PrettyInScarlett

Rain-drenched early crowd Second day of JazzFest complete with full waterproofs and wellies. A few hardly souls, myself included, headed to Confederation Park to see, in theory, the Laila Biali Trio . Another new one for me, but the JazzFest profile promised pop-oriented jazz from the pianist-songwriter plus George Koller and Larnell Lewis on bass and drums respectively. Sadly, Biali was held up at Ottawa Airport by the adverse weather, so the impromptu Koller-Lewis duo performed a set for the bedraggled attendees - at this point there was not so much a crowd as people in a field! The show also included a demonstration on dismantling Koller's new bass, which was very interesting! By the time Elvis Costello & The Imposters took to the stage the downpour had abated and more people had arrived. As a taster of things to come, the set started with Pump It Up and went on to include gems such as Watching The Detectives, Red Shoes and Alison, as detailed below (from Elvis Costell...

First big music festival of the summer (and my first full summer in Ottawa) and a meditation on the steel city on the Don, Sheffield. The previous time I saw Robert Plant , in Sheffield way back in 2002, it was in a packed-out university venue. Not a shade on the crowd gathered in Confederation Park on 23rd June, though. According to a fellow attendee, this was maybe the biggest crowd ever at JazzFest?! Due credit to support act Bahamas - new to me but the band, with frontperson Afie Jurvanen, payed a good mix and received more than a polite response from the ever-growing audience, and not just for a few lines of Led Zeppelin.  Thunder and lightning added to the atmosphere as Robert Plant and the Band of Joy (including Grammy winner Patty Griffin) took the stage with a 'jazz time' take on Black Dog. The majority of the set comprised songs from recent albums Band of Joy and Raising Sand, with the combined vocals of Plant and Griffin and talents of the Band creating a captivati...

The diplomatic cultural events circuit seems to become busier now that summer is here! First Doors Open Ottawa (during which M and I sampled the Norwegian Ambassador's residence, French Embassy, 7 Rideau Gate amongst others) followed by a return to New Edinburgh for a garden party on Thursday 16th. GartenFest was organised by the German Embassy as the third in a series of summer events (the first two were a fundraiser for the Ottawa Bach Choir and a Community Celebration). The more informal event of the three saw an audience/guest list attended the Ambassador's residence on Coltrin Road for a klezmer concert (not to forget the delicious food and wine!) featuring Berlin band Di Meschugeles . After attending a short klezmer concert during the Welsh Proms in 2010 featuring local group Klezmer Kollectiv, the theme seemed interesting. Di Meschugeles ' aim, as explained by singer Ofer Waldman between songs, was to rediscover the distinctive sound of klezmer as a 'secular...

Summer is pretty much here and with it a plethora of festivals. Firstly, to recap, M and I finally made the Canadian Tulip Festival on its last weekend. As well as tulip-related events, there was a live music stage, food tent and market - a lesson for next year to go earlier! Friday 20th May we turned up for the Capital Sounds evening. The schedule featured local bands, only slightly disrupted by a thunderstorm. We saw The New Records; Claude Munson and The Storm Outside; and Shannon Rose and The Thorns (Capital Sounds bios available here ). The New Records (photo above) played a mixture of covers and original songs , which was a smart choice for a high school indie band. A momentary 'what year is it' moment during their rendition of The Strokes' 'Last Night'; generally quite polished, and I think their forthcoming EP should be interesting. Claude Munson, plus his band The Storm outside, played a set much more rooted in blues, folk and country in the singer-song...