Coté Robert

Article by Todd Lihou
Seaway News
07 May 2015

CORNWALL, Ontario - Someone once said that if you have a guitar, you have a friend for life. For local jazz guitarist, Robert Coté, music has always been a major part of his life's journey, and now more than ever, a source of solace, support and hope.

It all began at a very early age for Coté originally from Quebec, who was born and raised in a musical family. "My grandparents were musicians and my mother was a honkytonk piano player, said Coté. "She played bars and stuff.'' Naturally, talent didn't fall far from the family tree.

"I studied classical piano and then The Beatles came along and it changed everything,'' he said. "Then I started to pick up the guitar.'' After 30 years on the road, Cote settled in Cornwall, to raise his family.

"That changes your tune,'' he said. "I had to work a mainstream life. I hated it.'' During that time, though, he continued to hone his guitar skills, and would eventually go on to create Quiet Moments, his live solo jazz act, which, for the past 15 years, has been a fixture on the local music scene, at events, restaurants and other venues.

"There's a freedom with jazz,'' he said. "It is open for expanding yourself. You'll never see an end as long as you have feeling. You can venture in jazz where you can't in rock.''

Cote, along with old friend and former bandmate, Paul Giroux, of Ottawa, are in the process of recording their second album of originals, to be released in June. The project was a saving grace for Coté, who found strength through his guitar, more than ever, when his beloved wife succumbed to a brain tumour, last year.

A very special track on the new- album is dedicated to her, he said. "Still, You Are The One; (tells) the whole ordeal of her sickness, the guitar cries at the end of the song, but it finishes I with some chimes. She's happy; she's home, watching over me.'' "I'm getting better,'' he said. "It was a shock, I was pretty screwed up for a long time, but you have to learn to move on.'' A lesson he's learned well.

Coté continues to gig regularly and encourages the community to get out and support live music, and maybe try on some jazz for size.

For more about Coté and a sample of his sound, visit http://www.rcquietmoments.com .