By Michelle Brunetti, Published September 29 2012, updated June 19 2019

Jazz helps Nick Regine, of Somers Point, stay in the moment.

It’s improvisational, so the same song sounds different each time it’s played, he said.

Focusing on the present helps him deal with his multiple sclerosis. He was diagnosed with MS in 1989 and has seen a steady decline in his physical ability.

“I have to use a cane almost all the time now,” said the 62-year-old president of the Somers Point Jazz Society. “But you can’t let it get you down. You have to do those things that are life-affirming.”

For the former Somers Point recreation director, that means exercising and organizing community events.

“I go to the gym. ... I’m in charge of Restaurant Week in Somers Point. Down time doesn’t work for me,” he said. “If I don’t have something that wakes me up at 3 a.m., I’m not living.”

His latest project is a jazz and wine fundraiser for both the jazz society and the National MS Society. He’s working with Michael Bray, 33, owner of Passion Vines wine shops. Bray’s mom, Jayne, 62, of Somers Point, is wheelchair-bound from the disease, which damages the myelin coating on nerve fibers.

Tenor saxophone master Michael Pedicin, who has a doctoral degree in cognitive and creative arts and is the head of the jazz studies program at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, will perform with his quartet. Pedicin said studies show music promotes healing.

Tenor saxophone master Michael Pedicin, who has a doctoral degree in cognitive and creative arts and is the head of the jazz studies program at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, will perform with his quartet. Pedicin said studies show music promotes healing.

Brain illness

Congressman Patrick Kennedy will speak about brain illness at the Brigantine Lions Club meeting 4 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Links of Brigantine. Contact Steve Satz at ssatz@aol.com or 609-402-6391.

More stories to tell

Michelle Brunetti Post writes about the lives, careers and good deeds of South Jersey residents Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays in ‘Everyone Has a Story.’ To share your story, call 609-272-7219 or email MPost@pressofac.com