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Home  >  Blog  >  When Rory met Ronnie

When Rory met Ronnie

Trish Burgess Posted on17/09/201229/06/2017 Sweden, Ystad 35 Comments

“Is that Quincy Jones on the next table?”
“No, looks nothing like him.”
“Hang on, I’ll google him…..no, doesn’t look anything like him, but it must be him.”
“It isn’t!”
“It must be!”

This three-way conversation took place by the swimming pool bar on the last day of our holidays, an hour before we were due to leave for the airport. We knew the legendary record producer was staying in Ystad because the previous evening my husband, Dougie, had noticed at dinner that in the reservation book someone had written “Quincy Jones – private reception” and we’d lingered a long time that evening to try and catch a glimpse.

So why was he in Sweden, in Ystad? He was the guest of honour at the Ystad Jazz Festival  which just happened to be on while we were there. There was quite a buzz about the town and at our own hotel, Ystad Saltsöjbad, the jazz vibe could be felt quite keenly as some of the concerts were being played there. I had watched some very cool dudes playing cards by the pool the day before and that morning had stood at the breakfast buffet next to jazz trumpeter Anders Bergcrantz, having picked up a leaflet about him earlier in the week.

So the American sitting at the next table talking passionately to his friend about music? Was he Quincy? I waited until he wandered off to the bar before bravely approaching the friend and asking him. The answer was no, he was, in fact, American jazz drummer, Ronnie Gardiner, who was due to be playing that afternoon, with the Andreas Pettersson Quartet, accompanying singer Deborah Brown.

I felt a little sheepish but when Ronnie returned he smiled at me, put two glasses of juice down on the table and, with a twinkle in his eye, said to his friend, Eigil,
“Hey, I leave you for five minutes and you’ve got a girl coming over to you. How d’ you do that?”

I explained my mistake and he shrugged it off with a laugh, saying Quincy was taller and generally a bigger guy. He asked me to pull up a chair, invited the boys over too, and, for the next hour, the three of us were completely bowled over by a warm, funny, utterly captivating man.

Ronnie Gardiner has just turned 80 and as a jazz drummer has played with the greatest: Dizzie Gillespie, Benny Carter, Gerry Mulligan and Dexter Gordon. He has lived for many years now in Sweden where he still plays the drums and hosts live jazz in Stockholm.

We talked about his music and he was delighted to hear that our son, Rory, is a drummer too. When he discovered my husband is a doctor, the conversation took a different turn. Ronnie told us all about the work he has been doing since 1980, using the skills needed for drumming to develop a technique to help in the rehabilitation of patients with brain injuries.

Ronnie realised that when he plays the drums, each arm and leg has to work independently, requiring a large interaction between the brain’s various centres in terms of motor skills, coordination, memory and sense of rhythm. After lots of research, he created a multisensory technique using audio, visual, tactile and kinetic energy with rhythm, music and sound/movement codes. The method has had success in patients with strokes and Parkinson’s disease and also with groups suffering from depression, dementia, autism and dyslexia.

To explain his method – the Ronnie Gardiner Rhythm and Music Method (RGRM-Method) – Ronnie became very animated and started tapping his feet and slapping his hands on the table, whilst shouting out a specific sound for each limb. He had all of us ‘booming’ and ‘chicking’, to the bemusement of everyone else around the pool. Naturally, Rory, as a drummer, picked up the routine very quickly, whereas Dougie and I had to concentrate very hard to pick up the pattern.

I noticed he had some very dapper shoes on his feet – one blue and one red. He explained that he wears a red and blue costume when he is teaching, each half of his body a different colour. He had to buy two pairs of shoes, one pair blue and one red, in order to have the correct pair for his work. The shoes on his feet that day were the other halves of his working pair.

We learned a lot from Ronnie that afternoon. He recounted the story of a woman who, following a stroke, had one wish: to be able to dance again. Using the RGRM Method, Ronnie was able to stimulate her brain to send the right signals to her limbs so that, at a big family gathering some time later, her husband held her close and she danced.

Research on the RGRM method has taken place at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg. There seems to be no doubt that this programme can really benefit patients but it needs to have more testing worldwide if it is to be used as an effective technique outside Sweden itself. Just read the positive accounts of doctors and patients here.


At 80 years of age, Ronnie Gardiner is an inspiration. As he left us to go and practise for his concert that afternoon and as we drove off towards the airport, as a family we were left quite breathless with emotion.

One young man in particular had discovered a new hero.

Rory Burgess and Ronnie Gardiner, Ystad, Sweden, August 2012
Rory and Ronnie
Update: 19 September – I sent a link to my post to the contact address at RGRM and received a lovely personal reply from Ronnie himself. He has given me details of the UK branch and I have since been in contact with Lee Wax who is very happy to be contacted with regard to finding practitioners in this country. 
 
www.rgrm.org.uk
lee@rgrm.org.uk

 

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35 Comments

  1. Sarah Reply
    17/09/2012 at 12:30 pm

    How cool is that?

    What an amazing chance encounter.

    Ronnie's method sounds really incredible. I hope it gets the research and exposure it needs to help others.

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      17/09/2012 at 2:26 pm

      It was an extraordinary encounter. To mistake him for someone else (when he looks nothing like the man in question) and then discover the links with drumming and medicine, well it was remarkable really. And he was such a charismatic man; so passionate about his work and eager to share.

  2. Expat mum Reply
    17/09/2012 at 1:58 pm

    What a great story. What does Dougie think of the method?

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      17/09/2012 at 2:29 pm

      Dougie was very intrigued. He doesn't admit to knowing all the developments in stroke rehabilitation but certainly could see the value in this – retraining the limbs to work, finding a route through from the damaged brain to the muscles.
      There had been some lectures about the method at the Royal College of Music in London earlier this year. I suspect Dougie will keep an eye out for any doctor training courses which might involve this.

