We're winding down season three of Family Twist with our first musical guest, Rick DellaRatta. Join us for a captivating podcast conversation with virtuoso jazz musician Rick, founder of Jazz for Peace, as he shares his inspiring journey of music, family revelations, and a commitment to harmonizing the world.

Episode highlights:

• A Musical Odyssey: Rick's love for jazz took him on a unique journey that expanded beyond borders and genres. With the Beatles' classic, "The Long and Winding Road," Rick introduces listeners to the power of jazz through a transformative blend of melodies and harmonies. Expect an immersive experience that transcends the traditional boundaries of this distinct musical genre.
• The Birth of "J.A.S.S.": Discover the unusual origins of the term 'jazz' and how it inspired Jazz for Peace. An unexpected find during Rick's concert in Haiti led to the unique spelling, 'J.A.S.S', and the interesting history behind it. You'll learn about the organization's unwavering commitment to peace, freedom of speech, and social justice.
• A Family Saga Unearthed: An astonishing twist in Rick's journey reveals an newfound cousin, thanks to the wonders of DNA testing. Experience the enthralling tale that discloses long-held family secrets and reveals how love and upbringing can overshadow biological ties.
• Extending a Warm Welcome: Rick's genuine warmth and openness are evident as he welcomes Rob, his newfound cousin, into the family. Regardless of biological complexities, Rick underscores the importance of nurturing and love, highlighting the power of family bonds that extend beyond blood relationships.
• The Noble Mission of Jazz for Peace: Explore the inspirational work of Jazz for Peace. Learn about the organization's commitment to championing exceptional causes through collective action. Get insights on how they expand reach, secure vital sponsorships and raise funds for community improvement.

Guest bio:

Having performed with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Paquito D' Rivera, Rick DellaRatta is now considered by many to be one of the finest Singer/Pianists performing today and one of only a handful of Jazz Artists who can make a successful musical presentation to a large audience without having to abandon the true art form of Jazz. His unique and original piano playing and composing has been compared in print to Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Keith Jarrett, Joe Zawinul, Horace Silver, Oscar Peterson and Thelonius Monk while his signature vocal sound and style has been likened to Chet Baker, Billie Holiday, Joao Gilberto, Ivan Lins, Michael Franks and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

His current Rick DellaRatta and Jazz for Peace World Tour has included historic performances in the US, Europe, Africa and Brazil and his landmark Jazz for Peace concert at the United Nations in New York in 2002, uniting Israeli, Palestinian and American musicians in concert is now considered one of the most significant cultural events of our time! This U.N. Concert has led to a benefit concert series that has gone on to raise funds, publicity and awareness for over 700 non-profit organizations, garnered support and praise from distinguished Americans such as President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator John McCain, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, activist Noam Chomsky, actor Ed Begley Jr., New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and many more; and attended and enjoyed by ambassadors, celebrities, humanitarians, and music lovers worldwide! Jazz pianist, vocalist and composer Rick DellaRatta was included by The Foundation Center in their list of the top musician philanthropists of our time along with Bono (U2), Elton John, Peter Gabriel and Sting.

Guest links:

Jazz for Peace

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00:49

Well, thanks for joining us again on Family Twist. Our guest this episode is Rick Delarada, an acclaimed musician and the creator of Jazz for Peace. Welcome, Rick. Thank you so much, Kendall. Pleasure. So we're excited that you're here because something that we bonded on very, very early in our relationship is music. We're big music lovers. Kendall absolutely adores the piano. I think some of his favorite musicians are pianists.

01:18

Absolutely. Um, there is music in our house playing almost 24 seven and my favorite, uh, jazz pianist of all time is Oscar Peterson. And I play, we have, we just have a dedicated, uh, digital station that just is constantly playing his music in our kitchen. Yeah. So, yeah, little, um, phases. Cause like for a long time, it was a Marion.

