Musicians Gather to Pay Homage to Drummer Jimmy Payne

Canadian blues music live

Jimmy Payne Tribute
Sunday, May 6
Quincy’s on Seventh, Calgary

Calgary Musicians Pay Tribute to Drummer Jimmy Payne

Drummer Jimmy Payne, considered one of Canada’s finest R&B and blues drummers, is paid homage in Calgary this evening with a memorial to the great musician being held at Quincy’s on Seventh.

Friends, family and fellow musicians will gather at the Calgary club to pay respects to the man who was a perennial favourite on stages across the province. Payne, who passed on December 5th, was just 68 when he succumbed to a rare form of cancer.

Jimmy Payne was born in Barbados, and began his career as a drummer in a steel band. He moved to New York and teamed up with many jazz and blues artists, including Cornell Dupree and King Curtis. Relocating to Calgary, Payne became a mainstay on the scene, listing among his credits performing with such legends as Otis Rush, Robert Lockwood Jr., Spencer Davis, Little Milton, Pinetop Perkins, and John Hammond, among the many.

Jimmy’s last recording can be heard on CBC’s Saturday Night Blues Program, hosted by Holger Peterson of Stony Plain Records, who recorded Jimmy and the House of Payne live at last year’s Calgary International Blues Festival, in a set featuring fellow Canadian greats, guitarists Wes Mackay and Brother Ray Lemelin.

Today’s benefit, which will run from 4:00 pm till the wee hours, will feature live music by some of the many musical friends Jimmy made over the years in Calgary, including Amos Garrett, Jimmy’s band House of Payne, Bill Dowey, Ray Lemelin, and many more.

Proceeds from the benefit will go toward post-secondary education for Paynes grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Sunday, May 6
Jimmy Payne Tribute
Quincy’s on Seventh / Calgary