Keep Music Live

One of the things I am hugely grateful for was the chance of a good musical education. From recorder at primary school (my mum laughingly said I was too small for cello, thus laying the seeds of a life-long obsession with the double bass), through to clarinet at secondary school with side dabblings in alto sax and bass clarinet. I played in school orchestras, community classical, big band and jazz orchestras. Every teacher and musician I encountered had the yellow Musicians Union Keep Music Live sticker on their instrument cases. Even after subsequently taking the best part of a dozen years out from playing I found a series of good teachers and settled on tenor sax. I owe such a debt of gratitude to them all.

Now that I have a daughter, it matters to me that she grows up with music playing a key role in her life. She's learning piano, has been around my sax since she was two and sings in her sleep. Tonight I took her to the Royal Oak in Corsham to listen to Ronnie and Cliff (pictured) who play in the same jam session as me. She told me confidently she knew about blues ("it's when you've got no friends and you're an orphan and your butt gets kicked about 12 million times, Mummy"). She's already frighteningly familiar with the download culture, and it felt like the right time to introduce her to live music, with crisps, nuts, conversation and remarkably a new soft toy. A great evening all round, thanks guys.

You can see more about Cliff's band here - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Earl-Gater-Band/109780232407076?sk=timeline