Posted by While I don’t for a minute regret moving to Newfoundland there are unquestionably a lot of things I miss about Ottawa, a city I lived in for thirty great years. I miss the walkability, I miss Ottawa’s amazing music scene, I miss the vast options of interesting things to do and places to go, and most of all I miss my friends.
Fortunately, my regular if sporadic contracted employment in Ottawa affords me regular if sporadic opportunities to revisit my old stomping grounds, and these multi-annual trips really help to take the sting out of these pangs. Now, work trips are work trips and I take them pretty seriously, but when I do find myself with a little free time I try my best to cover as many social bases as I can.
Take for example October 27th, 2023: I was in Ottawa, totally prepped for my gig and staring down a full day off. My next commitment wan’t until 4pm the following day so I made the most of the situation. I walked across Ottawa’s vibrant downtown and spent the afternoon at the Royal Canadian Mint, taking a factory tour and then lining up for a coin exchange. Afterwards I went to a buddy’s place for burgers and beers and the two of us strolled a couple of blocks to the small and classy Montgomery Scotch Lounge where we joined some more friends and settled in for a few hours of incredible jazz courtesy of a Mike Essoudry Trio.
(I say “a” Mike Essoudry Trio and not “the” Mike Essoudry Trio on purpose. There is no “the” Mike Essoudry Trio. Mike is probably Ottawa’s busiest jazz drummer and he plays with tons of people – including his own octet – and when he is offered a trio gig it generally doesn’t take him long to eenie-meenie-miney-moe up a couple of players.)
Being both a permanent fixture on the Ottawa music scene as well as a long-time friend, Mike Essoudry is a double-whammy when it comes to things I miss about the city, and with me walking to his show at one of the many interesting places to go, well, this show hit all the bases. And of course the music was fantastic.
I first met Mike when we played together in a really fun freakrock band called Bob Loblaw, and all these years later I daresay he is among the best musicians I’ve ever played with, and he’s a super-awesome person besides. For this show he brought a couple of fine musicians along with him, including a bass player named Sage Reynolds who enthralled me. I mean, I can watch Mike hit the drums all day long and never, ever tire of it. He finds these remarkable rhythmic auras of bliss and rolls around in them like a tiger four knees deep in catnip-nirvana, and his brilliant playing on this night wasn’t lost on me, but man, this bass player!
Not only was he incredibly solid and creative as a rhythm player, every solo that came his way was a jaw-dropping surprise. Each one forced me to cover my mouth with both hand lest I laugh out loud at the brilliance. These shocking mini-compositions seemed to come out of nowhere and yet they fit perfectly with whatever song they were launched from. And there were plenty of solos thrown his way, of course. Mike knows better than to let a talent like that go to waste!
I’m embarrassed to say that the third player in this trio is lost on me, as I can’t for the life of me recall who it was or even what instrument they were playing. I have a few guesses, but guesses they remain, as Sage Reynolds stole this show from my very memory.
I do, however, recall very much enjoying the long walk back to my hotel at the end of the night. Ottawa is such a wonderfully walkable city.
Todd Man Out 