Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Musical Abilities
((MUSIC))
It?s a Saturday night in November and a local band is performing at a church dance at Saint Mary of Mount Carmel in Gloversville, New York. As far as church dances go ? this one is pretty typical ? coffee and snacks are laid out in the back of the auditorium ? and a crowd of mostly senior citizens are dancing. The 11-member group on stage tonight is called ?Flame.? They specialize in covers.
((MUSIC WINDOW))
A slender man with salt and pepper hair and a mustache is enjoying the band. But, Frank Vietri says he didn?t know what to expect before he got here...
?I think they?re great ? phenomenal really ? for supposedly the physically and mentally handicapped ? they?re just superb.?
ALL 11 members of the band ?Flame? are diagnosed with disabilities. Since forming in 2003, the group has given more than 200 paid performances in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Washington D-C. They?ve even booked a gig in Alaska.
((MUSIC WINDOW ? FADES))
((SHOW THEME MUSIC))
I?m George Bodarky ? and this is ?Musical Abilities.?
Over the half-hour, we?ll meet some of the members of ?Flame,? and other musicians who happen to have disabilities. Some of them were born that way, but others suffered ailments or injuries that left them struggling to find new ways to make their music.
Disabled musicians sometimes have to overcome extraordinary challenges to perform, but many say their biggest struggle is simply getting others to see them as ordinary.
Ten years ago a vital infection left Steve ?Father Time? Katz in a wheelchair. He?s now the President of the Disabled Drummers Association. The Florida-based group is working to change the way disabled musicians are viewed and treated in the music industry. Katz says it?s tough to break in when image is everything?
?In the disabled community ? those of us who are performing musicians to even get on stage and perform is virtually non-existent ? auditioning for a band is even worse ? even if you know the material and your personable ? they can see you walk in with a limp or you don?t breathe well ? walk well ? or even if you?re missing a limb or you roll in in your chair ? they?re not even gonna want to hear you play and that is the sad part.?
There are exceptions however.
((CHESNUTT MUSIC ? FADE UNDER))
Vic Chesnutt is a singer-songwriter who lives in Athens, Georgia. The quadriplegic Chesnutt is making it in the music industry. Chesnutt wound up in a wheelchair in 1983 after driving drunk and crashing his car.
((MUSIC WINDOW))
After months of recovery, Chesnutt started to pick up the pieces of his musical life. He was performing solo at a local club when Michael Stipe of the band R-E-M spotted him. Stipe went on to produce Chesnutt?s first two albums. Chesnutt says there?s no hiding the fact that he?s a disabled musician?
?You know some musicians they call heartthrobs ? everybody?s labeled ? and that?s one very simple way to label me ? it?s pretty obvious from any photograph of me or anything ? the dude?s in a wheelchair.?
But, Chesnutt says he?s been fortunate because the words disabled and musician don?t always mesh in the music world?
?I mean a lot about rock and roll is about image ? and so ? it?s maybe not the first things that our people go out looking for is ? you know ? I think maybe one of the first things that A & R?s people go out looking for is perfect specimens of human beauty or something ? that?s one of the first things they look for ? sometimes maybe music is the second thing they look for??
Artist and repertoire departments might not be on the lookout for musicians with disabilities, but Steve Katz with the Disabled Drummers Association, says audiences always take notice of them?
?The last thing you?re gonna think of is the first thing you thought of when you sat down ? gee that guy plays well, but what about that cough, what about that limp and did you see that drummer missing an arm and still be able to play ? he sounds okay with the band ? but there?s no second limb ? there?s something missing ? that?s sadly what they?ll remember.?
((BRING UP THOMAS QUASTHOFF MUSIC ? FADE DOWN))
You wouldn?t know it from his voice, but German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff is unusually short ? he?s about four feet tall. He almost has no arms ? his hands emerge just below the shoulders. Joseph Strauss ? a Professor of Music Theory at the City University of New York ? says it?s difficult for people to see beyond that?
?He?s a thalidomide baby in fact ? and again it?s very hard in staged drama ? like opera for people to get past that disability ? despite the fact that he?s a consummate musician ? he has a fabulous voice ? he?s engulfed by that stigmatic trait.?