01:47

Marian McPartland. Yes, with that show she had, right? Yep. Piano jazz show. Yeah. I mean, so many wonderful episodes of that. There really are. She grabbed me early on. That's fantastic. Yeah. So Rick, I know you have some really cool family stories to share with us. But first, let's because we are all music lovers here, let's talk a little bit about where your passion for music came from. Sure. Well, you know, I kind of came from a musical family. And then as I got into MyHeritage,

02:17

I saw, I learned that it went way back. So, you know, sometimes, I mean, we don't really know. Some people say, well, there is something to that because there's been musicians who become like great players and their father was a great musician. You know, there's actually in the other building where I live, I have a friend, she's a singer.

02:43

She had a child with a bass player that I also knew. They separated completely and never saw the kid. The kid never saw his father. And now all of a sudden, this kid just decided on his own to pick up the exact instrument that his father plays. And he's becoming, you know. So in other words, it's like, and it also happened with, well, since you know jazz a little bit, there's a saxophone player named Dewey Redmond.

03:13

who played with the great pianist, the great pianist Keith Jarrett, who when I do something for you today, there's a little bit of a Keith Jarrett influence in that, in that I'm gonna do something that's free improvisation, free form, what Keith Jarrett is known for. And Keith Jarrett had a saxophone player named Dewey Redmond. Dewey Redmond had a child. The child never met, they never, you know, they never really knew each other growing up, et cetera. They were raised by the mother.

03:43

You know, he had all of his struggles with, you know, being a struggling jazz artist. You know, we had issues with, you know, substance, all kinds of issues that jazz musicians have. And his son just grew up to be this incredible saxophone player, you know, this incredible saxophone player who's, you know, literally carrying his torch forward. So that's an interesting thing that maybe it comes from that. If that's possible, then there could be a lineage for me as well, because I was told that

04:12

I go back a long ways, going at least back to Italy with my grandfather, who was a great musician and a great accordion player. And he came over here with nothing but a wine press and an accordion, which were really the two most important things you could smuggle into the United States at that time.

04:33

Sure, absolutely, absolutely. You know, that was better than currency, you know? Right. So he came over here with that ability and he became quite an attraction during the bootleg era. So it's funny because when I was at his funeral, someone took me to his side and said, you know, your grandfather, they used to pick him up in a Bentley and behind the Bentley was a giant...

05:01

cylinder with all the bootleg whiskey and drive them out to these places. And they said, even when, you know, big, the big names like Al Capone would come, they would always request your grandfather. You know, he had, they had to have him play the music and all that stuff. So it goes back to Italy. And then as I became known in jazz, uh, I started to hear from family members in Italy that I never knew existed, never knew what they were. And they were in the city in Italy called Caserta.

05:30

And one of them came over, actually a few of them came over, but the first one that came over is the one who told me that we don't even really come from Italy. And that's weird because I kept having people introduce me as like, they would say I was a Spaniard and they kept saying Spain, Spain. I'm like, where are you guys getting this stuff? I don't, you know, do I look Spanish? Maybe I play a little Spanish, but they kept doing it over and over again. And I was like, what are you gonna do? They know people wanna think I'm Spanish.

05:59

06:29

and they took off for Italy and they went and just bought this town. Like they just started the town of Caserta. So everyone with the name Della Rada is out of this city called Caserta. And they said as soon as you get yourself over there, there's going to be a big party for you. So, you know, so, you know, whenever I play in Italy again, I have I haven't played since this happened, but I've been to Italy three times, but not since this. But yeah, there's I guess there's a little

06:59

shindig waiting for me. That's cool. Awesome. Yeah, you should definitely start making some travel plans. That sounds like an exciting trip. There's another one named Aldo and he is back and forth with me just texting me sends me little tidbits now that speaks no English. So I have to you know, I have to go into Google Translate and whatever but he also feeds me little things here and there from the old from the old days, you know, the old country. That's very cool. Yeah.

