On Thursday bassist Ben Hazleton was joined at Bridgeside Lodge by guitarist Nicolas Meier who was making his Spitz debut. Nicolas has carved a reputation out as one of the world’s most original and uniquely talented guitarists. Drawing on a love of Turkish, Eastern & Middle Eastern music, Flamenco, Tango and more – all mixed with jazz. He has shared stages with musical royalty such as Jeff Beck and Steve Vai and those talents were on show today at Bridgeside Lodge as we were treated to a beautiful session of instrumental guitar music.

We had jazz standards (Fly Me To The Moon, Mona Lisa and Satin Doll) rock and pop (Beatles favourites and Sting’s Every Breath You Take). We had music from the movies (Nino Rota’s Theme From The Godfather) as well as blues for Bridgeside resident JC and some perhaps less well-known rumbas and bossa nova. As the repertoire changed, Nicolas announced “now we are off to Sicily” “now we go to Hungary” “to Brazil” It was a whistle-stop tour of world music with a calming familiarity and sonorous tones from Nicolas’ nylon-stringed electric guitar.

It may be expected that care home residents might struggle with purely instrumental music. Surely we associate with lyrics and vocals more so than with melodies and harmony? One might imagine that without the potential for a sing-along, residents might find it difficult to concentrate. Our experience would seem to contradict this expectation. In the past we have hosted string trios and quartets, duos of piano and bass playing complex jazz, solo saxophone and many other combinations of musicians without a singer. In all of these scenarios we have witnessed residents sitting calmly, enjoying and appreciating the musical offering in whatever form it comes.