To us London Vision Clinic patients, we know Dr Dan as a brilliant, pioneering laser eye surgeon. He is the man who invented blended vision allowing so many of us to bin those visible signs of ageing – our reading glasses – and, of course, he is also the founder and medical director of the London Vision Clinic.
If you were to spend rainy afternoon Google-ing “Prof Dan Reinstein” you would discover that the list of his achievements is quite impressive. The Wikipedia entry, for instance, mentions his research work which resulted in the Artemis Insight 100 VHF digital ultrasound technology which is acknowledged to be the most accurate tool for measuring the eyes.
But what you might not know is that Dr Dan could easily have taken a completely different career path. As a young man, Dan Reinstein was faced with a choice: medicine or music. After training for two years on a performance scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, it was acknowledged that Dan had the ability and talent to make a successful professional career in music.
Happily, Dr Dan was ultimately able to combine his work in Laser Eye Surgery alongside his other passion – the saxophone.
For several years, Dr Dan (together with the Dan Reinstein quartet) performs once a month at Chelsea’s exclusive 606 Club www.606club.co.uk . These gigs are on Tuesday evenings (details below) and booking is recommended on 020 7352 5953. A recent review from TimeOut described Dr Dan as an: “Impressive hard-bop saxophonist”.
To the uninitiated, like myself, I can share that “hard-bop” is apparently a style of jazz that is an extension of “bebop” incorporating influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music and blues. But whatever label is attached to Dr Dan’s performance, these evenings at the 606 Club are hugely entertaining – even if (like me) you are not a huge jazz fan.
It is hardly surprising that Dr Dan has also operated on many of his fellow musicians including bass guitarist Ric Fierabracci, American blues, jazz and rock guitarist Robben Ford, and Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler.
Upcoming gigs:
Tuesday, February 15 Time: 7.30 – 10.15 (two sets)