With just about every gig evaporating in recent weeks since the coronavirus hit the Bay Area, a story about a jazz musician donating blood might sound like a desperate scene set in motion by the pandemic. But Albany multi-wind-instrument player Art Maxwell is no donor-come-lately, and he’s the one supplying hope for the hospitalized.
When Maxwell rolls up his sleeves at the Red Cross Oakland Blood Donation Center on April 4, he’ll be hitting a lifesaving milestone measured in gallons, not pints.
“I’m at 318 units, and when I go in next I’ll hit 320, which is 40 gallons,” says Maxwell, 62. “It comes down to when you’re eligible to donate. If you’re going to go all out, you can donate platelets 24 times a year. I approached this like a sport.”
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