by Dan Lalande
Sojourn at Sacha’s is an original composition by John Haysom. It’s a lightly swinging number, whose simple “head” is the perfect excuse for Haysom and other members of the cheekily named Glebop Trio to stretch out. Over Cory Parson’s discriminating bass, you’ll hear Haysom’s floating flugelhorn, followed by pianist Bert Waslander’s tasteful tinkling. On select nights, they’re joined by the cream of the local jazz crop, from seasoned sax players turning up the heat to brassy vocalists crooning in idiosyncratic keys.
Sojourn, commemorating the 83-year-old, Toronto-born Haysom’s first gig in Ottawa at the long defunct Sacha’s lounge in The Four Seasons Hotel, is representative of the venerable ensemble’s signature approach. They play with spirited intimacy, whether they’re in a church hall, at an outdoor venue, or fulfilling their regular gig on the first Wednesday of every month at The Glebe Central Pub. For sixteen years before that, they were the house band at The Arrow and the Loon, another neighbourhood crossroads. Come summer, they make it a habit to play al fresco, setting feet shuffling across patios and front lawns while the band passes the hat for the local food bank. As proof of their loyal following, the trio regularly raises over $4,000 each year.
The versatile Haysom, who also plays trumpet, valve trombone, and mellophone, has been making music since the fateful day his paternal grandfather awarded him the leaky cornet Haysom’s father had played growing up. Today, that family heirloom, thanks to Haysom’s interest in woodworking, has been refashioned into a lamp. It’s the one by which Haysom crafts the arrangements for his current trio. In another room of his Second Avenue home (where else would the frontman for a band that plays “Glebop” reside?), you’ll find the charts he prepares for those aforementioned singers. “I’m often asked which are crazier: the keys or the singers,” Haysom jokes.
One of those singers is Helen Glover, an attractive New Zealander Haysom refers to as “the singing kiwi.” As one, Glover and the trio treat audiences to a tasteful, buoyant mélange of standards and originals, with solos rooted in (naturally) bebop.
“Let me tell you about my latest composition,” the dapper Haysom, inspired by the sight of his freshly served bruschetta at the busy Canal Ritz, begins. “It’s called White Bread. One of my many interests”—which also include motorsports—“is curling. I never watch it in real time because you see the same commercials over and over again. One day, though, I was forced to. They played this ad for white bread till the music got stuck in my head. The only way I could get it out was to extend it into a song.”
Inspiration, it ends up, is even crazier than singers—or the trumpet, which Haysom calls “almost as difficult as my border collie,” the much-loved if semi-obeisant Misty. “If you don’t play the trumpet for one day, you can feel it. If you don’t play it for two days, the band can feel it. If you don’t play it for three days, everybody can feel it!”
Fortunately for Haysom, there’s almost always a place to play. Aside from the trio, he’s the second trumpet (i.e. lead improviser) for the SRO Big Band, which plays wartime dance music in the heart of Almonte. While a devout bebopper, Haysom grew up at the height of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and other kings of swing. He became a musical hobbyist, though, after he discovered just how much a working musician earns. As Haysom puts it, “Jazz doesn’t come with a pension.” But engineering does, which is what consumed his professional hours. He worked for Stelco in Hamilton, then Campeau in Ottawa. In his off time, though, he jammed with Ottawa’s jazz fraternity, often under the aegis of DJ- promoter Jacques Emond.
Haysom’s a kind of Emond himself these days, scoring and marketing additional gigs for the group wherever he can. When The Glebop Trio played the Tulip Fest last year, over 300 people attended.
“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to play the trumpet,” Haysom confesses. “Fortunately, there’s the trombone. It’s easier on my aging lips. Unfortunately, it’s not so easy on my aging diaphragm.”
It’s easy on the ears, though, like the band in which he plays it. Catch these masters of bop while they’re still bopping along.
