More than three years after his hospitalization, chemotherapy, 

and stem-cell transplant---treatment for a rare

blood disease--- and his subsequent 

recuperation period, Sam now continues to enjoy a clean 

bill of health. He is happy to have returned

 to performing and teaching (as of March 17th, 2006)and is       

            eternally grateful to his wife Cathy, his mother Martina, 

and all the wonderful

friends and fellow musicians who organized, attended and 

participated in the "Jam for Sam" benefit concert of 

February 2006.  He hopes to eventually be able to 

personally thank everyone who was involved in the event and

who otherwise provided moral and emotional support!

Meanwhile, another story of triumph: Sam's good buddy,

bassist-vocalist James Kishline, has been back in action

for more than fifteen months, after having suffered a

traumatic and life-threatening head injury in May of

2007. The two grizzled lifers have played dozens of

gigs together since they both got back in the game. 

Cream City Music Store, upon learning of Jim's terrible

injury, jumped into action and began organizing a

fund-raising event to help Jim and his family through their

crisis; they partnered with many of the people who had put 

together the "Jam for Sam" event, recruited area musicians

to once again donate their services, and the James Kishline 

Benefit took place in July of 2007 at Cream City Music. It was, 

if possible, an even bigger success than the original 

"Jam for Sam".....a goodly amount of money was raised for the 

Kishline family, and a great deal of truly outstanding music

was heard that day as well. Sam was able to participate in

this event, performing with the Ellen Winters Group and

sitting in with Greg Koch and the Tone Controls (both of 

whom had also performed at the first "Jam for Sam"

event;Jon Sieger,Robin Pleur, Paul Cebar, the Bystanders,

 Willy Porter, the Chuck Hedges Quintet 

and Peter Mulvey were among the other musicians 

giving their all that day. And Jim Kishline's subsequent 

recovery has been nothing short of miraculous.y His first cd,

"In the Graces", was completed not long before his accident

and is available for purchase. It consists mostly of 

Jim's original songs; the core group on the cd is Jim on

bass and vocals, Sam on keys, and Mike Murphy on drums,

with support from such local heavies as saxophonists Mike

Miller and Peter Neumer, Jeff Pietrangelo on trumpet,

and guitarist Bill Stone.

Shortly before his hospitalization, Sam began work (at 

the urging of Jim Kishline) on his next two recording projects;

one will be a follow-up, of sorts, to his well-received

first cd, "This IS My Real Job", the other will be jazz

re-workings of some of Sam's favorite Beatles songs. 

Together with Kishline on bass and Mike Murphy

on drums, Sam has recorded bed tracks for a slew of 

Beatles tunes, including "Strawberry Fields Forever,"

"Penny Lane", "Julia", "I Will", "In My Life", "All

You Need Is Love", "Blackbird" and "The Long and

Winding Road"....horn parts for a number of the songs 

have also been recorded; leaving their musical imprints

on the project were saxophonists Warren Wiegratz (of

Streetlife) and Tom Newburg, Trumpet master Jeff Pietrangelo,

fluteman Rick Aaron, and trombonist Dave "Smitty" Smith. Two

songs have also been recorded for the as-yet untitled

"This is STILL My Real Job" cd project.

Manning the controls was WAMI-winning producer Pat Lilly 

of Nexus Studios, who recorded and co-produced "This

IS My Real Job".......and the labor of love continues!