07:28

Well, you know, nature versus nurture is one of our big themes on this podcast. And I mean, I think we've seen from both sides, you know, proof that it does exist. I mean, Kendall definitely has some traits with the siblings that he, you know, didn't grow up with. So it wouldn't be like an automatic thing, but then also, you know, raised by adoptive parents that he, you know, inherited a lot of their personality and morals and things like that.

07:58

Interesting. Yeah. Wow. So when you found them, you realized that you had adopted them just by, you know, you being your DNA, just by sharing the DNA, you had all these traits. That's so fascinating. It is interesting because people will watch my brother and me together. And you can you can notice I've seen videos of us together. And it's like, wow, you know, we have, we have some

08:27

similar mannerisms and that sort of thing. So it's really interesting. Yeah, that is fascinating. Yeah. So Rick, can you share with us a little bit about making something beautiful out of tragedy, which is to be your project, Jazz for Peace, just kind of the origin and the highlights? Sure, absolutely. Yeah. Well, you know, it's this one story. I'm kind of a one-hit wonder with this story, you know, by accident.

08:56

09:25

Sometimes photographers get very well known, Lynda McCartney is one, simply by walking around in a place like New York City, you know, like Washington Square Park and taking pictures of people like Bob Dylan and, you know, Jimi Hendrix when nobody knew who they were, when they're just strumming along in a park, you know what I mean? And then she's got those photos. Well, this woman was, you know, wanted to take pictures of me and I was, because we're always, you know,

09:53

the free pictures were like, hey, that's fine. That works for you. It's a win-win, you know? So she's a nice girl. She's taking pictures of me, nope, no biggie. We're doing our thing. We're having a great time, wonderful afternoon. The next morning I get a call from her and you know, I kind of vaguely remembered but little did I know, you know, it really resonated then. She, you know, to support her photography habits, she had a job on Wall Street. So she's down there. And

10:23

Her boss, her boss's son worked in one of the World Trade Center buildings. So apparently, you know, she's in the middle of all this. The boss's son calls his calls her, hey, can I speak to my dad? He's a little wound up. She gives the you know, to her boss, they talk, you know, and she's he she's there hearing it. And finally, he's like, well, you know, son, maybe just for precaution, you should get the hell out of there, you know, whatever. And she's like, just in there like.

10:52

the

11:20

I guess I'm so close to the room. I just go on the roof. Let me go up and just take a look at what happened. Something flew into there. You know, you're never thinking anything that it's just not the way some idiot with a, you know, so I need to be it's unheard of even to think of, you know, how could you even get in the airspace? But we're not thinking that. I'm just thinking some imbecile flies a stupid little glider. I mean, what a crazy thing. Anyway, go up there and forget it. It's all, you know, I'm seeing.

11:48

Well, it's like walking into, it's like, it's like walking out of your seat in the, you know, into the screen, you know what I mean? Cause now I'm part of the movie. I mean, I'm less than a quarter of a mile away on the roof of the building, watching something trans, completely transformational, you know, something that no one's prepared for, you know, the whole thing. And so, you know, there was really nothing, there's no response for me. Like at the end of this, I just had a piece of paper with some words on it.

12:17

because that's what my response was, words that came out of me on a piece of paper, and I called the poem Jazz for Peace. So, you know, very simply, all I did was I looked at those words. I'm like, wow, these are some pretty powerful words I wrote today. You know, and then I thought, you know, I mean, I've traveled a ways in this journey now. I've been a musician, I travel all over the world. I had seen things that I was convinced

12:45

were true about the magic of music, the ability for people like Oscar Peterson to resonate with people of all shapes and sizes and color and creed and religion and language. Every barrier that divides us, music breaks through. And the art form of jazz is our country's greatest music. And here I am a jazz musician.

