Testimonials from some of my customers.
I just wanted to thank you (a bit belatedly) for the repairs to my flute. You may not even remember which flute (the one made by the Powell guys who split off to start their own company years ago).
This flute is everything I loved and remembered. It plays and sounds like a dream.
With GREAT gratitude!
It has been several years since you extended the left hand spatula keys on my A clarinet. I wanted you to know that your work is holding up beautifully. The left hand pinkie fits perfectly on the clarinet and the key work is as good as the day it left your shop. I have had no need for even an adjustment, and the clarinet is played nearly every day. Thanks again for not only solving the problem for me, but doing so with craftsmanship.
Best regards,
Vivian,
You’ll love hearing this story………when Steve first took a look at the flute in person, he was very pessimistic & said it was trash. Then, he said. “well…….let me try super gluing it and we can see.” He went through two rounds of super gluing it, sanded it and played it. Then, he looked at me and said, “wow – no wonder this musician loves this sound!”
THANK YOU so much Vivan for finding me Steve!!! Rinde Eckert, the musician we are working with deeply thanks you too ~ can’t tell you how thrilled he is.
Thank you again for selling us the wonderful 1958 Buffet R13. Lindalynn is so very happy with the many ways in which it’s an improvement over her rental. All of us enjoy hearing her practice much more than we used to!
Thank you again for selling us the wonderful 1958 Buffet R13. Lindalynn is so very happy with the many ways in which it’s an improvement over her rental. All of us enjoy hearing her practice much more than we used to!
I just wanted to let you know that my daughter was delighted with the piccolo that I bought from you just before Christmas. It sounds great.
Thank you,
“Steve, Thanks again for coming in. I definitely got some response from the kids… they all really enjoyed it. I have heard some new sounds and ideas as kids warmup and play after class — very cool. I really appreciate any time someone shares something new musically. Thank you so much! Let’s definitely do it again.”
I pulled up right in front of his shop (right around the corner from La Pena) into one of many parking spaces in the vicinity. Steve immediately jumped into action by playing the horn and running a light through it. After a few minutes of lining up the octave mechanisms, the horned played better than it had in the 8 years I’ve owned it. This made the gig and all future soprano sax performances much more enjoyable. I highly recommend Steve for any repair work to be done on these quirky analog beasts that have survived into the digital age.”
Such was the scene when the house’s sump-pump broke, filling the basement and my instruments to the brim with water. The horns had been submerged for several days by the time I discovered the accident. It was a Sunday morning, the hour was against me, all repair-shops were closed, and I had only half an hour before boarding a plane to England for a week, leaving my beloved instruments to rust, rot, and die a slow, miserable death.
Frantically, I called every single repair-shop in the area with no answer. Then I made one final, desperate call to a repairman I had never heard of before. Steve Deutsch answered, heard my plight, and agreed to take the horns immediately and see what he could do.
To my delight, surprise, and supreme relief, Steve saved all three instruments. Not only did he resurrect the dead, he renewed them to a state far superior to their condition before the accident. Thanks to Steve and all his phenomenal work, my horns continue to live and breathe and my complete loss is now my profound gain.”
Thank you once again for saving the day. The work you did on my Tenor was great! You took the slop out of the keys in question and adjusted it perfectly. You always seem to find the time in an emergency. Thanks again”
III tenor sax that I had almost given up for junk because it had been DROPPED (albeit in its case), bending the main body. Steve straightened the horn and repaired a huge dent in the neck, and now the horn plays perfectly. Note that he completed this work in less than two weeks for an incredibly reasonable price. I then had Steve look at my other (newer) SA-80 Series III tenor for some minor dent repair. He found that almost all of the keys were leaking and offered to “trim-up” the horn while fixing the dent. That’s the kind of care that you can expect from Steve, and that’s why I’ll always trust him with all of my horns. Steve is a godsend.”
The pied piper, playing the tenor saxophone, is 85 year old Dick Coleman, accompanied by bass, drums and vocalist. In the audience you might spot a 17-gal line dance snaking through the hall or, from the table known as the “Fan Club”, a woman compelled to run up and give Coleman a kiss on the cheek.
It’s hard to imagine Coleman as the survivor of seven strokes who, at one time, spent his day in his chair staring at cabinet doors. “He stands up there for a couple of hours and plays all these tunes out of his head,” said Barbara Coleman, Dick’s wife of 43 years. “It’s amazing. People see what he does and the way he plays, and they forget that he had seven strokes.”
Steve Deutsch, owner of Steve Deutsch Woodwinds in Berkeley, met Dick Coleman when he repaired his saxophone. After he played nonstop for almost an hour Deutsch was amazed to hear his medical history.
“He played great, and there was no hesitation between his fingers and his brain,” Deutsch said. “ His jazz covers the spectrum through everything from old things like “Robbins Nest” and hits from the 30’s and 40’s to “Harlem Nocturn”.
Deutsch also recognized a broader story, one of love, for the music itself and between two individuals, Dick and Barbara Coleman.
Just one hour spent in their company reveals their powers of recovery, strength and commitment. While Dick related stories from his past, laughing and getting emotional at the memories, Barbara filled in with anecdotes of her own.
Music has played a role throughout the Antioch resident’s life and is ingrained upon his outlook. “Music had a healing affect on everyone, and its effect on me is based on two things,” he said. “The essence of music is communication, and the other element is a sense of presence; it fulfills this profound need to express.”
Coleman found expression early in life. At age 9, he started practicing in his backyard with an alto sax, then went on to major in music at Berkeley High and formed his first group there.
He was befriended by Chuck Forrest, owner of Forrest’s Music Store, who gifted him with a gold-plated alto sax. “From that point, I go a lot of gigs and jobs around the area,” Coleman said.
One gig at the Brown Derby in Richmond with close Julius Jacket almost got him in trouble-twice. Entering the all-black club, Jacket had to reassure the owner about Coleman, saying, “ It’s OK man, he’s a musician.”
Upon leaving and being stopped by a policeman who wanted to know what Coleman was doing in that area, Jacket gave the same answer, “It’s OK man, he’s a musician,“ and it has been, all Coleman’s life.
To appreciate how far Coleman has come, one need only picture him after his strokes.
“Dick was in a wheelchair, and people thought it was permanent,” Barbara said. “Dick had no music at first. When he started coming out of the strokes, he just decided he’d play again and then everything was coming back.”
Because Dick no longer reads music, it’s up to Barbara to sing the melodies that trigger his music memories. She’s also his driver and organizer, and is recognized as his guiding force.
The two met working at Sears, and story of their first date seems a precursor of their life together. “Barbara invited me to dinner, and I had the audacity to take my alto sax with me. Not only did Barbara know the tunes I was playing; she knew the lyrics,” Coleman said.
Barbara was equally impressed. “Women have been serenaded with guitars and singing. How many girls get serenaded by an alto sax?” she said.
Back at the Antioch Senior Center, Coleman is communicating with his music, and the message is being heard loud and clear. He’s rewarded with a hug, a handshake and a thank you for bringing back one gentleman’s youth. Another man hopes Dick will live forever because “I can’t think of coming here and not hearing you play.”
Music and Coleman are linked. “When music is applied intelligently, it creates freedom,” he said. “I did and got the freedom to get out of my wheelchair.”