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The Ottawa Jazz Festival is presenting a series of 35 free in-person concerts in the city this week, and Alex Moxon performs in five of them, as well as one of the festival’s virtual performances.

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After a year where most live shows were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a schedule that could overwhelm a lesser musician, but the 31-year-old Ottawa guitarist is taking all in hand as he juggles an array of musicals. modes.

“You have to make hay while the sun is shining,” Moxon said in an interview. “Even in the days before, it would have been a busy week. But I can’t wait to see a lot of friends and all the people in the audience that I haven’t been able to see in a long time.

The fun begins Wednesday with an indoor concert featuring the Alex Moxon Quartet at the Fourth Stage of the National Arts Center, the same venue that was to host the Moxon CD release show last May. Instead, its first outing went to Spotify without much fanfare.

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“I don’t want to call it a CD release, but it’s a great opportunity to play with this band that I haven’t been able to play with for 17 months,” Moxon said, listing the players as a whole. featured group: Steve Boudreau on piano, John Geggie on bass and Michel Delage on drums. The same team accompanied him on the recording, playing the parts he wrote for them. His original compositions have an undeniable spirit of positivity.

“Over the past few years in my writing practice, I’ve tried to channel sounds that have a sort of optimism,” Moxon said. “It’s pretty subjective, but it’s something I think about when I write, like how to make each chord more exhilarating than the last and bring it to a more upbeat place bar by bar, chord by chord, like the piece of music unfolds. You have to see the bright side. ”

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While the NAC concert is sold out, there are several other opportunities to see Moxon perform. Note that tickets are free, but some shows require advance reservations. For complete information, visit ottawajazzfestival.com.

Here’s a look at Moxon’s schedule this week:

August 19, noon, The Shed on Sparks Street

The Lyrical Keith Hartshorn-Walton Trio: With Hartshorn-Walton on tuba, Steve Boudreau on keyboards, and Moxon on guitar, it’s an unorthodox setup that Moxon says is super fun. “Keith can change roles in no time. It can be in the low register to sustain us, and then it can switch to the melodic voice, so that we can channel a lot of the vibrations that way.

August 19, 5 p.m. Confederation Park

Plasma Quartet: This new group formed by drummer Mike Essoudry is designed as a futuristic mashup of electric jazz and modern rhythms that gives Moxon the chance to blow the dust off his collection of effects pedals and “see what kind of beeps and bloops I can coax out of that. “

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August 20, 1 p.m., Confederation Park

Sweet Revival: Moxon is the new kid on the block, which he describes as a spinoff from Ottawa’s Latin jazz band, Los Gringos. “It’s not the same material, but it was the original Los Gringos, and they have a really good, interesting music program,” he said. Peter Beaudoin, Mark Ferguson, Ken Seeley and René Lavoie complete the roster.

August 22, 5 p.m., Confederation Park

F8-BIT: The musical themes of some of the classic 90s console games come to life in the hands of this passionate group of gamers as they organize the eye-catching clips into full chunks. “I don’t think you need to have played the games,” Moxon said. “The pieces are convincing in themselves. If you’ve never played the games, you’ll find a lot to like. But, if you’ve played a lot of video games, you’ll get foam in your mouth and backflips. ”

August 22, 9 p.m., online.

Swing Swing Swing! Moxon joins vocalist Kellylee Evans, conductor Petr Cancura and the rest of the band to recreate the energy of the swing-dance movement. This is the finale in a series of 17 pre-recorded virtual shows, also including performances by Kathleen Edwards, The Barr Brothers, Larnell Lewis and more. For tickets and more information, visit ottawajazzfestival.com.

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