On Thursday, Feb. 29, Nicky’s Celebration will take place at the Key West Theater.
Now in its sixth year, the event raises money to help the families of local children battling cancer. The night is organized by local music store owners Jamie and Wayne Sorbelli. The evening begins with Windpower, a group consisting of myself and four of Key West’s finest musicians, performing a selection of music from the band Jethro Tull. The night culminates with Wayne Sorbelli and 13 other great musicians recreating the music of Led Zeppelin. From “Kashmir” to “Stairway to Heaven,” Wayne leads his band down the path of the music he loves the most.
Nicky’s Celebration was formed in memory of Jamie and Wayne’s son, Nicky, who was 10 when he passed from lymphoma on Feb. 17, 2016. Along with their daughter Leela, the Sorbelli family witnessed firsthand the trials and tribulations parents of children with a life-threatening illness go through on an everyday basis. – personal struggles as well as the incredible financial burden sustained from not only medical costs, but from loss of work, especially in our island’s increasingly demanding economy. Nicky’s Celebration came to mean more than just a remembrance. The nonprofit was formed and a network of people began to emerge.
Wayne describes the evening as a moment he has saved up for all year. “I think of him every day,” Wayne said. “I’m a father; that’s what you do. But you can get lost in those thoughts. And so I compartmentalize them. I put them aside knowing I will have time to think of him and feel a year’s worth of love, of missing, of happy thoughts, of anger and anything else you can think of, on his night, and all the nights of rehearsal that precede it.
“On this night I am absolutely sure I feel him. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like I see him in other people’s faces. In their expression or movement. In a gesture or a glance. I don’t ‘see’ him but I feel like I catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye. These things course through me and for moments it can be overwhelming. But playing these songs keeps me grounded while I allow myself to feel all I feel. I’m free, too.”
Wayne is not alone. His band has 13 people. When I asked Wayne how he decided on whom to include in this group, he said, “Well, I didn’t really feel like I needed a super group of well-known players even though I know some great musicians. It was approached more like, out of the pool of people I could ask, all of whom are talented, dedicated craftsmen, it was about who do I want to work with that I know cancer has touched their lives personally? In this way we could all heal together and the sound of our healing will make for a great night of music, love, remembrance and hope.”
Tickets for Nicky’s Celebration are on sale now. If you would like to help call Island Guitar at 305-414-8056 or text HELPINGKIDS (all capital letters) TO 53-555.
