Winter Sun is Out!
Winter Sun
My new CD, “Winter Sun” has been released and is available for purchase! Without planning it this way, “Winter Sun” became somewhat of a concept record. At 13, I was diagnosed with Leukemia and spent the next 2 years going into the hospital for a week every month for chemotherapy. Fortunately, I went into remission and got back to my life. Now, decades later, as I was writing for this record, I realized that every tune brought me back to that time of my life. After years of trying not to think about it, I started dealing with that time through music. There are no lyrics and it wasn’t my plan, but somehow this is the record I made.
I am blessed to have an incredible band on “Winter Sun” including pianist Brian Gelfand, drummer Ronen Itzik, and bassist Danny Weller. Incredible musicians that I feel very lucky to know as well as play with on a regular basis. Without them, this record wouldn’t have happened.
This record is dedicated to the memory of Ron Reisner who passed away in June 2021 losing his battle with cancer. Ron was like my big brother growing up. A talented drummer in his own right, he sparked my love of jazz and without him, I may not have ever played another note after my diagnosis. He passed away as the artwork was finished and I can’t thank David Prager enough for getting the dedication on the back of the CD at the very last minute.
I also want to thank my friend and incredible engineer, Josiah Gluck, Anita Bergman for her incredible artwork that graces the cover and my friend and mentor Garry Dial for all of his help. Finally I want to thank my family, my wife Naomi and daughter Tabitha who gave me the confidence to do this when I wasn’t sure I could.
About the Tunes
Reset is one of the first tunes I wrote for this record. It’s a light medium swing that reminded me of hope.
Guardian Tiger When I started chemo, one of my best and oldest friends, Wendy, gave. me a stuffed tiger. It was with me through everything and I still have it to this day. This tune came out of nowhere and is one of my favorite tunes on the record. I played a RS Berkeley curved soprano sax on it and it really sang for me.
Tabitha is a ballad I wrote in memory of my closest friend in the hospital. I met her the first night I was there. She showed me how to be strong even when there was no winning. My daughter is named in her honor.
24 Hours This tune started off as an exercise and became a burner. It reminded me of what a difference 1 day can make. I remember when I was diagnosed and the 24 hours following when I had to get the diagnosis through my head.
Winter Sun I was treated at the UCONN health center in Farmington, Connecticut. The hospital was on top of a really tall hill overlooking a lot of trees and in the distance was the highway. With snow on the ground and no leaves on the trees, the sun seemed to shine brighter as I looked out the window. Thinking back can seem very real. As I thought about being in the hospital, I remembered being hooked up to lots of tubes and machines while throwing up for days. It can feel like I’m reliving these memories instead of just remembering. Then the flashback is over and I’m back. For me, this song encapsulates what it was like to look out the window and see that bright winter sun.
Eulogy for Anne was written in memory of my grandmother. . She would never be described as soft spoken. When she entered a room, everyone knew it. She would visit or call every day and became very friendly with my nurses. Late one night after not really eating for the better part of a month I was hungry and really wanted a turkey sandwich. This was a really big deal. The nurses didn’t call my parents, they called my grandmother. She set out to find a turkey sandwich and make the trek up to the hospital in the middle of the night. I will be forever grateful to her for her positive outlook and that turkey sandwich!
Where did I go? This tune seemed like a simple tune harmonically when I wrote it. It turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated! The worst part of AML was the bone marrow biopsies. Leukemia starts in the bone marrow so the doctors had to see what was going on in there. I don’t want to go into detail but they would extract the bone marrow from my hip. They didn’t use anesthesia. I believe they felt like knocking a kid out for a 5 minute procedure wasn’t a great idea. To this day I’ve never experienced anything that comes close to the pain of that biopsy. As they started the procedure, I would sort of shut down and almost leave my body. It was as if I was watching someone else having the procedure.
The Boxer A few years before my diagnosis, Simon and Garfunkel did a concert in Central Park. Someone gave me the recording as a gift. I was 13 and only had a few cassettes (it was the 80’s!) Quite often I would fall asleep to this recording. “The Boxer” was the last tune on one side. I’d hear the end of the tune and then what felt like the longest applause I’d ever heard and then THWAP! the cassette would shut off. I’d wake up turn the tape over and go back to sleep.