The last time I saw Paul Dutton we were standing on Bloor and he was excited about my PhD addressing an improviser who wasn’t good. He had great magic improvising powers himself. He wanted me to read a French writer from the 1950s and we talked about Gail Geltner the awesome Toronto artist he tried to date in the 1960s, unsuccessfully. I wondered when I heard he died who would go through his stuff? I was at his apartment once twenty-five years ago. A dense jungle. I do not think he had children, I believe he was alone.

I made a film of one of his songs. It’s an amazing funny sequence of people imitating drum sounds until he walks onto screen looking curmudgeonly and then says/ imitates “snare kik tom” Steve Gadd would not be any more impressive with the sounds that follow. I got the idea after watching him perform at the Textile Museum. Blew me away. Stunning. I am not sure he understood how much pleasure audiences got from the film, I told him a few times but he returned my look with a combo in his eyes of curiosity and confusion. I’ll show it in future performances, you’ll blow them away many more times old friend, and they’ll wonder where you came from and how you acquired your magic powers.