From “One Trick Pony” to “Swiss Army Knife”
I auditioned for the Disneyland All-American College Band once. Not only is this a sweet professional opportunity for a student — my girlfriend at the time was a huge Disney fan* and I wanted to earn some extra brownie points. In all of my classical trumpet-glory, I prepped my Bitsch etude, a very square jazz excerpt with a backing track from my Google Chromebook speakers, put on my best (ill-fitting) suit and took the trip to Chicago.
I was so out of my league.
The audition was for only the director, Dr. Ronald McCurdy. Thankfully I didn’t know any of his illustrious credits as a jazz professor at USC, so I was only the regular amount of nervous. I played okay, but couldn’t sight read very well and my high register was… developing,** to put it kindly. I obviously didn’t make the ensemble.
Dr. McCurdy paid me zero compliments, and he didn’t have to — I’m sure he had heard a ton of great trumpeters that day already. He instead just told me that Mickey was looking for talented all-around musicians, not a “One Trick Pony” who sounded fine on a prepared etude.
He was right — I wasn’t nearly prepared enough to handle the demands of that ensemble. I was a medium (at best) fish in a small pond who had swum into the ocean real quick. But this fish wasn’t about to remain a “one trick pony.”***
_____________________________________________
Brian can play higher, but I can certainly reach the higher shelf…
Introducing: Dr. Brian Shaw
A couple of years later, I had the great privilege of studying at LSU with my mentor (and now great friend) Dr. Brian Shaw. Brian is a true “Swiss Army knife” of trumpet playing. A typical week of his could involve teaching a slew of trumpet lessons and jazz classes, playing principal trumpet with the Baton Rouge Symphony, playing in the “Maynard Ferguson” stratosphere with a big band^, traveling to perform a baroque trumpet feature in Dallas, and back just in time for a Sunday church service.
This man is NO “One Trick Pony!”
I’ve modeled much of my musical and professional aspirations after Brian’s. I love being able to have a varied career and perform in a plethora of ensembles and spaces and genres. It definitely keeps things interesting.
_____________________________________________
Sure, sometimes I worry that I’m taking this jack-of-all trades a bit too far… Are a bunch of fairly sharpened and semi-reliable tools really better than an ultra sharp blade? Depends on the situation, I guess. But today, I choose to believe my time honing multiple instruments is still the correct path. Need a corkscrew for your wine? I got you covered. How about an unbelievably small pair of scissors for that annoying string on your sweater? Say no more.
I may not be the next principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic or playing physics-bending improvised solos at the Blue Note, but I’ll be working, that’s for damn sure.
I’m certain someone out there is looking for a classical & commercial trumpeter/pianist/singer/social media manager/teacher/freelance blogist.^^
_____________________________________________
* I believe we went ten or more times in our seven years together… I am fairly Disney’ed out at this point.
** It sucked.
*** Okay, enough with the inter-species idioms, Michael.
^ Minus these sexy glasses and dance moves…
^^ “blogist” is now a word. Deal with it
__________________________________________________________________________________________
