reggae-fied Hambleton covers of Beatles songs “She Loves You” and “And I Love Her”).’
“Then I just sang a little bass line that might work for it,” Hambleton adds. “George just started playing bass. And I started singing it a cappella. We thought, this is an effin’ good song. And I just recorded that. It was fun.”
Hambelton has just completed an EP of new songs from trad folk (“Peggy O”) to rocker (“Summertime Fun”) mixed by Terry Brown (Rush).
Hambleton says he met veteran musician Mike McDonald in Toronto a few years back and is looking forward to playing a mix of blues and requested reggae.
Be it frontman or composer, Hambleton continues to pursue his lifelong music thread.
“Let’s put it this way: I’m into it!”