((MIX QUASTHOFF INTO BEETHOVEN))
Even early on in music history, an artist?s disability would overshadow their music. Professor Strauss points to Beethoven?s deafness as an example.
((BRING IN BEETHOVEN MUSIC ? FADE UNDER))
?Music that he wrote late in life when he was quite deaf ? the music is quite eccentric in many ways, quite strange in many ways. People said poor old Beethoven ? what do you expect ? he?s deaf and that?s why he?s writing this weird, awful strange music.?
But, Strauss says over time, opinions changed?.
?People began to see Beethoven?s deafness as a kind of divine gift ? that is by cutting him off from the concerns of daily life his deafness permitted him a kind of interiority ? an intensification of his inner vision that permitted him to write this visionary and highly unusual music??
Still, Strauss says it?s hard for able bodied people to focus solely on the music of a disabled performer, especially in modern times. He says he can only think of people like Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder who?ve become known more for their musical contributions than for their disabilities?
((BRING UP GLENNIE ? FADE DOWN))
?For example the great Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie is deaf ? she?s an absolutely wonderful musician, but clearly a lot of attention that?s paid to her is because she?s functioning with this disability. I don?t mean to say that she?s exploiting that in any kind of negative way. Simply that it?s attached to her as scholars would say ? she?s engulfed by the disability ? in a sense that people have trouble looking at her or listening to her ? without thinking about the disability ? it?s very hard to find a review of a musician like that ? that doesn?t always in the beginning identify her in that way.?
((FADE DOWN GLENNIE))
Musician Vic Chesnutt says it?s a dilemma he understands. The wheelchair bound artist says he doesn?t want to be talked about just because he has, in his words, a broken body. But, Chesnutt says it doesn?t surprise him when that becomes the focus of conversation?
?My story is somewhat of a human interest story in a way ? it can?t help but be. The people ? normal people ? I don?t know if I going to get into trouble for saying that ? but normal people ? people who are ? you know ? physically normal ? they look at someone like myself and they think ? oh how can he go on ? I couldn?t do that. It?s very natural to look on my story as kind of a triumphant story of mind over ? or as a story of great will over triumph.?
Chesnutt says he can fall into that line of thinking too?and it shows in his music. In his song ?Withering,? Chesnutt references a man who?s lost the will to play?
((CHESNUTT MUSIC ? WITHERING ? fade down))
?There are lines ? and it?s also the way I view the underdog in my songs and the way I empathize with the underdog ? I don?t want to say ugly ? but yes ugly -- to me it?s a thread that runs through all my songs really??
((BRING UP WOUNDED PRINCE ? FADE DOWN))
Wounded Prince is not just the title of one of his songs. That also seems to be how Chesnutt views himself. A prince, who after ending up in a wheelchair, lost his royal status?
?I?m a white male and growing up I?m a white male ? so I was part of the ruling class in a way and after I broke my neck I wasn?t really ? I?m not a member of the club anymore really -- it completely changed the way I perceived the world. I?m now a part of the down trodden and put upon ? it?s an interesting twist.?
The City University of New York?s Joseph Strauss says it?s an unfortunate twist. He says the word disability shouldn?t even be a part of our vocabulary?.
?Every human being is adapting or accommodating whatever physical limitation they?re operating under ? so in a sense there?s no reason to draw an absolute distinction to say ? well if you have physical differences and limitations beyond this point ? we?ll call you disabled ? the fact is there is a wide spectrum of human abilities and there?s no need in a sense that any of them should be stigmatized.?
The drummer of the British rock band, Def Leppard, sees it that way too. Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car accident in 1984. Allen says he?s learned to celebrate what he calls his uniqueness?
?As long as you play from your heart then there are people out there who will really love what you do and I think that?s the key ? is don?t try to be something that you?re not ? if you play something slightly different and it doesn?t sound like say a guy with two arms or whatever combination of limbs or abilities or disabilities you may have celebrate that because I honestly think that it?s the uniqueness of it that will allow you to shine.?
((BRING UP DEF LEPPARD MUSIC))
Def Leppard was at the height of its popularity when Allen lost his arm, with songs like ?Bringin on the Heartbreak? and ?Photograph? drawing in fans. Allen says the success he achieved before his accident helped put him back behind the drums, without what he calls freak show status?
