We are SO jazzed to be partnering with the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival this year!
We're helping bring live music back to Ottawa's downtown core via Spark Street's go-to new venue - The Shed! Normally, we have awesome local artists jamming away in our series, Songs from the Shed every Tuesday & Thursday noon - 2 p.m.
We're delighted The Shed has been gaining in notoriety between the talents playing inside it and the artists muralling its outside walls this summer!
You can find The Shed on Sparks located between Bank Street & O’Connor Street. The live, in-person concerts of ‘OLG Free the Jazz Series’ will be taking place between Thursday, August 19 - Sunday, August 22, 2021. Entry to enjoy the incredible musical talents lined up for The Shed is FREE!
“This is a busking event. No reservation is required, just come down and enjoy the music!” - TD Ottawa Jazz Festival.
There will be no dedicated seating and we request that all attendees adhere to current COVID-19 guidelines set forth by City of Ottawa public health officials.
This is just one of the many events and partnerships to enjoy as our community returns to the downtown core. Sparks Street BIA looks forward to welcoming all musical visitors and fans of TD Ottawa JazzFest this August.
Enjoy the 2021 show!
TD Ottawa JazzFest Schedule Free The Jazz Live from The Shed on Sparks Street Thursday, Aug. 19 - Sunday Aug. 22, 2021
Between Bank & O'Connor
ARTIST LINE UP:
Thursday August 19 @12PM
Featuring:
Keith Hartshorn Walton - tuba
Steve Boudreau - keyboard
Alex Moxon - guitar
Multi-instrumentalist Keith Hartshorn-Walton established himself in Ottawa’s jazz scene specializing in tuba and sousaphone, as well as acoustic and electric bass. He is introducing this new and unique combination of tuba, piano and guitar, featuring a blend of jazz-infused pop classics, collective improv and overall melodicism alongside two of Ottawa’s finest jazz musicians, Alex Moxon and Steve Boudreau. A particular focus of this project is to feature the tuba as a melodic jazz instrument outside of its traditional accompanying role. In this, Keith is following the example of his mentor, Howard Johnson, for whom he performed at a gala tribute concert in New York City in 2019.
Thursday August 19 @ 4:00pm
Wayne Eagles Trio: Featuring:
Wayne Eagles - guitar
Steve Boudreau - keys
Dave Schroeder - bass
Dedicated improviser and guitarist Wayne Eagles embraces a wide vista of jazz, rock, and fusion guitar styles. He has performed with a wide-range of artists, including: Adam Nussbaum; 3 Jimmys; The Platters; OutSpan; Soul Finger; Random Access Orkestra; Funkdawgs; Super Awesome Club; T Bruce Wittet and The Bitches Brew Tribute Band. He has been a guitar performance instructor at Carleton University’s School for Studies in Art and Culture (SSAC: Music) and served as Director for the institution’s Fusion ensemble since 2007.
Friday August 20 @ 12:00pm
Featuring: David Renaud - woodwinds Garry Elliott - guitar Norm Glaude - bass
Clarinet player and multi-instrumentalist David Renaud is a regular performer and busy freelancer performing for festivals, pit work, studio, clubs, private and corporate events. Dave performs for the National Arts Centre Pops concerts, and covers a multitude of doubles for theatre pit orchestras.
Garry Elliott is an Ottawa guitarist specializing in classical and jazz guitar performance and instruction. As a classical guitarist, Garry provides live music services as a soloist, and also plays in duos and trios for weddings, ceremonies and events. He collaborates regularly with Ottawa musicians, including flutist Gertrude Létourneau, with whom he has recorded the CD Habañera, as well as the CD Pre Dawn Skies with pianist Steve Boudreau. His latest CD ‘Opus 2’ are tunes composed by himself and Steve Boudreau, and features the talents of Bassist Adrian Vidadi and drummer Camil Belisle. Garry has performed and recorded with composer, guitarist Roddy Ellias and the tango nuevo ensemble Norteño.
Normand Glaude is the owner and operator of Morninganthem studio. He has been active on the Ottawa music scene for over twenty years, working as a double bass and electric bass player. He regularly performs locally, and occasionally accompanies out of town artists. His strong musical background is a definite asset in the studio when he produces and engineers recording projects. He recently recorded and produced Tim Bedner‘s “Of Light And Shadow” which has been getting great reviews. One of his cherished projects was awarded a “Trille Or” for Best Children’s Album with french artist Jojo.
