One of many events that marked Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017 was an expedition that would have seemed an impossible fantasy when the nation was born. The Canada C3 expedition travelled from coast to coast to coast on the MV Polar Prince, a decommissioned Coast
Cool not casual. A Norah Jones concert seems to roll along like a great river of music. But it's a river with many channels, tributaries and pools. The water Jones swims in can be full of the blues, or some soft jazz, or even a hint
Renée Landry comes by jazz honestly. Her grandfather was a tenor saxophone and clarinet player in Renée's hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. "I would go and see him perform in his big band. He was an electrician and worked in a paper mill during the day
Perhaps no artist epitomizes the determined free spirit more than Frida Kahlo. The 20th century Mexican painter battled polio, a crippling accident and social conventions to stand true to herself. Her strong persona along with her art, is what attracted the attention of the Chilean born saxophonist
Mark Ferguson is a trombonist, pianist, composer, arranger, producer and music educator at Carleton University. He's worked with great artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole and Rosemary Clooney. These days he is part of a new ensemble with Mike Tremblay (reeds), bassist
Donna Grantis's older brother had this acoustic guitar, you see, and one summer when she was about 13 she thought she'd pick it up and learn some chords. "I checked out the tab for Stairway to Heaven and there was no looking back." The rest is six-string
This year's TD Ottawa Jazz Festival is billing itself as putting female performers front and centre. Perhaps no concert epitomizes this more than the one that will feature a large ensemble assembled by the composer and sax player Christine Jensen. On June 25, she will be the
Deep in the archives of the National Film Board of Canada lies some of the best music ever composed in this country. Allyson Rogers knows this because she's been in there hunting down the work of a man named Eldon Rathburn who is likely the most
Jane Siberry started painting about 10 years ago when she was stuck in a recording studio. "I was in there way too long," Siberry, who is better known as a singer-songwriter, said in an interview with ARTSFILE. "I had to do something so I went to Woolworth
In the 1970s, Ottawa was not a cultural hotbed. There were artists here working hard to try to make a career but many left the city to find their way in Toronto, Montreal and New York. That there is today a flourishing community with artists who
