If I count carefully, Pierre may have played in the shop more than any other artist. He first snuck in under the guise of helping Neil Bateman, but as well as repeating that gesture on several occasions, Pierre has also shown up to accompany singers like BettyAnn Bryanton and other artists such as Gilles Babin. Well this time we once again have the delight of Neil and Pierre doing their inimitable double act of bald guys with moustaches, guitars and a dry wit concerning their outstanding musical abilities. It is not unusual for their intros to become a 5-minute thesis about what keys or time signatures this song has previously been played in. When I once pointed out to Neil (after some confusion during the number they just played) that most artists rehearse BEFORE they come to the shop, Neil countered that ‘hey – we are so bad we rehearse after the gig!’
When he advised me that Pierre would be joining him for this Friday, Neil’s carefully-crafted promo line was “twice the incompetence for the same price!”. Come and judge for yourselves – I wish I could play as incompetently as they do! At various times in their musical history, Neil and Pierre have both experimented with pedals to enhance their musical multiple personality disorders. So who knows, this Friday we may get Neil, Pierre, and pedalised clones of themselves! Perhaps they should perform as ‘The Pedallers!’
Quite seriously, Pierre and Neil are both paragons of Ottawa’s musical teaching profession, and it is kind of neat how sometimes their ex-students show up to verify that “the old prof can actually do something useful!”
As well as continuing the musical heritage established under the previous owners, Gaia Java now boasts an enhanced culinary agenda, with tasty tarts, promising pizzas, and other tempting treats to encourage you!
We look forward to seeing you this Friday. As usual no cover charge, but we hope you will purchase a drink, something to eat, and maybe even some of the wonderful freshly-roasted coffee beans to take home with you! And there is a little jug that gratefully accepts donations aimed at the musicians.
We also have lined up some more great local artists for the rest of February and March:
Friday Feb 26th: Convergence of stars – The amazing keyboards and vocals of Gretchen Martin together with the guitar styles of Alan Sandeman.
Friday March 4th: Roland Doucet brings back his guitar and familiar songs from many decades
Friday March 11th: Michael Allen – folk/pop styles with guitar & vocals
Friday March 18th: Amanda Bon with Danny Artuso on steel guitar
Friday March 25th: ‘Divided Highway’ – contemporary classic rock & country band
Neil Bateman and Pierre Monfils play Gaia Java on Friday, February 19 at 7:00pm.
-Paul Jay