Part 14
"The Benefit Concert"

The weeks of chemotherapy are still flying by. Day after day it was the same routine. It was around the first week of September that I started to hear about a special “Benefit Concert” that was going to be held for me. My good friend Kareem Kandi was organizing it, and he set up for some good musicians to be there. Now when I first heard that it was going to be a “benefit concert” (meaning people were going to give me money), I thought to myself, “I’m not poor. Do I really need to ask people for money?” At the time I didn’t. For some reason, even though I wasn’t working or anything, I still was able to earn money from gigs and lessons. It would turn out, however, that I WOULD need the money raised for that concert for other things down the road.

The Benefit Concert was going to be held at Red Kelly’s in downtown Tacoma. I had been going to Red Kelly’s for years for different performances. So this was a good setting for such an event. I didn’t have a long day of chemo that week. It was one of the short weeks in which I would only go in one day. The concert started at around 4:00pm. I’m the kind of person that likes to be “fashionably late” to events so I didn’t make it there until around 5:00pm. As I was driving there I thought to myself, “Hmmm…I imagine a couple of people will be there”. When I drove to the building I noticed that there weren’t a lot of available parking spaces. I brought my saxophone with me and walked to the entrance. As I walked in I heard Kareem working the mike. He was saying something on the lines as, “I’d like to thank all of you for making it tonight. This is a benefit concert for a great saxophonist named Cliff Colon. He is going through chemotherapy right now for cancer. I’m not really sure where he is right now but he will be coming shortly.” As I was making my way up to the main room I noticed that there were quite a few people there. Actually, it was the most people I had ever seen in Red Kelly’s, I had been to a lot of concerts over there. The thing is, people would keep on coming as the night progressed.

After greeting several people along the way, I finally made it to the main room. Kareem and the band were playing a song. I sat down and listened. After the song was over Kareem spotted me and announced my presence to the audience. “Ladies and gentleman, the man of the night is finally here, Mr. Cliff Colon.” Everyone began to clap and say my name. Let me tell you that I had goose bumps throughout my whole body. Everyone wanted me to go up there and play so I went to the stage and whipped out my sax. When it was all put together I went to the mike and said, “finally, the Cliff, has come back!…to Red Kelly’s!!!” Well, actually I didn’t REALLY say that. It would have cool though, don’t you think? To tell you the truth, I didn’t say anything. We just started the next song. For a guy with a tumor the size of a grapefruit in his chest, I actually played pretty good. Kareem and I burnt down the place with several “Tenor Battle” songs. We would trade chorus after chorus and I could tell that the audience was really into it. Even though I shouldn’t have thought this, I couldn’t get rid of the thought in the back of mind that “this might be the last time I do a big concert.” Well, if it was, I wanted to go out with a bang. We finished our set and took a break for the next band to play.

My old sax teacher, Tracy Knoop played next. He had a great rhythm section playing with him consisting of Clarence Acox, John Hansen, and Michael Glenn. They played for a couple of hours. About halfway through the night my dad said a few words to the audience. My parents had asked me to do it, but I am not really good with a microphone and didn’t really know what to say. Luckily, my dad IS good with the mike. He talked for almost 15 minutes telling the people everything that I was going through and his thoughts during my treatment. He said how he asked God that why I had to get this disease and not him. As his speech went on he had people crying, laughing, and shouting “Amen!” At the end he told everyone that “God is going to heal my son” and he wanted to give the victory to the Lord. Everyone cheered. I had been standing up on the stage at the time listening to my father say such a good speech about me. I couldn’t think of anything to do but hug him in front of everyone.

The night continued on and Tracy was playing great. I sat in with him a couple of times that night. It was a lot of fun getting to play with my old teacher. The place was still packed with people. Some were family, others were friends, some were even people I didn’t know. All I know is that I felt really good to know that all of these people cared enough to come out and listen to the music I loved. They had a guest sign in book at the door that everyone wrote in. To this day I keep that book by my bed and read it every now any again. It helps me remember those times and brings a smile to my face. Here are some things that people wrote:

Cliff,
What a great night – a tribute to you from all the folks that love you. That includes us -
Donna & Red Kelly

Cliff Brecker,
Thanks a lot for everything. You have been a huge influence on the way I look at things in music & stuff. You continue to surprise me. Keep it up, you rock!
Matt

Cliff
We will look forward to having you back in the band!
Don Immel

Cliff
Wuz up fool? Hows things on you side of the hood? Keep on playing that sax & when I’m a famous rapper you can play in the background for my video (with my Fly Girls)
You homie from the west,
Darren – Loverboy

Thanks a lot guys! When the night finally came to an end I made my way back to my car. We had raised around $1200 that night. I couldn’t believe it. As I was packing my sax in my car I say Kareem getting ready to leave. I walked up to him, shook his hand and said, “Thanks man.” That will be a night I’ll never forget. Thanks Kareem and friends!

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