Note Lovers - Live Music Listening in Ottawa

Hey, Note Lovers, it's Carolyn here. Come join us for Jeff Rogers and Jamie Holmes at Robo Lounge!

Beats & Keys brings together two of Ottawa’s most exciting performers, Jeff Rogers and Jamie Holmes

Beats & Keys brings together two of Ottawa’s most exciting performers, Jeff Rogers and Jamie Holmes, for a high-energy night of piano, rhythm, and crowd favourites at The Robo Lounge. Blending soulful grooves, classic singalongs, and spontaneous musical moments, the duo transforms the room into an intimate music party where the audience becomes part of the show. Expect great musicianship, big energy, and a night that’s as much about the vibe in the room as the music on stage.

Date: Friday June 5, 2026

Location Robo Lounge Café. 275 Carling Ave Ground Floor, Ottawa, ON K1S 5Y2. (Although the street address is 275 Carling Ave., there’s also an entrance on Cambridge Street South.)

Time: 7-9-pm. Show up early. Get a nice seat. Chat.

Hey, Note Lovers, it’s Carolyn here. Come join us for an evening with the Orrin Evans Trio at the Ottawa Jazz Festival!

This one should be a seriously good piano trio night. Orrin Evans is a powerhouse pianist: adventurous, intense, deeply musical, and known for pushing jazz forward while still staying connected to the tradition. He has been recognized by DownBeat critics and has earned multiple Grammy nominations through his work with the Captain Black Big Band. For this Ottawa Jazz Festival performance, he’ll be joined by Matthew Parrish on acoustic bass and Byron Landham on drums.

Hey, Note Lovers, it’s Carolyn here. Come join us for Bobby Previte’s Pocket Orchestra plays Bitches Brew at the Ottawa Jazz Festival!

This one is for people who like their jazz a little wilder, deeper, and more electric.

Bitches Brew, released by Miles Davis in 1970, is one of the landmark recordings in modern music — not just jazz, but also rock, funk, soul, and everything that came after. It was spacious, hypnotic, strange, groovy, and absolutely fearless. Bobby Previte’s Pocket Orchestra won’t simply recreate it note-for-note. The idea is to use Bitches Brew as a springboard and push the music forward into new territory.
Bobby Previte is a major composer, drummer, and improviser whose work lives in the space between written composition and spontaneous invention. So expect something atmospheric, exploratory, rhythmically alive, and probably a bit mind-expanding.

This is a great pick for listeners who enjoy Miles Davis, electric jazz, experimental groove, and concerts that feel more like a sonic journey than a polite recital.

For anyone wanting to turn this into a truly mind-bending evening, consider also buying a ticket to the 8:00 p.m. Max Richter concert in Southam Hall, just upstairs after this show. Electric Miles Davis-inspired jazz followed by Max Richter’s lush, cinematic orchestral music will be a perfect night.

Hey, Note Lovers, it's Carolyn here. Come join us for Max Richter with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble at the National Arts Centre.

Max Richter is one of today’s most influential contemporary classical composers, known for music that feels cinematic, emotional, meditative, and quietly powerful. His sound lives somewhere between classical music, minimalism, ambient music, and film score — spacious, melancholic, and deeply atmospheric.

For this concert, Richter is joined by the American Contemporary Music Ensemble for music from In a Landscape and The Blue Notebooks. Expect an evening of luminous strings, gentle repetition, emotional stillness, and music that slowly opens up around you.

I'll be there shortly before it starts only because.....
we are just walking upstairs after hearing Bobby Previte’s Pocket Orchestra play Bitches Brew from 7-7:45pm. a tight but fascinating same-night pairing: electric Miles-inspired storm, then Richter’s cinematic orchestral dream.