Claudio Roditi Needs Our Help

Dear friends from around the world,

On June 17th of this year, flutist Fernando Brandão and bassist Oscar Stagnaro, both teachers at Berklee College of Music, organized a concert celebrating my music. I recorded a short three-minute video to kick things off that evening. Fellow musicians from my Boston days in the 70s up to the present, and music associates from then and now, attended and participated in that beautiful event.

It’s a pity that I am not traveling yet. I wish I could have played there. The video explains a little bit of what I wanted to say without being at the concert in person. I feel very proud of this homage. My friend Frank Moten will post the video on my GoFundMe page, a true gift from both Frank and bassist John Lee.

On the other hand, a new round of chemotherapy started one week ago, and I hope things work out for the near future. Gigs are sparse right now because I don't really ever know the schedule of the chemo going forward, and don't know how I’m going to feel the days after. The treatment consists of three Fridays on and one off ‒ a bit different than last year and a little tougher. I keep blowing the trumpet at home as much as I can, and I keep composing new songs.

As always I want to thank you all for your support and friendship. It means the world to me.

Love and until soon,
Claudio

Dear friends from around the world,
I’m not on Facebook, and because of that, I cannot thank some friends unless I have their phone or email. However, from the bottom of my heart, I thank every one of you and God bless all!

In the last several months, I had daily radiation therapy with chemo twice per week, followed by a form of oral chemotherapy. I had to ask my oncologist to stop the oral therapy because the side effects were too much. All I wanted to do was sleep! So now, I have one month without treatment to recover and rebuild some strength. At the end of June, I’ll start infusion chemo once again.

While doing radiation, I met a 44-year-old young man, named Manny. We started talking in the waiting room, and he figured out I was Brazilian. I heard his Portuguese accent and learned he was from the Açores. When I went for my first treatment, the technicians were playing some horrible music. I decided to put up with it! The next day, they played the same type of music. On the third day, to my surprise, they were playing a jazz trio. Obviously, I asked the technicians what had happened. They said someone told them I was a jazz trumpeter. Wow! I then asked who had told them. It was Manny.
Well, later that day I called my friend Frank Moten and told him the story. Frank said, “Why don’t you ask them to play Dizzy Gillespie Pandora?” I did, they found it, and from then on, I heard Dizzy every day! All thanks to Manny, who got the music piece rolling in the right direction. We stayed in touch and were planning lunch in Newark at a Portuguese restaurant. Then I got a text from his wife saying he had passed away. I felt so sad. My impulse was to write him a song in tribute. That song was written in two days. I call it Manny’s Message. His message to me was one of positiveness and keeping a fighting spirit until the end.

In terms of gigs, not too much has been happening, except one nice gig at Trumpets in Montclair, New Jersey. They are looking to sell the club, and it is very sad to think this jazz venue will close.

I want to thank John Lee and Frank Moten for setting up this page for me. It has been a real lifesaver. Thank you all for your contributions and kind words. This page would not exist without you.

Love,
Claudio

Dear friends from around the world,

Things on the health front are moving, but slowly. This winter, from mid-December to mid-January, I had one month of daily radiation therapy with chemo support two times a week. I don’t know the result of this regimen as yet because one has to wait about two months after this kind of treatment to have scans done. In the meantime, I’ve started taking a new oral chemotherapy drug. Very soon I will see my oncologist to talk and see what the plan is going forward.

I’ve had a couple of local gigs and have one student. Just recently, I gave him a lesson and it felt very nice. John Dukich is a software specialist, but has a lot of talent for music.

In Boston, my friends Oscar Stagnaro and Fernando Brandão, both teachers at Berklee College, are organizing a benefit concert for me on June 17, 2019, at Berklee. They are inviting many musicians with whom I’ve had an association in the past, in that town.

Recently, I recorded an album for the Belgian saxophonist Julien Hucq on the Early Bird label. It happened at John Lee’s studio in South Orange, New Jersey. The rhythm section was terrific: George Cables on piano, Victor Lewis on drums, and Marcos Varela on bass. We’re still putting some finishing touches on it. The co-producer of this project is the great bassist Mickey Bass, who owns Early Bird.

I’ve also written a new song with Brazilian guitarist Ricardo Silveira. We’re calling it “This One Is For Us.” We haven’t co-written a song since “The Monster And The Flower," which we wrote together thirty years ago when we were both playing with flutist Herbie Mann.

I’d like to extend my many thanks to Frank Moten and John Lee for organizing this page for me, which has been so helpful.
That’s it for now.

God bless you all and thank you forever,
Claudio