My Man Wynton

As a trumpet player, Wynton Marsalis was one of my first musical heroes. He did a cd signing at my local Best Buy way back in the day, and I stood in line with a couple hundred other people to meet him. When I finally got to the table, I sheepishly handing him my CDs. He smiled and looked right at me, asking if I was a musician. When I answered in the affirmative, he got wanted to know everything - how long I had been playing, what solo I was working on, and problems I was facing. As a high school band geek, this was all very exciting to me. When I told him about my problems mastering the F-G trills in a trumpet concerto, he smirked in knowing agreement. Then, to my surprise (and to everyone else at Best Buy also), he pulls his trumpet case out from under the table. He cooly explained his method of approaching and playing trills as I was mesmerized by the wild appearance of his horn. Then, making it look as easy as only a master can, he produced an f-g trill the likes of which I have never been able to replicate. In total, he gave me 3-4 minutes of his time, but he treated me like I was the only person in the store, and I had his full attention. I'll never forget how engaging Wynton was, and he earned my permanent respect.

I say all this because his most recent article for CNN gives a great bit of insight as he retells his own experience meeting jazz legend Roy Eldridge when he was in high school.

But the quote I want to highlight here is

The most natural revolutionary requires a conservative establishment to rebel against. The most stilted tradition must have some new vivifying energy and imagination.

Indeed. With this, Wynton again nails it on the head with as much understanding and mastery as playing a perfect f-g trill.