News
TODAY: Because of the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, I am nowadays focusing most of my energy on supporting my family and the Jewish community of Montreal rather than on music. Every Sunday we walk in Hampstead, and on March 10 our demonstration was covered in the CFCF-12 news and on the CTV National News which can be seen here.
While I walk to my shows I carry an Israeli flag, and I was even recognized by the Israeli Consul General for my little act of support. Our beloved City Councillor Mike Cohen did an article about this which you can read here. At this time I am also getting a list of Concordia University alumni and donors together so we can put pressure on university administration to end the anti-Semitic atmosphere which seems to have been fostered on campus over the last two decades. Please feel free to contact me here if you would like to do your part to help erase the stain of anti-semitism on our alma mater.
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When I have a few free moments I work on albums 18 and 19 (!!!). One is called "The Merry Widow" and it should be finished by July 2024. The other will be the first record coming from our 30th Anniversary show (which I will talk about below) and will be called "I Belong to You."
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2023: Edwin & the Bedouins' 30th Anniversary Concert was a great success! The ORIGINAL band played Macallan's Pub on Saturday, October 21, celebrating 30 years together and my 40th year in music!!! Sharon Blauer, Marco Vizza, Tim Walsh and Mike Padra of the original group joined longtime Bedouins Kelly Watling, Snooky Alston, Jerry Mercer and me for the party of the year! All six hours of the show can be viewed here: 1st Set, 2nd Set, 3rd Set!!! ENJOY!!!
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2022: Edwin & the Bedouins 4th album "Mo'Roccan the Blues," our psychedelic blues masterpiece was launched at a Facebook Live Concert Event HERE. The CD features live cuts from our 2006 show at Avanti, as well as new studio tracks recorded at MOD studio in 2019 with Peter Bowering, and I can't wait for you to share this work of art with me!!!
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2022 / 2021 / 2020: Hi everyone: The Coronavirus hit hard and is still here, and I thank everyone for keeping to themselves and for reaching out in cyberspace. From March 20, 2020 to July 24, 2021, I live-streamed three series of 134 concerts total on FacebookLive and the fourth series which began on December 31st 2021 continues today. I began performing each evening, then twice a week and then once a week, and you can see links to these shows here. For the latest news on my classical career please visit here, and for links to my author website come here.
2019: We remembered our friend and bandmate Richard Fallis at Petit Campus on March 27, 2019. Friends and comrades from the Montreal music scene and from Richard's childhood came together to pay their respects and to share memories of this amazing musician and outstanding human being. The Richard Fallis Memorial Website is now online and fans of our late great bassist are welcome to come here to contribute memories, music and video. Video of the Petit Campus Memorial are also online here.
2018:My solo show as part of Peter Angrove’s annual “Bands for Baskets” benefit concert in 2018 was also a great success and we raised over $4,000 for the West Island Mission. Thanks to those who came down to watch me and all the groups involved perform, and thank you Peter and all the management and staff at the Calistoga Grill for your hard work organizing the event.!!!
I just finished editing a series of videos of Edwin & the Bedouins’ 10th Anniversary Concert. To see videos featuring Richard Fallis, Rob MacDonald, Snooky Alston and other great musicians please click here: Edbed 10th Anniversary, here: Edbed 10th Anniversary Facebook 1, here: Edbed 10th Anniversary Facebook 2, here: Edbed 10th Anniversary Facebook 3, here: Edbed 10th Anniversary Facebook 4, here: Edbed 10th Anniversary Facebook 5, here: Edbed 10th Anniversary Facebook 6 and here: Edbed 10th Anniversary Facebook 7.
In the summer of 2018 I played with The Montreal All Stars at a wonderful benefit concert in the memory of Bobby Lee Silcott. We raised a lot of money for cancer research and look forward to repeating this celebration of Bobby’s life soon!!! Videos of the show may be found here: Montreal All Stars 1 and here: Montreal All Stars 2.
