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Friday, January 27, 2012 - 8:30 to 11:30 p.m.
$3 entertainment charge for diners, $5 for non-diners
Reservations recommended
- Brian Downey - drums
- Vince Halfhide - guitar
- Maren Molthan - vocals, harmonica
Join Brian Downey, Vincent Halfhide and Maren Molthan for their first appearance at Café Paradiso. As for musical choices of that somewhat anticipated night, They called it "a fool's paradise way in the back pocket" .
They will be offering all their favorite standards and blues served up with cosmopolitan elegance and big time swagger sway. No doubt Brian Downey is the star of the night, but Vince and Maren have been known to keep him good company for that matter, and we are all poised to have a ball!
Café Paradiso
199 Bank Street
613-565-0657
www.cafeparadiso.ca
Monday, 23 January 2012
It was a question of names – and numbers – when the Titanium Trio played in Ottawa on Sunday, January 22.
Toronto trumpeter Lina Allemano had composed all the material for the group – which also includes drummer Nick Fraser (originally from Ottawa) and bassist Rob Clutton – in one celebratory gulp last spring, but she hadn't originally given the pieces any individual names. For a while, she was referring to them as #1 to #10 (the equivalent of a classical composer having concertos 1 to 10), although she eventually named about half.
But for most of this show, the titles didn't give the audience much of a hint of what to expect. The first set, for example, consisted of #2, #4, #7 (aka Bagpipe), and #3.
What the audience actually heard was a tight collaboration among all three players. There was a considerable dynamic range: Clutton's Fender electric bass provided a warm, strong underlayer, from he which he regularly emerged with intricate but understated rhythmic patterns.
Allemano and Fraser provided a constantly varying and interesting dialogue on top. Fraser's drumming moved from the lightest touches with brushes on cymbals, to staccato and fierce. Allemano's trumpet curlicued, called out, moved from intense fast riffs to slow, full lines, and even echoed a Mingus piece at one point.
The overall mood was introspective and almost elegiac, but each piece included a large portion of improvisation and innovation. The musicians occasionally even surprised themselves when they came to a somewhat unexpectedly fast ending on a couple pieces, or restarted in another direction.
At several points, Allemano used a 1930s-style bucket mute to achieve a particularly sonorous, warm sound unlike that created by a regular mute. And then she went one step further near the end, using a soft drink can (filled with small rattling pieces) as a mute to create an interestingly breathy sound.
The audience appear to follow along smoothly with the musicians, listening intently to the music, and responding with warm applause at the end. The concert was part of the Improvising Musicians of Ottawa-Outaouais (IMOO) series, and attracted some Ottawa jazz fans who had not attended IMOO concerts before.
– Alayne McGregor
Saturday, January 28, 2012 - 7:30 to 10:00 p.m.
Tickets: $25
- Geri Childs - vocals
- Mark Ferguson - piano, musical director
- John Geggie - double bass
- Rene Lavoie - saxophone, flute
- Margaret MunroTobolowska - cello
with guests - Christine Fagan - vocals
- Evelyn Voigt - stories
A sequel to the 2007 show Winter Songs and Stories that drew a near-capacity crowd to Stage Four, Nightfall promises to be an elegant evening of songs and stories that embrace the nocturne. Using this theme and a repertoire of original and well loved standards – both jazz and popular – singer Geri Childs and musical director/pianist Mark Ferguson will perform with a stellar group of Ottawa musicians: John Geggie on bass, Rene Lavoie on saxophone and flute and Margaret MunroTobolowska on cello. Guest singer Chris Fagan and storyteller Evelyn Voigt round out the evening to send you home with renewed love for the end of day.
More info: www2.nac-cna.ca/en/community-programming/event/2129
National Arts Centre, Fourth Stage
53 Elgin Street
Ottawa
Saturday, January 28 - 8 to 11 p.m.
Tickets: $40 (available from https://secure.e-registernow.com/cgi-bin/mkpayment.cgi?state=2048 and at the Old Ottawa South Firehall (613-247-4946))
- Caridad Cruz - vocals, percussion
- César Ricardo - guitar, vocals
- Israel Martinez - guitar, vocals
A hot night in the cold capital. Proceeds to benefit the Friends of Lansdowne.
