FOR THE LOVE OF KERMIT A Benefit Concert for Bassist KERMIT DRISCOLL Featuring performances by John Zorn, Bill Frisell's 858 Quartet John Patitucci, Refuge Trio
Monday, January 29, 2007 Tonic: 107 Norfolk Street New York City Showtime: 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $23/$25 Ticket Info: 212-358-7501
Kermit Driscoll "I met Kermit on the first day I got to Berklee. When I was first trying to write music, he encouraged me every day. I love Kermit. He's a great musician. If I hadn't met him, I don't know where I'd be." -Bill Frisell
"If any good has come out of this illness, it has shown the impact that Kermit Driscoll has had on the music world. Personally, I love playing with Kermit, because his unbridled enthusiasm oozes out of every soulful note." -John Hollenbeck
On January 29, "FOR THE LOVE OF KERMIT" will feature performances by John Zorn, Bill Frisell's 858 Quartet, John Patitucci and the Refuge Trio in a benefit concert for bassist Kermit Driscoll at Tonic in New York City. The event is a direct campaign to raise funds for the ongoing medical expenses Kermit Driscoll is incurring for the treatment of his late-stage Lyme Disease.
Kermit Driscoll would be quick to admit that he's had a lot of good luck in his life. After dropping out of high school in Sumner, Nebraska, Driscoll made his way to the University of Miami in 1974 where he had the extravagant good fortune to spend a full year studying with the great Jaco Pastorius. He subsequently graduated cum laude from Berklee School of Music, where he fatefully met Bill Frisell on the emerging guitarist's first day of school. The chance encounter would result in a quartet formed in 1986 with Joey Baron (drums) and Hank Roberts (cello), and would last a decade, turning American jazz on its ear.
Fortune continued to smile on Driscoll as he performed and recorded with an astonishing variety of music-makers including John Zorn, Buddy Rich, John Hollenbeck, Dave Douglas, Chet Baker, Ben E. King, Don Byron, David Johansen and the New York Philharmonic. Over the years, Driscoll established a lasting impression on the musicians he collaborated with, and in his own intriguing way, left an inimitable imprint upon the music and musicians themselves.
In the mid-90's, Driscoll's luck had started to run thin. Upon walking in the wilds of New Jersey, he was bitten by a Lyme Disease-carrying deer tick. He spent several years searching for explanations for the fatigue, fever, headaches and aching joints. By the time a correct diagnosis was in place (August 2005), the disease was in its third stage, making it increasingly difficult for Driscoll to earn a living through his typical means.
With exasperated medical bills and a weakening vitality, close musical compatriots of Driscoll's have gathered together to help raise funds in a great time of need. In Driscoll's own words, "the amount of good will from the other musicians truly shows me how lucky I've been to meet such wonderful people along the way. It shows you the good community we are in, the alliances that were made..." "FOR THE LOVE OF KERMIT" marks a special evening where loving friends donate their talents and time in an effort to offer support to their longstanding colleague.
[Published on 1/16/2007]
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posted
Hey, Lymetoo, I also saw a Buddy Rich performance in the 70s. This was in San Francisco.
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Areneli
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6740
Kermit Driscoll Gravely Ill with Lyme Disease Posted: 2007-01-26
Though he has never released an album under his own name, the bassist Kermit Driscoll has had a considerable impact in adventurous jazz circles over the last 20 years.
Mr. Driscoll first emerged as a close compatriot of the guitarist Bill Frisell during an influential stretch from the mid-1980s through the mid-'90s. (Live, a 1991 Gramavision album credited to Bill Frisell, is especially worth seeking out for Mr. Driscoll's nimble rapport with Mr. Frisell and Mr. Baron, a drummer.) Mr. Driscoll concurrently tangled with an honor roll of downtown composer-improvisers like the alto saxophonist John Zorn and the trumpeter Dave Douglas, with whom he worked in a collective called New and Used.
Then at some point in the mid-'90s, Mr. Driscoll unknowingly contracted Lyme disease from a deer tick bite. He spent years contending with headaches, joint pain and deep fatigue before receiving an accurate diagnosis in 2005, when the disease was already in its difficult-to-treat third stage. Mr. Driscoll had stayed somewhat active during his illness -- he appeared on several noteworthy 2005 releases, including albums by the guitarist Ben Monder and the drummer John Hollenbeck -- but he found it increasingly hard to work.
Last month he managed to perform on a benefit in his honor with Mr. Douglas and Mr. Monder, among others; this month he played a concert with Mr. Hollenbeck's Large Ensemble. (”The next day he said that the music healed him -- he felt a lot better,” Mr. Hollenbeck said in an e-mail message. “With this disease you go up and down.”) On Monday Mr. Driscoll will appear, but probably not perform, at the largest yet benefit for his medical expenses. The lineup will include Mr. Frisell, with his 858 String Quartet; Mr. Zorn, with an undisclosed ensemble; Mr. Hollenbeck, with an ethereal group called the Refuge Trio; and the bassist John Patitucci, with the saxophonist Jon Ellis and the drummer Kendrick Scott. (Monday at 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, 212-358-7501, tonicnyc.com; cover, $25.)
Tax-deductible donations can also be made payable to Emergency Relief Fund (Kermit Driscoll) and mailed to Bill Dennison, Musicians Union Local 802, 322 West 48th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036.
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