YOW Jazz, June 10: Ottawa Jazz Festival preview including new Shuffle Demons
Tuesday’s show is the first of two shows previewing the Ottawa Jazz Festival
This week’s show is a preview of the first half of the Ottawa Jazz Festival. The 45th edition of this Ottawa institution starts on June 20. On the first weekend of the festival, the Shuffle Demons will be performing on the Main Stage.
Hard to believe, but the Shuffle Demons have been around for 40 years! They rose to fame through such early fan favourites as “Spadina Bus” and “Cheese on Bread”. On the show I spoke to one of the co-founders, Richard Underhill, about the evolution of the band, its current release (“Are You Really Real?”), and what to expect on June 22 on the Confederation Park Main Stage.
On the show we will hear two tracks from the new release, plus a classic Shuffle Demon piece from their early years.
Also playing at the jazz festival on June 20 is the Christine Jensen Quartet. The quartet is:
Christine Jensen - saxes
Gary Versace - piano
Adrian Vedady - acoustic bass
Jim Doxas - drums
Here is a brief clip of the quartet.
Playing at the same time on the Main Stage will be the Carl Mayotte Quintet. Here they are playing “In A Sentimental Mood”.
On Saturday, June 21, the Marc Copland Trio will be playing at the NAC Fourth Stage. Marc Copland is a pianist who has played with John Abercrombie, Mike Brecker, Joe Lovano, Gary Peacock and others. At the NAC he will be joined by John Hebert and Colin Stranahan. I will play a track from his new quartet release, “Dreaming”.
On the following day, Marc Copland will be joining Ottawa’s own Roddy Ellias for a duo performance. Roddy Ellias and Marc Copland recorded a trio album in 2017 (“Sticks and Stones”) with Adrian Vedady on bass. We will hear a track from that release.
There will be some free events, as always, at the Ottawa Jazz Festival - including a solo performance from Ottawa pianist Peter Hum at the Chateau Laurier on Saturday, June 21 at 4 p.m. Every night, after the last performance of the day, you will also be able to catch the after hours jam session at the Lord Elgin hotel. The house band is made up of Steve Boudreau on piano, John Geggie on bass and Nick Fraser on drums (the John Geggie Trio). To end the show, I will play a track from a piano duo release from Peter Hum and Steve Boudreau - “Nonlinear”.
You can listen to the show live in the National Capital Region at 93.1 FM or worldwide via online streaming at CKCUFM.com on Tuesday at 11 a.m. EST. The show is also available for on demand streaming.