1/2 I played the alto #Saxophone growing up. Originally it was about being in band where all my friends were. I chose sax because it they had one and it looked easier to carrier than everything else. I sucked for at least a year. To sit next to the second chair player (a cutie) I needed to be better: move up the ranks. #Mania helped a lot. Over the summer (leading to high school) I practiced all day (meaning at least eight hours, maybe more), everyday. I played from songbooks. I played to the radio. I just played. When placement for the high school bands rolled around I ended up first chair, ahead even of the seniors. She also ended up first chair … of the concert band. I was first chair of the symphonic band. We weren’t even in the same class. (I won’t go into sitting next to the first chair French horn player, who was kind enough not to notice my crush).

During this time I moved from playing just to manage where I was sitting to playing because I liked what I was making. The music and sound became more important to me than anything else. There were saxophone players I wanted to play like, but that’s not what I wanted to sound like. I wanted to sound like Annie Lennox, Aretha Franklin, there are new names today. I wanted to sound like a French horn. But I did want to play like some of my saxophone heroes. Near the very top, if not the top, was #JayBeckenstein, the front man for #SpyroGyra. I was well under twenty but saw him at Blossom Music Center at least once, possibly more. My friend and I devoured their music. He made me want to play the saxophone.