2017:The last time the Bedouins performed together as a unit was in August 2017 when we did two concerts. Stephen Rudinsky, Stuart Patterson, Gary Moffet, Jerry Mercer, Kelly Watling and Gary Moffet joined me for two VERY fun evenings of great original music and classic rock. Videos of the concerts can be found here: Hemmingford and here: Nouveau Monde.
2015: Our latest “spectacle” before that was in late 2015 when had another big benefit concert. With alumni from Mahogany Rush, Mashmakhan, April Wine, Roy Buchanan, Offenbach and The Festival Express performing with Edwin & the Bedouins we raised over $2,000 for Syrian refugees through OXFAM. Jerry Mercer and Stephen Rudinsky were on the drums, Breen LeBouef and Paul Harwood held down the bottom end, Flaviu Zanca played violin, Gary Moffat, Rob MacDonald and Kelly Watling shredded their six strings and Rob Lutes and Angel Forrest were our fabulous guest vocalists. Links to the show are here: Oxfam Benefit, here: Oxfam Benefit Facebook 1, here: Oxfam Benefit Facebook 2, here: Oxfam Benefit Facebook 3, here: Oxfam Benefit Facebook 4, here: Oxfam Benefit Facebook 5, and here: Oxfam Benefit Facebook 6.
2014: In November 2014 I celebrated my 50th birthday with the Bedouins. This time, Carl Dixon (Coney Hatch, April Wine and the Guess Who), Jerry Mercer, Stu Patterson and our original bassist Tim Walsh carried the flame over a fabulous weekend of music and joy. A link to video shot at the first night of the party is here: Edwin's 50th Birthday.
In the summer of that year I performed with an all star lineup of Carl Dixon, Brian Greenway. Breen LeBouef, Gary Moffat, Kelly Watling, Jimmy Ayoub, Angel Forrest, Graham Chambers and Doug Short, celebrating the legendary drummer Jerry Mercer’s 75th birthday. Great fun was had by all and videos of the show can be seen here: Jerry's 75th Birthday, and here: Jerry's 75th Birthday Facebook.
2013: In 2013 Edwin & the Bedouins had a fantastic 20th Anniversary party, volunteering for a really good cause in the process! On December 8th 2013 we played at the “Marathon of Hope” Benefit Concert for the Philippine Storm Relief, raising over $3,000 along with the help of some local acts. Jerry Mercer and Stephen Rudinsky were on drums; Dave Devine and Dave Neil did duty as our percussionists; Jim Zeller wailed on the harp; Breen LeBoeuf and Paul Lifsches were playing bass; Kelly Watling and Rob MacDonald were our guitar heroes; and Sharon Blauer, Snooky Alston, Dindo Miras, Levy Lumabao and Ria Reece were singing (along with Breen, Paul and I of course!) We did some of my originals, some of our fav covers, and some of the classic tunes by April Wine and Offenbach to bring the house down!!! A few samples of the night’s entertainment are here: Edbed 20th Anniversary and here: Edbed 20th Anniversary Facebook.
2012: This was a wonderful year for the group, with appearances on CTV, the launch of a new album, the recording of another, and a couple of awesome sold-out shows for the history books!!! I've compiled highlights of the year here.
On other news, I took part in two Sheldon Kagan fundraisers at the Rialto Theatre in 2016 and 2017, and links to these performances may be found here: Rialto Facebook 1, here: Rialto Facebook 2 and here: Edwin at the Rialto. Besides this, over 2015 and 2016 I have concentrated on finishing my first book “Operation Hannibal,” the story of the German evacuation of Prussia in 1945. This work of history is based around my mother’s part in the sea-lift, and now that the work is completed and edited, I am presently looking for a publisher. A link to my author website is here: Edwin Author.
As for the future ... keep your ears wide open!!! I will definitely have more solo appearances, benefit shows and in person concerts … 2024 will be AWESOME!!!!!
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