Moe’s Country Retreat

Swinging Shepherd

There’s a murmur out of Mulmur…of the Real Estate variety, and after reading about Moe sitting on a rock playing his gold flute, I immediately think ‘Flute School in the Country’.

What better legacy for Moe Koffman, giant of the Canadian Jazz scene, than to have a country retreat in his name just north of the city for aspiring musicians? Call me a Romantic, however some of my finest schooling took place in wonderfully bucolic settings: The Banff Centre and Shawnigan Lake School with Bob Aitken, as well as Louis Moyse’s Barn just outside of Brattelboro, Vermont…these places, especially as a young flute player, put me in direct contact with my ‘Inner Pan’ (copyright and patent pending)!

When I received an invitation recently to join The Guelph-Wellington Men’s Club Choir, I had no idea it would be such a raucous event! I put aside my Bach and Handel for a spontaneous reading of Moe’s classic hit from 1958.

A flute school in Moe’s name might be a pipe dream, but I figure there’s no harm in imagining…’The Moe Koffman Centre for Music’ has a ring to it, don’t you think?!