Raspberry Beret at The Timeless Way

My short trip to Tas was full of auspicious timings - my cousin’s 60th, my parents’ diamond anniversary, Father’s Day…It also coincided with the monthly jazz evening at The Timeless Way, a cafe in Kingston, and a popular mainstay of my parents’ diary. Most of the audience are on the elderly side so while the music may be lively, the dance floor is not. (Not that there is a dance floor as The Timeless Way daylights as a fairly run-of-the-mill shopping centre cafe, albeit decorated with jazz posters and instruments attached to the ceiling).

My mother was never much of one for gigs but my father’s a big jazz enthusiast. When I was 2 I used to beg him to put on Take 5 (the second side) to dance to, so I was quite keen on giving this event whirl. The food was a bit so-so (as I’d been warned) but the Billy Whitton Quartet was pretty good (especially at the end).

We didn’t get the usual table, so the view of the band was a little obstructed, especially with the late arrival of the Lady in Red. She was a good 20 years younger than most of the audience, decked out in a rather glorious scarlet outfit (complete with red shoes and raspberry beret - the type you’d find in a secondhand store).

Unfortunately for my mother, the Lady in Red preferred to experience her enjoyment of the music physically rather than cerebrally. She was quite the whirling dervish, obscuring my mother’s view in particular.

My mother enjoyed the music of the second half on a bench outside the cafe!