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Rocking benefit QC drum legend at Rascals

MOLINE, Illinois– With a strum of a guitar and a beat of a drum, musicians are coming together to help a man they call a drum legend at the Drumming to BE...
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MOLINE, Illinois-- With a strum of a guitar and a beat of a drum, musicians are coming together to help a man they call a drum legend at the Drumming to BEAT cancer benefit at Rascals.

“I've known Jeff since 1975. My first tour was with Jeff and the Tommy Bolin band and he taught me an awful lot about drum teching,” said Ken Brandt. Brandt helped organize the event for his old friend and mentor.

As a drummer, Jeff Ocheltree mentored dozens of Quad City musicians and well known bands like Santana, Sting, and the Blue Man Group.

“At first I was kinda shocked because he's always so healthy and immediately the first thing that came to mind was how can we help,” said Brandt.

Jeff was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer, but he isn't fighting alone. The lives he has changed, now trying to change his.

“This took a lot of work this took a lot of planning a lot of people endless hours of hard work I mean how do you say thank you for that,” said Ocheltree.

Special performances, and signed memorabilia all up for auction, all in hopes of raising money for Jeff's treatment.

“The drummer I've been working for with Santana, he donated a drum kit and that's really really meaningful, it affects the heart,” said Ocheltree.

The Quad Cities Louis Bellson Drummer's Collective along with Ken Brandt organized the event for their original member as well as grow their purpose.

“Once we can get a place of our own to work out of we'd like to do workshops on the weekend for inner city youth to come and we're going to take turns giving drum lessons,” said Brandt.

A musical bond working together to save a friend his legacy, in notes.

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