-While I understand there's minimal interest in Latin Jazz on JT (or on any music board honestly!), this is about a concert for a good cause, not to mention this is one killa band! It's odd, even though I've been a music lover for so long, and understand the hardships of being a professional Jazz player, I still get surprised when hearing about familiar names not doing well.-
A fundraiser for Latin flutist Dave Valentin will take place this Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, N.Y. Valentin suffered a stroke in March 2012. The show will help raise funds to pay his medical expenses and basic living needs.
Scheduled to perform are:
Bill O'Connell (Piano)
Lincoln Goines (bass)
Robby Ameen (Drums)
Ragan Whiteside (Flute)
Gilberto "Pulpo" Colon (Piano)
Bob Baldwin (Piano/Keyboards)
Paquito D'Rivera (Saxophone)
Chieli Minucci (guitar)
Dave Samuels (Vibes)
Mayra Casales (Percussion)
Eddie Montalvo (Percussion)
Bobby Sanabria (Drums/Percussion)
Richie Morales (Percussion)
Dave Valentin Tribute & Benefit Concert This Thursday
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Mike Schwartz
- Founding Member
- Posts: 457
- Joined: June 29th, 2013, 6:23 pm
Re: Dave Valentin Tribute & Benefit Concert This Thursday
Chazro wrote:-While I understand there's minimal interest in Latin Jazz on JT (or on any music board honestly!), this is about a concert for a good cause, not to mention this is one killa band! It's odd, even though I've been a music lover for so long, and understand the hardships of being a professional Jazz player, I still get surprised when hearing about familiar names not doing well.-
A fundraiser for Latin flutist Dave Valentin will take place this Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, N.Y. Valentin suffered a stroke in March 2012. The show will help raise funds to pay his medical expenses and basic living needs.
Scheduled to perform are:
Bill O'Connell (Piano)
Lincoln Goines (bass)
Robby Ameen (Drums)
Ragan Whiteside (Flute)
Gilberto "Pulpo" Colon (Piano)
Bob Baldwin (Piano/Keyboards)
Paquito D'Rivera (Saxophone)
Chieli Minucci (guitar)
Dave Samuels (Vibes)
Mayra Casales (Percussion)
Eddie Montalvo (Percussion)
Bobby Sanabria (Drums/Percussion)
Richie Morales (Percussion)
Strong lineup and very good cause....hard to fathom someone with Valentin's energy & enthusiasm being slowed like this.
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hornplayer
- Founding Member
- Posts: 249
- Joined: June 30th, 2013, 7:48 pm
- Location: New York, NY
- Contact:
Re: Dave Valentin Tribute & Benefit Concert This Thursday
Is there an address where we could send contributions for those unable to get to/make it to the concert?
I didn't realize he had suffered a stroke.
I didn't realize he had suffered a stroke.
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bluenoter
- Concierge
- Posts: 1514
- Joined: July 1st, 2013, 1:37 am
- Location: DC (Taxation Without Representation)
Re: Dave Valentin Tribute & Benefit Concert This Thursday
Scroll down; info. about the concert begins a few inches from the top of this page:
http://bobbaldwin-new.homestead.com/DaveValentin.html
http://bobbaldwin-new.homestead.com/DaveValentin.html
Even if you cannot come,
please purchase a balcony seat in the
name of Dave Valentin!
Re: Dave Valentin Tribute & Benefit Concert This Thursday
As I mentioned before, I've always been aware of the realities that Jazz musicians (and many artists of ANY type) live through. This surely isn't the 1st hardship story I've read about BUT....this story just seems to have stuck a nerve with me. It really makes me so sad.
LATIN JAZZ STALWART STRUGGLES TO MAKE SWEET SOUNDS AGAIN
The autographed posters and concert photos in Dave Valentin’s living room attest to his status as one of the pre-eminent flutists in Latin jazz. Tucked among 78s tacked to the wall, they show Mr. Valentin smiling alongside performers like Tito Puente and aficionados like Bill Cosby. Nearby, a bunch of “All Access” stage passes from concerts dangle from a nail like a good-luck charm.
