Save Boyd's Jazz Hands!

Saxophonist Boyd Phelps suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury when he fell while stepping off a bus. That was in 2016, and he is still recovering but needs therapy to regain dexterity in his fingers so he can play saxophone again. His muscles are weak due to the cord injury. Standing, using his arms, and using his legs are difficult. The fingers are weakest of all. Boyd is a professional jazz saxophonist who's entire life was music -- performing, teaching, directing, writing, and research. Prior to the spinal cord paralysis, Boyd had 3 small strokes in 2010-11 that damaged the brain pathways that process language and music as they enter and leave the brain. These conditions -- called global aphasia and acquired amusia -- made it nearly impossible for Boyd to speak, read, or write words or music, and difficulty comprehending verbal speech. His language and music skills improved somewhat with several years of therapy, and that enabled him to play saxophone again but his head hit the pavement during the fall that caused the paralysis, and he again lost his music and language skills! It has caused him to remain in full time nursing facility because he cannot do much more than watch TV until he can afford rehabilitative therapy.

Boyd's wife Linda is also a professional musician with major health challenges in recent years and is struggling to live on her own without Boyd's help that accommodated her physical disability. Their medical issues have made it impossible for Boyd and Linda to make ends meet. Most importantly, Boyd's limited health insurance (Medicaid/Medicare) did not cover enough therapy to rehabilitate his hands or his language  and music skills. He especially wants to play music again. Please contribute whatever amount you can for Boyd's physical, occupational, and speech therapy so he may be able to speak, read, write, walk normally and especially play the saxophone again and return home from the nursing facility where he has lived since 2016. Music is his passion, and his life would be much richer if he could play his saxophone.

During Boyd's lengthy music career, he toured extensively and performed with many great musicians including the Stan Kenton Orchestra, the Oliver Nelson Orchestra, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Lou Rawls, Jose Feliciano, Tina Turner, Santana, Richie Cole, Diahann Carroll, Vickie Carr, Liberace, The Mills Brothers, Monk Montgomery, Ernestine Anderson. Boyd was writer for the Saxophone Journal, Jazz Player Magazine, and Downbeat Magazine, and author of the first comprehensive published catalog of saxophone multiphonics (playing chords on the sax). Boyd was the first person to earn a Doctorate in Saxophone at the University of Washington. His teaching career included instrumental music instructor at California State University, Sacramento, University of Washington, Sacramento High School Visual and Performing Arts Centre, Southwestern Community College School for Music Vocations and private studio. He has been unable to do any of those activities since his paralyzing spinal cord injury and associated head injury. Please help him return to music!

Boyd and Linda have much gratitude for artist Marilyn Rose who inspired this fundraiser. Until now, they didn't consider reaching out for help in getting Boyd into rehab therapy. Marilyn is featuring Boyd's portrait and his story in her Music as My Muse art show  at Watermelon Music in Davis, CA today in hope of inspiring community contributions to his medical expenses. The show will include portraits Marilyn painted of 31 Sacramento area musicians performing on their instruments. Details at Marilyn's website . We will post a pic of Boyd's portrait here after it is unveiled tonight! 

Note: The picture above was taken at a concert of Boyd's award-winning jazz quintet "Boyd Phelps' Sax Attack!" before his strokes and paralysis. The picture below of Boyd in his wheelchair is more recent.