February 27th, 2023

Good morning folks,

    1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1947th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD). It was a year that defined as well as created the modern world. While the war ended in 1945, it took the soldiers a good two years to find a suitable mate and really start propagating. That generation, my generation, is the baby boomers….the large spike in births begat the most changes ever to the social order……an exodus from the city-center, a highway system created to connect those new growing suburbs, more schools and hospitals were needed, and sadly, more advanced weapons were built and many wars were fought and lost.

1947 gave us the following:

1. Roswell UFO incident (Yeah, we brought in the Sci-Fi era and interstellar  conspiracy theories)
2. U.S. Secretary of State announces the “Marshall Plan” (Yeah it divided countries and cultures to draw the lines for future military conflicts)
3. The International Monetary Fund IMF begins (Yeah, I won’t even venture into that). 
4. The Cold War started  (Yeah, the largest buildup in military weapons in history).
5. The United Nations voted for of the creation of an Independent Jewish State of Israel….(Yeah, and thus began a war that has lasted 75 years)
6. India and Pakistan gain independence from Great Britain. (Yeah, when I was a baby, half of the people in world were living in colonies!)
7. Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball (Yeah, discrimination was blatant and overt when I was a born).
8. Bell Laboratories invents the transistor…. (Yeah, we ushered in the transistor age)
9. Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia…(Yeah, so they make a movie!) 
10. Chuck Yeager, a United States Air Force Captain becomes the first person to break the speed of sound…

       ….YEAH, it kinda takes your breath… away…. just like death! 

Yeah, death struck our community a serious blow this past week. On Monday, February 20, Charles Jaffe left the stage after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. I am beyond sad. He was my friend and I loved him and will miss him very much. His loss is a tremendous impact on the artistic community of Rochester, NY. We had many interesting encounters over the years. We talked about everything under the sun from our youth, to growing tomatoes, to the meaning of friendship, to spirituality and beyond. We took the occasional trip up to "Dady" Mountain in Conesus, NY to visit our friend Joe Dady. Joe passed away a few years ago and when “Jaffe” got sick he would say, "I’m going to see Joey". I’d say no you’re not, not now and yet he knew.

  I will just tell you one story about my very early encounter with Charles Jaffe. I had heard that he played with Color Blind James Experience. It was one of the reasons he had come to Rochester, to play with that amazing, eclectic band. During the course of the conversation I mentioned to him that I knew Colorblind James, but in another world. Chuckie Cuminale was a cute little kid in my Boy Scout troop 163, when he was about 12 years old. He grew up to be Colorblind James. One of the great songs that they played was, ‘Going Down Gravel Road". I asked “Jaffe” if he ever played that song. He said he played thousands of times. I just looked him in the eye and said “Jaffe” I grew up on Gravel Road and he just gave me one of his shaky, "Cosmo Kramer" loving looks…… the kind I’m going to miss the most.

Sincerely, 

John Bernunzio 

This WAS part of the weekly newsletter I wrote for Bernunzio Uptown Music on October 25th, 2021.

Good Morning Folks,
     The movers and shakers of a community are not those who build the big buildings and "get things done". To the contrary, the movers and shakers of the community can be found within the circle of arts…not because they "get things done" but, because they make life palatable. The community of artisans and musicians in the city of Rochester have made the place livable and enjoyable. This past week I received my copy of a book by one artist, Judy Gelfand, about two of these great artists, Charles Jaffe and his longtime companion and now wife, Martha Heller. The book, "Hello to My Imperfect World", is a self published photo montage of the life and times of one of the most interesting characters I have had the privilege to encounter in my entire life.

   Charles Jaffe stumbled into my abode when I was working out of the basement of the house on East Avenue. He was on search of a banjo, but more than a banjo, he found friendship. We have been closely bonded ever since. Charles has been suffering recently from several health related issues including Parkinson’s disease. Julie Gelfand, a local photographer, decided to capture the lives of Charles, age 75 and his loving wife, Martha, 93. In a beautifully done picture essay, she lets us in on a world that is so tender and so special that reading it makes life more palatable and enjoyable. It is available from the author.

Friday night we had an awesome concert by Ben Haravitch….a CD release party. His new musical work, "March of the Mollusks" is a clawhammer banjo masterpiece. It was the first time we’ve had a concert since the pandemic.  We only had a few people in the attendance but Dan Gross did an awesome job broadcasting it live on Facebook. It brought back the memories of the camaraderie that we had started when we had our concerts.

Our Old Time jam was packed with folks just enjoying playing music on a cold February morning.

I can see clearly now….