I’ll be glad to listen to someone (who doesn’t play as well as I do or who plays way better than I do - and whatever instrument) either for money (if they have some to offer) or for free, if they want to play me their audition stuff for someplace - and get feedback, but that’s about it.
Today - after some quintet scramble-around-town performances, the young man - who plays the second trumpet parts on most pieces, is perhaps 26 years old or so (??), and just finished up his doctorate in performance - asked me if he could come by my place on his way to or from Memphis - from time to time - and play duets.
Over the last three years or so…maybe four, I’ve heard him improve from “usually good enough“ to “really quite good, and spot on intonation to boot”. ‘ pretty sure he is interested in continuing to move on up to the next - and then the next plateau - with his playing. He’s becoming pretty good at turning a musical phrase as well, and – probably even more important – making the first player sound as nice as they can possibly sound, via his really good job of supporting with the second parts. Now that his academic rigmarole is in his past, I believe he’s really interested in concentrating on that what his terminal degree was supposed to actually concentrate.
