GALT HOSTS FIRST CAMBRIDGE JAZZ FESTIVAL
The first Cambridge Jazz Festival was held on Sunday, Apr. 27 in Galt’s historic Tapestry Hall.
Cambridge Jazz Festival, and its forerunner, Galt Jazz, are the brainchild of Cambridge residents Dave and Ruth Ottenbrite. The Ottenbrites began working on Galt Jazz during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to invigorate the cultural landscape of their new hometown.
On the last Sunday of every month, Galt’s Main Street is shut down for a few hours (taking place indoors during the winter months), and local musicians perform crowd-pleasing jazz numbers for the Cambridge public. Beginning in May 2022, these events quickly grew in popularity—ultimately culminating in this day-length festival.
The festival began at 1 p.m. with Tim Louis, jazz singer, pianist and the Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga. Louis had a bemused, self-deprecating stage-presence—his seven-piece band played a mixture of popular crowd-pleasers and wistful ballads. One song interpolated a Justin Bieber melody, a disclosure met with disgruntled murmurs from the audience.
As Dave Ottenbrite acknowledged, Galt may not be the most traditional jazz market.
“Some people think they hate jazz, but they don’t understand what jazz is,” he said. “People who think they hate jazz can tell you exactly what jazz is in ten words, whereas people who love jazz can’t tell you what it is, because there’s 50 kinds of jazz, one hundred.”
This variety was on full display with the second act: Red Hot Ramble, a New Orleans-inspired blues group. Despite an initially cool reception, their lively trombone solos and stomp-clap hooks quickly revitalized the crowd’s energy. The performance culminated in the band parading across the auditorium Mardi Gras-style—a ramshackle conga line with parasols and beads flung through the air.
The event is a labour of love. Galt Jazz & Cambridge Jazz festival are non-profit events, with a portion of the tickets sales going towards local food banks—in the three years of Galt Jazz they have raised over $10,000.
The core ethos of the Ottenbrites’ project is revitalization.
“We’re aiming to revitalise the downtown core [of Galt]. To bring people downtown to make them understand it is safe. [Galt Jazz is] a soapbox to do positive things, rather than sow anger and division.” Ottenbrite said.
Amidst this challenging time for touring artists, the Ottenbrites are committed to giving musicians badly needed places to play.
Heather Bambrick, Juno-nominated singer, Jazz FM.91 radio host and the festival’s MC, said creating business and art together is always a challenge, and one that has only gotten harder since the pandemic and subsequent cost-of-living crisis.
“People got very comfortable with being home and just doing their own thing […] The hardest part is just getting people away from the thought of staying home, not doing anything [to] go out of pocket,” she said.
The final act of the night was the biggest name of the lineup: Pretzel Logic, a raucous Steely Dan tribute band. This was the absolute inverse end of the jazz spectrum from the big-band show-tunes; a luscious fusion sound of jazz, funk and rock. The nine-piece group pulled no punches—their cosmic wall-of-sound sent the older members of the audience shuffling to the back or fleeing the hall altogether.
Throughout the festival, Dave Ottenbrite could be spotted roaming the aisles, taking in the atmosphere. Beaming attendees constantly approached to express their thanks and appreciation for the event.
While Dave was reluctant to discuss any definitive plans for future festivals, festivalgoers expressed an appetite for more. Cambridge resident Papa Ledge heard about the festival through a promotion on Jazz FM.91.
“In thirty-five years, I haven’t seen anything like this before. […] I think this could be the start of something big,” he said.
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