?A few musician friends of mine that I know that weren?t necessarily as fortunate as me in terms of the levels that I?d obtained before my accident, they actually find it quite difficult and I know they?ve come up against many obstacles, it?s frustrating.?
But, it was much more than fame that returned Allen to the drum throne. He says the long road back started in a hospital room shortly after his accident?
?On a certain day I remember tapping my feet on this foam that was on the bottom of my bed and I realized that I could play all the basic rhythms that I could play before. So I asked my brother to go home and get my stereo system and bring all my early music. It was fantastic because I just laid there and started playing along and realized that the information was there ? I could do it ? even though the limb wasn?t ? there was a way we could do this.?
And Allen says the more time passed, the more confident he became in his ability to play drums again?
?I talked about this with some of the troops coming back from the Middle East and where there?s the will ? the brain really takes care of it ? it really does rewire ? new neuron activity starts to occur and without really realizing it ? it was very subtle ? I started to become more dexterous with my right hand and then I remembered kicking a football around one day and realizing that when I kicked it with my left leg it didn?t feel quite so alien as it did in the past.?
Technology ALSO plays a large role in helping disabled musicians ? like Def Leppard?s Rick Allen ? create. Allen describes how he plays with a custom-made electronic drum set?
?Everything I used to play with my left arm I now play with my left foot ? using a series of foot pedals ? and I assign certain sounds to those pedals that correspond to drums that I hit with my right hand ? so basically playing opposite ? right hand left ? right hand left foot ? instead of right hand left hand so it?s ? without the electronics it would have been a lot more difficult ? you know ? just having this access to all of these foot pedals ? all of these different sounds ? it certainly makes for a very unique sounds ? pretty unique playing style.?
((BRING UP DEF LEPPARD?S HYSTERIA))
A company by the name of Simmons designed the kit Allen used after his accident. And Allen made a strong comeback on ?Hysteria,? the first album Def Leppard released since he lost his arm?
((DRUM SOLO WINDOW ? FADE DOWN))
Steve Katz of the Disabled Drummers Association says technological advances have made a significant difference in the lives of many musicians?
?With these disabilities the player would still be able to continue ? missing an arm ? missing a leg ? the adaptive equipment necessary has been newly developed with advancements in technology. I can put something an apparatus next to you that would take up the slack as it were for the missing limb or simply reconfigure the process if you?re missing an arm, like Rick Allen a prime example, is missing an arm.?
But, when the technology isn?t available, disabled musicians have to rely on their own ingenuity. Musician Vic Chesnutt?s hands were mangled after his car wreck.
((CHESNUTT MUSIC ? GUITAR ? FADE UNDER ? ABOUT TO CHOKE ? HOT SEAT))
He says he plays guitar by any means necessary?
?I get a lot of questions from people who ? their hands are messed up like mine and wondering how I strum?I have these little cuffs that I velcro and leather gloves that I put on to help protect my hands when I?m pushing my wheelchair ? and one of the first things I realized is if I super glue a pick to the thumb of this glove I can strum and that was a revelation and for years and years, 15 years maybe that was my technique ? so I?m always on the lookout for a new technique.?
((GUITAR STRUMMING WINDOW))
And Chesnutt says the sounds he creates are the result of his disability?
?The way I play guitar and the kind of chords that I can make with my hands being the way they are ? it really affects the way ? kind of melodically songs are structured I think ? that?s one easy way ? and it?s pretty obvious to anybody whose heard me play guitar that it?s very dependent on my physicality ? my crooked fingers.?
((BRING IN JONI ? PEOPLE?S PARTIES ? FADE DOWN))
Something similar is true for singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell. She contracted polio when she was nine. And that?s the reason for her unique guitar style. She uses modified tunings to compensate for body weakness, and that?s made for some of the most distinctive sounds in folk music?
((BRING UP JONI))
For a former Long Island resident now living in Virginia, the frustration of not being able to play the drums was too much. Donald Jaeger says he was drumming for just four years, when at age 25, he fell working on a tug boat, and severely injured his spine. He says it wasn?t until he turned 30 that he decided to return to the instrument?