13:13

And, you know, I've been in situations where I was, you know, on stage with Israelis and Palestinians, you know, that come here to learn jazz and I'm playing with them. And I'm like, you know, I'm noticing there's no war on the stage here, you know, nobody's, you know, these two people are getting along just very well. So I'm noticing, you know, the healing power, all of the powers that music has in jazz has in particular, and the poems called Jazz for Peace. So, you know, basically, I was thinking, you know,

13:43

rather than just write it down, walk the walk, why don't I just talk the talk is what I meant to say. Why don't I try to live up to these words, basically? And that's what I've been doing since that morning. I've been trying to live up to the words that I scribbled out on a piece of paper watching the events of 9-11. And so that's just led from one thing to another, to another, to another. And you know what? It's like, it just presents itself. My journey,

14:12

presented itself to me every little step. You know what I mean? Because, you know, the next step in that journey with the poem was, you know, the country was closed down. When it opened up, I had to appear as a headliner at a jazz festival in Savannah, Georgia. There was gonna be 8,500 people, you know? So here I am with these words of a poem, you know, and everybody's, you know, affected by this whole thing. I mean, you know,

14:40

This is the first event where anyone's even been able to get on a plane and go to since then. So, you know, here I am with the words of a poem. I mean, I'm in a position that poor Edgar Allan Poe would have, you know, given his, you know what I mean? Given his eye-tooth for, you know? I mean, a great poem. I'm not a, you know, I'm a lyricist. I'm not a poet, but I have a poem, you know? So I read the poem.

15:06

8,500 people, you can imagine how that resonated. And then when I got back up here, I had another high profile concert where the promoters said, hey, we heard about this poem, what the heck? I mean, people are talking about this thing. Well, is there any chance you're gonna have it to music by the time of R? And now they're like, hint, hint, kinda, you know? And I'm like, not a bad idea. So I put it to music for that. Then, you know, articles come out.

15:34

There was a preview that came out where the person asked me to recite the jazz piece poem. And just in the banter back and forth, I just happened to say to him something that I had noticed in all my travels, all of my life, you know, my journey that led me to this point, which was that if we fill our souls up with these amazing qualities that the art form of jazz has, and that, you know, music, great music in general has, such as creativity, artistry, humanity,

16:04

the

16:33

that things all over the place. I mean, you can't cancel me. You can't, you know, I don't think you could cancel. I'm uncancelled, cultural bold, probably. You know what I mean? Cause where are you gonna go? How are you gonna get it off? How are you gonna go to that Russian website or that Hindu website where it's in Hindu? I mean, it's in blank, which is crazy. But they have, I didn't know they had famous web, famous quote websites, which I think are phenomenal. I mean, if you ever wanna...

17:00

just treat yourself, just click on one of those famous quotes, type my quote in and go to the whatever, the first website you see and just read some of them. There's so, you know, there's so all these great people saying these inspirational things. I mean, you just can't go wrong. So I learned a lot just reading the other people's quotes, you know, because I was so amazed to even be in that company. But anyway, so, you know, that happens. The press comes out, you know, Delarada starts.

17:26

you know, concert with Jazz for Peace, you know, and I was like, oh man, they just said that. Now what am I gonna, you know, now what, you know? So then, you know, I kind of was, you know, I managed like, you know, people are really talking about this Jazz for Peace thing of yours. I said, listen, I have an idea. Why don't you, as you're doing what you do, you know, why don't you contact the United Nations, you know?

17:53

And I mean, you can imagine the look I'm probably getting from her just with this idea, right? She's like, you know, and I do get these looks from people, but I've realized if you don't, if someone is look at you crazy, you're probably not even on the right track to begin with, you know, because everything sounds crazy at the beginning. I said, listen, call over there.

18:12

Well, what number do I call? I don't know, you're gonna have to tell them. What are you gonna break in the action? Call the main number and just see where they put you through. They're probably gonna bounce you all over the place. Who the heck knows what they're gonna do? You're probably gonna end up in the main office in Scottsdale, Arizona. Who knows where they're gonna send you, you know? But just follow it along and see what happens. And one day, you know, she's just going over some things with me, some itinerary, you know, like, hey, you know, you got this thing in Paris, then you're gonna get on the Eurorail to Milan, and then you're gonna go,

18:42

You have to get to a country with more cows than people. Luxembourg. A freaking place has more cows than people. That's what I noticed. Anyway, we got to go to Luxembourg, this little jazz club, and Luxembourg wants you there. So then she's like, oh, and by the way, that United Nations thing, yeah, they want to do that. Wow. And I'm like, did you realize what you just said? Obviously you didn't. You know, she doesn't know. Nobody really did.