  3. Mac n' Janet Reply
    17/09/2012 at 3:02 pm

    How interesting! What an opportunity for you to talk to someone so interesting! Better than meeting Qunicy Jones

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      17/09/2012 at 3:59 pm

      It was a bit surreal at times – we left the table saying, "Did that just happen?"

  4. ELS Reply
    17/09/2012 at 3:44 pm

    How happy are you that he wasn't boring old Quincy Jones? Wow! I've sent this to my bro who's a drummer, what a fascinating chap and how interesting is all that drum stuff? And he entranced a teen and husband. AND he called you a girl. When I went to Ystad I just mooned about looking for Wallander. You win.xx

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      17/09/2012 at 4:02 pm

      I wondered if anyone would notice that he'd called me a girl – and you did! Ha! I was tickled by that, I have to say.
      It will be interesting to know if your brother has ever heard of this?

      So when were you mooning around Ystad? I have it on good authority that Wallander only comes out in the winter.

  5. Tattie Weasle Reply
    17/09/2012 at 7:48 pm

    WOW! Absolutley brilliant stuff on the brain injusries so so very very logical too but there again the most brilliant things usually are!

    • Trish @ Mum's Gone To... Reply
      18/09/2012 at 7:12 am

      I agree – a logical idea, very simple but effective.

  6. Steve Reply
    17/09/2012 at 8:16 pm

    What a thoroughly life affirming encounter!

    • Trish @ Mum's Gone To... Reply
      18/09/2012 at 7:14 am

      Oh Steve, it was, for all three of us. I sent a link to the blog post to the RGRM company email yesterday and received a wonderful personal email from Ronnie this morning. Very touched.

  7. Troy Reply
    17/09/2012 at 8:50 pm

    That's very interesting and for once I have a serious comment/question. Does Dougie know whether this RGRM-Method is relevant for people recovering from a Subarachnoid Haemorrhage? I suspect the answer is no from a quick look at the website but wouldn't like to miss something that might be relevant to an acquaintance of mine.

    • Trish @ Mum's Gone To... Reply
      18/09/2012 at 7:17 am

      I asked Dougie and he said that, because a subarachnoid haemorrhage is a type of stroke then, yes, it could be a valuable therapy.
      I received an email from Ronnie Gardiner this morning asking me to pass on details of the blog to the UK based practitioner. I will let you know her details once I've made contact.

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      19/09/2012 at 7:19 am

      I now have details of the UK branch of RGRM – have added them to the end of the post.

    • Troy Reply
      19/09/2012 at 1:52 pm

      Thanks Trish!

  8. Very Bored in Catalunya Reply
    18/09/2012 at 8:39 am

    I'm not entirely sure who is he, but he looks very cool. And sweet of him to colour co-ordinate his outfit with Rory. x

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      18/09/2012 at 10:42 am

      Don't worry, we obviously didn't know who he was either, hence our embarrassing faux pas, but he was very cool.

      Purple T shirts – must be a drumming thing! We chuckled at that too.

  9. asturiandiary Reply
    18/09/2012 at 10:56 am

    Wow. What an amazing story. And an amazing man.

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      18/09/2012 at 6:12 pm

      I found it fascinating to learn how he took something he loved (music and drumming) and found a way for it to help others. He is so passionate about the work and I gather, from looking at more information today, there are more practitioners being trained – some in the UK just last week.

  10. libby Reply
    18/09/2012 at 5:02 pm

    What an interesting and fabulous chance encounter….sounds like a fascinating man.

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      18/09/2012 at 6:12 pm

      I think the afternoon will stay with us for a long time, Libby.

  11. Twisted Scottish Bastard Reply
    19/09/2012 at 7:05 am

    lovely post, and very informative. It's not often that I read a post and really think about wht's being said.

    This was one of them.

    Well done.

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      19/09/2012 at 7:20 am

      Thank you, TSB. What a lovely thing to say 🙂

  12. Funky Wellies Reply
    19/09/2012 at 8:41 am

    What a fascinating post! Ronnie sounds like an incredible man.

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      19/09/2012 at 8:55 am

      Thanks FW. I can still hear his voice now: so engaging, warm and funny.

  13. BavarianSojourn Reply
    19/09/2012 at 11:01 am

    What an amazing experience! I had to laugh about asking whether he was Quincy or not, but this guy sounds a lot more interesting! 🙂

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      19/09/2012 at 5:05 pm

      Doubtless I would have loved speaking to Quincy too but this was special as the conversation went in such an unexpected direction. The link to Rory with his drumming, Dougie with the medical background and…erm…me with my singing maybe…made it quite extraordinary.

  14. About Last Weekend Reply
    19/09/2012 at 6:07 pm

    Wow – what a great guy and intriguing about the drumming and how it helps. There was an amazing article in the NY Sunday Times about how exercise with mirrors can also help false pain in limbs too. Love how all these different things are being examined.

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      20/09/2012 at 6:10 pm

      I agree, thinking outside the box to discover new therapies is so important.

  15. Curry Queen Reply
    20/09/2012 at 5:01 pm

    Gosh, your posts are coming so thick and fast I can't keep up! What an extraordinary man – you must have felt honoured to have met him.

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      20/09/2012 at 6:13 pm

      I seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment. Now I've got all the Sweden posts written up, I can sit back a bit.

  16. Michelle Twin Mum Reply
    20/09/2012 at 9:56 pm

    What a wonderful story and such an inspiring man you had the honour to meet. Mich x

    • Trish @ Mums Gone To... Reply
      25/09/2012 at 11:54 am

      Thanks Mich, I hoped you'd like it 🙂

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