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On June 28th, 2016 I rode my bike down to what has ultimately won out as my favourite Ottawa festival, the jazz one. The Ottawa Jazz Festival started out pretty small, it grew to a respectable size and has had the good sense to stay there. The crowds have not grown unmanageable, the prices have not skyrocketed, yet the fest still delivers a worthwhile and well-attended show (or, more accurately, shows) each and every night, and this night was no exception.
I first saw Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen at one of their semi-regular hometown gigs at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans. Rest assured his band is well-named – scary NOLA jazz monsters that they are – and Cleary himself is a no slouch at the piano either. In fact, they are so good that I swear I enjoyed seeing them even more at the Ottawa Jazz Festival than in that legendary, intimate swampy venue on Oak Street.
The only other act I saw on this night was Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Canadian icon that I have very little knowledge of or (frankly) interest in, but I enjoyed the evening sipping plastic-cupped beverages under the mid-field tree with friends regardless.
Come to think of it that tree is one of the great things about this festival. If anyone I know is at the fest I know I’ll find them under the tree. It’s an unspoken, unplanned meeting point for tons of people I know and has been for years.
It’s especially handy for a guy (like me) that doesn’t have a cellphone. That tree has serendipity written all over it. To be honest, a couple of years ago I watched one set or another from a completely different vantage point, up near the stage on the right hand side and I found the spot much, much better in pretty much every way.
But I still go back to the tree every time. It’s community.
Todd Man Out 