19:11

the one who realized it to me. I'm like, this is a big deal for me. I just thought it's a big deal for me. But she didn't, she didn't, she couldn't really tell the difference. I don't think between the Luxembourg and the, you know, I don't think she could tell one from the other. And even the musicians, you know, they're just like, Oh, Rick has a gig. And then we're gonna, you know, this is they just want the particulars, you know, it starts here, we got to get that this time to go through the checkpoint, you know, that's where everyone's just doing their thing.

19:39

But for me, I thought the fact that I was bringing Israeli, Palestinian and American musicians together was gonna resonate. Well, it sure didn't right when it happened. Do you know what I mean? I mean, we put out a press release, nobody was really, the people at the United Nations, they were impressed, but they were there anyway. And one of the guys came up to me, he said, just, what you're doing is just, and he got it. I said, listen, I see that you get it, but you're gonna realize, we sent, I don't see anybody, I don't see...

20:09

Walter Cronkite here or whatever, you know, I'm sure he was retired, but you know what I mean? I don't see whoever that is. I don't see those guys here. He said, listen, see that, you see that bleacher over there? I said, yeah. I said, you know, if a bomb blew up in that beach bleacher, you'd get all the publicity that you want, which is so sad, right? It would take something like that. But he, you know, the guy was right. I mean, he was telling me, but he was really not. Anyway, we did that. As time went on, people started writing me letters referencing.

20:39

that event, you know, and like I said, it's just gone on and on and on to now where, you know, like I said, you know, I don't think I, I don't expect to be on a podcast and someone doesn't want to hear that story. Yeah, sure. I don't blame you for asking. Right. Well, I think we'd both love to hear a little taste of music. Okay. Well, now, so what I'm going to do, this is going to be interesting because this might

21:07

Like I think Corey, it's gonna be more along the Kendall side because Corey has this ear already for hearing jazz because he's got a thing. So what I do is I'm trying to get people that don't even know jazz to follow me on a little bit of a jazz journey. So I start out with something that's very, that anybody can, you know what I mean? No one's gonna screw up following me on that. And then I head into something that I call free.

21:37

J.A. and I got to this title in the craziest way. I was in Haiti, doing a concert in Haiti and had a big sign and the sign said, welcome Jazz for Peace, J.A.S.S. And I was like, what? And then I called a friend of mine who had spelled it with that. He had a traditional New Orleans band.

22:03

And he was very traditional, real stickler. He wanted everything perfect, just like historically perfect, this guy. Only person I knew. I said, do you remember you had that New Orleans Jazz? Yes, yes, the New Orleans, the Bourbon Street Jazz Band. And I said, it was a great band. Yeah, it was a great band. You spelled it J-S-S-S-S. Yeah, I mean, I was just got back from Haiti. He said, well, that is the correct spelling of jazz. It's a Creole word, comes from Haitian people. And apparently, they brought Haitian people from Ghana. They started out in Ghana.

22:33

in the slave castles, came to Haiti, then from Haiti to New Orleans, and then they were hearing jazz when it was developing, and they called it J-A-S-S. We changed it. So I took the Zs off because it was misspelled. I kept the Ss off because nobody knows that. Now I have free J-A, which stands for something that jazz for peace is very, thinks is very important, and that is the bombing of innocent civilians in wartime, and we keep, that has to be.

23:00

We have to let reporters do their job, journalists of integrity, freedom of speech, and these issues surrounding Julian Assange. So hence my title, Free JA. So anyway, I'm gonna start out with a Beatles song, The Long and Winding Road, and then we're gonna wind into this thing somewhat influenced by people like Keith Jarrett, Cecil Taylor, that would literally improvise their whole concert. And this is, I'm gonna make this up. I mean, who knows? This could be a belly flop or, we don't even know what's gonna happen, but we'll see.

