Old Folks At Home

The title might lead you to think this is about the Stephen Foster standard also known as (Way Down Upon the) Swanee River. If you're disappointed that it's not, you can read all about it at Wikipedia, here.

Last night, the community jazz band with which I play performed its obligatory annual concert at a local assisted living facility. We played in the dining room to a crowd of about 25 seniors, with a few visiting family members mixed in. We were prepared to play a couple sets but was told on arrival that only 45 minutes of music would be required. After that, many of the attendees would simply wander off, presumably from boredom or drowsiness. I thought it was ironic that one of the musicians warned the folks that they might want to move to the back of the room because we can get quite loud; the irony being that most of them probably lost their hearing long ago. Then the director instructed us to keep the volume down. The drummer was playing so softly that we almost couldn't hear him and, as a consequence, the tempo became a little vague at times; the trombones dragged and the saxes rushed and a few bars would go by before the mess was straightened out. But I'm sure our audience never knew the difference.