Posted by 
June 24th, 2016 was a pretty fine day to be at the Ottawa Jazz Festival, as most days in the nearly two-week long musical extravaganza tend to be.
This one started out with the headliner (if you ask me, and by reading this you sorta did), with The Fabulous Barr Brothers* appearing in the NAC studio. I’m really glad their show was indoors because as much as I abhor sitting in a lawnchair whilst taking in live music I really think the gracefully subtle and cleverly ethereal spacefolk that The Barr Brothers consistently deliver in a live setting is best appreciated while sitting (on the edge of one’s seat), with eyes closed, mouth agape, and ears perked.
I did exactly that (and that and that and that) and I couldn’t have appreciated their glorious set of music any better, thereby proving my point.
The second half of my evening’s musical pleasure was likewise booked into an appropriate venue with the SFJAZZ Collective playing the music of Michael Jackson on the mainstage outside. The SFJAZZ Collective is exactly that, an ever-evolving collective of hot jazz players, and their main hook is to feature the music of a different artist every time they tour. And of course if you are going to listen to great musicians playing the timeless music of the King of Pop (as it is increasingly proving itself to be) you’re going to want to be on your feet amongst good friends and maybe even have a beer in your hand, right?
Right.
And so it was, and all just a stone’s throw from my own backyard. Pretty fine, indeed.
*The Barr Brothers aren’t really called “The Fabulous Barr Brothers” – they are much too modest for that – but they easily could/should be.
Todd Man Out 