23:30

Thank you.

23:48

To love and wind.

23:54

Yes.

23:58

To your door.

24:04

Never discipline.

24:12

See... All lives...

24:28

Thank you. Good luck. Bye.

24:34

I've been told it's a trap Anywhere you'll never know It's a trap Still, it To me Why do

25:04

You're the first step.

25:14

Two. Three. Okay, thank you. And.

25:27

peoples.

25:49

I'm gonna get ya.

25:57

Thank you.

26:08

Okay.

26:20

Doh.

26:26

and

26:39

the it the

26:56

Thank you.

27:11

I'm going to go.

27:35

I'm sorry.

28:10

Very good. Yeah. Giving you the snaps here. The snaps. No, I love that. That was really great. Thank you for that. Yeah. Right. My pleasure. Especially the rendition of the, the first song and then bleed into the second. I loved it. Yeah. Good. I mean, like I said, you know, once, once I got through that melody, it was, you know, it was all just, you know, whatever, whatever's in the air. Right. Right. I do not have that.

28:39

ability so I can I can appreciate it a lot. Well we would love to hear the story about finding someone that you didn't know existed and bringing them in. Okay yes that's the one I was let me say and get this back here okay all right

29:01

Okay, can you hear me now? Yep, yep. Perfect. So now, you know, now the DNA thing comes out. So these were all, you know, just because of my jazz journey, I was able to connect with these people, you know, in Italy, which was so phenomenal. And I, you know, I was in, I was in Washington, DC once and a guy comes up, gives me his card, it says Joe Delarada, you know.

29:25

And I was like, wow, I didn't know yet, blah, blah, blah. And he had somehow, you know, so I was finding them out only through jazz before the GNA. In fact, one time I went, I had a gig in West Palm Beach. I had a concert and I went to check into a place and they looked at my ID and they're like, looking at me funny and I'm like, you know, what, it's, you know.

29:46

what's going on here? Like what, you know, and they take it in the back room and they talk to each other and they come back and they give me the ID with this funniest look, you know? And I get to my room and I get up a phone call. Hey, this, and it turned out this guy, Joe Delarado, who met me in Washington DC owned that hotel. Oh my gosh. And he said, what are you doing down here? What's going on? I says, I'm just, you know, I have a jazz for peace thing to help an outstanding cause.

30:13

I'll send a car over where you canceled your thing and I'm sending a car over to meet you. We're gonna take you to dinner at the such and such and all that stuff. So it was an amazing situation. But now that was my only way. So now the DNA thing comes out as you guys have alluded to on your podcast and the amazing stories of some of the other ones I listened to on your show. So when I'm in the same boat with this DNA and I'm like, hmm, you know, cause our family who knows what's gonna turn up. And sure enough, one day,

30:42

I get, really I get, I'm contacted by my cousin and my cousin said, hey, you know, I've been talking to this guy. He's a lawyer on Central Park West. And I think you really, you know, you really need to talk to this guy. There's something going on, blah, blah, blah. I said, all right, you know, have him call me. So he called, this guy calls me. He's a lawyer, you know, he's a partner in a major law firm here in New York City, well

31:12

you know, well known, everybody knows this law firm and he's one of the partners. And he starts talking to me and asking me questions and I'm saying, hey, you know, what's going on? He says, yeah, he says, I love music and you know, your cousin told me blah, blah, blah. And I said, that's great, I'm glad to hear that. You know, what's going on here? And he said, well, he had purchased one of those things. It could have been Ancestry. I mean, that's the most famous one, but I know there's like three or four of them that do it. Right, yes. And you know, he purchased one.

