COURAGE4

Martine Courage has performed in various Ottawa and area venues, including twice at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, at Montreal's Downstairs Club, and at Kingston's Baby Grand Theatre. She has played at Gigspace, the Almonte Jazz ‘n House concert series, Vineyards, Perth’s CC’s on the Rideau Ferry, Beckta and Zola’s with jazz musicians such as Garry Elliott, Vince Halfhide, Roddy Ellias, Mike Rud and Mark Ferguson. Martine works as a communicator by day, pursuing her love of music and creative jazz in her spare time. 

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She studies piano with Steve Boudreau and voice with Amanda Mabro. She also studied voice with Montreal jazz singer, Ranee Lee.

Rob Frayne is an Ottawa jazz stalwart, having done more than 20 concert tours, including international jazz festivals in Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, Washington, England and Norway as well as famous jazz venues such as New York’s Blue Note. Rob led the award-winning Chelsea Bridge and was a longtime member of the Juno-nominated Angstones. He played with major Canadian artists, including the Shuffle Demons, Mary-Margaret O-Hara, Mary Ann Price (Dan Hicks, Kinks), the Cuban Fence Climbers, Gil Evans Orchestra, Fred Stone, Kenny Wheeler. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Rob mainly holds down the bass end of things in Courage4, bringing out the tenor sax for a few choice pieces.

Mike is a sensitive, active and responsive drummer-composer with strong musical intuition.

This in-demand musician performs in many different musical settings, from folk to musical theatre, from jazz to rock to 20th century classical percussion.

Mike plays with the Megan Jerome Together Ensemble, the popular New Orleans-tinged Bank Street BonBons, the grooving Bumpin' Binary duo, and many others. Mike toured Canada with the Mighty Popo and the Megan Jerome Trio.

Ottawa blues and folk legend Vince Halfhide puts his spin on jazz standards, nudging the quartet towards a bluesier selection of tunes. Halfhide has played in and around the city since the late 60s. He hosts the weekly blues jams at Irene's Pub, has released solo albums, and has been a sideman with artists like Sneezy Waters, Missy Burgess, the Toasted Westerns and the Mighty Popo. Recently Vince has devoted more time to writing and performing his own songs.

Laura has performed chamber music, orchestral music, jazz, pop, folk and improvised music across the National Capital region, as well as in Montreal, Newfoundland, California, Tanzania. Laura is a founding member of Ensemble Prisme, Courage4, the Ottawa Jazz Orchestra, the Triptych Piano Trio, the Frond Duo and the Algonquin Ensemble.  Laura is the director of the Rideau Falls Violins and an active Suzuki Violin and Creative Ability Development (improvisation) teacher. Laura blends her musical influences into a unique style, expressing a voice that ranges from deeply intimate to furious to cheeky.