Justin Hayford
Justin Hayford is a Chicago-based singer and pianist. He performs jazz and cabaret music and specializes in reviving obscure and forgotten songs from the past. Justin writes and presents cabaret shows at various venues in Chicago, and has released a number of albums.
He also worked as Case Manager of the Legal Council for Health Justice from 1991 through at least 2017, and wrote theater reviews for the Chicago Reader newspaper from 1987 until 2019.
Music
Justin has recorded at least four albums for Lee Lessack's LML Music label, which was dedicated to cabaret, jazz and Broadway music. All four albums are collections of little-known old songs.- A Rare Find: Forgotten Gems from the American Popular Songbook. Released 2001. After performing for three years at various Chicago venues, Justin decided to put together some of his favorite songs, and so his debut album appeared. It contains songs mostly from the 1930s and 1940s by famous songwriters such as Harold Arlen, Frank Loesser, Burke and Van Heusen, Comden and Green, Steve Allen, Hugh Martin, Joseph Meyer.
- Look Who's Been Dreaming: Neglected Treasures from Hollywood's Golden Age. Released 2004. This album is a collection of songs from old Hollywood movies: "Please Pardon Us, We’re in Love", "Us on a Bus", "Baby Mine", "Look Who's Been Dreaming", "Never Swat a Fly".
- It All Belongs to You: Unsung Cole Porter. Released 2007. This album comprises songs by the renowned American composer and songwriter Cole Porter.
- Here I'll Stay. Released 2012, via Bandcamp.