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Written by Michael Muckian, Contributing writer
Apr 21, 2011
Justin Hayford comes to Madison with “It All Belongs to You: Unsung Cole Porter” on May 7 and “Songs Your Mother Should Have Taught You” on May 8. Both shows are at the Capitol Theater inside Madison’s Overture Center for the Arts. The May 7 date is sold out, but tickets are available for both the 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. May 8 performances. Go to www.overturecenter.com. – Photo: Courtesy
If there is such a thing as an archeology of music, its primary researcher must be Chicago cabaret musician Justin Hayford. The out singer/pianist will unearth his latest findings over Mother’s Day weekend during twin concerts at the Capitol Theater inside Madison’s Overture Center for the Arts.
Hayford, 41, specializes in the Great American Songbook, loosely described as covering works from the 1930s and ’40s. On May 7, Hayford will perform “It All Belongs to You: Unsung Cole Porter,” featuring rare gems from the archives of the man who many feel was America’s greatest songwriter. On May 8 – Mother’s Day – Hayford will entertain audiences with “Songs Your Mother Should Have Taught You,” a new program of obscure numbers that offer advice on topics from health to finances to sleeping habits.
Both cabaret-style concerts take place on the Capitol Theater stage and include a meal catered by Fresco, the Food Fight Inc. restaurant that sits atop the Overture Center. Featuring items such a pear Gorgonzola tarts, Champagne-poached prawns, beef tournedos and strawberry shortcake, Fresco’s menu is as appetizing and fulfilling as Hayford’s unfamiliar, but soon-to-be memorable repertoire.
“My interest in obscure songs began at the same time I developed an interest in singing in my late 20s,” says Hayford, who was born in Rochester, N.Y., and comes from a musical family. “I went to cabaret shows to see what everyone else was singing, and it was all the same songs. Since I wasn’t very confident in my ability to sing or play or – horror of horrors – do both at the same time, I needed some other ‘hook’ to make myself stand out.”
Hayford’s research found him combing various archives for forgotten songs, including the works of popular tunesmiths such as Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and Dorothy Fields. Over time, Hayford uncovered a wealth of materials, including some exceptional works that rarely see the light of day. Why some songs survive and some don’t can be a mystery.
“Sometimes the answer is obvious,” Hayford says. “Hugh Martin’s ‘I’m Not So Bright’ was written for ‘Look Ma, I’m Dancing,’ a 1948 musical that bombed. And when a show bombs, the score tends to disappear.”
Such was not the case, Hayford says, with Porter’s “You Irritate Me So,” from the musical “Let’s Face It.” The 1942 show was a hit, and yet that song, along with a host of others, disappeared. They lay waiting for years to be unearthed by enterprising entertainers like Hayford who, to paraphrase Porter, are looking to make all songs old new again.
“I’d say I have found the most obscure stuff among Cole Porter’s and Irving Berlin’s catalogues, largely because those two guys were incredibly prolific,” Hayford says. “But I also have an enormous soft spot for Rogers and Hart, in large part because Lorenz Hart wrote extraordinarily powerful lyrics when he really set his mind to it.”
In addition to his musical career, Hayford works as a legal advocate with the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago. The musician represents PWAs both from a legal and advocacy perspective, acting on behalf of those too sick, scared or uninformed to handle their own challenges.
“I started working with the agency in 1991 because it was clear to me that one of the most important arenas in which to work towards social justice was the AIDS epidemic,” Hayford says. “And that remains true today.”
Hayford’s AIDS advocacy career parallels the rise in his musical career, and the two successfully co-exist. Both started as departures for the musician-activist, who once studied astrophysics at Northwestern University.
“Heck, I enjoy everything about my musical work,” Hayford says. “I enjoy digging around to find songs. I enjoy practicing them for hours and hours. And I enjoy finally performing them for audiences.”
Hayford also enjoys finding and promoting the works of obscure artists, such as Matt Dennis, a singer, big band leader, pianist, vocal coach and songwriter during the 1940s. Dennis used his less-than-strong voice to great effect, Hayford says, and his hits “Angel Eyes” and “Will You Still Be Mine” have become jazz standards.
“The first time I heard Matt Dennis, I was instantly struck by the ease with which he sang,” Hayford says. “He seemed to be tossing everything off, yet knowing exactly how to make everything land. I’ve done my best to steal everything he’s got.”
