Harvey Glatt, Ottawa music giant, dead at 91

Harvey Glatt, a leading figure in Ottawa’s music scene for six decades who devoted his life to the promotion of culture and entertainment in the city, has died at the age of 91.

Glatt died Wednesday morning, his son Richard confirmed to CBC.

Glatt turned his deep love of music nto a business when he and his late wife Louise opened The Treble Clef in 1957, Ottawa’s first stand-alone record shop. A decade later they co-owned the legendary Le Hibou Coffee House on Sussex Drive, where audiences discovered folk artists such as Joni Mitchell, Bruce Cockburn and Leonard Cohen.

Ottawa Guitarist Tony D remembered Glatt as someone who championed musicians from the ground up.

“If you told him you were playing somewhere, he would come and show up if he liked what you were doing,” he said.

“Then he would help you — he’d pass your name along to other promoters, to agents, to other clubs or wherever to get you exposure. He was that kind of guy.”

Tony D said Glatt had a knack for spotting talent and promise in undiscovered musicians. He recalled Glatt pulling him aside after a show with Suzie Vinnick more than 30 years ago.

“He watched the show and he said to me, ‘This is a very sophisticated group that you’re playing in.’ I’d never heard anybody describe music like that to me before,” he said. “We kind of knew we had something really good going.”

Glatt would later run Bass Clef Entertainment, bringing some of the world’s biggest names — the Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Bachman-Turner Overdrive — to Ottawa stages.

Building a radio powerhouse

His contributions to the Ottawa music scene did not stop there. In 1977, Glatt helped launch CHEZ 106, a radio station that quickly carved out space for emerging Canadian talent.

For broadcaster Ken Rockburn, who spent years at CHEZ, Glatt’s influence was life-changing.

“I’ve known him for over 50 years and he essentially is responsible for my career,” Rockburn said.

“If it wasn’t for him hiring me there, I wouldn’t have had the career that I had. And more importantly, I wouldn’t have met the woman who became my wife … and the mother of my children. So, you know, I owe him a lot.”

Rockburn said Glatt’s generosity extended well beyond the studio. After selling his stations to Rogers in 1999, Glatt quietly set aside money to help employees he worried might struggle to find work.

“That was the sort of thing he did and that’s the kind of guy he was,” Rockburn said.

In a social media post Wednesday, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe recalled the time Glatt helped him get his first full-time radio job at CHEZ, calling him “a legendary figure in the music and broadcasting communities in our city.”

Remembered for his kindness

Glatt gave generously to arts and social service organizations across the city.

He was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2007, received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013 and was named to the Order of Ottawa in 2022.

He also served on the boards of the Canadian Film Institute, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival and FACTOR, which funds Canadian recording artists.

“Everyone remembers Harvey as a good and kind man,” Tony D said. “He was a big deal, but nobody felt intimidated around him. He worked with superstars and with locals and he was easy to approach. He was a quiet man, but he got things done.”

Tony D credits Glatt’s support with helping shape Ottawa into a place where music could thrive.

“Ottawa was like a hotbed of music for a long time,” he said. “And it’s because of people like Harvey who would promote and help musicians and push the music.”

Glatt’s funeral has been scheduled for Friday. For many in Ottawa’s arts community, it will be a chance to say goodbye to a quiet force who made the city a stage.