?It was actually a huge challenge ? first thing I had to do was make myself a seat ? because all the drum thrones I couldn?t sit on ? more than a couple of minutes. So I designed myself a seat that I could sit on for more than a short period of time and then I started to play ? you know endurance, build endurance.?
Yaeger has a history of developing contraptions to help himself and other disabled musicians. He designed a stand that helped a guitarist friend with muscular dystrophy play without bearing the instrument?s weight. And in 1995, Jaeger was issued a patent for a special stand he created to practice on drums?
?I could actually sit in a recliner, put my feet up and put this thing in an exact position where my arms were relaxed and I could practice without the strain of having to lean forward.?
A portion of the sales from Jaeger?s drum stand goes to the Coalition for Disabled Musicians, an organization he founded in 1986. Jaeger says he formed the group to meet musicians in similar scenarios. He says playing with the able bodied was too stressful at the time?
?They just didn?t understand my restrictions and my inabilities ? well to move drums first of all ? that was a big problem ? and my endurance level was really low and I wasn?t able to pick it up ? as most normal people would be able to do.?
Over time, Jaeger got a band together. They named themselves Range of Motion. Since moving from New York to Virgina, Jaeger?s no longer a part of the group, but the band?s still around. Jaeger?s sister-in-law, Linda, has taken over the helm as President of the Coalition for Disabled Musicians and is a singer/songwriter with Range of Motion. The group has turned an office space on Long Island into a rehearsal studio?
((SOUND WINDOW ? RANGE OF MOTION REHEARSAL))
The entire band gets together to jam on Monday nights. Linda polls the group on what they want to play?
((RANGE OF MOTION REHEARSAL))
There are currently five members in Range of Motion ? all with their own set of challenges. Linda Jaeger was born with a form of muscular dystrophy. Today she?s in a wheelchair, but that doesn?t silence her singing voice. She?s far from bashful as she belts out Joni Mitchell?s Big Yellow Taxi?
((LINDA SINGING BIG YELLOW TAXI))
On drums is Mikey Zielinski. He has Cerebral Palsy. A huge smile lights up his face as he takes a solo?
((BIG YELLOW TAXI INTO MIKEY SOLO))
Zielinski says he hopes other aspiring musicians see him as a role model?
?Playing the drums is really cool ? you play all different types of music you like. I?m very versatile though. Heavy metal and hard rock you know ? but I like other stuff too ? so it?s pretty cool to play in a disabled band ? get out there ? and just like rock and roll ? keeping up with the dream ? you have a dream just keep it forward and go all the way.?
And that?s what the Coalition for Disabled Musicians works to do ? help the physically and mentally challenged pursue their musical dreams. Coalition President Linda Jaeger?
?It?s a rough world out there in the music world and it?s very hard for a musician ? with any type of disability to really borough through and perform or play music ? but we also do public awareness so people see that people with disabilities are a contribution to the community and the world.?
((SUMMERFEST PERFORMANCE ? I want to introduce the band to you real quick))
Here Range of Motion is performing at Sayville, Long Island?s 2006 Summerfest?
((SUMMERFREST ? ?Together we are Range of Motion??
?I don?t know if we?ve really received any discrimination or anybody disappointed us ? I think more take a second look and go ? hey wait a minute ? these people are disabled and they?re playing rock and roll.?
((ROCK AND ROLL SONG))
But, performing live poses specific challenges for disabled musicians. For one thing, Linda Jaeger needs to use a wireless mic. Otherwise she risks running over the cord with her wheelchair or getting tangled up in it.
Her husband, Bob Jaeger, serves as the band?s sound man. He says he has to run through a special checklist before any gig?
?The larger problems are we going to be able to get into the place where we?re gonna have the thing ? is it accessible ? are the stages too high ? just even the doorways to get into the place ? are they wide enough for the wheelchairs or for people to get in and out of.?
A stage that?s not wheelchair accessible can pose all sorts of problems. Quadriplegic singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt says he has to live by his wits while out on the road?
