Recording: O'Reilly/Downing/Fraser

Artist: Patrick O'Reilly/Andrew Downing/Nick Fraser

Songs: Paths #1 + Shattered [composer: Patrick O'Reilly]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ornate Presents), June 21, 2022.

Patrick O'Reilly/Andrew Downing/Nick Fraser - Paths #1

Patrick O'Reilly/Andrew Downing/Nick Fraser - Shattered

A special night at The Tranzac, celebrating the release of The Remembrancer, which bears the descriptive subtitle of Justin Haynes Plays the Compositions of Patrick O'Reilly. One of the last projects Justin Haynes was working on before his untimely passing in 2019, moving this to release has been a labour of love for O'Reilly and his W/DRWN label.

To celebrate the release, the concept was turned on its head with O'Reilly being joined by Andrew Downing and Nick Fraser to tackle some of the same pieces played on the album, as well as a few of Haynes' own compositions. The sounds ranged from contemplative to "fast and dumb", and I was amused at how in the latter piece here, the pretty, careful progression was jarred loose by Fraser's sudden percussive clatter — provocative disruption being one tool in Haynes' musical arsenal.

You can also watch the musicians in action, and hear them playing a couple of Justin's pieces over on youtube:

Recording: The Lady and The Tramp

Artist: The Lady and The Tramp

Songs: Down by the Riverside + Medley: Tea for Two/Fly Me to The Moon/Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)/I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Furniture Music), May 28, 2019.

The Lady and The Tramp - Down by the Riverside

The Lady and The Tramp - Medley: Tea for Two/Fly Me to The Moon/Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)/I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face

This group, with Christine Duncan singing and a rhythm section of Jake Oelrichs and Alex Fournier, was originally put together and booked for this show by Justin Haynes; after his passing, the musicians decided to honour his artistic intention by going ahead with it, drafting in Jim Lewis to complete the group. As is perhaps a good way to proceed in the face of sad thoughts, the band played with fiercely-absurd joy. Taking a decidedly non-standard approach to some standards, Duncan would lurch into a song, the group catching the vibe and clattering and moaning behind her — an improvised hit parade filled with detours and asides.

This was also an appropriate night to formally unveil a commemorative plaque and painting on the piano that Justin Haynes donated to the space. Kudos to Ashley Urquhart and Alex Fournier for doing the legwork to make this happen — hopefully Justin's spirit will be remembered by all who get to play this piano.

[Furniture Music will be back in the basement at Wenona on Tuesday, August 27th.]

Recording: Jean Martin

Artist: Jean Martin

Piece: Justin's letter to a promoter

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Service for Justin Haynes), April 19, 2019.

Jean Martin - Justin's letter to a promoter

Some things are hard. In the aftermath of a sudden loss, family, friends and collaborators joined together to celebrate the life and music of Justin Haynes. Famously banned from The Tranzac, the sad smiles at the fact of his return were indicative of the vibe: shock and sadness with a grimly-funny streak. Hopefully being together helped some people move forward in processing this tragedy, and hopefully Justin's music and spirit will be remembered and celebrated. Over the course of the afternoon and evening, many of his fellow-travelers paid tribute by revisiting Justin's material or offering some new tributes. Here's a few of the sounds from the day.

In sharing stories and memories, all of the day's speakers brought Justin's personality to fill the room, but near the event's end, Jean Martin brought perhaps the most cathartically transgressive burst of pure joy. Although Martin was reading this, anyone who knew him could hear Haynes' voice in every line in this gig-securing missive – sly, backhandedly-revealing, pushing a joke too far and then pausing before kicking it onward down the field.

Recording: Haynes/Ng/Whitty/Heraclitus Akimbo

Artist: Justin Haynes/Karen Ng/Lowell Whitty/Heraclitus Akimbo

Songs: Bluehawk + Green Chimneys [composer: Thelonious Monk]

Recorded at The Emmet Ray (Monk's Music), May 13, 2018.

Justin Haynes/Karen Ng/Lowell Whitty/Heraclitus Akimbo - Bluehawk

Justin Haynes/Karen Ng/Lowell Whitty/Heraclitus Akimbo - Green Chimneys

When Justin Haynes was given responsibility for an instalment of the Sunday afternoon Monk's Music series at The Emmet Ray, he assembled a crack team of musicians — well, a crack team and one ringer. Thus Haynes (on guitar) was joined by Karen Ng (clarinet) and Lowell Whitty (drums) as well the non-jazz-certified knob-twistings of Heraclitus Akimbo (seen squinting intently at the lead sheets, perhaps trying to put the "fake" in "fakebook"). It is possible that his presence didn't unduly spoil the fun of two sets of Monk's tunes, which seem to be flexible enough to withstand drone intros, dub keyb stabs, etc. Of course, with musicians like the others on hand, it would be tough for things to go entirely sideways.

