A few seasons back I was involved in a weekly Sunday musical get together upstairs in O’Neills pub on Capel Street. Although it was usually a somewhat intimate affair with small numbers attending I remain in contact with many of the people I met there and several of those same people now perform regularly in The Great Institution gigs.

On one memorable occasion there were just two people in attendance, My Good Self and the gentleman who came to be known as The Downtown Dude. We chatted about musical influences and it emerged we shared an appreciation of Burt Bacharach. A bond was formed and we remain good friends to this day. Rolling on a few more season The Dude got wind that the great man was playing at a jazz festival near Brighton and so arrangements were duly made to tick off a bucket list item.

The Downtown Dude had previously lived in Brighton, still had many friends there and so a lovely few days were enjoyed by all. Of course the highlight was seeing and hearing the great man perform. Arguably the greatest popular songwriter of all time I was fortunate enough to see him again in The Iveagh Gardens here in Dublin.

I watched a TV interview with him once. He was asked to pick one of his songs as a particular favourite. He chose ‘Alfie’. It would have been my choice too.

Thank you Burt.