Le Petit Chicago

ZF & Mike Essoudry, Le Petit Chicago, Dec. 2011.  Photo:  JC Batista.

One of the biggest motivating forces for me coming into 2012 has to be my new position as host of Monday's jazz proceedings at Le Petit Chicago.  When I first moved to Ottawa in 2005, you could catch Brian Asselin's group with Jeff Asselin, Steve Boudreau, and Jake Von Worden every Monday.  I've met a lot of Ottawa musicians for the first time on stage there sometime 'round midnight...it's always been the region's un-official 'jazz co-op' to me.

After Steve & Jake left for Toronto for their respective universities, Brian & I formed a group with bassist Alex Masteronardi and drummer Jeff Asselin, which quickly turned into a quintet called "SearchEngine" with keyboardist Eric Disero.  We'd work on standards and hard bop, and it was really centred around the 2nd set jam which kept the ideas flowing.  Unfortunately things got busy for me and I left the group after about a year to focus on the Souljazz Orchestra, but Brian kept the group a quartet and (with the help of other bands including the Richard Page Trio, The Mike Essoudry Octet, The Talk Back Organ Trio, etc.) continued to keep Petit Chicago rockin'.  SearchEngine released their first album, "I'm Feeling Lucky" in early 2011 and I was fortunate to perform on 2 tracks during their session with drummer/producer Ian Froman.

Recently, SearchEngine decided to pass on the Monday night ceremonies, and the gig was handed off to me.  Brett Delmage & Alayne McGregor recently wrote a piece for their website OttawaJazzScene.ca discussing the transition.  Check it out here.

I'll post more about my plans for the coming months later in the week in preparation for the launch of "Curiosity Killed The Quartet" on January 9th, but tonight I'm playing with a very special guest, guitarist Lucas Haneman, as well as drummer Mike Essoudry and bassist Marc Decho.  Come down and check it out if you're in the Ottawa/Gatineau area!