31:41

for, I believe his mother or, you know, it's a parental related thing. One of his parents, and you know, he had, yeah, so, you know, his thing was this is gonna be a little hobby. We're gonna have a little fun with his elderly parents and, you know, go back in our genealogy and trace it to Scotland and some king in Scotland and who knows and all that. And he's just thinking it's gonna be the most fun thing, you know, and then the tests come back and.

32:09

sudden and I think you know anyway he was I think was doing it with his mother and the tests come back and he's got nothing on his father's side everything's working out great with the mom all everything he wanted it's all you know everything that beautiful everything's working out just as he had planned the father's getting a zero and

32:30

Then what he is getting is being traced in a very strange way and he doesn't understand, he's very confused and he's able to call, he ends up somehow finding a way to reach my cousin. And then he talks to me and I said, listen, what's the deal? And she said, and then somehow through the three of us, we end up, the whole story leads to a beauty parlor in Schenectady, New York.

32:59

where his mother apparently lived for a short amount of time and she would go to this beauty parlor to get her hair done. While they were together, I think, they may have been married at the time and everything, but she went to the beauty parlor and she came out with the baby. So, and you know, once he told me, once they got to the beauty parlor, I said, well.

33:24

You know, forget, there's no doubt. Because we all knew my Uncle Pete, you know, and my Uncle Pete was, he was, you know, he, again, he comes from the musical lineage. And my grandfather, I think, was so proud of me because my Uncle Pete was his protege, the oldest boy. He was the oldest son. And he just wanted my Uncle Pete to carry on his musical torch. And my Uncle Pete was, you know, just too much of a playboy rock star, whatever, to practice the freaking accordion.

33:53

And he ends up kind of like Warren Beatty in shampoo with all of these beauty parlors. And of course, when you got beauty parlors, you got girls, and if you're a player like he was. And the problem was he ended up in a crazy situation with one of these beauties that he ended up in a wild affair. And apparently they were all over the world chasing each other, it was a dysfunctional relationship. They were, you know how these couples, you know the...

34:21

whatever, the Richard Burton, Liz Taylor type of scenario. You know what I mean? They're in the middle of freaking, they're throwing champagne glasses at each other in the middle of Greece, some island in Greece, some crazy thing. And he was kind of destroyed him and he ended up having an alcohol problem and losing all, because these people, they get in these crazy relationships. They don't care even about their business anymore. You know what I mean? Say one of those guys lost everything. He had everything and he lost it over some crazy woman, but.

34:50

That was, he lived and died by the sword. You know what I mean? And this woman was one of, you know, was someone he had an affair with. And, you know, my father ended up telling me that, hey, in those days, in those days, you know, when the baby didn't come out looking, you just, you just raised it. You didn't, you know, you didn't go in asking questions because it can bring shame to the family. And those days divorce was not, you know,

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the church, you know, there were issues with the church, there were all kinds of issues with getting a divorce, you know, so, and acknowledging out of wedlock children, you know, you just raised it. No, you know, you just dealt with it. You know what I mean? You pretended, you know, you pretended you saw something, you know, you pretended it looked like you. This is what I guess they did in those days. So.

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I said, well, listen, welcome to the family. Why don't you come up because we're having this kind of thing. Memorial, my mother had passed away. Come up and meet everybody. He came over and gave me a ride up. And basically just welcomed him and introduced him to everybody. And hey, cause you're one of us now. Wow. That's amazing. Nice. Yeah, that's great. How long ago was that? That was about

36:09

Four or five years ago, four or five years ago. So I think it was about four years ago. It was about four years ago. Did he have some challenges? I mean, did he, what did his parents say about this discovery? Yeah, I think it's possible that one of the parents may have passed away. So his dad may have passed away and this he was doing this with his mom. I can't, I can't really remember.

36:37

And he didn't really talk to me much about the, you know, whether it caused a rift or an issue internally, but he did tell me that, you know, he knows in his heart that his father is his father because he was raised, he said he had a fantastic upbringing. You know, he had, and I told him, I said, listen, you know, if you had a great mother and father, that's all any child could ask for. Right.

