Music Is Music

Ozere is a group of musicians that Canadian violinist Jessica Deutsch put together back in 2012. It's also the culmination of Deutsch's world travels. And if you're wondering, the band's name (pronounced: oh-ZER-uh) is Yiddish for "lake," but that's a whole other story. Deutsch grew up playing classical violin. But even before her instrument ever came into the picture, she was blessed with perfect pitch -- her mother tells the story of toddler Jessica climbing up the family piano to always land on middle C. Deutsch began violin lessons at age 4 and continued until she was 17, when she went off to college in Vancouver. At that point, she decided that she needed a break. No more violin. No more music... until one evening. A local pub was hosting an ad-hoc group of musicians playing Celtic music. Deutsch stopped in and was immediately smitten with the freedom and joy she witnessed in the group's improvisational renditions of folk tunes. She wound up joining in a few nights later and many more followed. The vio