Help Jerry Granelli recover and heal

Just before his 80th birthday this December our father Jerry Granelli suffered a near fatal case of internal bleeding while at home in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was rushed to the hospital where he spent the next two months in ICU - including over ten days on a ventilator in part because one of his lungs also collapsed. After finally being stabilized, there were still another 45 days spent in hospital, slowly recovering and dealing with a number of other long term health issues exacerbated by his initial issue. The doctors suggested he had a 50% chance of ever leaving the hospital. Much to his family’s great relief he has recovered enough to finally return home, a couple of weeks ago.  


Dad will now require extensive in-home help as he tries to gain his strength and independence. It is in this effort that he needs, and we are asking for your help. None of his family resides in Canada and due to Covid, taking regular trips is not possible.


He needs funding to cover the cost of his caregivers at home, the cost of special intravenous feeding, that he currently relies on, and extensive physical therapy.


Dad needs this critical support over the next eight months to a year but is resolute in his determination to get better and rely on less help.

 

Jerry has spent his life dedicated to the art of improvisation, helping young musicians see the connection between life and the art they create and the ordinary magic of living a spontaneous life. A long time practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism Jerry has been an important proponent for people in all walks of life of meditation practice and living one's life awakened and fearlessly.


To have met him is to have been touched and inspired by him, musically, personally and spiritually. Please help us return some of that healing energy back to him.


Thank you for your kindness and help.


If you would like more information about him, please read on below.


Jerry Granelli is one of the most widely recognized and highly regarded musicians in Nova Scotia. He is a supportive community leader and mentor for musicians and artists of all ages and backgrounds. Jerry was instrumental in the establishment of the Halifax Jazz Festival (formally the Atlantic Jazz Festival),  which over the past 30 years has evolved to become a Signature Event in Halifax and the largest music festival in the Maritimes. Jerry is also a founder and longstanding creative director of the Creative Music Workshop, an intensive summer program that has been a flagship education program of the Halifax Jazz Festival for the past 21 years. With a career that spans 60 years, Jerry has had the opportunity to perform with the likes of Charlie Hayden, Mose Allison, Sonny Stitt, Sly Stone, Ornette Coleman and Vince Guaraldi. Jerry has recorded over 30 albums. His prolific and genre-crossing music has been recognized by institutions such as the Junos, The Grammy Awards, the National Library of Congress Sound Archives, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He continues to have a profound influence in the cultural community in Nova Scotia and beyond. In recent years he has brought joy to audiences across Canada by presenting the music and the stories behind the making of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special album. He was the 21 year old drummer in the Vince Guaraldi Trio when they went into the studio to record that Christmas classic.
For the past six years, Jerry, in partnership with Margaret Wheatley, has trained over 400 people from 35 countries to be Warriors for the Human Spirit. This training draws upon the Shambhala Warriorship tradition established by Chogyam Trungpa.