(via Paul Jay / Gaia Java co-owner)
As some of you know we are working hard to try and see if the shop can stay open next year – thanks so much for your expressions of support – we live in a great community! At this point in time we have reason to be cautiously optimistic that Gaia Java will still be there to serve you in 2016, so stay tuned for more news in the very near future. Discussions are going well and we hope to be able to announce something very soon – so stay tuned!
Ottawa high schools have graduated some amazing young musicians recently. Robert Wannell has delighted us several times in the shop with his insightful and skilled jazz guitar stylings, both from when he was still a student under Jean-Francois Fauteux at Nepean High School, and more recently since he has been studying at Humber College in Toronto. One of his Ottawa contemporaries was Sax player Caelan Roberge-Toll who benefited from the guidance of the amazing music teachers at Canterbury High School and is now at University of Toronto. Both have a common history playing in the Nepean All-City Jazz Band which is a very competent proving ground for young musicians, and is lead by one-time Stittsville resident Neil Yorke-Slader.
I always look forward to seeing these guys come back from college to play again in the shop, and we get to hear how their formative development is being enhanced by exposure to new influences in the big city! I really appreciate their willingness to come back and share that with us, so come along for some enjoyable and stimulating music in Stittsville’s little cultural oasis!
Robert Wannell (guitar) and Caelan Roberge-Toll (sax) are at Gaia Java on Stittsville Main Street on Friday, December 18 at 7:00pm. No charge, but donations for the musicians are appreciated!