37:02

I mean, you could, I mean, a lot of biological parents are a disaster, you know, we've heard about them, the narcissistic, you know, parents and all this crazy stuff and it's just horrific. And so many children have broken households that you don't have parents or they have parents that are, you know, dysfunctional and all that crazy stuff. He had a wonderful upbringing, he had great parents. It just wasn't a biological.

37:27

situation with the father and I don't even know if the father knew or not. I mean, I didn't really get, I didn't, I don't recall getting that deep into it with him. Maybe the next time we get together, I'll be able to get into that mostly because he wanted to know about his real father. Sure. So most of it was him and I was just trying to

37:49

and

38:14

always on my side and always wanted what was best for me. And you can't ask for more than that from an uncle, you know? Nope. That's right. Wow. Well, kudos to you for welcoming your cousin to the family and making him feel welcome. And that's very cool. Yeah. And I'm so excited about this podcast because he's going to love it. Oh, good. Yeah. His name is Rob and he's a phenomenal person, in addition to being a superstar lawyer.

38:43

But he's saying he loves music. He's classy and you know, he's going to, he's going to really enjoy your podcast in general, but he becomes a fan of your one of your subscribers. That would be great. Thank you. Well, wow, Rick, you've, um, you're a great storyteller. So thank you for, you know, for sharing with us today. It was great. And of course, the, you know, the Beatles stuff leading into the, uh, the freestyle very cool, very cool. Well, you know,

39:10

we're not too far from New York so we're gonna definitely look up and we gotta come and catch one of your gigs for sure. Okay great. Where are you guys? We live up in New England. We live in the seacoast area of New Hampshire. So about 80 miles north of Boston. Okay. Yeah. That's nice up there. Isn't that called the North Shore or something or no? Isn't it? We're north of the North Shore. Okay. But yeah, we're about

39:38

about 20 minutes to the little tiny portion of the ocean that New England or New Hampshire touches. Great, because I used to go to school in Boston and you know I would play gigs up there and you know we'd do the quail hog co-hogging whatever they call it with the clams and all that and it was fun it was a blast you know fishing and you know hunting for clams the little neck clams were up there and all that stuff. Yeah we moved here from San Francisco

40:08

40:37

41:05

both landlocked in the middle for a long time. And so it was good to move to the West and then move out here. It's been kind of a whirlwind, but it's been great. Oh, that's nice. Well, thank you for doing what you do. You know, the Jazz for Peace program will continue on strongly, we hope. And yeah, it's been a pleasure. Well, thank you so much. You know, our benefit concert series is...

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probably the biggest thing of what we do. And that helps outstanding causes in need all over the country, all over the world. So, you know, if you come across an outstanding cause, a charity, because what we do is we help them in so many ways. Funds is one of the ways, but we also help them by expanding their donor base. We thank and reward the supporters they have, making them VIP guests of honor at the event. We help them get sponsors at the local level.

41:59

and then publicity and awareness. And then once we have all those things together, we go after major sponsors for them. We get new and prestigious supporters and we help them with fundraising techniques that we've learned from the 20 years we've been doing it and the over 850 events along the way. So if you come across an outstanding cause, an outstanding charity, someone making your community better, the state of New Hampshire better, or our world better, please share this podcast.

42:29

And then you can just tell them, all you got to do is share the podcast, say, wait, watch the podcast. All you got to do from there is contact us at info at jazz for peace.org. Now they're welcome to go to our website to it, you know, research and some other stuff and you know, the more they know, the better. But hopefully they've learned enough from this podcast where they can just now contact us again. It's info at jazz for peace.org. Just our generic email address.

42:54

write us a note and that little note that they write is the seedling of an empowerment tree that we will then take that seedling, grow it to roots, grow it to branches. And at the end of the day, it's a helpful step forward for their outstanding cause. It makes me rich inside knowing that I've made a difference for an outstanding cause that is gonna help others. So I'm helping those who are helping others. For sure, wonderful.

43:24

Thank you so much. My pleasure.