On June 28th at Spaghettini in Seal Beach, Dave Koz presented an All-Star Benefit concert hosted by Pat Prescott of 94.7 The Wave, to raise money for Shane Doyle’s family.
The musicians that performed that night were: Dave Koz, Michael Lington, Greg Phillinganes, Adam Hawley, Ashling Cole, Smitty Smith, Ash Janga, Darryl Williams, Ben White, Dave Hooper, Eric Valentine, Wallace Walker, Jay Gore, Greg Manning, Tony Moore, Nate Kearney, Ronnie Gutierrez, and Curtis Brooks.
Here is the background for putting on the benefit concert. On Thursday, May 4th, 2017, Shane Christopher Doyle left this world. He was drummer Dave Hooper’s brother-in-law and best friend to Michael Lington. Shane left behind a wife, Dawn, who he described as his best friend and the love of his life. He also left behind three beautiful children, Alexander, 22, Adriana, 20, and Andrew, 14.
In addition to the heartache and grief that Shane’s wife and children suffered at this time, they have also been left with an enormous amount of debt. Shane had a passion for good music. He especially loved jazz. He was also a HUGE smooth jazz fan. His close relationships with many of the smooth jazz musicians caused them to want to help raise funds for Shane’s wife and their three amazing children; to financially assist with costs during this most difficult time and also to raise awareness for Suicide Prevention.
Pat Prescott started the evening off by welcoming everyone and telling us about who Shane Doyle was as a human being.
“People just fell in love with Shane automatically,” Pat Prescott told everyone. Shane had a special thing. We’re here for a healing. None of us are strangers to loss. We are reminded at gatherings such as these as to how tenuous life is and how fortunate we are to all be here and share a little love with each other. We are going to pay tribute tonight to Shane and give a lot of love to his family.”
Michael Lington said, “This was the one thing that impressed me the most about Shane. Every time I would release an album, Shane would go to his local record store and pre-order 20 copies of my album. He did this to support the local record store, to support me, and he gave the record to all his friends. Who does that?”
Michael Lington then broke into a bittersweet sax solo introducing the song, “Everything Must Change.” He blew his horn with such care and heart. His long holding lines fell on us with passionate melancholy. The rest of the band kept up the soulful melody that was punctuated with the soft bongo popping beats. Michael Lington gave a dramatic pause, then let his sax rip high into the heavens in tribute to his dear friend, Shane Doyle.
Mindi Abair and Ashling Cole sang a duet with a bluesy down home feeling and Jay Gore added his distinct wild rocking jazz chops to the song. Then Mindi Abair performed, “Wild Heart” where she and Jay Gore wielded a carefree and romping conversation between the saxophone and the guitar. They bent in toward one another and rocked and reeled giving quite a colorful performance.
Throughout the night, all the musicians carried on brilliant musical conversations with one another through the sweet code of notes and melody… as if they were all communicating the abundant love and support to Shane Doyle up above.
When Dave Koz, Mindi Abair, and Michael Lington blended their soaring saxes, the whole room buzzed with delight. They threw riffs around with whimsy yet masterful chops. We heard Mindi Abair release the highest register of notes while Dave Koz blew out super -sonic fast licks and Michael Lington gave a free for all ride with solid phrasing.
Dave Koz told the audience.
“Tonight is for all of us to be together and show the rest of the world that we have a beautiful community of people. I want to acknowledge Michael Lington and Dave Hooper for putting this whole evening together.”
Finally, Shane Doyle’s wife and her family got up to speak. Dawn told everyone,
“Let’s make sure Shane’s death brings awareness to the prevalence of suicide, brings health and resources to those who are suffering, and ultimately helps prevent suicide. Words cannot express our gratitude for putting on such a wonderful night of music.”
The monies raised from the silent auctions and the intense bidding on the 2018 Dave Koz Cruise with special benefits, added up to a very successful Benefit Concert.
Please go here to contribute to the Doyle Family fund:
https://thedoylefamily.help/gofundme/
Photo Credit: Sheryl Aronson/ The Hollywood 360
