Hello everyone,
You may have heard that a good friend of mine-and many other shakuhachi players- Phil James, had a stroke about 5 weeks ago. This was a sudden a totally debilitating tragedy for him and his wife wife,Lara. Lara is expecting their first child in less than a month. Phil is a shakuhachi teacher and therefore, has no means of income at the moment. His rehabilitation seems to be slowly progressing for now but has a long way to go. I am hosting a benefit concert this weekend in Montreal for Phil and a workshop as well. I'm including Lara's blog site where you can go to familiarize yourself with the state of things and find a paypal button. We are asking for donations in the form of buying "ZEN SEATS" at the concert. That means, even if you can't be there, you could help tremendously by purchasing a seat for yourself, and your spouse, and your dog, cat, etc. for $10. each. Here's the site:

http://homegrown-hope.blogspot.com/

Please help us help my good friend Phil and his lovely wife Lara. If you're my student, please consider this a chance to tip me! I'm sure to give more extra time and care than I already do. I'd like to fill up my Komuso Tengai basket hat for phil and Lara!

Thanks so much for considering this. I know there's a lot of things in the world we're all donating money to help now. Please add another to your list, if you can.

Health & Happiness,

Michael Gould