David Ruttenberg is one of my oldest and dearest friends.  I have no brothers by birth, but if I could choose, he’d be one.

We met about 20 years ago in Chicago, where we were both working for a
company that designed and built custom audio mixing consoles.  Our boss
was a well-meaning jerk whom we both liked very much and quite loathed,
depending on the day.  So we bonded while walking in 14-degree weather, eating
Vietnamese food, comparing the latest outrages, and trying to figure out how to escape being 23 years
old.

I moved out here, quit the music business, and started doing whatever the hell it is I do.  David moved to Florida and has become an
accomplished and sought-after producer, engineer, and composer, working
with people like Stevie Wonder and Peter Gabriel.  He’s pretty brilliant, frankly.

After entirely too long, David has finally just released his own first CD,
and — this is very much what kind of person he is — every dime of
profit will go to Margaux’s Miracle, a foundation in South Florida devoted to fighting various childhood cancers.

Sounds like a deal to me.  I’m proud as hell of the guy, and I want to say so in public.

Great music that saves lives.  If that isn’t a cool holiday gift, I don’t know what it.