More info: www.oldottawasouth.ca/index.php/oos-news/1891-party-party-havana-night-ii-
Old Firehall Community Centre
260 Sunnyside Avenue (in Ottawa South, east of Bank Street)
Ottawa, Ontario
Saturday, January 28, 2012 - 9 p.m. (doors open at 8 p.m.)
Cover: $6 in advance, $8 at the door
- Vinicius - violin
- Danilo - cavaquinho, vocals
- Ógui - guitar, vocals
- Walter - surdo, vocals
- Fernando - rebolo, vocals
- João - cuíca, tamborim, prato e faca, vocals
- Carlinha - vocals, chocalho
- Mariana - Tamborim, chocalho, vocals
- Paulinho do Pandeiro - pandeiro, agogô
- Gabriel - Pandeiro, violin, vocals
- Regina - vocals, tantan
- Maurilio - cavaquinho
The best of traditional Brazilian music. You can get an advance taste at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrf-cA22l9c
"The Roda da Samba will meet again with a great party! You are all invited to come sing, dance or at least clap your hands at the best traditional Samba show in the region. Early arrival is highly recommended - the Petit Chicago is indeed really "petit" (small)."
Inspiré par la tradition et l’authenticité des rassemblements appelés “rodas de samba”, ce collectif composé de musiciens et chanteurs, non-professionnels pour la plupart, cherche à maintenir la tradition de la samba et de reproduire l’esprit joyeux de cette forme d’expression de la culture populaire brésilienne. La diversité raciale brésilienne est exprimée dans la "roda" par le cavaquinho, la guitare, les voix et une variété d’instruments de percussion, surtout des tambours. Venez connaître la samba traditionnelle, la force génératrice de l’âme brésilienne, l’assise de la Bossa Nova et des défilés du Carnaval!
"La Roda da Samba étrenne l'automne à la brésilienne, au rythme irrésistible de sambas d'hier et d'aujourd'hui. Cet évènement unique en son genre fédère autour d'une table une douzaine de chanteurs-instrumentistes qui donnent vie, par leurs voix, leurs cordes taquines et leur fascinant arsenal de percussions afrobrésiliennes, à un répertoire séduisant, hautement mélodieux et massivement festif."
More info: www.myspace.com/rodadesamba
rodaodesamba@gmail.com
Le Petit Chicago
50 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau, Québec
819-483-9843
[map]
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
The Ottawa Jazz Festival has officially announced the lineup for its Winter Jazz Festival, from February 2 to 4, 2012 – a mixture of mostly Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa ensembles, with some familiar faces and some who haven't been here (at least not leading their own groups) for years.
The biggest concert will feature veteran jazz pianist Oliver Jones and his trio, playing at Dominion Chalmers United Church on Saturday evening (February 4). The quirkiest is likely to be the IMOO Orchestra, led by percussionist Jesse Stewart and building out of the regular Improvising Musicians of Ottawa/Outaouais Sunday free jazz nights (February 4, 3 p.m., Club SAW).
And there's one American group: the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, a group which combines jazz with more traditional African instrumentation and rhythms and originated in the Chicago free jazz movements in the 1960s. It will be making its annual February appearance at the Mercury Lounge, and is also included in the series (February 4, 9:30 p.m.).
Read more: Jazz Festival Winter series: a February weekend of Canadian jazz (+1)
Monday, 16 January 2012
The SSS Trio (Sean Duhaime - guitar, Sacha Contant-Nagy - drums, Stefan Ferraro - electric bass) are hosting Wednesday Jazz nights this month at Café Nostalgica. On January 11, 2012, the trio was joined by saxophonist Daniel Ko, on his Christmas break from Berklee. The hard-working group filled the evening with with music ranging from jazz standards to Beatles, and a few of Sean's originals. Mid-evening, the In-young Choung Trio played a short set, to give the group a well-deserved break. In-young and Renée Yoxon both joined in on vocals with the SSS Trio as well.
You can catch the SSS Trio on Wednesday nights in January. View our event listing
Read more: SSS Trio brings youthful energy to January Wednesdays
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