Recording: Barnyard Drama

Artist: Barnyard Drama

Song: Improvisation for Justin + We'll Be Okay

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

Barnyard Drama - Improvisation for Justin + We'll Be Okay [composer: Justin Haynes]

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.

Starting with Christine Duncan's voice and Jean Martin's percussion, this farewell grew to encompass most of the day's performers as it slowly transformed into Haynes' hymn to hard-won okayness, serving as a benediction to close out the event.

Recording: Myk Freedman and Friends

Artist: Myk Freedman and Friends

Song: Justin Haynes

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

Myk Freedman and Friends - Justin Haynes

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.

Among the many projects Jean Martin and Ryan Driver shared with Justin Haynes, they recorded a couple albums and toured as Freedman, playing Myk Freedman's compositions. In return, a couple years later in 2012, Freedman wrote this piece in tribute. The performance notes for this piece are "driving, inspiring, intense", encapsulating Haynes' spirit. Joined by Karen Ng, Mike Overton and Jake Oelrichs, they put those instructions into action in a joyous blast.

Recording: Saint Dirt Elementary School

Artist: Saint Dirt Elementary School

Songs: Seven Minutes in Heaven + What Are You Thinking When You're Kissing

Recorded at The Music Gallery, April 29, 2016.

Saint Dirt Elementary School - Seven Minutes in Heaven

Saint Dirt Elementary School - What Are You Thinking When You're Kissing

In a talk before the show, composer/founder Myk Freedman told the story of how the band originally came into its Tranzac residency by taking over the "ragtime" night — and the logic behind that leap is as easy to understand as is the fact that the old-guard crowd on hand didn't think they were proper at all. But the notion of a modern-day ragtime band, with a conception of improvisation based on group interaction more than backline-plus-soloists gets to the heart of what they are doing.

Saint Dirt Elementary School's Tranzac-fuelled heyday was before I was paying close attention to such things and I mostly knew it as a previous way-station for several musicians I'd more familiar with in subsequent projects. But despite the fact that Freedman moved from T.O. to NYC more than a decade ago, the band has remained an occasionally-ongoing concern, regrouping during Freedman's summer visits home and on special occasions such as this fifteenth-anniversary celebration. Pulling tunes from his songbooks, the band played a set focused on its older material, including these two tunes from what was a sort of "kissing" suite.