Recording: The Woodshed Orchestra & friends

Artist: The Woodshed Orchestra & friends

Songs: Penny and Mousie's Antidotal Lullaby + You Ain't Gonna Know Me ('Cause You Think You Know Me) [composer: Mongezi Feza]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

The Woodshed Orchestra & friends - Penny and Mousie's Antidotal Lullaby

The Woodshed Orchestra & friends - You Ain't Gonna Know Me ('Cause You Think You Know Me)

Taken shockingly suddenly and entirely too soon, Ken Aldcroft's passing left a heavy mark on many groups: family, friends, neighbours, students as well as musical collaborators and appreciators. All of these were gathered together to share their sorrow and find some joy through fellowship and music in an evening of remembrances and sounds at The Tranzac, where Aldcroft had played so often. The night closed out with these two big hugs under the directorship of Dave Clark. First his lullaby was presented as a giant sing-along, a chance to raise voices together with its cathartic sendoff: "Bye bye! So long! Wherever you are / you'll be loved from afar / so good night". Then it was all-instruments-on-deck with sixteen (or maybe more, as I lost count) on stage for the night's final soul-blast, playing one of those songs that once heard sticks in your head like a melody you've been humming your whole life — and also a remembrance of another musician who was lost too young. As dark as it may feel, the atoms never stop moving and the sounds never stop vibrating.

Recording: Saumer-Denison-Ng

Artist: Heather Saumer/Emily Denison/Karen Ng

Song: The General [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

Heather Saumer/Emily Denison/Karen Ng - The General [excerpt]

Taken shockingly suddenly and entirely too soon, Ken Aldcroft's passing left a heavy mark on many groups: family, friends, neighbours, students as well as musical collaborators and appreciators. All of these were gathered together to share their sorrow and find some joy through fellowship and music in an evening of remembrances and sounds at The Tranzac, where Aldcroft had played so often. Creating scores for Buster Keaton films was one of Aldcroft's many musical sidelines, and his pieces had been explored by a range of ensembles for quite a few years now. This night saw a wind trio give accompaniment to a few scenes from The General — and you can hear the crowd reacting to a couple of the pratfalls in the background here.

Recording: Drum Thunder

Artist: Drum Thunder

Song: The Tree

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

Drum Thunder - The Tree

Taken shockingly suddenly and entirely too soon, Ken Aldcroft's passing left a heavy mark on many groups: family, friends, neighbours, students as well as musical collaborators and appreciators. All of these were gathered together to share their sorrow and find some joy through fellowship and music in an evening of remembrances and sounds at The Tranzac, where Aldcroft had played so often. By request of Maria Aldcroft, this ad hoc percussion ensemble sent out some vibrations, including this gorgeous drone piece by Germaine Liu tracing time's concentric rings on cymbals.

Recording: Ken Aldcroft's Convergence Ensemble

Artist: Ken Aldcroft's Convergence Ensemble

Song: From the Hart-Land

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

Ken Aldcroft's Convergence Ensemble - From the Hart-Land

Taken shockingly suddenly and entirely too soon, Ken Aldcroft's passing left a heavy mark on many groups: family, friends, neighbours, students as well as musical collaborators and appreciators. All of these were gathered together to share their sorrow and find some joy through fellowship and music in an evening of remembrances and sounds at The Tranzac, where Aldcroft had played so often. Like a SWAT-team leader, Aldcroft would guide his team of experts with eye contact and a series of hand gestures as his knotty compositions would unfold into space for improvisation. His guitar work and direction were missed here as the sextet — mixing Convergence members old and new on this night — looked for a path through a couple pieces in Aldcroft's absence.

Image collaged from photographs taken by Matthew Fava.

Recording: Nick Power

Artist: Nick Power

Poem: Acoustic

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

Nick Power - Acoustic

Taken shockingly suddenly and entirely too soon, Ken Aldcroft's passing left a heavy mark on many groups: family, friends, neighbours, students as well as musical collaborators and appreciators. All of these were gathered together to share their sorrow and find some joy through fellowship and music in an evening of remembrances and sounds at The Tranzac, where Aldcroft had played so often. Inspired by a performance by with Germaine Liu and Jim Sexton in the Leftover Daylight series at Somewhere There back in 2010, this poem captures the magical interplay of improvised music.

Photo by Matthew Fava.

Recording: Thom Gill

Artist: Thom Gill

Poem: Ragweed Gestalt (For Ken)

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

Thom Gill - Ragweed Gestalt (For Ken)

Taken shockingly suddenly and entirely too soon, Ken Aldcroft's passing left a heavy mark on many groups: family, friends, neighbours, students as well as musical collaborators and appreciators. All of these were gathered together to share their sorrow and find some joy through fellowship and music in an evening of remembrances and sounds at The Tranzac, where Aldcroft had played so often. Pulling a beer from the fridge at the old Somewhere There, Thom Gill offered this snapshot of the moment's heavy realizations.

Photo by Matthew Fava.

Recording: Colin Fisher and Mike Gennaro

Artist: Colin Fisher and Mike Gennaro - [improvisation]

Song: [improvisation]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

Colin Fisher and Mike Gennaro - [improvisation]

Taken shockingly suddenly and entirely too soon, Ken Aldcroft's passing left a heavy mark on many groups: family, friends, neighbours, students as well as musical collaborators and appreciators. All of these were gathered together to share their sorrow and find some joy through fellowship and music in an evening of remembrances and sounds at The Tranzac, where Aldcroft had played so often. After some fellowship over food from the heavily-laden potluck and the first of many reminiscences from the stage came this pairing, driven by drummer Mike Gennaro — a frequent duo partner with Aldcroft — and saxophonist Colin Fisher, bringing to mind in a short ascension blast the music the three had made together.

Image collaged from photographs taken by Matthew Fava.

Recording: The Woodshed Brass Band

Artist: The Woodshed Brass Band

Songs: Love Letter To New Orleans + Basic Count [composer: Dave Clark]^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

The Woodshed Brass Band - Love Letter To New Orleans

The Woodshed Brass Band - Basic Count

Taken shockingly suddenly and entirely too soon, Ken Aldcroft's passing left a heavy mark on many groups: family, friends, neighbours, students as well as musical collaborators and appreciators. All of these were gathered together to share their sorrow and find some joy through fellowship and music in an evening of remembrances and sounds at The Tranzac, where Aldcroft had played so often. The evening started with a New Orleans style second line parade, a band marching slowly down Brunswick Street, back up the alley and around on the Bloor Street sidewalk before looping back to its starting point. It was truly a beautiful and transcendent thing. The recording here's a bit rough in spots as I struggled to keep pace with the band, but I think it expresses the procession's ragged joyfulness.

^* Thanks to Dave Clark for passing along the titles to these!

Photos and additional field recording by Matthew Fava.