“Dave has played on six continents,” his manager, Richie Bonilla, said proudly. “He is alone in his class.”
Now, he is mostly alone in his home. A stroke during a gig in March 2012 left him paralyzed on his right side, unable to walk, talk or lift his playing hand. Though he has recovered about 85 percent of his abilities, several fingers on his right hand are numb, and he cannot hold up his flute for long. Instead, he spends his days in a rented bungalow in Harding Park, a warren of twisty streets along the East River in the Bronx.
He moved to this neighborhood because it was quiet and secluded, a haven for a world-traveling musician with more than a dozen albums and a Grammy to his name. He shares the home with his cats, Mambo, Bomba and Plena — “good cats, they leave my stuff alone” — and his instruments. He was a familiar sight in the neighborhood, buying a breakfast sandwich at a bodega each morning, then heading home to watch the news and practice.
But for someone recovering from a catastrophic illness, and with no savings or health insurance, living in his dimly lighted bungalow is like being in exile from fans, friends and the rhythms of everyday life.
Some days are good. Some days are not.
“How do I manage?” Mr. Valentin, 61, responded when he was asked how he was coping. “I have to. I can’t play. It’s rough. There’s a lot of depression and stuff like that. Sometimes I pick up my flute and play a few notes. I tried to play ‘Blackbird’ not that long ago. I couldn’t even talk at first. At least now I can.”
He shifted on the sofa.
“People come to visit, but it can be hard,” he said.
His manager chimed in.
“There’s too much alone time,” Mr. Bonilla said. “He needs a home attendant. I arranged to get him Meals on Wheels because all he was eating were sandwiches. Maybe somebody can send over a paella from City Island.”
Cigar smoke and silence hung in the living room. The silence was unusual for Mr. Valentin, who loved joking around so much that his manager said he could have been a stand-up comic.
“No, I would be a teacher,” Mr. Valentin corrected him. “I taught seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade music for three years in the South Bronx. I had a jazz band and taught them how to play, so when they graduated they were ready. Those were good times.”
Mr. Bonilla changed the topic, reminding his friend of the latest batch of handwritten thank-you notes he was sending out. Donations, some handled by the Jazz Foundation of America, have come from the famous and the unknown, some as little as $5. Each is acknowledged by Mr. Bonilla, since Mr. Valentin cannot write.
Mr. Bonilla has helped his friend and client with everything from fund-raising benefits to applications for subsidized housing and social services. Although the most recent benefit concert included stars like Paquito D’Rivera, it cost more to stage than it raised. An earlier donation of $10,000, from the Puerto Rican city of Mayagüez, which also honored Mr. Valentin with the key to the city, helped prevent further financial calamity.
Mr. Bonilla, who manages many of the top Latin musicians, lamented how Mr. Valentin was like other artists of his generation, not counting on, much less planning for, retirement or illness. After a career that would be envied by many, Mr. Valentin must now find cheaper housing — something priced at roughly a third of the $1,800 he now pays in monthly rent and utilities.
What little money he has will run out by March.
“It’s been a struggle to keep up with the bills,” said Mr. Bonilla, who is still waiting to hear about a recent application for housing for older adults. “We don’t know when he will be back onstage.”
Although Mr. Valentin has been widely recorded, jazz royalties are hardly the foundation of a retirement plan. The money, such as it was, had always been in playing onstage.
“He was always busy,” Mr. Bonilla said. “He was going to Indonesia, Australia —”
Mr. Valentin cut him off.
“That’s over,” he said. “Over! Now it’s just starting again from scratch.”
