Real Life Fairy Tale Happens To 10
Year-old Tyler Lindsay of Virginia Beach
Did ten
year old Tyler's jazz trumpet ride at the 2006 Jazz
Masters Concert turn into a pumpkin at 12:00 o'clock. It
looks like the fairy tale story really did happen.
I invited my young trumpet student Tyler Lindsay and his
father Paul to drive up to the IAJE convention in NYC.
The idea was to let Tyler play in the Beginning Jazz
Student Jam Session starting just after the Jazz Masters
Concert. I was hoping someone in the Jazz Family might
hear him. The jam session was to begin at 11:00 PM. The
two arrived at the Hilton Hotel at around 6:00 PM or so.
We looked around the hotel, settled into my hotel room
and then headed to the concert hall where the 2006 Jazz
Master awards were to take place.
The concert hall was full with nearly 3500 jazz fans. I
wanted Tyler to hear the Basie band which was to play on
stage with the Jon Faddis big band just after the awards.
Tyler had his trumpet with him. I told him he needed to
be first in line at the jam session if he wanted to play
anytime soon. It was just after Chick Corea received his
Jazz Master's award that I noticed Tyler was falling
asleep. I suggested that Paul take Tyler to my room and
let him sleep for an hour and come back down. I would
call them on my cell phone when the Basie band was getting
ready to play. It wasn't long before I made the call and
reminded Paul to bring Tyler's trumpet with them.
My wife, Vickie, and I were seated in the back of the hall
and a few folks were leaving. We got chairs as they
became available. As all the Jazz Masters had their life
stories told and received their awards, Tyler started
looking more alert. When the Jon Faddis band and the
Basie band started playing, I noticed the excitement in
Tyler's face. Several of the Jazz Masters played.
For the last selection, Jon Faddis said, "Anyone who wants
to sit in on this last tune come up now." Chick Corea-piano,
Jimmy Heath-tenor sax, Slide Hampton-trombone, and James
Moody were all on the stage along with the Basie band.
Tyler was seated beside me and his father, who had turned
around to speak to someone behind us. My wife said
something to me and in less than five seconds Tyler had
his trumpet out and was on his way to the main stage.
When I looked around Tyler was gone. In only seconds,
Tyler was climbing onto the stage. The bands had already
started playing. When Jon Faddis saw Tyler, he put his
hand down, and pulled Tyler up on stage. Jon asked
Tyler, "What key are we in?" Tyler replied, "F." "OK,
stand by the saxophone." said Faddis. Jimmy Heath
motioned for Tyler to join him and Paquito. The audience
was aroused when they saw Tyler climbing up on the stage
and responded with some cheers. I guess they thought it
was planned as part of the act.
Jimmy Heath started his tenor solo and was received with
cheers. As Jimmy finished, he motioned for Tyler to move
to the mike. As Tyler played the first four bars of his
solo, the audience responded with cheers. After a few
choruses of nice changes, Tyler doubled and tripled the
notes in his last chorus sounding like a young Dizzy
Gillespie. As he finished, the entire audience of several
thousand people rose to their feet and cheered with a
standing ovation.
Upon completion of the selection, Jon Faddis reintroduced
all the Jazz Masters along with ten year-old Tyler Lindsay
and the audience cheered again.
So, do kids listen to what adults say? You bet they do,
Jon said, "Come on up and Tyler did." Did the ride turn
into a pumpkin? No, it didn't, and why? I didn't run
after Tyler because, he has the right tools, after all, he
worked with Richie Cole and Steve Wilson, he plays with
the Young Razzcals Jazz Project and had just taken a
trumpet lesson from jazz trumpeter, Bob Montgomery.
Tyler will appear at the Telluride Jazz Celebration next
summer with the Young Razzcals. But today, his picture
appears with the 2006 Jazz Masters.
The Fairy Tale isn't over yet. See Ya soon, Dave
