WATCH: Cork man (81) gives impressive impromptu performance during jazz festival celebrations

A Cork man who defied remarkable odds to make it to this year’s Guinness Cork Jazz festival is being praised for an impromptu performance that has become an unexpected highlight of celebrations.

81-year-old Pat Horgan from Glasheen was delighted to bump into some old friends, the Lamarotte Jazzband, at the Pier Head in Blackrock Village.

The pals were captured on camera performing together just a few weeks after Mr Horgan underwent cardiovascular surgery on October 6. 

Mr Horgan’s friends had joked that rather than opt for a respite facility, “Pat came straight out of hospital and into a jazz band”. 

A former chairman of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, Mr Horgan is a major part of the event’s history. 

He admitted he initially joined the committee in the event’s second year just to access events but hasn’t looked back since.

The Lamarotte Jazzband, who are an 11-piece marching band, are just some of the friends he has made along the way. 

Mr Horgan and the group have been pals for several decades. He even attended their 40th anniversary celebratory event in Holland five years ago.

Mr Horgan performed the song 'Goody Goody' with the band to the delight of fellow punters. 

The song dates all the way back to 1936 and was initially recorded by Ted Wallace and His Swing Kings.

Mr Horgan humbly addressed the performance saying:

“I might have burst into song after a few pints of Guinness at some stage."

“I don’t think I’ve ever sang that song to myself or anyone else but when you listen to jazz as much as I do, the songs stick in your brain. 

“I can’t take any credit for the performance because with a band like the Lamarotte Jazzband, anyone can sound like Tony Bennett.”