LATIN JAZZ STALWART STRUGGLES TO MAKE SWEET SOUNDS AGAIN
The autographed posters and concert photos in Dave Valentin’s living room attest to his status as one of the pre-eminent flutists in Latin jazz. Tucked among 78s tacked to the wall, they show Mr. Valentin smiling alongside performers like Tito Puente and aficionados like Bill Cosby. Nearby, a bunch of “All Access” stage passes from concerts dangle from a nail like a good-luck charm.
“Dave has played on six continents,” his manager, Richie Bonilla, said proudly. “He is alone in his class.”
Now, he is mostly alone in his home. A stroke during a gig in March 2012 left him paralyzed on his right side, unable to walk, talk or lift his playing hand. Though he has recovered about 85 percent of his abilities, several fingers on his right hand are numb, and he cannot hold up his flute for long. Instead, he spends his days in a rented bungalow in Harding Park, a warren of twisty streets along the East River in the Bronx.
He moved to this neighborhood because it was quiet and secluded, a haven for a world-traveling musician with more than a dozen albums and a Grammy to his name. He shares the home with his cats, Mambo, Bomba and Plena — “good cats, they leave my stuff alone” — and his instruments. He was a familiar sight in the neighborhood, buying a breakfast sandwich at a bodega each morning, then heading home to watch the news and practice.
But for someone recovering from a catastrophic illness, and with no savings or health insurance, living in his dimly lighted bungalow is like being in exile from fans, friends and the rhythms of everyday life.
Some days are good. Some days are not.
“How do I manage?” Mr. Valentin, 61, responded when he was asked how he was coping. “I have to. I can’t play. It’s rough. There’s a lot of depression and stuff like that. Sometimes I pick up my flute and play a few notes. I tried to play ‘Blackbird’ not that long ago. I couldn’t even talk at first. At least now I can.”
He shifted on the sofa.
“People come to visit, but it can be hard,” he said.
His manager chimed in.
“There’s too much alone time,” Mr. Bonilla said. “He needs a home attendant. I arranged to get him Meals on Wheels because all he was eating were sandwiches. Maybe somebody can send over a paella from City Island.”
Cigar smoke and silence hung in the living room. The silence was unusual for Mr. Valentin, who loved joking around so much that his manager said he could have been a stand-up comic.
“No, I would be a teacher,” Mr. Valentin corrected him. “I taught seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade music for three years in the South Bronx. I had a jazz band and taught them how to play, so when they graduated they were ready. Those were good times.”
Mr. Bonilla changed the topic, reminding his friend of the latest batch of handwritten thank-you notes he was sending out. Donations, some handled by the Jazz Foundation of America, have come from the famous and the unknown, some as little as $5. Each is acknowledged by Mr. Bonilla, since Mr. Valentin cannot write.
Mr. Bonilla has helped his friend and client with everything from fund-raising benefits to applications for subsidized housing and social services. Although the most recent benefit concert included stars like Paquito D’Rivera, it cost more to stage than it raised. An earlier donation of $10,000, from the Puerto Rican city of Mayagüez, which also honored Mr. Valentin with the key to the city, helped prevent further financial calamity.
Mr. Bonilla, who manages many of the top Latin musicians, lamented how Mr. Valentin was like other artists of his generation, not counting on, much less planning for, retirement or illness. After a career that would be envied by many, Mr. Valentin must now find cheaper housing — something priced at roughly a third of the $1,800 he now pays in monthly rent and utilities.
What little money he has will run out by March.
“It’s been a struggle to keep up with the bills,” said Mr. Bonilla, who is still waiting to hear about a recent application for housing for older adults. “We don’t know when he will be back onstage.”
Although Mr. Valentin has been widely recorded, jazz royalties are hardly the foundation of a retirement plan. The money, such as it was, had always been in playing onstage.
“He was always busy,” Mr. Bonilla said. “He was going to Indonesia, Australia —”
Mr. Valentin cut him off.
“That’s over,” he said. “Over! Now it’s just starting again from scratch.”
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