Musician: Nat Keen (guitar)

Big Joe is on a roll, single number three has been written and the next step is to commit it to tape, well maybe not tape, but commit it to something in digital form. JR was waiting for me with lyric sheet in hand as usual, when I say waiting for me, he was fast asleep. The lyric sheet in hand part remains true. It felt counter-intuitive to gently shake him from his slumber but I was totally confident that he would appreciate the song-writing session. Sure enough, it was 0-60 in five seconds, eyes open, focus recalibrated then bang! we were in to music mode…

Song #3 is an upbeat, driving boogie-woogie funk tune about friendship and today the lyrics flowed like an over-filled bowl of hearty word soup, tasty and invigorating with just the right amount of spice. At roughly 2mins 30 seconds we decided that it would be a short and ‘to the point’ song, why drag it out? No need….`

Here’s a sneak preview…

I’m always looking out for new residents to play for, especially those who perhaps don’t have the means to request music and could easily remain isolated. So, on my way to see JB I stopped by to see a relatively new resident DG who I knew loved music. Although he has become increasingly non-verbal, I asked him if he’d like some music to which he replied yes. Although there was very little in the way of visible evidence that he was enjoying or indeed not enjoying, I continued for a few songs knowing that music has the unique power to reach people who might be deemed ‘unreachable’.

JB seemed pleased to see me and her lovely husband insisted on getting us coffees from the machine downstairs. So, with the sun beaming into the room and the three of us buzzing on delicious, frothy caffeine juice, we had a lovely session playing songs and talking about their beautiful memories together. At times JB, who clearly recognised the particular song I was playing, opened her mouth and attempted to sing along. This reminded me that music seemed to be really helping in the development of her speech. Last week, Sadik, who has gradually helped her to say the word ‘Happy’ worked with me in encouraging JB to complete the lyrics in the song ‘don’t worry be…’ which she sang perfectly. A week later and she could fill this gap without any prompting or encouragement and so I suggested that maybe she would like to learn the phrase ‘don’t worry’ in order to sing the whole chorus. As I was leaving, I heard the words ‘don’t…worry’.

I finished by seeing AS who absolutely comes to life with the nourishment of conversation and music! We talked about familiar subjects of Spain, family and descriptions of my busy life which provide her with a snapshot of the world outside. When I began to play my attempt at Flamenco music she carefully placed down a tissue she was holding and with absolute conviction, attended to her new role as principal hand clapper. With animated shouts of ‘Ole!!” and ‘Benga Pepe!’ (my flamenco pseudonym), the colour flooded back into her face and the spark in her eyes shone bright!….within a few minutes we heard ‘Ole!!’ from the corridor and AS quickly summoned in one the Spanish carers to join in with us…The room was suddenly full of life, laughter and warmth and AS exclaimed: ‘Esto me pone muy alegre!!’ (this makes me very cheerful!!)