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Healing Through the Power of Music
Ask keyboardist Frankie Redding how he got his cool nickname, the Funkmaster, and he’ll tell you it’s because he never plays a song the same way twice. His partner Susan Lee believes it’s because he puts so much life into every melody. In fact, the ability to give a unique groove to each song has helped Frankie reenergize his life and sustained him through years of serious illness and kidney disease.
Frankie, who started playing in nightclubs at age 15, is one of Portland’s best-loved musicians. He’s played the keyboard for 40 years with the region’s top jazz, blues and R&B acts, and played gigs with blues greats Etta James, Frankie Lee and Tyrone Davis. In 2002, he won the Cascades Blues Association’s Muddy Waters Award for best keyboard player.
Frankie played frequently until a long battle with diabetes and a heart attack caused his kidneys to fail. Four years ago he started dialysis; last year he was a transplant recipient.
Frankie’s donor was Jan Bisconer, a generous supporter of the Portland-area blues community. Jan has been friends with Frankie and Susan for 15 years. The minute she heard that Frankie was having kidney trouble and needed a transplant, Jan asked him if he wanted one of her kidneys.
Not long after the operation, Frankie was playing his keyboard again. “I really think music has healing powers,” says Susan. “The moment he was feeling better, he was at the keyboard. You can just tell that music is in his soul.”
Still, Frankie admits that getting well has been a lot of work. “It’s a tedious process. You have to listen to what the doctors say and stick to their plan.”
Susan believes that the support of Frankie’s network of friends has helped him recover. “His musician friends kept calling and checking on him. You need that kind of reinforcement to keep yourself moving.”
Frankie is sometimes asked to give advice to others suffering from kidney disease. “A guy going on dialysis called me,” he says. “I told him to call with any questions and then just keep doing what they tell you to do.”
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