[Justin Haynes will be melding together an even larger group of disparate musicians when the Maximum Effort Ensemble plays Terry Riley's "In C" at La Rev on Friday, June 27th. The impressive group is slated to include Josh Cole, Michael Davidson, Alisdair Jones, Tania Gill, Thom Gill, Julia Hambleton, Owen Heathcoate-Fraser, Dafydd Hughes, Jeff LaRochelle, Kayla Milmine, Phil Melanson, Indira Nanavati, Diane Roblin, Luan Phung, Jeff Burke, Heraclitus Akimbo, Blake Howard, Mary-Margaret O'Hara, Heather Saumer, Doug Tielli, Patrick O'Reilly, Tom Walsh, Nick Zubeck, Arie Verheul-van de Ven, Chris Gartner and others.]

Recording: Brian Ruryk & Justin Haynes

Artist: Brian Ruryk & Justin Haynes

Song: [second piece]

Recorded at Belljar Café (Track Could Bend #36), March 6, 2018.

Brian Ruryk & Justin Haynes - [second piece]

Envisioned as something of a bracing volumeblast, this instead had some intriguingly mellow moments, as two guitarists with plenty o' shred in their arsenals pulled their feet off the accelerator to find an unexpected meeting place.

[Track Could Bend returns on Tuesday (May 1st) in a special "studio" edition featuring Jen Wardle & John Mark Sherlock, David Sait and Hank Powell (a.k.a. Karen Ng + D. Alex Meeks).]

Recording: Haynes-Oswald-Mazinani

Artist: Justin Haynes/John Oswald/Mani Mazinani

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at Belljar Café (Track Could Bend #33), December 5, 2017.

Justin Haynes/John Oswald/Mani Mazinani - [excerpt from first piece]

After an anticipated duo set with Brian Ruryk had to be postponed (look for it in March!) Justin Haynes made some lemonade by putting together this noteworthy trio. With John Oswald's sax and Mani Mazinani's Octave Cat synth, Haynes (with keys and guitar on hand) took things on an unexpected post-apocalyptic trip to Funkytown, throwing some janky beats on a cassette into the mix and cranking up the volume for a mutoid dance party.

[Track Could Bend is back at The Belljar on Tuesday (January 2nd) in an especially-tantalizing night mixing Bachelard's modular synths, LUKA's poetic examinations and tendencyitis' no-input mixer feedback sounds. What a superb way to start your concert-going year for 2018!]

Recording: Haynes-Howard-Torrie-Fortin

Artist: Justin Haynes/Blake Howard/Sara Torrie/Dan Fortin

Songs: [first piece] + [second piece, edited]

Recorded at Belljar Café, September 29, 2017.

Justin Haynes/Blake Howard/Sara Torrie/Dan Fortin - [first piece]

Justin Haynes/Blake Howard/Sara Torrie/Dan Fortin - [second piece, edited]

Justin Haynes put together this night of experimental sounds and also played guitar in this set of "New Age No Wave monochromatic meanderings" alongside Sara Torrie on synth, Dan Fortin on double bass and Blake Howard on percussion. There was some tasteful drift, occasionally nudged along by some less-gentle outbursts.

Recording: Organballoon

Artist: Organballoon

Song: [first piece]

Recorded at Dundas Video (Track Could Bend #23), February 7, 2017.

Organballoon - [first piece]

This longstanding but intermittently-performing project from Justin Haynes and Ryan Driver is exactly what its name promises — the former on organ, the latter squeak-singing on balloons. On the surface it's a little goofy (and visually, even more so when Haynes doubles up on melodica), but in execution it's a strange kind of sacred music, finding the elevation in giving up on the sublime and giving the ridiculous a try.

[Track Could Bend is back on Tuesday (March 7th) with a fab lineup including Christine Bougie, Someone's Memory and act tbh. Remember that we'll be at our new location, The Steady Café, on the south side of Bloor at Havelock, just a short stroll from Dufferin subway!]

Recording: Best Man

Artist: Best Man

Song: Everything Must Spin [Ryan Driver cover]

Recorded at The Emmet Ray, December 12, 2016.

Best Man - Everything Must Spin

This duo of Felicity Williams (vox) and Justin Haynes (guit, synth) was joined by Ryan Driver on synth — and essayed this Who's Breathing? number, alongside a few standards and a taste of Williams' Al Purdy songs. Very lovely stuff, sometimes with the tunes stretching out and abstracting themselves.

