The Art Within the Tulips

 All photos by Andre Gagne Another Canadian Tulip Festival has wound down over the Victoria Day Holiday seeing many crowds fill Dow's Lake and Lansdowne Park. This year's festival saw spectacular arrays of fireworks, some big band jazz, magic and more but, of course, the star attractions were the tulips that bloom beautiful

A Musical Farewell with Oliver Jones

 Photos by Andre Gagne and supplied by the National Arts Centre. Oscar Peterson watches the sun set from the corner, his piano by his side. A swinging melody plays from above as a couple hurriedly approaches. “I hear he plays just like him,” the woman says, jutting her thumb towards

Jaw Slinky: A Joel of All Trades

 All photos by Andre Gagne. “This is my Jeep,” the musician in shades said reaching for the door. There was very little time for pleasantries. Even with the sunglasses you could tell he was exhausted. I shuffled my photography bag over my shoulder and slid in expecting my shoes to

Get Happening in Hintonburg

 All photos by Andre Gagne Hintonburg is a neighbourhood that always seems to be changing and accepting of new and fresh ideas. Case in point, did you know that in 1896 it was the first place in Canada to show a newfangled idea called moving pictures when a film was

A Pearl of Jazz in Unexpected Places

 All photos by Andre Gagne You’re pushing your shopping cart through the produce section when, while reaching for that perfectly ripe avocado, you hear the beautiful sound of a saxophone playing “Angel Eyes”. It’s Ladies' Night at the Royal Oak and, where you might expect to hear some frantic Celtic

Ottawa Filmmaker Rick Harper’s Time in The Room

 Photos supplied by Rockhaven Pictures. Manos: the Hands of Fate, Troll 2, Birdemic: Shock and Terror, if you haven’t heard of these films you’re in the vast majority of cinema goers. Let me tell you, however, you’re missing out. Whereas some would describe the above listed films as the cinematic

The Ottawa Improv Festival: Making It up as They Go Along

 Quest of the Dragon King. All photos courtesy of the Ottawa Improv Festival.  Before we had the movies, Broadway, opera, Shakespeare and even the ability to write scripts, our early ancestors were thespians of perhaps our oldest form of entertainment, improvisational theatre. It may surprise you that the first documented

Betty Ann Bryanton Serves Up a Little Sweet and Smooth Jazz with Your Monday Night Coffee

 All photos by Andre Gagne. West end Monday nights have never been smoother (or sweeter) than when Betty Ann Bryanton serves up a little jazz with your “Black Coffee” and cookies at the Nestle Toll House Café.  The Prince Edward Islander, now Ottawa resident, doubles as an IT Architect when

Up Close and Personal with Colin James

 Canadian Music Hall of Famer and blues legend Colin James Munn may not have been born with a guitar in his hand but, considering his trajectory in childhood, it wouldn’t have been too surprising if he had been. He was a Regina, Saskatchewan kid bottle fed on the blues that