Music and memories fill Little Burgundy church for Oliver Jones’s final farewell

Aatefeh Padidar · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 20, 2026 5:48 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 20

By the time the service for Oliver Jones began Thursday afternoon, Union United Church in Montreal's Little Burgundy neighbourhood was overflowing.

Among the hundreds who had come to say goodbye to the Canadian music icon were people who knew him for decades. Others had been touched by his music, his mentorship or his work in the community. Many simply wanted to be there.

For Holly Davis, the service was a deeply emotional way to honour someone who had been part of the church and the community for most of his life.

“He was incredibly humble, kind man and we’ll miss him,” Davis said.

WATCH | Montrealers say final goodbye to Oliver Jones:

Inside the 119-year-old Black church, people dressed for the occasion filled the pews. Outside, more mourners arrived, gathering around a place that had been part of the jazz pianist's life since childhood, being just steps from the home he grew up in.

The service included prayers, speeches and musical tributes, with a combined choir from Union United Church and the People’s Gospel Choir singing in his honour. A jazz trio also played, bringing Jones’s music back into the church where he played his first concert at five years old.

Jones died July 22 at the age of 91.

An 'integral member' of church and community

Jones donated a piano to Union United Church, and its reception hall bears his name. But for Davis, who sang with the combined choir on Thursday, those contributions only tell part of the story.

“He was such an integral member of the church and just the community,” she said.

Davis said she and her husband had seen Jones shortly before his death. Even though he was ailing, she remembered him as being full of energy and eager to be around people.

“He loved seeing people and being close to people,” she said.

That connection was evident in the crowd Thursday.

Alicia Reid, an artist who came to pay her respects, said Jones’s legacy went well beyond his accomplishments as a pianist.

“He didn’t just open windows for himself, but he opened windows for everyone as a community,” Reid said.

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She said Jones’s love for young people and his generosity inspired her own ambitions to help youth through music.

For others, simply hearing Jones play had become part of the soundtrack of growing up in Little Burgundy.

Michael Farkas, who has worked in Little Burgundy for years, described Thursday’s atmosphere as peaceful, sincere and reflective of Jones’s personality.

“He was a peaceful and gentle soul,” he said. “A virtuoso on the piano, world-renowned pianist from Little Burgundy.”

But Farkas said Jones’s greatest legacy may have little to do with his fame.

“He was a great man, the way human beings can be,” he said. “These are things that the world needs very much now.”

A legacy beyond the piano

Jones’s influence extended well beyond Little Burgundy. He became a fixture of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, performing there for decades and mentoring younger musicians along the way.

Festival founder and producer Alain Simard remembered Jones as an extraordinary talent who seemed almost unaware of the scale of his own abilities.

“He was always pushing for all the young musicians,” Simard said, describing Jones as generous and without pretension.

Jones received numerous honours during his career, including JUNO Awards and honorary doctorates, and was appointed to the orders of Montreal, Quebec and Canada.

Yet on Thursday, the focus was less on those accolades and more on the man people remembered: the neighbour, mentor, church member, musician and friend.

Arnett Morgan, who came to the service because of his love for Jones’s music, said he had travelled back to Montreal from out of town to pay his final respects.

“I hope his music will go on forever,” Morgan said.