Pianist Edward Hardy played in a jazz quartet for almost 40 years but had no one to play with after being moved into a care home following the onset of dementia.
Mellifont Abbey Care Home worker Sam Kinsella helped the 95 year-old war veteran post an online advert to bring in musicians to jam with him.
The nursing home in Wookey, Somerset, was inundated with more than 80 requests from across the UK. But Hardy was even more astonished when the advert prompted three former band mates who he hadn’t seen for 35 years to get in touch.
The four-piece original jazz band are now in rehearsals for a reunion show at the care home next year.
“It is amazing so many volunteers have come forward to help me make music and it is marvelous that I have also been reunited with my old band,” Hardy said. “I have missed playing and when I do play now it makes me feel better and young again.”
