It shouldn’t be surprising in a city like Brussels that it’s most famous musician is also practically unknown.

New in town, I had just had a meeting with the Tax office that left my spirits lower than the Dead Sea and my wallet lighter than helium when I chanced across a street musician who looked like Santa Claus belting out John Lennon’s Imagine with real feeling and passion. It was like hearing the song for the first time again and it just made me feel good inside.

You may not know his name but Raphael is instantly recognisable and memorable as the best street entertainer in the city. Sure, he plays the classics but he also has the widest repertoire of any busker I’ve heard.

He got into music during the liberation of Belgium in WWII at a very young age and first picked up a guitar at 14. He’s now 72 and has never stopped playing. Unable to support himself as a musician he worked in construction until he was 67 and now supplements his pension by entertaining the public around Bourse and the Grand Place.

Up Front likes to support Belgian bands but there’s something joyful and enthralling about Raphael that makes him represent the true spirit of music more than any of the younger musicians we cover.

So next time you see him, stop and listen and drop a few coins into his hat. If you do that you will make an already happy man happier and help keep music, and him, alive.