in 1990 my father sent me a cassette of him singing some old italian songs. He already had Alz. but he sang right up to his very last years. I listened to the tape and it was kind of corny and embarrassing, so i just stuck it somewhere.
I found it last fall while rearranging book cases and played it. It sounded great! and he's dead! I just had it put onto a CD and have shared it with a grandchild of his that he never met. Do any recording, and yes, get all the memories you can because although they say that they never forget the past, only the present, that's not true... and once they're dead they never tell you another story.