My review ofTD Ottawa Jazz Festival Days 7-9 (Fort/Susanna/Waldorff/Winstone/Partisans) today at All About Jazz.

For the last three days in Ottawa before heading to Montréal for five days of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, the emphasis was entirely on the Improv Invitational series, at the National Arts Centre's intimate, club-like Fourth Stage. It was an eclectic mix of artists, ranging from an Israeli pianist (Anat Fort), a Norwegian singer/songwriter (Susanna) and a Danish guitarist (Torben Waldorff) to two artists from the broad-spectrum British scene: one, a legend (Norma Winstone), the other, if not exactly a legend, then at the very least a group considered to be the founding father of the current British revival that includes groups like Polar Bear and Led Bib (Partisans).

With temperatures and humidity soaring outside, the dark, cool Fourth Stage seemed like the perfect place to be for three days of music ranging from contemporary, rock-informed jazz and beautiful voc al interpretations to a taste of Norwegian gloom and one of the finest solo piano recitals to hit Ottawa since the elimination of the late afternoon Connoisseur Series a few years back.

Continue reading here...

Photo By: John R. Fowler