About us
Welcome to Note Lovers - Live Music Listening in Ottawa!
This is a group where we welcome you to join us listening to good music here in town. We love local small venues, the kind of place we can chat together before the show. The kind of place we can meet the musicians. Most of the music is jazz, blues, and folk. But now and then some tango, flamenco, rock and musicals. If you are up on Sunday mornings, we do like a classical collection on the Quebec side so check that out. Festivals in summer.
Please buy tickets early when you want to see a show. Small venues with great musicians sell out! Out of courtesy for those on the wait-list, always cancel your RSVP if you are not coming.
I ask that you have a real portrait photo on your MeetUp profile because at these events we really are looking for you. Please look for me, sit with the group, and get to know others who like to listen to live music!
Good times!
Carolyn
Upcoming events
13
Great Lake Swimmers at the Bronson Centre!
Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa, ON, CAHey, Note Lovers, it's Carolyn here. Come join us for the Great Lake Swimmers at the Bronson Centre!
Featuring a blend of acoustic instruments, rural soundscapes, and wistful vocals, Great Lake Swimmers are a critically acclaimed indie-folk group led by Tony Dekker. Based in Southern Ontario, the group emerged in the early 2000s with a succession of heavily atmospheric albums recorded in old silos and rural country churches. The music developed in that pastoral warmth, performed and recorded in acoustically resonant and historical locales with a revolving cast of personnel. They are renowned for homespun folk and lush, intimate Americana in their live shows.
Their newest album, Caught Light, out Oct 10, 2025, is their most immediate and instinctive album to date. Recorded in just five days in Ontario’s Ganaraska Forest with producer Darcy Yates (Bahamas) and engineer Jimmy Bowskill (Blue Rodeo), it draws warmth from early ’70s folk-pop while embracing a new spontaneity and directness in Dekker’s songwriting.
Great Lake Swimmers have been shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize and nominated twice for Canada’s Juno Awards, with the CBC calling them “a national treasure.”
“A stunning variety of tones and textures… nothing less than both cerebral and sublime” – American Songwriter, 4/5 from Reviews on their websiteDate: Sat Apr 18 2026
Time: Doors 7pm. I’ll be there a little before that for the line up. Music at 7:30.
Location: Bronson Centre. 211 Bronson Ave, Ottawa, ON K1R 6H5
Tickets : 39$ plus ticket fees (which are 13). BUY YOUR TICKET HERE!
-*enter code Caughtlight* for early purchase if asked (the name of their new album released today)
-general admission and 19+
-ticket is formally emailed to you 3 days before the show. check your junk box that week!There are a few seats and more standing room at the front. You can get a drink in the venue. We’ll all bunch together and find each other in the line up at the door.
Good times!
13 attendees
Ottawa Jazz Orchestra: Beyond the Cool at NAC 4th Stage!
NAC 1 Elgin Street Fourth stage, 1 Elgin Street Fourth stage,, Ottawa, ON, CAHey Note Lovers, it's Carolyn here. Come join us for Ottawa Jazz Orchestra: Beyond the Cool at NAC 4th Stage!
Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026, 8 PM
*UPDATE - IT IS SOLD OUT*
BUY YOUR TICKET HERE! 45$ purchase online, in person at the NAC Box Office, or by calling the box office at (613) 947-7000 x620.Beyond the Cool
Don’t miss this sublime, one-night-only programme presented by the Ottawa Jazz Orchestra! Experience the sumptuous sound of our nonet, featuring unique pairings of alto and baritone saxophones, trumpet and trombone, and French horn and tuba, all anchored by a piano trio.
We’ll kick things off with a complete performance of the celebrated “Birth of the Cool” suite, made famous by Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, and the original nonet from their landmark 1957 recording.
You’ll love the sound of the nonet but is nine enough? We’ll find out in the second half of the show as award-winning singer and songwriter Diane Nalini joins the band for a special dectet set, featuring arrangements written exclusively for this show. Join Diane and our “little big band” for a truly unforgettable night!Time: Show up at 7:30. Be on time to sit with the group! There will be a line up. Music is 8pm.
