The Fire and Icecream of a Trumpet Player

     When you step onto the stage in front of a crowd of 800 people, at least let's hope they are people, the moment of sudden death arrives at your feet. What must you do? Will you panic and take off like the cowardly dog, or will you fight till the end of your performance and hope for the best? That's a question many musicians run through their mind as they prepare themselves to display talent  no one else but themselves have.

     "Life is like a trumpet - if you don't put anything into it, you don't get anything out of it."- William Christopher Handy. Perseverance is the key to obtaining perfection, along with the usual order of practice with a side of instruction, sweat, and tears. No one can just pick up an instrument like the trumpet and play like William Handy or Miles Davis. They worked and fought hard and long to obtain the exemplary status they hang about themselves nationally and forever in the records of the greatest musicians ever. One day, I shall obtain that record, but only through mistakes, trials, success, education, and more. I definitely can not do it without my primary source of inspiration and wisdom; Jesus Christ. Without him, I wouldn't be the great talented musician I am now.

One of my favorite musicians of all time is the world-renowned trumpet player Wynton Marsalis. He was the first member of his family to become a star and succeed as an African American in his time. Wynton was born in 1961 during a rough period of racial discrimination in the United States. Yet he did not let anyone stop him from obtaining the title he now possesses forever as one of the most phenomenal musicians of all time. He is a well-known music educator, composer, classical and jazz artist. Through persistence and dedication in his musical studies and practice in a variety of instruments- such as the organ and more, Marsalis was able to accomplish more than most musicians could handle in a life time. Miles Davis shares a very closely associated status of Marsalis's fame and accomplishments.

      I know what I must do to be like Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis, and William Handy: Persistence, more practice, more faith, and much more must be the elements perfection and obtaining a sound and talent similar to these famous people. My mini accomplishments I've obtained since the sixth grade year I first picked up a cornet and placed the mouthpiece till now, are nothing compared to the accomplishments these former musicians I mentioned have obtained. Yet, these rewards and failures I experience now will only lead to greater success and musicianship in my life, and through the primary inspiration of my Heavenly Father, and the secondary inspirations of Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis, and my music teachers Louis Martinez and more, this task is not impossible.









References:
 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/wynton-marsalis-has-turned-the-hardships-of-slavery-into-sublime-jazz-1272888.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynton_Marsalis
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/736492/Marsalis-family#ref810002