Friday August 20 @ 4:00pm
Featuring:
Julie Corrigan - guitar, vocals
Blair Hogan - electric guitar
There is a feeling that lives inside the music of Julie Corrigan that is timeless and elusive. Her songs feel like they have been a part of your life from the first listen. Her lyrics, carried on the golden thread of a uniquely beautiful vocal delivery, will take you down unexplored backroads on a road trip through the landscapes of love, small-town tales and tell bonfire stories of the big legends that frame the exceptional simplicity of fascinating, everyday life.
Born and raised in the Ottawa Valley near Shawville Quebec, Julie’s home is a farm overlooking the Ottawa River and she cut her teeth performing shows around the Ottawa area before releasing her debut record The Language in 2015. Recorded at Little Bullhorn Studios in Ottawa and produced by Dave Draves, The Language is a collection of songs that fit comfortably in an array of genres from roots, country, soul and folk with contemporary pop sensibilities. It was the most played album on Ottawa’s CKCU radio station in 2015.
The success of The Language took Julie across the country and to some of Canada’s biggest festival stages including the Ottawa Bluesfest, the Ottawa Jazz Festival, the City Folk Festival and fulfilled a childhood dream to play her big hometown stage at the Shawville Fair. She has played sold-out shows at the National Arts Center and the fabled Blacksheep Inn and performed alongside the likes of Sass Jordan and Norah Jones.
Julie looks forward to continuing to host her monthly Girls to the Front songwriter series that features women artists from the Ottawa area and beyond and is also working on her next collection of songs to be produced by Canadian music vanguard Jim Bryson.
Saturday August 21 @ 12:00pm
Featuring:
Justin Duhaime - guitar
Edra Silva - vocals
A dynamic vocal & guitar duo rooted in jazz and branching out into wherever the moment takes them. Edra & Justin share a passion for improvised and creative music, performing swing, bossa nova, tango, bolero and beyond. Edra Silva is a Chilean singer and composer who worked in Santiago and was a featured artist on cruise ships before settling in Ottawa. Justin Duhaime is an award-winning guitarist, teacher and composer with a deep passion and commitment to music.
Saturday August 21 @ 4:00pm
Kmbrly Snstrm: Featuring:
Kmbrly Snstrm - vocals, acoustic guitar
Kira Montfort - drums, percussion
Kimberly Sunstrum (she/they) is a Queer, Motswana Canadian musician, singer-songwriter and producer based in Ottawa. Blending profound vocals with heartfelt lyrics, Sunstrum’s music delves into topics that are reflections of her life. Constant themes in her songs range from race, family and feminism to queerness and the ways these multidimensional identities influence how we navigate the world. Kimberly Sunstrum writes about the world as they see it with an eloquent poetry and grace.
Sunday August 22 @ 12:00pm
Featuring:
Martine Courage - vocals, piano
Rob Frayne - bass
Laura Nerenberg - violin, vocals
Mike Essoudry - drums
Courage4 plays off-the-wall arrangements of funk, pop and folk-infused jazz standards, originals and traditional songs. The quartet features Martine Courage’s creative, sometimes lush vocals and stripped back piano stylings, Laura Nerenberg’s nimble and warm violin tones, Rob Frayne’s jazzy harmonic bass (and sometimes tenor sax) and Mike Essoudry’s groovy and inventive drumming. The group just released its debut CD, Things Are Looking Up!, a 9-track album with horns, and is excited to present music from the CD as well as some new material at the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival.
Sunday August 22 @ 4:00pm
Featuring:
Elise Letourneau - vocals, flute
Tim Bedner - guitar
Elise Letourneau is an award-winning composer, and an accomplished songwriter, multi-instrumentalist performer, arranger, and educator. An associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, Elise won the prestigious Ruth Watson Henderson composition competition, the Choral Canada (ACCC) composition competition, and the inaugural Diane Loomer award for choral composition. For four years running, she was shortlisted as a finalist for The American Prize in choral composition. Blurring the lines between classical, jazz, and popular music, her compositions have been performed internationally, by well-respected ensembles.
Tim Bedner is a modern lyrical composer and improviser, and an award-winning teacher and performer on six- and seven-string guitars. His CD recording “Of Light and Shadow” debuted in the #1 spot of the CMJ jazz chart, where it remained in the Top 40 for four weeks. Tim received his undergraduate training at Berklee College of Music (Boston MA), graduating summa cum laude, and a Masters Degree with distinction in Jazz Performance at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh PA). He is the founding board President of the GigSpace Performance Studio, a performance instructor of jazz guitar at Carleton University and the founding director of the Guitar Ensemble.
DON'T FORGET... Stop in to any of our Sparks Street shops and restos to refresh, snack & browse hundreds of unique items before or after you Enjoy the Show!
Sparks Street BIA Jazz Festival Partnership Press Release.
Sparks Street BIA, Jazz Festival 2021