Location: Fourth Stage. NAC -National Arts Centre 1 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON K1P 5W1
It’s a lovely venue with tables for four. We’ll get a few of those in a bunch and enjoy a drink before the performance. Photo of me below and I'll update it with what I'll wear closer to the date. Please be sure that your Meetup profile has your portrait photo because then we'll be looking for you also. Please **RSVP to this meetup group if you're coming and cancel your RSVP if you change your mind. **
Good times!
8 attendees
Stretch Orchestra: Tall Tones & Unruly Grooves at Robo Lounge!
Robo Lounge Ottawa, 275 Carling Ave Ground Floor, Ottawa, ON, CAHey, Note Lovers, it's Carolyn here. Come join us for Stretch Orchestra: Tall Tones & Unruly Grooves at Robo Lounge!
Prepare for an evening of bold improvisation, gritty grooves, and genre-bending jazz with the Stretch Orchestra — a trio that defies easy categorization and makes serious noise (in the best way).
At the core of this towering ensemble is Matt Brubeck — cellist, composer, and the son of Dave Brubeck — joined by equally commanding collaborators. Together they stretch jazz into bluesy, experimental terrain that can swing, snarl, or simmer, driven by deep improvisation and constant musical conversation.
This isn’t polite background music. It’s raw, expressive, and alive, with a sound that feels larger than a trio should — fitting, given that the band members themselves are famously over six-foot-five and bring a striking physical presence to the stage. The music carries both lineage and edge: a Brubeck sensibility refracted through modern, risk-taking jazz that’s earned serious recognition while still sounding untamed.
This is jazz that refuses to behave — and that’s exactly the point.
Featured musicians
Matt Brubeck — bassist, composer, and son of the legendary Dave Brubeck, carrying one of jazz’s most influential bloodlines forward
Kevin Breit — fearless guitarist and sonic shapeshifter
Jesse Stewart — explosive, genre-defying percussionist (three lines from eventbrite)Date: Friday May 1, 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: 8-10-pm. Show up early. Get a nice seat. Chat.
Tickets : 27$ (I recommend stage side seats- much better. seats on the other side are only $17.) BUY YOUR TICKET FOR THE FRIDAY MAY 1st HERE! (do not just show up)
Please be sure that your Meetup profile has your portrait photo because then we'll be looking for you also. Please **RSVP to this meetup group if you're coming and cancel your RSVP if you change your mind. **
Good times!
10 attendees
Steve Poltz, indie-rock - at the Red Bird!
Red Bird Live, 1165 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K1S 3X7, Ottawa, ON, CAHey Note Lovers, it's Carolyn here....Join us for Steve Poltz, indie-rock Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist, - at the Red Bird!
" It might’ve even been last night, but Steve Poltz just played the greatest show of his life. Guess what?
The next show will be even greater, making that show the greatest show of his life.
Are you starting to notice a trend?
He isn’t shy about it either.
Even after most likely thousands of shows (but who’s counting?), he hits the stage with the same amount of energy and always makes sure to declare, “This is the greatest show of my life.”
It’s why he’s quietly emerged as the kind of live phenomenon celebrated passionately by a diehard fanbase worldwide and renowned as a festival favourite everywhere from ***Bluesfest ***in Byron Bay and High Sierra Music Festival in California and Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado to Cayamo Cruise (where he actually got married). It’s why his music has crept into pop culture via collaborations with everyone from Jewel and Billy Strings to Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Nicki Bluhm, Oliver Wood, and even the late Mojo Nixon. It’s why after over a dozen albums, he’s still creatively firing on all cylinders and critically acclaimed by the likes of Rolling Stone, Associated Press, Billboard, and many more.
Nevertheless, the next gig will be the greatest show for him (and maybe for you too)…" words from RedBird.
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Date: Sat May 2, 2026
Time: show up at 7:00 to chat, music 8- 10:30pmLocation Red Bird, 1165 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 3X4
Tickets :
50$ plus fees. Purchase online at 10am Friday Dec 12th and onward: BUY YOUR TICKET HERE! choose Saturday May 2I’ll be there at 7:00 to get a nice seat and you should too. We’ll sit around and chat in a cluster and the music starts at 8. As always, be sure to find me and the group.
If your photo is on your profile, I'll be looking for you! Please RSVP to this meetup group if you're coming and cancel your RSVP if you change your mind .
Good times!
12 attendees
Past events
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