[HANASHIR:3693] Re: Doug Cotler update

[Rglauber <Rglauber...>]

I spent some time with Doug on the last day of CAJE,  in his room at Taylor 
Tower.  He is a friend of mine from several years back, and I can report that 
he seems to be improving, and he is now embarked on a cross country oddyssey 
with his older brother Steve and his niece Abby.  

The problem is that he can't sit up comfortably, so a plane flight homw to LA 
was out of the question.  Steve, who is a very funny, take charge kind of 
guy, rented a mini-van and is prepared to drive the family home.   I'm sure 
they're well on the way west by now.  Doug is set up on a mattress in the 
back, and they're off.

If it turns out that he improves enough along the way to be able to catch a 
plane, they'll ditch the car in Kansas City or wherever, and fly the rest of 
the way home.  Doug's spirits are pretty good considering what he's going 
through, and his family is very tight so he's in the best hands possible.  
(You just know that there will be a funny road tune to emerge out of this 
tsuris)

Niece Abby Cutler made her presence felt in a significant way, as she is now 
fronting for a new agency which is booking about six Jewish artists.....  
Julie Silver, Doug Cotler, Kol B'seder, among them.   I think the agency is 
called Artist's Booking International and naturally everyone who Abby spoke 
to (myself included) wanted to get on the roster.    It looks like a big step 
forward for the business of getting Jewish performers out on the road in a 
significant way.    I wish them all the best.

Other CAJE tidbits and plugs having to do with HN'ers who I saw.    Carole 
Rivel gave her usuual tremendous class on "Songs that Work".   I told 4 
different people to check her class out, and each one thanked me profusely 
for steering them in that direction.  I didn't see the chorale performance 
but I heard 'em in rehearsel and I know it was great.

Shirona is an awesome singer with star quality.  Her material is 
extraordinarily beautiful, and I predict that she will become a household 
name in this Jewish music world.   Robbi Sherwin is one of those rare harmony 
singers who can just hear it, harmonize it and hit it every time.  I think 
she must have sung on six different stages with six different performers.  
(OK, I called her a "harmony ho", but never into the microphone)  She made 
both of my sets so much stronger by her presence.
Peter and Ellen Allard were everywhere, and wonderful to play with and 
interact with.  They have this non-competitive, positive energy which is so 
welcome at CAJE.  And their material is great.

Now that I think about it, part of the reason this CAJE was so much fun, was 
the fact that for the first time (in my 4 years there) there was a 
significant amount of cooperation among many of the performers.   Previously 
I had felt that people just didn't know how to play with one another and this 
time I felt a shift toward the positive, much of it coming from the Hava 
Nashira folks....... a hidden benefit of this list, perhaps.

It was great to meet so many of you at CAJE.   I wish we could have all seen 
eachother's shows, but the layout made that impossible.   Let's keep in 
touch, and let's try to get eachother some giglets in eachother's community.  
I see much possibility for this list to help in the cross fertilization of 
our musical contributions.  We shouldn't only get together once or twice a 
year, eh?

Peace (and rest for the exhausted CAJEniks)    Shabbat Shalom
Rich G

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