View our 2020 Online TENACITY Series – Thank you for your support!
Improvising musicians are among the most creative people in the world. They thrive in the unknown. Rise past a challenge. Express themselves best in the moment. Lock them down? Their art will flourish.
From June 19 – 28, Tenacity with 85 artists in 12 free shows, was all about flourishing, creating in the moment, and overcoming adversity with art.
While we couldn’t enjoy a golden sunset and star-filled evening in Confederation Park, or share the intimacy of the NAC’s Fourth Stage, but we always had the music, and the creative artists who can transport the listener into magic spaces of the mind. Combined with pre-recorded and live performances, the end result is a high-quality professional production. Local animators enhanced some of the pre-recorded performances with stunning visuals.
We invite you to review a dozen unforgettable musical presentations, where we delved into the heart of improvisation and creative collaboration online. Each performance preceded or followed a live conversation with the principal artists, conducted by journalist James Hale of DownBeat magazine.
Free Improvisation experiment with Kris Davis, Lina Allemano, and Anna Webber – We’ve gathered three masters of the moment and set them to work…
View the video
Tin Men and The Telephone present the GREATEST show – The trio incorporates audience feedback into its performances through a bespoke app called Tinmendo… View the video
BADBADNOTGOOD – In what would have been their first appearance at the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival but COVID-19 changed all that. So instead they appeared in our first ever virtual event… View the video
Sea To Sea: Both Sides Now Tentet – A trans-Canada coronavirus jazz orchestra performs the music of Canadian icon Joni Mitchell… View the video
The Prime Rib Big Band feat. Joel Frahm – Ottawa’s Prime Rib Big Band, led by veteran trumpeter Ed Lister, was just about to drop its new album, Choice Cuts, when the world went on hold… View the video
Dan Tepfer – Natural Machines in a live performance – Dan Tepfer has developed computer-driven algorithms that communicate with his piano, transforming digitized music into new heights, visible on the accompanying screen… View the video
Elisapie – Raw, intimate, and soulful, her music has been called a blend of hypnotic arrangements and the low rumble of Tom Waits… View the video
Joe Morris Instantiation – Live improvisation is alchemy at the best of times, but how do four musicians who have never performed together make music from four separate cities? View the video
Kellylee Evans – LockedDown/OpenedUp feat. Seamus Blake – Ottawa-based singer Kellylee Evans is no stranger to adversity, so she put this time of lockdown to great use, crossing musical boundaries in a safe and socially distanced way… View the video
Hayden Chisholm – D.K Heroes – A collective of Roma musicians, hailing from a Belgrade suburb, fronted by New Zealand saxophonist Hayden Chisholm performed an exclusive set from one of their last remaining theaters fighting to survive… View the video
Ottawa’s Jazz Masters in a live performance – Ottawa’s most distinguished musicians: guitarist Roddy Ellias, bassist John Geggie, pianist Steve Boudreau, and vocalist Michael Hanna delved into issues regarding creativity and the art form of jazz… View the video
Tenacity Collage – Hymn To Freedom – A veritable who’s who of Ottawa’s finest musicians perform and record themselves playing the iconic Oscar Peterson’s seminal Ode to Joy… View the video