Recently it was my friend Norman and his wife’s anniversary, and I know she’s a lucky, lucky woman. That’s because when I said on Facebook that I couldn’t find Dr Pepper Zero, and two days later there were like 40 on my porch. It was then that I realized I’d made a horrible mistake. Ryan never bought me any Dr Pepper Zero. 😛 😛 😛 Kidding, of course, it was just a sweet gesture that I’ve always remembered it because it made me smile at a time I really needed it. So, when I heard it was his anniversary, I commented and told them both what a beautiful picture it was of them, happy anniversary, all that good stuff.
Later that night, Norman messaged me and we spent a long time catching up. Norman’s memory is all fucked up, because he thinks I wasn’t that bad compared to him. He’s actually one of the few people I knew in symphony that I thought actually would go pro. But he, like my dad, didn’t want to do the gig economy and ended up in tech (my dad went into ministry, but same deal- salary vs. contract).
My freshman year, Norman and I were the only trumpet players in the symphony. The next year, two others joined us, one every bit as talented as Norman, the other person I’m surprised didn’t end up in a symphony somewhere. Symphony playing is extremely refined, and they both had a sound like Maurice Andre, Wynton Marsalis when he’s playing baroque, and exactly none of the other trumpet players I’ve ever studied in my life except Wynton, because he’s a crossover between jazz and classical. Norman and I were from different backgrounds, but we had one thing in common. He liked to win at chess, and I liked to play. I don’t mean that he was ever mean about it, I mean that I’ve never won against him, and I don’t want to even try to beat him. What I have learned is that life is stressful and you should keep your chess engine on level one.
We reminisced about things we’d played:
- Sleigh Ride (Norman was the horse)
- Beethoven 7
- Danse Macabre (Saint-Saenz)
- Dvorak Cello Concerto (with Anthony Wheeler)
- Blue Danube
- Empire Waltz
- Rodeo and Fanfare for the Common Man, Copland
- Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet
There were a ton more that I don’t remember, because we sight read every Friday. Norman made me bust out laughing because he said I remember one day when we were transposing a minor third while in a fast tempo and we both just blew it and fell over with laughter.
Our biggest night was my sophomore year, Danny and Norman’s junior, and Laura’s freshman. We were GLADIATORS. The Dvorak Cello Concerto opens with a sectional fanfare in the fourth movement, and it was perfect. The trumpets had entered the motherfucking chat.
I would not be a very good trumpet player if I didn’t say it like that. I am a soprano, line cook, and trumpet player. I joke that with all that ego, I must be completely insufferable….. I mean, I joke about it, but it’s true.
It was just good to again, stretch out. Remember who Norman and I were then, at 15 and 14. Since he was a year older, we didn’t really hang out together, and I’d never thought he’d want to-
Until last night, when music made it seem as if no time had ever passed at all. When I hear his voice in my head, they still have the childhood lilt of his parents’ country. I’m not telling you where he’s from, but I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen that he had a Mercedes-Benz in high school (pronouncing it correctly), because in his country that is a perfectly normal, serviceable car for a brand new driver because I’m not sure that in their country they have other brands. 😉
Former Texans buy Blue Bell and Whataburger when they can get it. Former Marylanders always have Old Bay in the cabinet. When you immigrate from overseas, I doubt there are many parents trusting of American cars for them or their kids, even if they are better (how would I know? I don’t drive. 😉 ).
I thought I was so clever and sophisticated for figuring that out as a freshman. I also liked it because it was fire engine red, and then his younger brother started driving it as well…… his younger brother being an equally talented musician and someone I worked with in Jazz II.
Speaking of Jazz II, I told you that Robert Glasper and Jon Durbin (The Suffers) were in my class, but I forgot to mention Eric Harland, who is one of the most talented drummers I’ve ever met in my life. He is every bit the drummer that Jason Moran is a pianist, and I know this because they’ve been playing together since HSPVA.
This is what I mean about Doc Morgan birthing so much talent….. and also birthing me. 😉 Because I was in Jazz II with these guys, for me it’s enough to know that if I’d continued in college or if I’d been able to get into the Airmen of Note, I would have done all right. I would have had time to fix all my embouchure issues and be able to practice as long as I wanted without pain. I could go six hours at a clip no sweat in terms of hyperfocus on the music, but my lips gave out constantly. Just overworked to the point of tears because I had that high C out of nowhere five seconds ago, and now I’m fucking toast.
Sometimes what saved my ass was adrenaline. When I was frightened, my muscle memory kicked into place and I didn’t feel the pain as bad. It’s just good that marching contests and concerts weren’t even five minutes longer.
We did Rodeo with The Houston Symphony, and Norman told me that he still tells his kids he played with the Houston Symphony. I told him I use it as a non-sequitur all the time at parties. No one here knows me as a musician. So, if there’s a lull in the conversation, I’ll say, “I played with the Houston Symphony, you know.” Then I explain to them that my whole high school orchestra got to play with them for a concert and I wasn’t a soloist or anything. It is done with comedic effect, because I can claim being good at a lot of things. Trumpet playing is not one of them (at least not now). I will not say that I wasn’t good for my age back then, though. I think that’s because there’s nothing that can take getting into a school like HSPVA from me. I wouldn’t have gotten in if I wasn’t at least good enough to nail the audition, and the audition is the hardest part. It was also 14 minutes long. Not enough to fail to impress anyone. I waited until after the wedding to reveal my deficiencies, although it does make me feel quite a bit better about the fact that Norman and I both acknowledged my limitations and he really made me a lot better just by sitting next to me. It was one of the reasons I was ready to spit nails when I found out we were getting two more trumpet players in the orchestra. I mean, it ended up being fun, but I seriously needed that hour with Norman to myself.
As he got better, I did, and it’s because he was available to pay that much attention to me. Since I was the only person that could really talk to him, we spent long rehearsals playing chess in between invaluable trumpet lessons.
But, with Danny being just as good as Norman, I now had two people of elite caliber to teach me to be better. I think that’s because we all had a little bit of an ego that wasn’t easily hurt, it was just fun to lightly tease each other. The rest of the time, the ego was put away. We had shit to do. We were a section, and that only comes from talking to each other.
Just like I got to do last night with Norman…… the first high school reunion I’ve been to in a long time that I actually thought, “we should do this again.” We don’t get many high school friends like that, do we? Seriously, what a gift…….. grateful.
Stories That Are All True 