?It?s a little embarrassing sometimes how I have to get on stage ? it?s often impossible for me to finish a set and then go off and then come back for an encore. That?s out of the question most of the times ? because I can?t go off stage. It?s not glamorous sometimes when you?re playing in a venue you can?t even go to the toilet in ? it?s an improvisation ? life on the road for me.?
It?s because of those kinds of obstacles that wheelchair-bound drummer Steve Katz foregoes regular gigs?
?It?s virtually impossible to take gigs for two reasons ? number one ? I don?t walk well and breathe well so I stopped subbing myself out because some of that work that?s out there with other bands is like x-files ? it?s like twilight zone --- I?m not in the position to jump in blindly and not know what?s expected of me so I don?t take those kind of calls.?
Katz may not care about the next big gig, but the people behind the upstate New York band Flame are doing what they can to get the group as much exposure as possible.
((ALL FOR A REASON SONG STARTS))
Flame?s song list includes more than 100 tunes, mostly covers, and the band?s put together a full length CD. The title track is called ?All For A Reason.?
((ALL FOR A REASON ? WINDOW -- FADE DOWN))
All 11 members of Flame have mental and physical disabilities. The group was formed around lead singer ? Michelle King. She was discovered during a talent show at the Lexington Center, a non-profit that serves disabled adults and children in Fulton County, New York. Band Manager Maria Nestle says Michelle, and Flame?s lead drummer David LaGrange are inspirations?
?David LaGrange the drummer is legally blind and he is mildly mentally retarded ? and Michelle King has autism and the doctors told her mother that she wouldn?t be able to socialize and wouldn?t have a very large vocabulary ? which both of them have proved ? everything the opposite ? they have succeeded in everything they do.?
Nestle says Michelle learns everything by ear ? she wrote ?All For A Reason.?
?Michelle has like-savant attributes, but she hasn?t been diagnosed as a savant.?
((ALL FOR A REASON WINDOW))
Flame?s other band members are also exceeding expectations, overcoming Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and other challenges to sing and play guitar, bongo drums and other instruments.
((BRING UP ? BAND PLAYING LIVE))
Providing the music for a local church dance in Gloversville, New York ? Flame draws praise from parishioners.
Catherine Cozzolino says she didn?t know what to expect from the group and wasn?t even sure if she wanted to come?
?I was hesitating ? but I really was impressed. I can?t believe the music ? it?s just perfect.?
Some folks haven?t stopped dancing since they got here.
It?s the audience reaction that Ken Dickson lives for. Ken is mentally challenged, but is still fulfilling his dream to be in a band. He sings and plays the tambourine for Flame?
?I love it ? you get a certain jolt when everyone cheers ? you are so beautiful, soul man and hey jude are the ones I like to sing??
((BRING UP ONE OF THE ABOVE SONGS))
Paul Nigra, the executive director of the center that launched Flame, says the group has given more than 200 performances since 2003 ? paid performances ? he stresses?
?It means that the value of their entertainment is significant enough that people will pay money to hear them ? like it cost 12 dollars a ticket tonight for this gig for the audience.?
Nigra says Flame has even turned down big New York events for a performance in Alaska?
?My goal is to get them on national television ? people with disabilities will be inspired ? the general public ? people with developmental disabilities ? like our band ? autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, blindness and so on ? they?re more accepted now than they were years ago ? but there is still a ways to go.?
((BRING UP FLAME ? KNOCKIN? ON HEAVEN?S DOOR ? FADE UNDER))
Right now door to the music industry is only open a crack for disabled musicians, but the Disabled Drummer?s Association?s Steve Katz, says bands like Flame are knocking loudly?
?The way around this is to have everyone in the band with a disability and damn the torpedoes full speed ahead as it were ? so today ? with a little philosophy and a little hard work we can keep it going.?
((BRING UP KNOCKIN ON HEAVEN?S DOOR ? FADE UNDER))
?Musical Abilities ? is a production of WFUV News at Fordham University in New York City. The program was made possible thanks to a grant from the New York Times Company Foundation. It was written and produced by me, George Bodarky, and edited by Julianne Welby. Special thanks to Sarah Wardop and Shane D?Aprile. You can find an archive of this and other WFUV specials at WFUV.org. Thanks for listening.