Recording: Glamour Nails

Artist: Glamour Nails

Song: [first piece]

Recorded at Dundas Video (Track Could Bend #14), May 3, 2016.

Glamour Nails - [first piece]

I'd given Lina Allemano an open invitation to bring any of her many projects to TCB, but I was especially pleased when she chose to debut this noisy new collaboration with Justin Haynes. Based around abrasive electroacoustic textures, this featured some new mutes in Allemano's unique collection (including a large cookie tin) as well as a toy radio to add a layer of plastic-y distortion. Haynes brought lo-fi laptop beats and some no wave guitar feedback to complete the junkyard groove.

[Track Could Bend #15 will be at Dundas Video on Tuesday, June 7th. Full announcement coming in a couple days, but you should start getting excited now.]

Recording: The Nick Fraser Sextet

Artist: The Nick Fraser Sextet

Songs: two unknown songs^*

Recorded at The Great Hall's BLK BOX (Long Winter 4.4), February 19, 2016.

The Nick Fraser Sextet - [two unknown songs]

Sooo... this one was a little odd along a few different axes. Sonically, it would have gone over better in an earlier timeslot in a quieter room — it's off-kilter-ness would have worked fine up in Studio 3 — but I assume it ended up in the basement for the set's theatrical element. That conceit saw Nick Fraser, the unit's titular leader, dancing nude behind a sheet, creating silhouette-sculptures meant to be juxtaposed with the themes in the Russian folk and prison songs being performed, offering an art-comment on Russia's state-sanctioned homophobia and intolerance. With Fraser behind the sheet, a casual observer might have assumed that Justin Haynes was the unit's frontman, as he took it upon himself to try and negotiate with the crowd to quieten down enough for the musicians to perform — a task which caused him some visible strain. His fellow musicians — including Christine Duncan on theremin, Ken Aldcroft on guitar, Jason Benoit on banjo and Ryan Driver on drums (!) — took it all in stride, and they did manage to get through a few numbers while Fraser danced behind them. Kinda a mismatch of concept, execution and situation, but it did manage to offer the frisson of the unexpected at which Long Winter excels.

[This season's Long Winter will conclude over two nights at The Great Hall on March 18th and 19th, 2016.]

^* Does anyone know the titles to these? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Organballoon

Artist: Organballoon

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at Ratio, October 28, 2015.

Organballoon - [excerpt from first piece]

This longstanding, if infrequently performing, pairing between Justin Haynes and Ryan Driver plays "improvised spirituals for the majestic and the humble alike" and offers no more or less than its name. With Haynes on organ and Driver toot-blurting with a stretched balloon membrane, the music emerges like some manner of slightly-bent dirge. The squawky, almost kazoo-like like vocalisations emerge in Diver's falsetto range but distorted and muffled with a certain ornate ludicrousness.

Recording: Mermaids

Artist: Mermaids

Songs: Trimdon Grange [composer: Tommy Armstrong] + The Humpback Whale [composer: Harry Robertson]

Recorded at Ratio, August 6, 2015.

Mermaids - Trimdon Grange

Mermaids - The Humpback Whale

No mere folk-revival revivalists, Mermaids surrounds Janet Macpherson's wonderful vocals with layers of drone, warble, and distortion. Experimental folk theorist Martin Arnold's hand is apparent in the arrangements, mixing his banjo with the contrasting guitar styles of Justin Haynes and Stephen Parkinson as well as Ryan Driver's analogue synth burbles. In the mining disaster ballad "Trimdon Grange", the chunka-chunka of the guitars at the outset make the song sound like a rough-hewn second cousin to "Long Black Veil" — but by the time Driver's dissociating synth-wooze joins in it sounds more like an invasion of Daleks in ancient time floating upon England's mountains green. Word is that the band is taking a bit of a break for the next while, but keep an ear out for whisperings of a return.

Recording: Driver/Haynes/Davidson

Artist: Ryan Driver/Justin Haynes/Michael Davidson

Song: First Improvization for Bass Piano [excerpt]

Recorded at Creatures Creating Gallery (Wavelength 583: The Bass Piano), December 1, 2013.

Ryan Driver/Justin Haynes/Michael Davidson - First Improvization for Bass Piano [excerpt]

Full review to follow. Tuning an entire piano down an octave (a process that I learned some more about here) does some cool things, with the slackened tension causing all sort of buzzing overtones and bell-like sounds. Ryan Driver began the night on the Bass Piano in a set joined by Haynes on celeste and Davidson on vibraphone — the former complementing the tinkling bell-like qualities and the later the sustaining notes.