Montreal will say goodbye to one of its most celebrated musicians this week, as a public funeral for jazz pianist Oliver Jones takes place Thursday at Union United Church in Little Burgundy \u2014 the very neighbourhood that shaped him, and the very church where he first touched a piano at age five.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jones died on July 22 at age 91, leaving behind a legacy that stretches across more than seven decades of performance and an enduring connection to the community that produced him. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Union United Church is not simply a venue; it is a living institution within Montreal’s Black community, and its role in Jones’s story \u2014 from childhood pianist to celebrated elder \u2014 gives Thursday’s service a weight that goes beyond ceremony.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jones never severed his roots despite international acclaim, and that loyalty ran both ways. The city’s decision to open City Hall for a public viewing underscores the civic significance of his passing \u2014 a recognition that his contribution belongs not only to the jazz world, but to Montreal’s broader cultural inheritance.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Montreal will say goodbye to one of its most celebrated musicians this week, as a public funeral for jazz pianist Oliver Jones takes place Thursday at Union United Church in Little Burgundy \u2014 the very neighbourhood that shaped him, and the very church where he first touched a piano at age five. Jones died on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n