Jazz Icons Converge to Increase Awareness About Rare Disease

Smooth Jazz Greats Bob Baldwin and Stanley Baird to Perform in Raleigh on March 11,2012

RALEIGH, N.C. – Smooth jazz giants Stanley Baird and Bob Baldwin are using their celebrity to draw attention to a rare autoimmune disease that recently claimed the life of Daniele Cooley, a 30-year-old Fayetteville mother of two young children.  

“I learned about Daniele and her condition through a friend,” says Grammy-nominated keyboardist Baldwin, who wrote a song for Cooley, titled Every Breath is a Gift. “One thing led to another, and I felt it was important to do the benefit. I also felt it was important to raise awareness, so that people know what she went through. I’d like for the condition that Daniele had to get exposure.”  

Last year, Baldwin was joined by saxophonist Mike Phillips in Atlanta for a benefit concert to help raise awareness and funding for Daniele to fight her disease. Unfortunately, on Jan. 13, 2012 Daniele lost her battle with mixed connective tissue disorder, the autoimmune disease that robbed her of three-quarters of her lungs’ breathing capacity.

On Sunday, March 11, Baldwin and nationally renowned saxophonist Stanley Baird and his band will co-host a concert in her honor at The Prime Smokehouse, 2800 Rock Quarry Rd., in Raleigh. Proceeds will go toward a scholarship fund for Daniele’s children, Aniyah, 4, and 7-year-old Darrion Elijah. Tickets, $20, are available at www.helpdaniele.eventbrite.com. Those wishing to donate may also do so by visiting www.indiegogo.com/Help-Daniele-Project.

“Oftentimes death brings about awareness,” says Ivye Wright Arnold of Ivye League Entertainment. “While this world lost a wonderful young lady in Daniele, she would want us to spread the word about this disease and seek ways to prevent it in the future. We also want to make sure that we remember her children, who suddenly lost the mother who provided for their every need.”  

What is Mixed Connective Tissue Disease?  

The perplexing thing about mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is that nobody knows what causes it, and there are no unique signs or symptoms. What doctors do know is that the disorder usually attacks women in their 20s and 30s, and occasionally children. MCTD often masquerades as other maladies, portraying symptoms of lupus, scleroderma, polymyositis and rheumatoid arthritis. It is an autoimmune disease, which means that the body’s defense system targets healthy cells rather than the bad ones. Gradually, your body becomes weak and, as in the case of Daniele, too weak to recover.

About the Musicians

When Bob Baldwin is not living the harried life of an in-demand pianist, you can find him hosting the popular NewUrbanJazz Lounge, a radio program that recently expanded its reach to 20 stations (including Fayetteville, Wilkes-Barre and Greensboro) and 150,000 listeners weekly worldwide. (www.newurbanjazz.com). His latest recording is New Urban Jazz 2 / Re-Vibe. In addition to recording artist, composer, producer and radio show host, he recently added author among his titles; his debut book is "You Better Ask Somebody, It's the Friggin' Music Business." His charity work is also well known, including his help in raising tens of thousands of dollars for earth-quake stricken Haiti.

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 An acclaimed musician, composer, educator and entertainer, Stanley Baird has performed with a copious list of other renowned musicians, including Gladys Knight, Kirk Whalum, Patti LaBelle, Najee, Brian McKnight, Regina Belle, The O’Jays and Donald Byrd, to name a few. He has recorded numerous CDs, the latest release being Traffic Jam, on Saxony Records. He created the STANLEY BAIRD YOUTH JAZZ FOUNDATION, believing that young people represent the hope for the future of America’s only true classical music, jazz. Baird’s philosophy is, "Listening to music is good for the soul and the mind; don't do drugs; get your high on soothing, inspirational music."