I will admit to being in the ultra-conservative camp when I first starting learning to play trumpet. There were certain elements that I thought were necessary in order for music to fall in the “jazz” category. I had a hard time listening to avante garde stuff. I couldn’t get into anything that was not “in the box”.

This past weekend, I was in a sour mood and I wanted to stay there for some odd reason. I started listening to jazz albums that I didn’t care for before and guess what – they started talking to me. One song that I couldn’t get enough of was “Mood” from the Miles Davis E.S.P. album. I couldn’t stand it before – now I love it. I’ve been listening to his late 60s stuff and today I’ve been listening to the plugged nickel recordings. I love the way they reach out. The level of personal expression and group dialog is amazing.

I think part of my problem was I tried to get into that stuff mid stream without going back and listening to some of the music before it. I had a bunch of albums that I didn’t care for before and now I’m going back to them. I guess for me it was like starting to read a book in the middle and not understand what is going on. Now that I’ve started building a foundation I can follow and appreciate what they are doing.

I may get an opportunity to play during my church services this year. I spoke with the Minster of Music at my church and he is willing to practice with me on Thursdays to perhaps put something together that we can do regular. As you know, that was one of my goals for this year. The question is – AM I REALLY READY? Not just musically but mentally?