

2011’s Ottawa Jazz Festival, sporting its oft un-jazzy high profile headliners, is kicked off under dark skies with Robert Plant to a full house in Confederation Park. (Photo of the wristband passes by VA; the image is from the festival booklet).
160. The Rain Song: Robert Plant & the Band of Joy with Bahamas, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Confederation Park, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Thursday June 23, 2011, $40.
“Upon us all a little rain must fall”
… from “The Rain Song” by Led Zeppelin from Houses of the Holy (1973)

VariousArtists, aged 10 in 1973, holding up my newly purchased copy of Led Zeppelin’s then-latest release, Houses of the Holy, in a Halifax hotel room while on an east coast vacation with my family. (Photo by VA Snr.)
After a shaky start, spring sprung around these parts in 2011 with a welcome excess of gorgeous warmth and sunshine. Late May through spring’s conclusion was pure meteorological sweetness. And so it was all the more frustrating when this year’s highly anticipated Ottawa Jazz Festival began amid the temperature suddenly dipping and the skies turning from sunny to dark and grumpy for several days of wet sogginess. Jesus Murphy! Continue reading →