THE INTREPID PIANO BREAKFAST

Jazz Player

By: Andrew Herriot

In recent months, Jazzman Andrew Herriot has been invited to play easy listening breakfast jazz at a new holiday destination some 7 kms along the Wortelgat road, beyond Mosaic and just before the estuary to the Klein River. Here he tells his story of how well he has been received at the Coot Club…

Well, what a blast. Residents and weekend holiday makers are treated to two hours of piano on a Berlin Gericke acoustic piano. An eclectic collection of happy three generational families mix their cereals with Duke Ellington and the like. Not quite “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and no Audrey Hepburn to meet me, but there was “My Fair Lady,” Jolene, who greeted me happily.

Guests in attendance were largely from out of town, some from as far afield as Scotland, even! I was approached by one such enquirer: “Are you from Scotland?” My barked response frightened the baby nearby and she started to cry so I played ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ and she soon stopped crying and gave a sweet smile instead. Such gratitude.

I was immediately flooded by other kids, followed by camera-hugging people and video recorders. This is magic, I thought, how easy it is to please breakfasters!

Every Sunday for some weeks now, I’ve made the 7kms journey to receive not only a warm, welcoming response, but generous donations too, all of which go to The Butterfly Centre, located at the Stanford Hills Estate.

The main goal of this unique school is to help young children with certain barriers to learning to reach their full potential – in a mainstream, country life environment.

Getting back to the Coot Club, one resident indicated that he had spent his childhood in Ayrshire. “I spent part of my adulthood there, too,” I responded. More children appeared wanting to be as close to the keyboard as possible so as to touch the keys. Memories of my own childhood came flooding back.

Clearly, the well-healed visitors to our Cape Province are languishing in the luxuriant waters of Klein River and the cosiness of high-quality residential living while relaxing on holiday. Weekend requests from the Coot Club shareholders always receive a positive response. Lang May Yer Lum Reek!