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Hello dear friends and fans,
The Fall is here and with it a fresh perspective on my journey as an artist and performer. This Fall also brings a significant anniversary. In October 2021, I entered the hospital for a 2-month stay to survive an unexpected medical crisis. I had somehow contracted a rare autoimmune disease, Myasthenia Gravis, which affects the nervous system and doesn’t allow various muscles to work properly; it corrupts the connection between the nerves and the muscles. My own body’s immune system was attacking itself. My illness made it impossible to breathe on my own. I couldn’t walk and my eyesight was much-diminished by double vision. My throat muscles were deeply affected by the disease. I was not able to swallow, so I could not eat or drink normally and my speech was severely limited.
We didn’t know how much would come back: my breathing, my swallowing, my physical strength, my guitar playing?
When I was in the hospital I was visited by Neal Weiss, the owner of Whaling City Sound, my record label. Since we didn’t know how much I would recover, and if I would be able to play or record again, we decided to choose a selection of my previously released music and put it out this year. Worst-case scenario, it would be my swan song, a nice collection of John Stein music. Best-case scenario, it would simply be what it is: a nice collection of John Stein music.
Well, it’s surely a nice collection of my music: two disks, 26 songs, 2 booklets, gorgeous artwork, lots of excellent liner notes, and testimonials from my musical colleagues. We titled the project Lifeline and released it on June 17. It took a couple of weeks for Lifeline to make the charts then it bolted to the top of the charts and has stayed there since. Last week after 7 straight weeks in the top 10, it dipped to number 15. I figured my run was ending. But what did I find in today’s new JazzWeek chart? Back up to number 11 . . .
I’m proud of the music on Lifeline and absolutely love the entire presentation. We didn’t know when we put this project together if it would be the final John Stein release or simply a wonderful collection of my previous work. Today I’m thrilled to tell you that I have pretty much come all the way back. I can breathe, swallow, speak, I’m regaining my strength, and I can play guitar.
That brings me to my major news announcement: on Friday, November 4 at 7 pm, my band will be playing at Scullers Jazz Club. Myself on guitar with Jesse Taitt on piano, Ed Lucie on bass guitar, and Mike Connors on drums.
It’s a thrill to be able to resume what I love to do. So many people knocked themselves out to help and support me during this very difficult year. I’m thrilled that my first major concert will be at Scullers where people in the Boston area will be able to attend. Please consider attending our concert! Your presence would mean the world to me!
And if you don’t live in the Boston area, watch out for us. We may be visiting your neck of the woods someday soon.
John
