A little about the Blues, Jazz & Swing Guide Guy
I've been interested in jazz since seeing the Brian Browne Trio playing piano in an Ottawa Spark's Street store, Murphy Gambell's, window sometime in the early 60's.
Blues is a more recent interest. It's my first love in musical forms now because of the emotions it expresses and it's infectious, danceable nature. Swing is a kind of music that always sounded good since I first heard some of the Glen Miller stuff in the late 50's. I didn't understand it's jazz connections at the time, but it was good to swing or jive to and I always enjoyed dancing to this music with my late wife, Judy.
This is Judy, the one and only soulmate of my life. She left this earth because
of breast cancer.
I've had other relationships since Judy, mostly short term that have helped me write a few fun blues lyrics, and hopefully I'll meet someone else sometime who I can have a special life-partnership with.
Judy did set a bit of a trend in her love, her ability to give of herself, her ethics, her willingnes to give as much as she received and more to her soulmate and to her family, her lack of self-centredness, her considerateness and her willingness to play a full part in the needs of her family and friends. She was my devoted best friend, my lover, my companion and my soulmate.
I consider myself to
have been lucky to have found her and to have been able to share the time I did
with her. I don't expect to find anyone like Judy, but I know that she would share
in my joy if I were to find someone new to share my life with and be as fulfilled
as I was in our life-partnership that ended all too soon. Judy was an inspiration
to friends, family, work colleagues and others whose lives she touched and I'm
sure that much of what I do comes from her inspiration and the time I spent with
her. In writing this, I wanted to share her with others who never were fortunate
enough to meet her and that's why I decided to include her on the site. Judy always
joked that she felt she was actually born to be a princess and I guess she was
right because she was MY princess. 
This is the award established by Ottawa Blues Cruise in memory of Judy to honour those who make an outstanding contribution to the local live music scene.
My one and only soulmate, Judy, who brings back so many pleasant memories that her dying in my arms in early January 1994 is still something I feel privileged to have been there for to do what little I was able to to make her last moments easier in spite of the heartbreak it caused me then and my experiences the past 13 years has told me that she was one of a kind in my life and in my heart. You have my undying love always sweet one and the best gift that was ever granted to me.
More on Judy and her final story.
Back about 1992, two years before I lost Judy, I'd gotten into blues, thanks to Brian Murphy and his blues and jazz programs on a radio station that will remain nameless as they didn't see fit to keep Brian on staff to continue the good work he was doing in promoting blues and jazz in the Ottawa area.
At that time, one of my sons had a music related computer bulletin board. I happened to mention that he should possibly have something on the BBS to let people using it know what's going on in blues and jazz in Ottawa. He said that if I were willing to put the event info. together, he'd make a place for it on his BBS.
That was before much was happening on the internet. My Ottawa Blues, Jazz and Swing Guide web service, had its beginnings in that BBS. About 1993, I got involved in Freenet and decided to start posting the same events in the Blues and Jazz newsgroups there. Once I realized the potential of having the local blues and jazz events on a web site where anyone could find out easily the upcoming events, I decided to get into building my first, rough version of the Ottawa Blues, Jazz & Swing Guide, then called the One Stop Jazz and Blues Shopping Guide.
What I'm doing now is a continuation of the efforts of Brian Murphy to promote local blues and jazz artist performances and also of Ron Sweetman, who used to promote local jazz events on the old Jazzline phone service that was a part of the now defunct Jazz Ottawa and still does on his CKCU radio show, In a Mellow Tone.
My main aims in doing this are to give back something to the local blues, jazz and swing bands for the enjoyment they give to me and to do whatever I can to get more people out to see, hear and appreciate some of the top notch talent we often don't know we have in the city of Ottawa and in the neighbouring communities.
Jim working and playing at the Rainbow
Photo by Peter O.
Here are some of Ottawa's singing divas all in one place at the Rainbow on 27th
September 2001 who were enjoying a hot performance by Michelle Willson and her
Evil Gal Band. From left to right are Kathy Kennedy, singer and songwriter, Roxanne
Potvin a fine young singer and hot guitarist with the Fine Fat Daddy Band and
more recently her own band now headquartered in Toronto, me in the middle, Blue
Pearl and Maria Hawkins, Ottawa's First Lady of the Blues. It doesn't get much
better than this for a Blues, Jazz and Swing Guide guy!!
On
the left,, I'm dancing between taking digital pictures of Roxanne playing with
Tony D.
On the right, I'm dancing with someone I nicknamed 'Flexisha'
an all-or-nothin', very fit and flexible dance partner visiting from la belle
province.
While I never got to dance with her, my Hindu partner-in-warmth for much too short a time here was Archana who accompanied me to one of the Rainbow Sunday jams. Of the women I usually refer to as my ELF's (Ex Lady Friends), Archana or ELF 4, was the best and why I still prize a photo of her. I don't keep photos of past problem ELF's.
I still, although she's moved on long ago, after I unfortunately
made the wrong choice then consider Archana as just a very classy lady who if
things had been different at the time I dated her who knows? My mistake; not hers.
Jim jivin' with bar person, Tracy,
to test the new dance floor at The Bayou.
More on Jim's dancin' partners
HERE.
Cruisin' a bit farther to Scherzo's in Kingston to enjoy Amos Garrett and Ken
Whitely with Kingston blues fans Chris and Barb. Chris is wearing a Limestone
Blues Festival T-Shirt. Kingston's annual fest is on weekend before Labour Day
and has had headliners such as Duke Robillard, Tracy Nelson, John Hammond and
Marcia Ball. 
Here's "Radio Personality for a Day Jim" on Ottawa University radio station, CHUO
with Susan Wellish featuring music from CD's of Ottawa's world class musicians
and talking up the locals and some of their upcoming events. 
