The Latest From Florence Welch Feels Utterly Refreshing

 Florence + the Machine – Dance Fever (London, U.K.) The grandiosity and rich beauty that Florence Welch brings to her music has been missing in our landscape as of late, and her latest return feels utterly refreshing. Though this is more of a mix of her best sounds than a

Album Reviews: Hannah Georgas, Disclosure, Whitney Rose

 Disclosure - Energy (Reigate, England) With an ability to spin any great singer into a dance legend, Disclosure always have some fun surprises on their record. Despite a strange crossover of Gorillaz collabs from this year, the result is a totally unique record of club beats for after our current

Laila Biali Pushes Back

 While a home studio might seem like a way to make things easier, it turned out as a bit of a trap for Laila Biali. With mould taking over her recording space, Biali had to power through making a record and deal with illnesses caused by the mould itself. Amongst

Sardinian Sorcerer Set to Cast Spell Over Winter Jazz Festival

 Photos courtesy of paoloangeli.com and TD Ottawa Jazz Festival The instrument was once a guitar of wood and wire. It rang out beautifully over the Island of Sardinia, the music drifting off above the crashing waves that kissed the shore before the notes vanished somewhere over the Mediterranean. The instrument was once

Kenny G. Dazzles the NAC

 Photos by Marc Bourget Urban Dictionary defines the term ‘G’ as a ‘Gangster’. I use the term slightly differently. I look at is as someone in control of a situation. ‘She can walk into any room and just own it, she’s such a G!’ ‘He predicted who would win the NCAA Tournament

Kenny G. Comes to the NAC

 Photo courtesy of the National Arts Centre There are many things I could tell you about myself that might surprise you or you may find ‘uncool’. For instance, I know a lot about The Young and The Restless (I have been checking in on the happenings of Genoa City for years);

Album Reviews: July 31, 2017

 Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy (California) Pulling the hate out of his music and personal life has seemed to have had a cleansing affect on Tyler, The Creator. A much more sonically rich album than he's put out in some time, the album is much more lyrically dense as

Festival Recap: Music & Beyond

 Ottawa Life’s Festival City Series is back! We'll provide a unique look at some of your favourite events. We’ll go beyond the music with artist interviews, volunteer profiles, concert reviews and spotlights on the tastes, sights and sounds of the festival season.  Your city! Your festivals and events! Like a good sunscreen,

To Oscar With Love

 Ottawa Life’s Festival City Series is back! We'll provide a unique look at some of your favourite events. We’ll go beyond the music with artist interviews, volunteer profiles, concert reviews and spotlights on the tastes, sights and sounds of the festival season.  Your city! Your festivals and events! Like a good sunscreen,

The Evolution of Quinn Bachand

 Ottawa Life’s Festival City Series is back! We'll provide a unique look at some of your favourite events. We’ll go beyond the music with artist interviews, volunteer profiles, concert reviews and spotlights on the tastes, sights and sounds of the festival season.  Your city! Your festivals and events! Like a good sunscreen,

Ottawa Jazz On The Upswing

 Ottawa Life’s Festival City Series is back! We'll provide a unique look at some of your favourite events. We’ll go beyond the music with artist interviews, volunteer profiles, concert reviews and spotlights on the tastes, sights and sounds of the festival season.  Your city! Your festivals and events! Like a good sunscreen,

Scenes From TD Ottawa Jazz Fest Late Night Tent

 Ottawa Life’s Festival City Series is back! We'll provide a unique look at some of your favourite events. We’ll go beyond the music with artist interviews, volunteer profiles, concert reviews and spotlights on the tastes, sights and sounds of the festival season.  Your city! Your festivals and events! Like a good sunscreen,

Talking jazz with Mike Essoudry

 Just two years ago the Ottawa Citizen’s Peter Hum suggested that local drummer Mike Essoudry was “downsizing musically”. At the time, a musician who’d surrounded himself with big sounding big bands of up to ten members had decided to pair things down to something smaller. Even at that, there was

Jazz Up Your Winter with Dream Lineup

 Images supplied by the TD Ottawa Winter Jazz Festival. Jazz music may bring to mind smoky lounges and the rain drenched city streets of Film Noir before you think of snowstorms, -20 weather and ice skating but for the last six years the TD Ottawa Winter Jazz Festival has been

Tommy Chong’s High on Life

 Listen to our interview with Tommy Chong above. You know, for a guy who’s probably smoked a couple of acres of marijuana in his day (or maybe just yesterday), Tommy Chong’s memory is pretty damn good. He can take you all the way back to the first time he smoked

Plans of His Own – The Gordon Lightfoot Interview – Part 1

 Listen to part one of our interview with Gordon Lightfoot above. The singer lay silenced, his synapses struggling for some light within the darkness of the coma that had muted his voice. An eye flutter here, a possible movement there but the man who’s music meant much to many, a

Power in Her Blood: The Buffy Sainte-Marie Interview Part 1

 Photos supplied by TD Ottawa Jazz Festival and artist. Buffy Sainte-Marie doesn’t believe in burning out. It’s been 50 years blazing down the road and there’s still a fiery power rushing in her blood. It courses through her veins as a drive to create, to change and to challenge. “I'm paying attention,

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

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

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

Jazz at the Crossroads

 All photos courtesy of Andre Gagne “Here we are at the Crossroads,” begins Petr Cancura, glancing back at the band. His hand is raised, poised and ready. The band awaits the first sign post on this evening’s journey. Picture yourself nursing your third drink in a lounge on a Canadian

Bluesfest Beats

 Photo courtesy of Steve G The RBC Ottawa Bluesfest is here! As the festival plays on, OLM will continue to highlight must-see performances by some of the acts that you may have not yet discovered–so Ottawa music lovers listen up! An exciting variety of bands and artists will rock the festival this

Bluesfest Beats

 Photo by Steve G The countdown to RBC Ottawa Bluesfest is on. As the weeks leading up to the festival go by, OLM will continue to highlight must-see performances by some of the acts that you may have not yet discovered—so Ottawa music lovers listen up! An exciting variety of

Experiencing Wonderkind

 Learn what it means to feel “wonderkind” with the cross-Canada tour of Language Arts this spring. Toronto’s unique alternative jazz-pop band has been together for ten years, although it has been a rotating door in terms of members. Currently the band consists of classically trained Kristen Cudmore, drummer Neil MacIntosh, keyboardist Joel

Support Lung Cancer Canada with an Evening of Hope

 My friend and colleague, Philip Clarke, a seemingly healthy and vibrant individual, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer on November 12, 2012. Fourteen months later, on February 7, 2014, at the age of 48, Philip lost his battle.  The diagnosis was a shock to Philip, and to his family, friends and colleagues. But the shock soon turned