Tucked away on the first floor of the Arts Court, Club SAW greeted attendees with a tinted yet energetic atmosphere and pulsing purple hue lights. The next act of Ottawa Winter Jazz Fest, Tara Kannangara, was casually seated at a table along the side of the venue with her bandmates just over an hour before show time.
“They’re all friends from university,” Kannangara said of her group. “We all went to school together, made music together and there was something about the idea of making really high-quality music with people you really care about and knowing that you could do it.”
Kannangara is a Sri-Lankan Canadian artist known for her unique mix of jazz elements and synthpop melodies. She is a native Ottawan and her debut album, Some Version of the Truth, received a Juno Award nomination for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year in 2016. Kannangara ties the combination of sounds together with personal lyrics about her life living as a person of colour in Canada.
“The songs are all built around that experience,” Kannangara said. “Like when I was a teenager, what it felt like to be living in Canada and feeling different, but not necessarily understanding why.”
Kannangara confronts these experiences in many songs throughout her discography. In her single “Name Song,” the track opens with Kannangara airing out her frustrations over people mispronouncing her name: “Why can’t you say my name? Can you even pronounce it? It looks a little different, I know that you are scared.”
That is a focal point Kannangara wants to get across in her music: it is matter of fact, yet heartfelt.
“I want to make people feel something and I can’t really dictate what they will feel, but I want it to be joyful,” Kannangara said. “I don’t really want to be creating a space where it’s challenging. I mean sure, maybe like tension, but I want it to feel like a really generous space for people to listen and feel joyful.”
Kannangara is no stranger to the Ottawa music scene. Along with being born in the city, she has strong connections and family members spanned out around the area, including her uncle and multiple cousins. She also performed at the Ottawa Jazz Fest in 2022.
“I mean maybe because I was born here, but I feel very warm to the place and it feels comfortable to be here,” Kannangara said. “It’s always been like really welcoming and progressive too, which I really appreciate.”
Kannangara admits that her journey through the music realm has been challenging. But according to her, continuously creating music is ultimately a rewarding process that is driven by passion for the medium.
“You are only in this business if you love it,” Kannangara said. “There are so many other things you could do that take a lot less effort, but it’s like a deep love affair. You take it with the good and bad, you know? It’s just like one long journey.”
Kannangara’s next record isn’t expected to be released until 2026. In the meantime, though, there will be a few treats to keep her fans satisfied.
“We’re trying to drop some cute little singles along the way,” Kannangara said. “Just like, you know, without any expectation just drop them out in the universe.”