Take a pound

Cadeem, or Gauntlett, is a fine sax player from the West Midlands who might be found busking in your town. Take note (forgive the pun) of that beautiful Yanagisawa soprano sax, and the sound he makes with it.

He wasn’t in Monmouth yesterday when I did a forty minute stint with my newly arranged repertoire (start with a blues, finish with a blues). It was slow, but OK. 

I was collared by one old fellow, his jacket lapel peppered with musical symbols including a sax.

‘You on the dole?’ he asked sympathetically.

Nope.

‘Well at least you’re not one of them Polish.’

I am Polish, actually,’ I told him in my best English.

‘No, you’re never. Take a pound anyway.’

Thanks. So what do you play? I point to his music badges.

‘These? I just collects ‘em. Lovely playin’.’ And off he toddled.

Everyone wants to know: 'How much do you make?'

The late, great Alex Stewart, right, one of Scotland's best box accordion players, said his father John used to busk for charabancs in Glencoe.
'He and ma muther ust' tae take somethin' like a hundred and forty pound a week sometimes. He niver touched his pension while he was buskin'.' This was just after World War 2 when John had finished a lifetime of tarmacing.

So what did I make this time in Monouth? Not enough to pay the parking and petrol to get there. But the audience more than made up for it.