JOAN OF AUDIO & MUSIC

Music Medicine Benefit Concerts facilitate non-profit organizations and events that seek support and fundraising for humanitarian or compassionate purposes. Music Medicine, founded by Mickel London over 11 years ago, aims to produce music events that celebrate, uplift, and heal through the power of music and community. He especially devotes this work to children in need or crisis. This particular event was hosted by London and cohost, Joe Fonzi, Emmy-Award winning sports anchor for KTUV. It featured an all-star band of 14 local music artists who (for the most part) had never played or performed together. These dynamic performers include Yasmeena/Vocal Artist, aka “The New Voice”, Samuelle/ R&B Artist and Grammy Award winner, Dana Salzman/ Music Director, Producer, Pianist, Keyboardist and Vocal Artist, Gianni P’laure / Vocal Artist, Amanda Beltz/ Vocal Artist, Tiffany Callier/Vocal Artist, TJ Burke/ Vocal Artist and Drummer, Joe Fonzi/ Drummer and Vocalist, Kevin Scott/Bass Guitarist, Mark Daniels/Guitarist, Thomas McCree/Drummer, El Niche/Grammy Award winning Trumpeter, Michael Jacobs/ Saxophonist, Tom Tomasello/Keyboardist. I was fortunate to attend the rehearsals for the band which were held at the wellrespected Bradley School of Music in the San Francisco Bay Area. As well, I attended The Music Medicine Benefit Concert. The concert was held at Yoshis, one of the world’s most respected and legendary jazz venues, located in

Oakland, CA. Throughout my own journey as a music-lover and audiophile, I’ve found Yoshis’ sound system and venue to be one of the best I’ve encountered. Yoshis is completely outfitted with an advanced technology audio system designed by Meyer Sound Laboratories, a professional audio manufacturer in Berkeley, CA. Acoustically, every seat in the place feels like a “sweet spot” (although it can also feel like a squeeze spot) and their sound engineers always ensure that the music is impeccable. So, you can see that the technological and physical foundation had all the makings for a great event.

The Performance

Now for the performance. As I mentioned, (for the most part) this group of 14 talented local artists had not played together prior to the event, so I was very excited to be a witness to their creative process and collaboration. First, a collaborative effort such as this does not “just come together” on its own. It takes openness, willingness, desire, and skill to create something dynamic, cohesive, and beautiful together. As the rehearsals started, I could clearly see that every music artist in the group had remarkable talent and were uniquely creative. “But” I thought to myself “how will all of these very distinct personalities and talents come together to make this work”? Well, this is where the Music Director, Dana Salzman, one of the 14 music artists in the group, began to expertly coax order out of potential chaos. By